¿ìèÊÓƵ

You are here

  1. Home
  2. Dr Julia Semprich

Dr Julia Semprich

Julia in Iceland among rocks using a field spectrometer.

Profile summary

  • Research Staff
  • Research Fellow
  • Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics
  • School of Environment, Earth & Ecosystem Sciences
  • julia.semprich

Professional biography

I am a petrologist and planetary scientist studying processes in the crust and mantle of rocky planets in our and other solar systems and implications for their habitability. As a Research Fellow in AstrobiologyOU at the Open University, my research is focused on understanding the role of fluids in the crust of terrestrial planets, particularly Mars and Venus. Prior to that I was the Graham Ryder Fellow at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston studying hydrothermal alteration in the martian crust and surface alteration of Venus. As a post-doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Campinas, I studiedÌýthe formation of Earth's Archean crust using petrological and trace element models. I received my PhD in Geosciences at the University of Oslo, Norway.

Ìý

2020 - present: Research Fellow, AstrobiologyOU, ¿ìèÊÓƵ, Milton Keynes, UK

2018-2019: Graham Ryder Fellow, Lunar and Planetary Institute, USRA, Houston, Texas, USA

2017: Visiting Fellow - ¿ìèÊÓƵ, Milton Keynes, UK

2014-2016: Post-doctoral Research Fellow, University of Campinas, Brazil

2013: PhD in Geosciences, UniversityÌýof Oslo, Norway

Research interests

My research interests centre around processes in the crust and mantle of terrestrial (Earth-like) planets in our Solar System and beyond and specifically the role of fluids in planetary evolution from crust formation to alteration. I used a combination of approaches including modelling, field measurements, analytical work, and experimental approaches to understand metamorphic and magmatic processes in the crust and their implication for habitable environments.

Venus is our closestÌýneighbour and very similar in size and mass to Earth and yet has taken a fundamentally different evolutionary parth. While Eath has surface water and hosts life, the conditions on Venus are caustic with temperatures resembling a pizza oven (~470 °C), pressures of 90 bars, and a CO2-dominated atmosphere. There are some indicators, however,Ìý that Venus may have had more water in the past and could have been more hospitable.ÌýIn my research I use models and experiments to better understand how the venusian crust formed which included understanding the role of water. This is particularly exciting since several mission will be exploring Venus in the late 2020s and early 2030s such as NASA's and missions, and ESA's mission. I am a Co-I on the EnVisionÌýmission'sÌý, a multispectral imaging system that will measure atmorpheric, thermal, and compositional signanatures to search for volcanic activiy and compile a global map of the composition of the venusian surface.

In many ways, Mars is the opposite of Venus. It is only about half the size of Earth and has a veryÌýthin atmosphere, resulting in extreme fluctuations in surface temperaturesÌýwhich are predominantly too low for surface water to exist at present. Decades of Mars scienceÌýhas shown evidence of long-lasting water activity with two NASA roversÌý and Ìýstill exploring different parts of the planet. While the surface may presently not be a habitable environment, conditions in the subsurface could be much more favorable for microbial communities. I study fluid-rock interactions in hydrothermal systems, where fluids are heated up by either volcanic activity or meteorite impacts and could provide the temperatures and nutrients to created habitable subsurface environments on Mars. My approach combines modelling with an analogue hydrothermal system in Vatnajöjull National Park, Iceland (see header image). The anaologue site is composed of a sequence of mainly basaltic rocks formed by a central volcano around 5-6 million years ago and was then exposed to hot fluids forming new minerals deposited as veins. The goal of the field work is to characterise the hydrothermal minerals and understand the extent of the alteration, which can then be compared to observations from Mars.

The differences recorded in terrestrial planets in our Solar System suggests that planets in other solar systems can form and evolve in a variety of settings. I am interested in the role of water and other fluids in the formation and evolution of planetary crusts in various settings, the implications for habitble world, and how they can be detected by observations and measurements.

Teaching interests

I am a member of the module team for S209 Earth Science specialising in igneous and metamorphic petrology. I am specifically interested in making geology more accessible in the form of virtual field trips and in the OU's extended reality studios. Together with a drone team, we have created a 3-D model of part of the field area in Iceland.

Ìý

Impact and engagement

2024-2025 for the Mineralogical Society of America.

, Glasgow Science festival.

interactive (OpenLearn)

(OpenLearn)

Milton Keynes International Festival, 2023, Cabaret of Ideas.

Bang Goes DG 2022 and 2023.Ìý

2023.

Publications

(2023-01)
Bowden, Donald Lewis; Bridges, John C.; Cousin, Agnes; Rapin, William; Semprich, Julia; Gasnault, Olivier; Forni, Olivier; Gasda, Patrick; Das, Debarati; Payré, Valerie; Sautter, Violaine; Bedford, Candice C.; Wiens, Roger C.; Pinet, Patrick and Frydenvang, Jens
Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 58(1) (pp. 41-62)

(2023)
Treiman, Allan H. and Semprich, Julia
American Mineralogist, 108(12) (pp. 2182-2192)

(2022-01)
Semprich, Julia; Filiberto, Justin; Treiman, Allan H. and Schwenzer, Susanne P.
Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 57(1) (pp. 77-104)

(2020-07)
Semprich, Julia and Filiberto, Justin
Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 55(7) (pp. 1600-1614)

(2020)
Semprich, Julia; Filiberto, Justin and Treiman, Allan H.
Icarus, 346, Article 113779

(2019-09-01)
Oliveira, Elson P.; Talavera, Cristina; Windley, Brian F.; Zhao, Lei; Semprich, Julia J.; McNaughton, Neal J.; Amaral, Wagner S.; Sombini, Gabriel; Navarro, Margareth and Silva, Dailto
Precambrian Research, 331, Article 105366

(2019-03)
Semprich, J.; Schwenzer, S. P.; Treiman, A. H. and Filiberto, J.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 124(3) (pp. 681-702)

(2017-06)
Moreno, J.A.; Baldim, M.R.; Semprich, J.; Oliveira, E.P.; Verma, S. and Teixeira, W.
Precambrian Research, 294 (pp. 322-343)

(2015-10)
Semprich, Julia; Moreno, Juan Antonio and Oliveira, Elson Paiva
Precambrian Research, 269 (pp. 122-138)

(2015-08-01)
Pedreira, David; Afonso, Juan Carlos; Pulgar, Javier A.; Gallastegui, Jorge; Carballo, Alberto; Fernàndez, Manel; Garcia-Castellanos, Daniel; Jiménez-Munt, Ivone; Semprich, Julia and García-Moreno, Olga
Lithos, 230 (pp. 46-68)

(2015-02)
Semprich, J. and Vrijmoed, J.C.
Lithos, 216-217 (pp. 298-314)

(2014-03)
Semprich, J. and Simon, N.S.C.
Gondwana Research, 25(2) (pp. 668-684)

(2010-10)
Semprich, Julia; Simon, Nina S. C. and Podladchikov, Yuri Yu.
International Journal of Earth Sciences, 99(7) (pp. 1487-1510)

(2014)
Hölttä, Pentti; Heilimo, Esa; Huhma, Hannu; Kontinen, Asko; Mertanen, Satu; Mikkola, Perttu; Paavola, Jorma; Peltonen, Petri; Semprich, Julia; Slabunov, Alexander and Sorjonen-Ward, Peter
In: Dilek, Y and Furnes, H eds. Evolution of Archean Crust and Early Life (pp. 55-102)
Publisher : Springer | Published : Dordrecht

(2024)
Semprich, Julia
In : Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (11-15 Mar 2024, The Woodlands, Houston, Texas)

(2024)
Semprich, Julia
In : Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (11-15 Mar 2024, The Woodlands, Houston, Texas)

(2023)
Semprich, Julia and Filiberto, Justin
In : 54th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (13-17 Mar 2023, Houston, TX, USA)

(2023)
Semprich, Julia
In : 54th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (13-17 Mar 2023, Houston, TX, USA)

(2023)
Semprich, Julia
In : Venus as a System Conference (1-3 Nov 2003, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Albuquerque, New Mexico)

(2023)
Fox-Powell, Mark; Wolfenbarger, Natalie; Buffo, Jacob; Semprich, Julia and Ramkissoon, Nisha
In : Workshop on the Origins and Habitability of the Galilean Moons (24-26 Oct 2023, Marseille, France)

(2023)
Fox-Powell, Mark; Wolfenbarger, Natalie; Buffo, Jacob; Semprich, Julia and Ramkissoon, Nisha
In : 54th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (13-17 Mar 2023, Houston, TX, USA)

(2022-03)
Baker, Aedan; Semprich, Julia; Schwenzer, Susanne; Greenwood, Richard C. and Filiberto, Justin
In : 53rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (7-11 Mar 2022, Houston, TX)

(2022)
Semprich, Julia and Filiberto, Justin
In : 53rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (7-11 Mar 2022, Houston, TX, USA)

(2021)
Fox-Powell, Mark; Buffo, Jacob; Wolfenbarger, Natalie; Semprich, Julia; Ramkissoon, Nisha; Vance, Steven; Schwenzer, Susanne and Pearson, Victoria
In : 52nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2021 (15-19 Mar 2021, Online)