Prof. Dr. Tetsuo Irifune

Profile

Academic positionFull Professor
Research fieldsMineralogy, Crystallography
Keywordsearth's mantle, high pressure, pyrolite, phase transition, element partitioning

Current contact address

CountryJapan
CityMatsuyama
InstitutionEhime University
InstituteGeodynamics Research Center
Homepagewww.ehime-a.ac.jp/~grc/e.html

Host during sponsorship

Prof. Dr. David C. RubieGeographisches Institut, Universität Bayreuth, Bayreuth
Dr. Catherine McCammonGeographisches Institut, Universität Bayreuth, Bayreuth
Start of initial sponsorship01/07/2007

Programme(s)

2007Humboldt Research Award Programme

Nominator's project description

Professor Irifune is an internationally leading expert in the field of high pressure research and its material science applications. He has made major contributions to the understanding of phase transformations in the Earth's mantle and their influence on the buoyancy forces that drive mantle convection. He is also an expert on the synthesis of ultra-hard nanocrystalline diamond aggregates. In Germany, he will study the structure, chemistry and density changes in mantle compositions up to pressures of 50 GPa.