check
Hadar Cohen-Sadon | Institute of Earth Sciences

Hadar Cohen-Sadon

.
Hadar
Cohen-Sadon
Ph.D. candidate
Advisors: Prof. Alon Amrani and Dr. Yoav Oved Rosenberg
Interests:  Geology, Isotope-Geochemistry, biogiochemical cycles of carbon and sulfur, organic-geochemistry, paleo-environment.
Research topic: A new approach to evaluate the paleo-environmental conditions of organically rich sedimentary rocks using sulfur measurement. 
 
 

Sulfur plays an important role in the preservation of organic matter over geological time scales and in the formation of hydrocarbons (oil and natural gas). Without proper treatment, contaminated toxic and flammable sulfur species are released during the distillation, production, and burning of fossil fuels. Therefore, the chemical characterization of sulfur provides significant information regarding:

  1. The natural sulfur and carbon cycles and the rock's ancient depositional environment.
  2. The estimation of petroleum system potential.
  3. The evaluation of petroleum distillation and production processes and their potential costs.

However, the common method for sulfur evaluation involves a time-consuming (weeks) and labor-intensive wet chemical procedure. 

In this research, I developed a rapid (1-hour) and simple method for quantifying sulfur and determining its isotopic value in sedimentary rocks, as well as different sulfur fractions, using a RockEval 7S Analyzer and an MC-ICPMS.

The new method provides a large new sulfur database that reveals new insights into the sulfurization process, which is considered one of the most influential pathways for organic matter preservation in the geosphere.