Research Foci
High-temperature gas-solid reactions in plenetary environments
My research focuses on how high-temperature gas-rock interactions alter the surfaces, crusts, and the regolith of terrestrial planetary bodies. Direct sampling of volcanic or fumarolic gases in planetary environments is impossible, either because of extreme conditions such as on the Jupiter moon Io, or on Venus, or because volcanic activity has stopped billions of years ago, such as on the Moon or on Mercury. Experimental approaches are an important alternative to explore these processes in the laboratory and constrain planetary volatile budgets. I am currently funded through my DFG project “Gas-solid reactions in hot, reduced planetary environments” (project 442083018). In this project I study the behavior of S-rich volcanic and fumarolic gases at reducing conditions on the Moon and on Mercury.
Sulfur on Mercury
One of my current research interests is the question, what processes lead to the extreme enrichment of S on the surface of Mercury? I use silica glass tube experiments to investigate sulfidation processes under Mercury conditions that may be responsible for the enrichment of sulfur on the planets’ surface (up to 4 wt.%) (Weider et al., 2015; Mccoy et al., 2018; Nittler et al., 2018). By using graphite crucibles, gas-solid reactions can be conducted at reducing conditions that have been inferred for volcanic processes on Mercury. In an ongoing collaboration with the team of the ESA BepiColombo mid-infrared spectrometry instrument MERTIS (Mercury Radiometer and Thermal Infrared Spectrometer) at the Institut für Planetologie, Universität Münster, we use these experimental run products as reference materials for the observations expected from Mercury, allowing us to test the sulfidation hypothesis.
Element volatilization
An important research interest is in the speciation and volatilization behavior of chemical elements in volcanic gas phases (Renggli et al., 2017), and the volatilization from silicate melts. Within the framework of the SFB-TRR 170 “late accretion onto terrestrial planets” collaborative research center, funded by the German Research Foundation, I am an associate member and work with PhD candidates to study the effect of Cl and S on the volatilization of Zn, Cu and Ge, and the associated stable isotope fractionation. Additionally, we investigate the degassing and isotopic fraction of S and Te as a function of oxygen fugacity and temperature. Furthermore, we study the degassing of volatile and moderately volatile elements from metallic melts, to constrain their depletion in group IVB iron meteorites (Campbell and Humayun, 2005). These experiments will help us constrain the budget of late accreted materials and the earliest stages of planet formation.
CV
Academic Education
Positions
- Researcher, PI of DFG project RE4601/1 “Gas-solid reactions in hot, reduced planetary environments”
- Postdoctoral researcher, TRR 170, Project B7 “Experimental and isotopic investigations of volatile element loss during magma degassing”, Institut für Mineralogie, Universität Münster
- Swiss National Science Foundation Early Postdoc.Mobility Fellow, P2SKP2_181367 “Metal degassing from basaltic melts”, Institut für Mineralogie, University Münster
- TRR 170 Fellowship, Institut für Mineralogie, University Münster
Projects
- CRC TRR 170 - B07: Experimental and isotopic investigations of volatile element loss during magma degassing ()
Subproject in DFG-Joint Project Hosted at the University of Münster: DFG - Sonderforschungsbereich | Project Number: TRR 170/2 - Gas-Feststoffreaktionen in heißen, reduzierenden planetaren Bedingungen ()
Individual Granted Project: DFG - Sachbeihilfe/Einzelförderung | Project Number: RE 4601/1-1
Publications
Selection
- Renggli, CJ, Klemme, S, Morlok, A, Berndt, J, Weber, I, Hiesinger, H, and King, PL. . “Sulfides and hollows formed on Mercury’s surface by reactions with reducing S-rich gases.” Earth and Planetary Science Letters 593: 117647. doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117647.
Complete List
- Florin, G, Pangritz, P, Renggli, CJ, Gleißner, P, Berndt, J, Rohrbach, A, Becker, H, and Klemme, S. . “Isotopic fractionation of copper during silicate melt evaporation: effects of sulfur, fO2, and temperature.” Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 409: 131–146. doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2025.09.015.
- Haupt, CP, Stojic, AN, Morlok, A, Weber, I, Klemme, S, Hiesinger, H, and Renggli, CJ. . “Mid-infrared spectroscopy of lunar high-Ti basaltic glassy analogues.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 130 (12) e2024JE008895. doi: 10.1029/2024JE008895.
- Flemetakis, S, Renggli, CJ, Pangritz, P, Berndt, J, and Klemme, S. . “The effect of oxygen fugacity on the evaporation of boron from aluminoborosilicate melt.” European Journal of Mineralogy 36: 173–181. doi: 10.5194/ejm-36-173-2024.
- Haupt, CP, Renggli, CJ, Rohrbach, A, Berndt, J, Schwinger, S, Maurice, M, Schulze, M, Breuer, D, and Klemme, S. . “Trace element partitioning in the lunar magma ocean: an experimental study.” Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 179 45. doi: 10.1007/s00410-024-02118-z.
- Haupt, CP, Renggli, CJ, Rohrbach, A, Berndt, J, and Klemme, S. . “Experimental Constraints on the Origin of the Lunar High-Ti Basalts.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 129 (8) e2023JE008239. doi: 10.1029/2023JE008239.
- Reitze, MP, Renggli, C, Morlok, A, Weber, I, Rodehorst, U, Berndt, J, Klemme, S, and Hiesinger, H. . “Crystallographic and Mid-Infrared Spectroscopic Properties of the CaS-MgS Solid Solution.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 129: e2024JE0. doi: 10.1029/2024JE008483.
- Steenstra, ES, Renggli, CJ, Berndt, J, and Klemme, S. . “Quantification of evaporative loss of volatile metals from planetary cores and metal-rich planetesimals.” Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 384: 93–110. doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2024.08.021.
- Morlok, A, Renggli, C, Charlier, B, Namur, O, Klemme, S, Reitze, MP, Weber, IStojic AN, and Bauch KE, Hiesinger H Helbert J. . “A mid-infrared study of synthetic glass and crystal mixtures analog to the geochemical terranes on mercury.” Icarus 396: 115498. doi: 10.1016/j.icarus.2023.115498.
- Steenstra, ES, Renggli, JC, Berndt, J, and Klemme, S. . “Evaporation of moderately volatile elements from metal and sulfide melts: implications for volatile element abundances in magmatic iron meteorites.” Earth and Planetary Science Letters 622 (118406). doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118406.
- Pangritz, P, Renggli, CJ, Berndt, J, Rohrbach, A, and Klemme, S. . “Synthesis of large amounts of volatile element-bearing silicate glasses using a two-stage melting process.” ACS Earth and Space Chemistry 6 (4): 1108–1111. doi: 10.1021/acsearthspacechem.2c00020.
- Renggli, CJ, Klemme, S, Morlok, A, Berndt, J, Weber, I, Hiesinger, H, and King, PL. . “Sulfides and hollows formed on Mercury’s surface by reactions with reducing S-rich gases.” Earth and Planetary Science Letters 593: 117647. doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117647.
- Klemme, S, Genske, F, Sossi, P, Berndt, Renggli, C, and Stracke, A. . “Cr stable isotope fractionation by evaporation from silicate melts.” Chemical Geology 610 121096. doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2022.121096.
- Renggli, CJ, Hellmann, JL, Burkhardt, C, Klemme, S, Berndt, J, Pangritz, P, and Kleine, T. . “Tellurium isotope fractionation during evaporation from silicate melts.” Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 339: 35–45. doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2022.10.032.
- Morlok, A, Renggli, C, Charlier, B, Reitze, MP, Klemme, S, Namur, O, Sohn, M, Martin, D, Weber, I, Stojic, AN, Hiesinger, H, Joy, KH, Wogelius, R, Tollan, P, Carli, C, Bauch, KE, and Helbert, J. . “Mid-infrared reflectance spectroscopy of synthetic glass analogs for mercury surface studies.” Icarus 361: 114363. doi: 10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114363.
- Renggli, C, and Klemme, S. . “Experimental investigation of Apollo 16 ‘Rusty Rock’ formation by a lunar fumarolic gas.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 126: e2020JE006609.. doi: 10.1029/2020JE006609.
- Austrheim, Håkon, Corfu, Fernando, and Renggli, Christian J. . “From peridotite to fuchsite bearing quartzite via carbonation and weathering: with implications for the Pb budget of continental crust.” Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 176 94. doi: 10.1007/s00410-021-01851-z.
- Renggli, CJ, and Klemme, S. . “Experimental constraints on metal transport in fumarolic gases.” Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 400: 106929.. doi: 10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2020.106929.
- Renggli, Christian J., King, P.L., Henley, R.W., Guagliardo, P., McMorrow, L., Middleton, J.P., and Turner, M. . “An experimental study of SO2 reactions with silicate glasses and supercooled melts in the system anorthite–diopside–albite at high temperature.” Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 174 3. doi: 10.1007/s00410-018-1538-2.
- Renggli, Christian J., Palm, Andrew B., King, Penelope L., and Guagliardo, P. . “Implications of Reactions Between SO2 and Basaltic Glasses for the Mineralogy of Planetary Crusts.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 124: 2563–2582. doi: 10.1029/2019JE006045.
- Renggli, Christian J. . “Volcanic gases and the reaction of sulfur dioxide with aluminosilicate glasses.” Dissertation thesis, Australian National University. doi: 10.25911/5d5142f0d9852.
- King, P.L., Wheeler, V.M., Renggli, Christian J., Palm, A.B., Wilson, S.A., Harrison, A.L., Morgan, B., Nekvasil, H., Troitzsch, U., Mernagh, T., Yue, L., Bayon, A., DiFrancesco, N.J., Baile, R., Kreider, P., and Lipiński, W. . “Gas–solid reactions: Theory, experiments and case studies relevant to earth and planetary processes.” Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 84 (1): 1–56. doi: 10.2138/rmg.2018.84.1.
- Dalby, K.N., Berger, J.A., Brand, H.E. A., Cairney, J.M., Eder, K., Eggins, S.M., Herring, A., Hervig, R.L., Kreider, P.B., Mernagh, T.P., Palm, A.B., Renggli, Christian J., Troitzsch, U., Yue, L., and King, P.L. . “Analytical Techniques for Probing Small-Scale Layers that Preserve Information on Gas–Solid Interactions.” Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 84 (1): 103–175. doi: 10.2138/rmg.2018.84.4.
- Palm, A.B., King, P.L., Renggli, Christian J., Hervig, R.L., Herring, A., Mernagh, T.P., Eggins, S.M., Troitzsch, U., Levi, B., Kinsley, L., and Guagliardo, P. . “Unravelling the consequences of SO2–basalt reactions for geochemical fractionation and mineral formation.” Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 84 (1): 257–283. doi: 10.2138/rmg.2018.84.7.
- Renggli, Christian J., and King, Penelope L. . “SO2 Gas Reactions with Silicate Glasses.” Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 84 (1): 229–255. doi: 10.2138/rmg.2018.84.6.
- Renggli, Christian J., King, Penelope L., Henley, Richard W., and Norman, Marc D. . “Volcanic gas composition, metal dispersion and deposition during explosive volcanic eruptions on the Moon.” Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 206: 296–311. doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2017.03.012.
- Henley, R.W., Brink, F.J., King, P.L., Leys, C., Ganguly, J., Mernagh, T., Middleton, J., Renggli, Christian J., Sieber, M., Troitzsch, U., and Turner, M. . “High temperature gas–solid reactions in calc–silicate Cu–Au skarn formation; Ertsberg, Papua Province, Indonesia.” Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 172 106. doi: 10.1007/s00410-017-1413-6.
- Renggli, Christian J., Wiesmaier, Sebastian, De Campos, Christina P., Hess, Kai-Uwe, and Dingwell, Donald B. . “Magma mixing induced by particle settling.” Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 171 96. doi: 10.1007/s00410-016-1305-1.
- Henley, Richard W., King, Penelope L., Wykes, Jeremy L., Renggli, Christian J., Brink, Frank J., Clark, David A., and Troitzsch, Ulrike. . “Porphyry copper deposit formation by sub-volcanic sulphur dioxide flux and chemisorption.” Nature Geoscience 8 (3): 210–215. doi: 10.1038/ngeo2367.
- Wiesmaier, S., Morgavi, D., Renggli, Christian J., Perugini, D., De Campos, C.P., Hess, K.-U., Ertel-Ingrisch, W., Lavallée, Y., and Dingwell, D.B. . “Magma mixing enhanced by bubble segregation.” Solid Earth and Discussions 6: 1007–1023. doi: 10.5194/se-6-1007-2015.