About

Rajdeep Dasgupta is the W. Maurice Ewing Professor of Earth Systems Science at Rice University, specializing in the formation and evolution of Earth and other rocky planetary bodies. His research investigates how interior processes influence surface chemistry and habitability, primarily through laboratory experiments and geochemical analyses, complemented by thermodynamic and other modeling approaches. His work encompasses magmatic processes in various tectonic settings, mantle melting, planetary volcanism, deep volatile cycles of Earth and other terrestrial planets, the origin of volatiles, and planetary differentiation. Dr. Dasgupta holds a B.Sc. in Geological Sciences and an M.Sc. in Applied Geology from Jadavpur University, India, and a Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Minnesota.

Research topics

• Astrophysics
• Chemistry
• Mineralogy
• Geology
• Organic chemistry
• Environmental chemistry
• Physics
• Geochemistry
• Astronomy
• Ecology

Selected publications

• Mantle Melting Conditions of Mare Lavas on South Pole–Aitken Basin of Lunar Farside

  Geophysical Research Letters · 2025-03-11 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract The understanding of thermal evolution and magmatic history of the Moon has so far been informed by studies of rock samples from the nearside. However, the recently completed Chang'E‐6 mission by China National Space Administration has returned the first samples from the lunar farside, providing a unique opportunity to refine our understanding of the Moon's history. To provide context for future research on these returned samples, we use remote sensing data and geochemical modeling to infer temperature and pressure conditions of the lunar mantle that could generate the surface lavas in Apollo basin on the lunar farside. The estimated melt‐mantle equilibration conditions cover a temperature range from 1,170°C to 1,430°C and a pressure range from 0.3 to 1.7 GPa, requiring mantle potential temperatures of 1,220°C–1430°C. The mantle melting conditions on farside are cooler and shallower than those on the nearside mantle, if the mantle compositions are similar.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Sulfur inventory of the young lunar mantle constrained by experimental sulfide saturation of Chang’e-5 mare basalts and a new sulfur solubility model for silicate melts in equilibrium with sulfides of variable metal–sulfur ratio

  Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta · 2025-02-21 · 5 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Storage capacity and partitioning of sulfur during silicate melting of the Earth’s shallow upper mantle and the evolution of S/Dy during MORB-source melting

  Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta · 2025-06-24 · 2 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• The Existing Frameworks of Delivery of Major Volatiles and the Feasibility of Mars-Mass Planetary Embryos as the Major Volatile Contributors to Bulk Silicate Earth

  Astrobiology · 2025-09-26 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author

  The presence of major volatile elements—carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulfur—on Earth is critical for establishing life. The origin of these life-essential volatile elements (LEVEs) on Earth has been studied for many years. Here, we present a brief compilation of the prevailing ideas regarding volatile delivery to Earth and evaluate their origins, strengths, and weaknesses. Motivated by the fact that one model of LEVE delivery is via a giant impactor to Earth, we subsequently present a geochemical model aimed at understanding the possible volatile inventory and fractionation between the core, the silicate magma ocean (MO), and the atmosphere of a Mars-mass embryo. We looked at various end-member accretion scenarios of the embryo and their influence on the embryo’s LEVE budget and the LEVE ratios. We varied various chemical (initial concentration of volatiles in the undifferentiated bodies and the oxygen fugacity [ f O 2 ] of geochemical fractionation) and physical parameters (silicate-mass fraction of the accreting bodies, MO depth) to observe their effects on the absolute and relative LEVE budgets of the embryo. Our results show that an oxidizing condition (log f O 2 ≥ IW−1 [Iron-Wüstite]) is critical in establishing the relative LEVE budget of the embryo’s MO, closer to that of present-day bulk silicate Earth. Furthermore, the accretion of larger bodies to form the Mars-mass embryo results in the closest match of the LEVE ratios to that of the present-day bulk silicate Earth (BSE). However, the absolute LEVE budget of the MO of Mars-mass embryo is depleted by at least 1–2 orders of magnitude compared with the BSE under all model calculation scenarios. In contrast, the CI-chondrite-normalized LEVE budget of the embryos’s core, in many of the scenarios, especially from the reduced ( e.g., IW−2) bodies, overlaps or exceeds the present-day BSE estimate. We argue that for a Mars-mass, differentiated embryo, the cores provide a better prospect for LEVE delivery to proto-Earth, through core breakups and subsequent mixing in the MO or solid mantle. Future studies need to better assess whether the fractional retention of core materials in the silicate reservoir can match the present-day BSE LEVE budgets and how such a process compares with the LEVE delivery via less-processed primitive asteroids.

  PublisherDOI

• Water Storage in Hydrous Minerals in the Shallow Martian Mantle

  2025-01-06

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  In this paper we investigate the possibility of storing water in the shallow martian mantle under water-saturated fluid absent conditions for different bulk silicate mars (BSM) compositions. We performed phase equilibria experiments on two BSM compositions with comparable Mg number for pressure between 2 and 4 GPa, temperatures between 950 to 1150°C, and for a water content of 0.3 % wt. The amphibole stability fields derived from both compositions are consistent with previous results obtained for Earth-like composition: (i) the water-saturated fluid-absent conditions expand the stability field towards higher pressures and temperature compared to fluid present conditions for both compositions tested; and (ii) the martian alkali-rich composition tend to stabilize the amphiboles at higher temperatures, as it is the case for alkali-rich Earth-like compositions. We used these results to recalculate the water storage capacity of the early martian mantle: by taking into account the possibility of amphibole crystallization in the upper mantle, the storage capacity of water in the martian mantle increases by 40 to 1000 Earth’s ocean mass (400 m to 1.5 km Global Equivalent Layer) depending on the bulk composition, water content and temperature profile of the martian mantle.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Forming Mercury-analog planets in the solar neighborhood

  2024-01-01

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Volatile atmospheres of lava worlds

  Astronomy and Astrophysics · 2024-05-13 · 17 citations

  articleOpen access

  Context. A magma ocean (MO) is thought to be a ubiquitous stage in the early evolution of rocky planets and exoplanets. During the lifetime of the MO, exchanges between the interior and exterior envelopes of the planet are very efficient. In particular, volatile elements that initially are contained in the solid part of the planet can be released and form a secondary outgassed atmosphere. Aims. We determine trends in the H–C–N–O–S composition and thickness of these secondary atmospheres for varying planetary sizes and MO extents, and the oxygen fugacity of MOs, which provides the main control for the atmospheric chemistry. Methods. We used a model with coupled chemical gas-gas and silicate melt-gas equilibria and mass conservation to predict the composition of an atmosphere at equilibrium with the MO depending on the planet size and the extent and redox state of the MO. We used a self-consistent mass–radius model for the rocky core to inform the structure of the planet, which we combined with an atmosphere model to predict the transit radius of lava worlds. Results. The resulting MOs have potential temperatures ranging from 1415 to 4229 K, and their outgassed atmospheres have total pressures from 3.3 to 768 bar. We find that MOs (especially the shallow ones) on small planets are generally more reduced, and are thus dominated by H 2 -rich atmospheres (whose outgassing is strengthened at low planetary mass), while larger planets and deeper MOs vary from CO to CO 2 –N 2 –SO 2 atmospheres, with increasing $\[f_{\mathrm{O}_2}\]$. In the former case, the low molecular mass of the atmosphere combined with the low gravity of the planets yields a large vertical extension of the atmosphere, while in the latter cases, secondary outgassed atmospheres on super-Earths are likely significantly shrunk. Both N and C are largely outgassed regardless of the conditions, while the S and H outgassing is strongly dependent on the $\[f_{\mathrm{O}_2}\]$, as well as on the planetary mass and MO extent for the latter. We further use these results to assess how much a secondary outgassed atmosphere may alter the mass–radius relations of rocky exoplanets.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Crustal thickness effects on chemical differentiation and hydrology on Mars

  Earth and Planetary Science Letters · 2024-12-05 · 7 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Nitrogen inventory of iron meteorite parent bodies constrained by nitrogen partitioning between Fe-rich solid and liquid alloys

  Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta · 2024-03-06 · 6 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Extreme Post-Magmatic REE Enrichment Process in Kamthai Carbonatite Complex, India constrained by Combined Petrologic and Geochemical Studies

  2024-01-01

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• MARGINS: Collaborative Research: Melting of Carbonate-bearing Sediments in Subduction Zones

  NSF · $267k · 2009–2013

• Melting of Carbonated MORB-like Eclogite and Genesis of Ocean Island Basalts

  NSF · $293k · 2009–2013

• CSEDI Collaborative Research: Carbon-Oxygen-Hydrogen Volatile Metasomatism in the Cratonic Mantle - Implications for Mid-Lithospheric Discontinuities

  NSF · $384k · 2018–2023

• CAREER: Mantle Hybridization via Melt-Rock Reaction-Implications for Chemical Variability of Oceanic Basalts and Lithologic Heterogeneities in the Earth's Convecting Mantle

  NSF · $636k · 2013–2019

• Acquisition of a Walker-style multi-anvil device for high pressure-temperature petrology and geochemistry research.

  NSF · $377k · 2012–2016

Frequent coauthors

• K. Tsuno

  Arizona State University

  40 shared

• M. M. Hirschmann

  University of Minnesota

  31 shared

• Damanveer S. Grewal

  Arizona State University

  29 shared

• Jibamitra Ganguly

  University of Arizona

  25 shared

• Oliviér Boucher

  Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique

  25 shared

• Drew Shindell

  25 shared

• Daniel J. Fornari

  Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

  25 shared

• Elizabeth Kolbert

  25 shared

Labs

• Experimental Petrology Rice TeamPI

Education

• PhD, Earth Sciences

  University of Minnesota Twin Cities

  2006

• MSc, Geological Sciences

  Jadavpur University

  2000

• BSc, Geological Sciences

  Jadavpur University

  1998