Date/Time
Date(s) - 05/14/2026
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
Location
Wynkoop Brewing Company
Categories
May DGS Luncheon: Dr. Biruk Cherkose “Mapping serpentinization in geologic hydrogen systems using magnetotelluric phase tensor”
Wynkoop, Thursday, May 14th
11:30-1:00
“Mapping serpentinization in geologic hydrogen systems using magnetotelluric phase tensor”
Dr. Biruk Abera Cherkose, Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Geophysics, Energy, and Minerals (CGEM), Colorado School of Mines
Geologic hydrogen has attracted increasing attention in recent years from both academia and the energy industry as a promising emerging energy resource. Among the different mechanisms proposed for its generation, one of the most important is the serpentinization of ultramafic rocks, a water-rock reaction in which hot fluids interact with Fe-rich minerals.
Conventional geophysical approaches for identifying serpentinization typically focus on changes in bulk physical properties. However, serpentinization is not only a bulk alteration process. These processes generate electrical anisotropy, which contains information about rock fabric and alteration geometry that may not be fully captured by isotropic bulk-property analysis alone.
In this presentation, we investigate the use of magnetotelluric (MT) phase tensor analysis as a means of detecting electrical anisotropy associated with serpentinization.
Our results show that phase tensor analysis can provide a valuable additional perspective for detecting serpentinization-related anisotropy in potential geologic hydrogen source rocks. This expands the geophysical toolkit available for geologic hydrogen exploration by moving beyond bulk-property detection toward the identification of directionally organized conductive fabrics linked to alteration processes. In this sense, the proposed approach offers not only a method for recognizing serpentinized zones, but also a framework for better understanding the structural and physical architecture of hydrogen-generating systems.
Speaker Bio
Dr. Cherkose obtained PhD degree in Geosciences from the UAE University, Master degree from Kyushu University in Japan in the field of Earth Resources Engineering. In the Geological Survey of Ethiopia, Dr. Cherkose has contributed to geothermal exploration as an exploration geophysicist. Dr. Cherkose investigated subsurface structures of the Semail Ophiolite in the UAE, with emphasis on ophiolite obduction processes and foreland basin formation. Currently, Dr. Cherkose’s research focuses on geologic hydrogen exploration, particularly using magnetotelluric methods to map serpentinization in mafic and ultramafic rocks that may serve as source rocks in natural hydrogen systems.
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