Anders Plan

I am a Ph.D. student working in the exciting field of planetary geology with a project focus on zircon shock metamorphism.

Impact cratering, the collision of celestial bodies at hypervelocity (>11 km/s), is recognized as one of the most significant surfaces modification processes throughout the Solar system and vital to the dynamical evolution of the Solar system, the planets, and the satellites. On a planetary perspective, meteoritic bombardments have posed a strong influence on the development of the Earth’s geobiosphere, hydrosphere, and climate, and are considered to have contributed to the emergence of life. Conversely, large impact events can be catastrophic to life by introducing cataclysmic environmental changes as exemplified by the Chicxulub impact in the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico which triggered the K–T mass extinction event c. 66 Ma ago. Therefore, to understand the geological and biological evolution of the Earth through deep time, impact events must be taken into consideration.

In my Ph.D. project, I study impact cratering processes with a focus on shock metamorphism, which is a unique deformation process that rocks and minerals are subjected to during the immense pressure and temperature conditions attained during an impact event. Throughout my project, I will investigate the response and stability of the mineral zircon subjected to shock conditions. The main aim will be to characterize the microstructural evolution of shocked zircon and to what degree various deformation features affect the U–Th–Pb isotopic system—vital to understand for geochronological studies. To achieve this, various microanalytical techniques will be employed: scanning electron microscope, electron backscattered diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and secondary ion mass spectrometry.

Supervisors: Prof. Ulf Söderlund (LU), Dr. Paula Lindgren (SGU), Dr. Timmons M. Erickson (Jacobs—JETS, Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, NASA Johnson Space Center)