Dr. Eric Runge

Chair of Endogenous Geodynamics

Research associates

Contact

• Email: eric.runge@fau.de

DFG Walter Benjamin Fellow

Research summary

I am a geobiologist interested in microbial life in past and present extreme environments, such as hydrothermal systems or the continental deep subsurface. My tools include textural, mineralogical, and (isotope) geochemical analyses of (bio)minerals as archives of biosignatures.

Current Project: “Assessing the preservation of biosignatures in shallow marine hydrothermal systems through time”

Mineralization from shallow marine hydrothermal systems records up to 3.5 billion-year-old textural and isotopic evidence of microbial life, highlighting the pivotal role of these environments in understanding the origin and early evolution of life. However, interpreting these records is particularly challenging because hydrothermal processes can mimic, alter or erase geobiological signals recorded in minerals. I aim to tackle this problem by comparatively studying modern analogs of ancient shallow marine hydrothermal systems and their adjacent, recently fossilized counterparts. I combine microscale textural (RL microscopy, SEM), mineralogical (Raman spectroscopy), geochemical (µ-XRF, LA-ICP-MS), and stable isotope (SIMS) analyses to detect biosignatures and assess their fate through time. This approach will aid in the deduction of geobiological information from ancient hydrothermal mineralization.

Selected publications

• Runge, E., M. Mansor, T.-H. Chiu, J. Shuster, S. Fischer, A. Kappler, and J.-P. Duda, 2024, Hydrothermal sulfidation of biogenic magnetite produces framboid-like pyrite: Communications Earth & Environment, v. 5, p. 252.
• Runge, E. A., M. Mansor, J. Shuster, S. Fischer, Y. Liu, D. J. Lunter, A. Kappler, and J.-P. Duda, 2023, Sulfidation of nano-magnetite to pyrite: Implications for interpreting paleoenvironmental proxies and biosignature records in hydrothermal sulfide deposits: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 617, p. 118261, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118261.
• Runge, E. A., M. Mansor, A. Kappler, and J.-P. Duda, 2023, Microbial biosignatures in ancient hydrothermal sulfides: Geobiology, v. 21, no. 3, p. 355–377.