Dr Sami Mikhail
Director of Research
Reader
Research areas
I am a geoscientist exploring the relationships between plate tectonics and the chemistry of planetary atmospheres. My research has provided new insights into how nitrogen and carbon are stored and cycled throughout the planet, I have drawn new links between the planet-wide carbon cycle and diamond-formation, and I have quantitatively shown how plate tectonics has altered the chemistry of Earth’s atmosphere. I am currently working to establish new ways to constrain the nature of long-term feedback systems which connect the biosphere, geosphere, and atmosphere on geological timescales.
PhD supervision
- Fawn Holland
- Frederik Märker
Selected publications
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Open access
Igneous rocks as a viable source of fixed nitrogen to the prebiotic world
Stüeken, E. E., Holland, F. S. M. & Mikhail, S., 28 May 2025, In: Geochemical Perspectives Letters. 35, p. 13-17 5 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Problems and solutions when quantifying nitrogen in silicate and oxide minerals and glasses using electron probe microanalysis
Mare, E. R., Chen, J., Buisman, I., Hayward, C., Burnham, A. D., Melai, C., Stüeken, E. E., Bromley, G. & Mikhail, S., 25 Apr 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research. Early View, 22 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Metasomatism is a source of methane on Mars
Rinaldi, M., Mikhail, S. & Sverjensky, D. A., 15 May 2024, In: Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 634, 9 p., 118672.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
A primary magmatic source of nitrogen to the Earth’s crust
Boocock, T. J., Mikhail, S., Boyce, A. J., Prytulak, J., Savage, P. S. & Stueeken, E. E., Jun 2023, In: Nature Geoscience. 16, p. 521–526 7 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Equilibrium partitioning and isotopic fractionation of nitrogen between biotite, plagioclase, and K-feldspar during magmatic differentiation
Boocock, T. J., Stüeken, E. E., Bybee, G. M., König, R., Boyce, A. J., Prytulak, J., Buisman, I. & Mikhail, S., 1 Sept 2023, In: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 356, p. 116-128 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Strongly peraluminous granites provide independent evidence for an increase in biomass burial across the Precambrian-Phanerozoic boundary
Mikhail, S., Stueeken, E. E., Boocock, T. J., Athey, M., Mappin, N., Boyce, A. J., Liebmann, J., Spencer, C. J. & Bucholz, C. E., 17 Nov 2023, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Geology. Early ViewResearch output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
The importance of carbon to the formation and composition of silicates during mantle metasomatism
Rinaldi, M., Mikhail, S., Sverjensky, D. A. & Kalita, J., 1 Sept 2023, In: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 356, p. 105-115 11 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Identification and quantification of fluorine speciation in CMAS silicate melts via 19F MAS NMR
Formoso, F., Melai, C., Joachim-Mrosko, B., Konzett, J., Bromiley, G., Mare, E. R., Dawson, D. M., Ashbrook, S. E. & Mikhail, S., 2 Jun 2022.Research output: Contribution to conference › Poster
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Open access
Polycrystalline diamonds from kimberlites: snapshots of rapid and episodic diamond formation in the lithospheric mantle
Jacob, D. E. & Mikhail, S., 5 Jul 2022, In: Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry. 88, 1, p. 167-189 23 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Polycrystalline diamonds from kimberlites: snapshots of rapid and episodic diamond formation in the lithospheric mantle
Jacob, D. E. & Mikhail, S., 19 Dec 2022, Diamond: genesis, mineralogy and geochemistry. Berlin: de Gruyter, p. 167-190 24 p. (Reviews in mineralogy and geochemistry; vol. 88).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter