Renggli, Christian
Main Focus
I am an experimental planetologist and my main interests are in high-temperature processes from magma ocean worlds, to planetary volcanism on the Moon and Mercury. In the experimental planetology group we conduct high-temperature and low-pressure experiments, as well as thermodynamic calculation to constrain the formation of planetary materials and use analytical tools to relate the results to samples, such as the rocks returned by the Apollo missions from the Moon. In addition we use spectroscopic methods to relate experimental results to observations of terrestrial planets by space missions. I am also a Co-I of the MERTIS (Mercury Radiometer and Thermal Infrared Spectrometer) and MIXS (Mercury Imaging X-ray Spectrometer) instruments on the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission to Mercury.
Curriculum Vitae
Awards and Fellowships:
2025 ERC Starting Grant ELMO - Experimental Laboratory Magma Ocean
2023
Paul Niggli Medal, awarded by the Swiss Geological Society “in
recognition for outstanding research using experimental methods to
understand the properties of gas-solid reactions in volcanic systems on
Earth, the Moon and Mercury.”
2018 Swiss National Science Foundation Early Postdoc. Mobility Fellow
Roles in Space Missions:
Co-I: MERTIS on BepiColombo
Co-I: MIXS on BepiColombo
Education and Employment:
2025-ongoing: Research Group Leader, Experimental Planetology
2023-2025: Researcher, MPS
2018-2023: Postdoctoral researcher, Institut für Mineralogie, Universität Münster
2014-2018: PhD at the Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra
Selected Publications:
doi:10.1007/978-3-032-07705-9_15
Haupt C.P., Renggli C.J.,
Rohrbach A., Berndt J., Klemme S. (2024) Experimental Constraints on
the Origin of the Lunar High-Ti Basalts. Journal of Geophysical
Research: Planets, 129/8, e2023JE008239.
doi:10.1029/2023JE008239
Renggli C.J.,
Klemme S., Morlok A., Berndt J., Weber I., Hiesinger H., King P.L.
(2022) Sulfides and hollows formed on Mercury's surface by reactions
with reducing S-rich gases. Earth and Planetary Sciences Letters, 593,
117647.
doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117647
Renggli C.J.,
Hellmann J.L., Burkhardt C., Klemme S., Berndt J., Pangritz P., Kleine
T. (2022) Tellurium isotope fractionation during evaporation from
silicate melts. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 339, 35-45.
doi:10.1016/j.gca.2022.10.032
Renggli C.J.,
Klemme S. (2021) Experimental investigation of Apollo 16 “Rusty Rock”
alteration by a lunar fumarolic gas. Journal of Geophysical Research:
Planets, 126/2, e2020JE006609.
doi:10.1029/2020JE006609