James Bryson

Sollas Tutorial Fellow in Mineralogy; Associate Professor of Mineralogy

Teaching

At Univ, I am the tutorial fellow in Earth Sciences. As such, I teach a broad range of introductory topics to the first and second years within the College. In the department, I give lectures on mineralogy, mineral physics, planetary formation and the chemical, isotopic and physical evolution of the early solar system.

Research

My research focuses on understanding the early evolution of the solar system and planetary bodies. I utilise a range of techniques to accomplish this task, including paleomagnetic, chemical, structural and textural measurements of ancient terrestrial and extraterrestrial samples. My previous research has constrained the mechanism by which asteroids generated magnetic fields, which provided a unique window into their thermal evolution over their active lifetimes. Moreover, I have used magnetic measurements to constrain the spatial origins of different meteorite groups within the solar system, which has provided constraints on the migration of both asteroid-sized bodies and the earliest millimetre-sized solids throughout the solar system.

Selected Publications

• Bryson J. F. J., Neufeld J. A. & Nimmo F., (2019) Constraints on asteroid magnetic field evolution and the radii of meteorite parent bodies from thermal modelling, Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 521, 68-67.
• Bryson J. F. J., Weiss B. P., Getzin B., Abraham J., Nimmo F. & Scholl A., (2019), Paleomagnetic evidence for a partially differentiated ordinary chondrite parent asteroid, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 124
• Bryson J. F. J., Weiss B. P., Harrison R. J., Herrero-Albillos J. & Kronast F. (2017), Paleomagnetic evidence for dynamo activity driven by inward crystallisation of a metallic asteroid, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 472, 152-163.
• Bryson J. F. J., Nichols C. I. O., Herrero-Albillos J., Kronast F., Kasama T., Alimadadi H., van der Laan G., Nimmo F. & Harrison R. J. (2015) Long-lived magnetism from solidification-driven convection on the pallasite parent body. Nature, 517, 472-475