The German Mineralogical Society awards the Victor Moritz Goldschmidt Prize to Oliver Plümper in recognition of his outstanding scientific achievements and fundamental contributions to the field of Mineralogy.
In his recent research, Dr. Plümper has made substantial contributions to the mechanistic understanding of fluid flow in crystalline rocks. His work is highly interdisciplinary and is characterized by linking processes across multiple length scales. His studies combine detailed field observations with high-resolution analytical techniques such as transmission electron microscopy, nano-tomography, and Raman spectroscopy. These observations form the basis for evidence-based numerical simulations using thermodynamic and molecular dynamics approaches. On the one hand, he has demonstrated how large-scale fluid-induced alteration and the hydration of the Earth's crust can develop in the first place, showing that crustal alteration ultimately results from the cumulative effects of processes operating at the smallest scales. On the other hand, he has investigated the dehydration of subducting tectonic plates, demonstrating that the porosity generated during dehydration immediately develops into channelized structures. These findings show that the dehydration of rocks consistently proceeds along such channelized porosity networks.
