Research Groups

Earth and Planetary Material Science

The time and space scales of many geological phenomena are beyond those of history and access of mankind. Therefore, we need to study natural rocks and minerals which preserve information of the Earth activities, to understand what happened in past, and to predict geological future events. Members of this group study the natural rocks and minerals using cutting edge research tools such as a sensitive high resolution ion microprobe, X-ray fluorescence/Raman spectrometers, transmission/scanning electron microscopes, X-ray diffractometer and others, in addition to field survey. Our main topics include 1) evolution of continental crusts, 2) rock flow mechanism, 3) process of fault motion, 4) formation process of ore, 5) rock-fluid interaction and 6) crystallographic characteristics of minerals and their applications.

Earth and Planetary Physics

Present internal structures of the Earth and planets are the results of long-term deformation and fractionation of internal component materials since their births. To study internal structure leads us to know internal material properties and transport mechanisms. And, conversely, to study material properties and transport mechanisms takes us into understanding how present internal structures were created. In this group, we study internal structures, material properties and their transport mechanisms in the Earth and other planets from analyses of seismic waves, friction experiments, high-temperature and high-pressure experiments, and numerical simulations.

Earth and Planetary Chemistry

Earth and Planetary Chemistry group is working on cosmochemistry for exterritorial materials (meteorite and cosmic dust), geochemistry for magma dynamics, chemical evolution experiments for biochemical precursor, experimental paleontology for fossil, sedimentary rock, and microbe to understand the evolution for the solar system, the Earth, and life for 4.6 Ga. We use a Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer (TIMS), Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS), pyrolysis Gas Chromatography-Mass spectrometer (GCMS), electron microscope (e.g., SEM, TEM, EDS, and EBSD), and Synchrotron Radiation (e.g., XRD and STXM) to achieve our goal.

Integrated Earth and Ocean Sciences (Institute for Interdisciplinary Science)

We study issues of geosciences, such as earthquakes and global environmental changes, by analyzing drill core samples and related materials recovered from a wide range of locations from continents to deep-sea floor with an interdisciplinary approach.