The Department of Geology is developing three main lines of research.
Mineral resources
Characterization and management of extracted minerals with a view to supplying geological materials for the tools of our daily lives (cobalt-lithium for batteries, sands for construction, indium for screens, etc)
The Geology Department explores the world, in search of the finest/richest deposits, by partnering with several universities and mining companies (Université Mohammed Premier d'Oujda, Geosciences-Rennes, Groupe Managem, etc.).
Contact: Johan Yans
Age of fossils
Dating fossil mammals and dinosaurs by isotope geochemistry, with a view to perceiving, by analogy with past events, the effects on faunas of future climate change
Members of the Geology Department are taking part in paleontological excavations to collect sediment samples that will be dated by cutting-edge isotope methods, in collaboration with ISEM (Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier), the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris and the Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique.
Contact : Johan Yans
Magmas and planets
Studying the role of magmatism in the formation and evolution of planets
We analyze meteorites and use data from space missions to understand how the rocks covering the various planets and asteroids in the solar system were formed, and how our Earth is unique. We reproduce the conditions of magma formation and crystallization in the laboratory and using modeling tools. We confront our results with those of geologists, chemists and physicists, both Belgian and international, in order to constrain the first-order processes that define the main characteristics of planets, including their habitability.
Contact : Max Collinet
