Projects per year
Personal profile
Scholarly biography
Martin Smith is Professor of Geochemistry, a geologist, geochemist and mineralogist, and is the subject area lead for Geology. He has 25 years experience in geochemistry applied to problems in mineral deposit geology, hydrogeology and environmental mineralogy, and has been a Chartered Geologist with the Geological Society of London since 2012.
Research interests
My research interests can broadly be classified under the heading of water-rock interaction. This covers the chemical and physical interaction of fluids with earth materials from high temperature igneous systems to environment mineralogy and fluid chemistry. Current research interests include the genesis of rare earth element and iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits, the influence of unsaturated zone flow on groundwater chemistry, particularly with respect to diffuse urban pollution, and the redox mineralogy of marine steel corrosion. The latter is an interdisciplinary project with civil engineering and microbiology colleagues.
In the past I have worked on the genesis of iron oxide-copper-gold mineral deposit systems in Sweden and Kazakhstan, including their geochronology, mineralogy and fluid chemistry, all with the aim of producing new and better constrained genetic models. I have also worked on a range of other mineralising systems including shear zone-hosted gold, karst-hosted bauxite and granite related Sn-W mineralisation.
Approach to teaching
The foundation of all geology and earth sciences is field and laboratory observation, and I try to ensure all my teaching is firmly grounded in these strongly practical skills. I lead the level five (year two) field course to Almeria, Spain with BSc Geology and BSc Physical Geography and Geology students, where students are guided through field observation and data collection in a range of environments before spending two days independently constructing a field map and interpreting the geological evolution of an area.
I am also passionate about geological research and communicating this to students – I teach areas such as planetary geology and global earth processes where I introduce students to some of the latest ideas in geology and encourage them to carry out their own research using the scientific literature. With all my teaching the best result for the students are when they get fully involved and engage with activities, such as locating a historic landfill site using geophysical techniques on a cold November morning!
Supervisory Interests
Projects in geochemistry and mineralogy specifically applied to: ore deposit genesis and mineral exploration, critical metals and the environmental impacts of mining; Hydrogeology and the behaviour of nutrient and heavy metals (rural and urban environments); environmental controls on matieral corrosion.
Education/Academic qualification
PhD, University of Leeds
Award Date: 1 Jul 1995
Bachelor, University of Liverpool
Award Date: 1 Jul 1991
External positions
Associate Scientist, The Natural History Museum, London
2001 → …Keywords
- QE Geology
- Geochemistry
- Mineralogy
- Ore Genesis
- Hydrogeology
- QD Chemistry
- Corrosion
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Network
Projects
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Socorro: Seeking out corrosion - before it is too late
Smith, M., Burgess, H., Cooper, I., Willows, A. & Moles, N.
1/03/20 → 31/12/22
Project: EU / International
Research Output
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Adsorption of rare earth elements in regolith-hosted clay deposits
Borst, A., Smith, M., Finch, A., Estrade, G., Villanova-De-Benavent, C., Nason, P., Marquis, E., Horsburgh, N., Goodenough, K. M., Xu, C., Kynicky, J. & Geriaki, K., 1 Sep 2020, In : Nature Communications. 11, 1, 15 p., 4386.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Open AccessFile -
Formation of the giant Aynak copper deposit, Afghanistan: evidence from mineralogy, lithogeochemistry and sulphur isotopes
Waizy, H., Moles, N., Smith, M. & Boyce, A., 4 Oct 2020, In : International Geology Review. 25 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Open AccessFile -
Unsaturated zone flow processes and aquifer response time in the Chalk Aquifer, Brighton, South East England
Al-Jaf, P., Smith, M. & Gunzel, F., 21 Oct 2020, In : Groundwater. p. 1-15 15 p., 13055.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
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Accelerated low water corrosion: the microbial sulfur cycle in microcosm
Smith, M., Brennan, R., Burgess, H., Bardiau, M., Caplin, J., Ray, S. & Urios, T., 25 Oct 2019, In : npj Materials Degradation. 3, 37.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Open AccessFile -
Economic Mineralization in Pegmatites: Comparing and Contrasting Nyf and Lct Examples
Goodenough, K. M., Shaw, R., Smith, M., Estrade, G., Marquis, E., Bernard, C. & Nex, P., 30 Sep 2019, In : Canadian Mineralogist. 57, 5, p. 753-755 3 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article