Between 15 and 19 May 2022, Giorgia Stasi and Renata Barros from the Geological Survey of Belgium (GSB) were invited to participate in a field work as part of the European EUROPLANET research infrastructure. This field work was organised by our colleagues from Impossible Sensing (USA), in collaboration with Matís (Iceland) with the ambition to understand the best spots for the development of life in freshly formed volcanic rocks, valuable information for space exploration.
The main goal of the GSB was to provide geochemical expertise by using the portable LIBS (Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy) instrument developed in-house by Christian Burlet within the projects LIBS-SCReeN and ROBOMINERS. The geochemistry of various sites of the Fagradalsfjall lava field will be paired with microbiological analyses being carried out by Matís. Results could provide further opportunities of international collaboration and deployment of GSB’s analytical equipment for a variety of on-site analyses.
