Ugo Geymond

Graduated with a Master’s degree in Geology from Université Paris Cité (UPC), I am currently pursuing my PhD at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP) and the Institut Français du Pétrole et des énergies nouvelles (IFPen).

The primary goal of my research is to understand the generation of natural hydrogen (H₂) related to iron (Fe) oxidation during water-rock interactions. I aim to define the potential of specific lithologies to source H₂ within the scope of future exploration programs. My focus is mainly on Banded Iron Formations (BIF), which host vast amounts of reduced Fe, using Western Australian BIF (Archean to Paleoproterozoic) and Namibian BIF (Neoproterozoic) as case studies.

To address this, I employ several complementary tools, including: (1) Water-rock experiments and thermodynamic modeling to constrain the reactivity of Fe-rich minerals and rocks at a fundamental scale. (2) Petrography on core samples, which allows extrapolation of lab results to natural environments. (3) In-field gas measurements and structural geology at suspected H₂ occurrences to validate conceptual models of H₂ generation, trapping, and migration pathways.