The SFMC jury has decided to award the 2023 Haüy-Lacroix prize jointly to Clément HERVIOU and Rémy PIERRU.
The PhD thesis of Clément HERVIOU entitled “Fluid circulation and deformation mechanisms in the Schistes Lustrés of the Liguro-Piedmont domain: Implications for the functioning of subduction zones”, was carried out at the Institut des Sciences de la Terre de Paris (Sorbonne University) under the supervision of Philippe Agard and Anne Verlaguet. The aim of his thesis was to gain a better understanding of the composition of fluids and how they migrate through the crust in the context of oceanic subduction. The jury appreciated Clément HERVIOU’s efforts to put the results into a broader perspective, illustrated by the integration of a variety of data, ranging from field data to analyses of fluid inclusions on a regional scale. This work is also an important contribution to our understanding of the palaeogeography and tectonometamorphic evolution of the Liguro-Piedmont area in the Western Alps.
Rémy PIERRU completed his PhD degree at the Magmas and Volcanoes Laboratory (University of Clermont-Auvergne) under the supervision of Denis Andrault and Geeth Manthilake. The aim of his thesis, entitled “High-pressure and high-temperature mantle melting: Application to the dynamics of the early Earth”, was to experimentally constrain the conditions under which the Earth’s mantle melts. The jury appreciated the novelty of the experimental approach used, for example to detect the first traces of partial melting. The uniqueness of these experiments, some of which were carried out at the synchrotron, was also noted. The implications of the results of Rémy PIERRU’s thesis for understanding the evolution of mantle melting during the Earth’s history, as the source of the magmas in the major Archean magma provinces, go far beyond the scope of experimental petrology.