Citation
Baptiste Journaux
has emerged as a leader in the application of mineral physics to planetary
sciences and solar system exploration. He is seeking to better understand
internal processes, chemistry, evolution, and habitability of extraterrestrial
oceans in icy moons of our solar system and water-rich exoplanets. The tools in
this work are at the cutting edge of mineral physics research using
state-of-the-art synchrotron facilities. Conditions predicted for thick
hydrosphere worlds are exotic and basic properties (phase equilibria, density,
and other thermodynamic properties) of even simple system such as pure water,
or H2O-NaCl remain largely unstudied at the relevant
conditions. Baptiste’s work
has challenged the planetary community to move beyond models based on “pure”
water and ices. He and
collaborators recently reported the discovery of three new NaCl hydrate
phases stable in the interiors and at surfaces of icy worlds, proposed an
update to the canonical H2O-NaCl phase diagram at 1 bar,
suggested a new process for pressure-induced high H2O number
hydrate structures, and provided an explanation for cryptic spectral feature
previously unexplained at the surface of Europa and Ganymede. Interpretation of
mineral assemblages observed at the surface of icy worlds by upcoming major
space missions will require a full knowledge of petrological equilibrium and
dynamic processes at depth to unravel questions of planetary evolution and
habitability. As a rare high-pressure mineral physics member of a NASA mission
(the Dragonfly science team), he is enabling a new bridge between the mineral
physics and planetary science communities. Baptiste’s infectious enthusiasm and
consistently positive outlook leads to inclusive and productive collaborations
that will continue to generate high quality science in the coming years.
- J. Michael Brown
University of Washington
Response
I am deeply honored to receive this year's AGU Early Career
Award in Mineral and Rock Physics. I want to acknowledge the pivotal role of
the AGU MRP section and its various committees in fostering such a vibrant
sense of community among us, both during the fall meetings and throughout the
year.
I would like to thanks, first and foremost, the person that I see as a mentor,
a colleague and a close friend: J. Michael Brown, for believing in me,
supporting me and to have taught me so much about mineral physics fundamentals
in the last few years, always with incredible insight, vision, kindness and
humility. I am forever grateful to have run into him between the MRP poster
rows as graduate student 10 years ago and vanquish my nervousness to go shake
his hand and ask if he had postdoc opportunities.
Some scientists are self-made, I am not. If this award is
singular, the research it celebrates is fundamentally collaborative. I have
been fortunate to collaborate with incredible, talented and inspiring
scientists over the last decade. Among many, I would like to express my
appreciation to my first posdoc mentor, Maurine Montagnat of the University
Grenoble-Alpes to inspire me to persist in academic research. I also wish to
take a moment to honor our colleague, Evan Abramson, who tragically passed away
in early 2022. Evan's passion and profound understanding of condensed matter
physics and experimental thermodynamics will continue to inspire my work and
remain an aspiration throughout my career.
I want also to profoundly thank Anna Pakhomova, Sylvain Petitgirard, Ines
Collings and Tiziana Boffa-Ballaran with who we spent many sleepless nights at
synchrotrons (and probably more in the future), for their crucial role and
unique complementary skills in high pressure research and crystallography. I
would also like to thank the unconditional support of Planetary Science
colleagues, particularly Steve Vance, Morgan Cable, Gabriel Tobie and Mark
Panning for helping me bridge the gap between fundamental mineral physics and
planetary exploration. None of this would have been possible without each and
every one of these individuals.
The study of icy moons and oceanic exoplanet interiors, and their potential
habitability, lies at a captivating intersection of mineral physics, planetary
science, astrobiology, and space exploration. The future of this field is
promising, with three major missions set to explore Europa, Ganymede, and Titan
in the 2030s. I hope to see many young scientists becoming as enthralled
as we are with one of the most captivating classes of minerals: ice, in all its
diverse forms. I strongly believe that the most fascinating and unexpected
discoveries are still ahead of us.- Baptiste Journaux, University of Washington
