James Darling

James Darling is a Professor of Earth and Planetary Materials at the University of Portsmouth, affiliated with the School of the Environment and Life Sciences and the Department of Environmental Geography and Geosciences. His research focuses on planetary crust evolution, shock metamorphism, and micro-scale geochemical analysis using advanced techniques like atom probe tomography and femtosecond laser ablation. He leads the Centre for Applied Geosciences and the Institute of the Earth and Environment, exploring topics such as Martian magmatism, lunar impact basins, and early Earth crust formation. Darling’s work integrates field studies, lab experiments, and analytical tools to decode geological records from meteorites and terrestrial samples. He supervises PhD students on projects involving ore deposits, impact processes, and planetary evolution.

• Education: Not explicitly stated in provided texts.
• Research Themes: Planetary crust evolution, impact events, microstructural geochronology, ore systems, and analytical geochemistry.

His recent publications highlight discoveries such as a 4.33 billion-year-old lunar impact basin and insights into Martian meteorite origins. He actively collaborates on international projects, including analyses of returned extraterrestrial samples.