Dr Michael Forster

Content navigation
About
I am a mineralogist and petrologist by training with a focus on nano-spectroscopic methods and a keen interest in all processes that lead to strong element enrichment and ore formation.
Affiliations
Publications
38. Foley, S. F., Ezad, I. S., Shu, C., Förster, M. W. 2025. Melting of amphibole-apatite-rich metasomes in the continental mantle and comparison of melt compositions with natural igneous rocks. Lithos.
37. Chen, C., Förster, M. W., Shchecka, S. S., Ezad, I. S., Shea, J. J., Liu, Y., Jacob, D. E., Foley, S. F. 2025. Sulfide-rich continental roots at cratonic margins formed by carbonated melts. Nature. 637, 615–621.
36. Khan, M., Li, H., Algeo T. J., Khan, A., Förster, M. W., Ullah, Z. 2025. Geochemistry and Geochronology of A-Type Intermediate-Felsic Rocks in NW Himalaya, Pakistan: Implications for Petrogenesis and Tectonic Evolution of Northern Gondwana. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. 26(1)
35. Medd, O. M., Otter, L. M., Williams, I. S., Stern, R. A., Förster, M. W., Eggins, S. M., Rodrigues-Sanz, L., Abram, N. J., He, M., Ellwood, M. J., Hargreaves, J., Fallon, S. J., Knowles, B. M. 2024. Matrix corrected SIMS in situ oxygen isotope analyses of marine shell aragonite for high resolution seawater temperature reconstructions. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 25(11).
34. Prelević, D., Förster, M. W., Buhre, S., Gülmez, F., Grützner, T., Wang, Y., Foley, S. F. 2024. Recent advances made by reaction experiments on melting of heavily metasomatized hydrous mantle. Earth-Science Reviews, 104881.
33. Ezad, I. S., Saunders, M., Shcheka, S. S., Fiorentini, M. L., Gorojovsky, L. R., Förster, M. W., Foley, S. F. 2024. Incipient carbonate melting drives metal and sulfur mobilization in the mantle. Science Advances, 10(12), eadk5979.
32. Sirocko, F., Krebsbach, F., Albert, J., Britzius, S., Schenk, F., Förster, M. W. 2024. Relation between Central European Climate Change and Eifel Volcanism during the Last 130,000 Years: The ELSA-23-Tephra-Stack. Quaternary, 7(2), 21.
31. Förster, M. W., Chen, C., Foley, S. F., Alard, O., Yaxley, G. M. 2024. Fluid loss to the fore-arc controls the recycling efficiency of nitrogen in subduction zones. Chemical Geology, 121985.
30. Gülmez, F., Prelević, D., Förster, M. W., Buhre, S., Günther, J. 2023. Experimental production of K-rich metasomes through sediment recycling at the slab-mantle interface in the fore-arc. Scientific Reports. 13, 19608.
29. Hu, Z., Zeng, L., Dilek, Y., Förster, M. W., Gao, L. E., Wang, Y., Madayipu, N., Li, H. 2023. Petrogenesis of Paleocene− Eocene gabbros in the Gangdese belt: Geochemical tracking of transitioning from oceanic subduction to continental collision related magmatism in southern Tibet. Geological Society of America Bulletin.
28. Chen, C., Förster, M. W., Foley S. F., Shcheka, S. S. 2023. Carbonate-rich crust subduction drives the deep carbon and chlorine cycles. Nature. 620, 576–581.
27. *Fernández, S.A., Förster, M. W., Sirocko, F. 2023. Rieden tephra layers in the Dottinger Maar lake sediments: implications for the dating of the Holsteinian Interglacial and Elsterian Glacial. Global and Planetary Change. 104143.
26. *Takenaka, L. B., Förster, M. W., Alard, O., Griffin, W. L., Jacob, D.E., Basei, M. A. S., O'Reilly, S. Y. 2023. Multi-mineral geochronology of kimberlites, kamafugites and alkaline-carbonatite rocks, SW São Francisco Craton, Brazil: Appraisal of intrusion ages. Gondwana Research. 124, 246-272.
25. Ezad. I. S., Shcheka S. S., Buhre, S., Gorovjovsky, L. R., Shea, J. J., Förster, M. W., Foley S. F. 2023. Rapid quench piston cylinder apparatus: an improved design for the recovery of volatile-rich geological glasses from experiments at 0.5-2.5 GPa. Review of Scientific Instruments. 94(5).
24. Alizadeh, E., Li, H., Babazadeh, S., Ma, C., Förster, M. W. 2023. Late Eocene slab retreat, extension, and mantle upwelling inferred from mantle signatures in potassium-rich magmatism in NE Iran. International Geology Review. 65(9), 1586-1600.
23. Vincent, V. I., Li, H., Girei, M. B., Förster, M. W., Kamaunji, V. D. 2023. Tourmaline and zircon trace the nature and timing of magmatic-hydrothermal episodes in granite-related Sn mineralization: Insights from the Libata Sn ore field. American Mineralogist, 108(3), 552-571.
22. Madayipu, N., Li, H., Muhammad Elatikpo, S., Förster, M. W., Zhou, H. X., Zheng, H., Wu, Q. H. 2023. Magmatic-hydrothermal evolution of long-lived Nb-Ta-(Sn) mineralization in Lianyunshan, NE Hunan, South China. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 1-19.
21. Hu, X. J., Li, H., Förster, M. W., Elatikpo, S. M., Kong, H., Wu, J. H., Zhu, D. P. 2023. Using apatite to differentiate metallogenic potential and environment of granitic rocks: A case study from the Tongshanling W-Sn-Cu-Pb-Zn ore field, Nanling Range (South China). Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 245, 107143.
20. Ullah, Z., Li, H., Khan, A., Faisal, S., Dilek, Y., Förster, M. W., Farhan, M., Ashraf, U., Khattak, S. A., Rehman, G., Hussain, S. A. 2022. Mineralogy and PGE geochemistry of chromitites and peridotites of the Sapat complex in the Indus suture zone, northern Pakistan: implications for magmatic processes in the supra-subduction zone. International Geology Review, 1-26.
19. Liang, Y., Zheng, H., Li, H., Förster, M.W., Li, Z. 2022 ‘Late Paleozoic-Mesozoic subduction and accretion of the Paleo- Pacific Plate: Insights from the Ocean Plate Stratigraphy of the Wandashan accretionary complex, NE China’, International Geology Review, 1-19.
18. Weis, U., Stoll, B., Förster, M.W., Hell., K., Kaiser, V., Otter, L.M., Jochum, K.P. 2022. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research Bibliographic Review 2020. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research, 46(1), 129-134.
17. Vincent, V. I., Li, H., Girei, M.B., Förster, M.W., Ahmed, H.A., Ntekim, E.E. 2021. In situ trace elements and sulfur isotope analysis of sulfides from the Akiri Cu ± (Ag) deposit, Benue Trough, North-central Nigeria: Implications for ore genesis, Geochemistry - Chemie der Erde, 81(9), 125801.
16. Förster, M.W., Bussweiler, Y., Prelević, D., Daczko, N. R., Buhre, S., Mertz-Kraus, R., Foley, S.F., 2021. Sediment-Peridotite Reaction Controls Fore-Arc Metasomatism and Arc Magma Geochemical Signatures, MDPI Geosciences, 11(9), 372.
15. Chen, C, Förster, M.W., Foley, S.F., Liu, Y. 2021. Massive carbon storage in convergent margins initiated by subduction of limestone. Nature Communications, 12, 4463.
14. Hu, Z., Zeng, L., Förster, M.W., Zhao, L., Gao, L., Li, H., Yang, Y., Li, S. 2021. Recycling of subducted continental crust: Geochemical evidence from syn-exhumation Triassic alkaline mafic rocks of the southern Liaodong Peninsula, Lithos, 400-401, 1-13.
13. Förster, M.W., Selway, K. 2021. Melting of subducted sediments reconciles geophysical images of subduction zones. Nature Communications, 12, 1320.
12. Otter, L.M., Förster, M.W., Belousova, E., O’Reilly, P., Nowak, D., Park, S., Clark, S., Foley, S.F., Jacob, D.E. 2021. GGR Cutting-Edge Review: Nanoscale Chemical Imaging by Photo-Induced Force Microscopy: Technical Aspects and Application to the Geosciences. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research, 45(1), 5-27. Shared first authorship, authors contributed equally.
11. Weis, U., Stoll, B., Arns, J., Förster, M.W., Kaiser, V., Otter, L.M., Reichstein, Lea., Jochum, K.P., Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research Bibliographic Review 2019. 2020. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research, 45(1), 29-35.
10. Förster, M.W., Buhre, S., Xu, B., Prelević, D., Mertz-Kraus, R., Foley, S.F. 2020. Two-stage origin of K-enrichment in ultrapotassic magmatism simulated by melting of experimentally metasomatized mantle. MDPI Minerals, 10(1), 41, 1-21.
9. Förster, M.W., *Zemlitskaya, A., Otter, L. M., Buhre, S., Sirocko, F. 2020. Late Pleistocene Eifel eruptions: Insights from clinopyroxene and glass geochemistry of tephra layers from Eifel Laminated Sediment Archive sediment cores. Journal of Quaternary Science: Special Issue: Tephrochronology as a global geoscientific research tool, 35(1-2), 186-198.
8. Förster, M.W., Foley, S. F., Buhre, S., Alard, O. 2019. Partitioning of nitrogen during melting and recycling in subduction zones and the evolution of atmospheric nitrogen. Chemical Geology, 525, 334-342.
7. Förster, M.W., Prelević, D., Buhre, S., Mertz-Kraus, R., Foley, S. F. 2019. An experimental study of the role of partial melts of sediments versus mantle melts in the sources of potassic magmatism. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences: Magmatic Evolution and Crustal Growth of the Mediterranean Region: New Geochemical and Geochronological Perspectives (special issue), 177, 76-88.
6. Förster, M.W., Foley, S.F., Marschall, H.R., Alard, O., Buhre, S. 2019. Melting of sediments in the deep mantle produce saline fluid inclusions in diamonds. Science Advances, 5(5), 1-6.
This publication has an Altmetric score of 264: https://scienceadvances.altmetric.com/details/61256344
5. Huong, L.T.T., Otter, L.M., Förster, M.W., Hauzenberger, C. A., Krenn, K., Alard, O., Macholdt, D. S., Weis, U., Stoll, B., Jochum, K. P. 2018. Femtosecond-laser ablation-ICP-mass spectrometry and CHNS elemental analyzer reveal trace element characteristics of danburite from Mexico, Tanzania, and Vietnam. MDPI Minerals, 8(6), 234, 1-15. Invited Article sponsored through MDPI.
4. Förster, M.W., Prelević, D., Schmück, H.R., Buhre, S., Marschall, H.R., Mertz-Kraus, R., Jacob, D.E. 2018. Melting phlogopite-rich MARID: Lamproites and the role of alkalis in olivine-liquid Ni-partitioning. Chemical Geology, 476, 429–440.
3. Förster, M.W., Prelević, D., Schmück, H.R., Veter, M., Mertz-Kraus, R., Foley, S. F., Jacob, D.E. 2017. Melting and dynamic metasomatism of mixed harzburgite + glimmerite mantle source: Implications for the genesis of orogenic potassic magmas. Chemical Geology, 455, 182-191.
2. Sirocko, F., Knapp, H., Dreher, F., Förster M.W., Albert, J., Brunck, H., Veres, D., Dietrich, Zech, M., Hambach, U., Röhner, M., Rudert, S., Schwibus, K., Adams, C., Sigl, P. 2016. The ELSA-Vegetation-Stack: Reconstruction of Landscape Evolution Zones (LEZ) from laminated Eifel maar sediments of the last 60,000 years. Global and Planetary Change, 142, 108-135.
1. Förster M.W., Sirocko, F. 2016. The ELSA tephra stack: Volcanic activity in the Eifel during the last 500,000 years. Global and Planetary Change, 142, 100-107.
*Supervised student