Dr. Martin Feely

Email martin.feelynuigalway.ie
Tel 353 91 492129

Qualifications and Appointments:

1982: Ph.D. awarded NUI, Galway.

1999 to present: Senior Lecturer in Geology at NUI, Galway.

1994: appointed College Lecturer in Geology, NUI, Galway.

1985: appointed junior lecturer in Geology at NUI, Galway.

1978: temporary lecturer in Geology NUI, Galway.

1976: appointed assistant lecturer in Geology at NUI, Galway.

Relevant awards, achievements and honours

1986: elected member of Institute of Mining and Metallurgy; 1996: elected Fellow of

Mineralogical Society; founding member of Institute of Geologists of Ireland.

1997-2006: Adjunct Associate Professor of Earth Sciences at Boston University, USA.

1999: Organised and convened the first ever international research conference (2-days in NUIG) held by the Mineralogical Society outside the UK entitled: “Hydrocarbon bearing inclusions in crustal rocks –study methods, applications and case histories.”

2004 – present: member of the editorial board for the Irish Journal of Earth Sciences. 2004-present: member of the editorial board for the magazine Earth Science Ireland (originally ES2K);

2004-present: Director and instigator of Diploma  in Scientific Studies (Gemmology) at NUIG.

2004: Invited  lecturer for University of North Carolina’s (Chapel Hill) field mapping course in Yosemite National Park, California.

2005-present: Allied Gem Tutor for the Gemmological Association, London;

2006-present: Adjunct Professor of Geological and Environmental Sciences, James Madison University, Virginia, US.

2007: Co-convenor of Geological Society of America’s Spring 2007 meeting’s thematic session on cross-Atlantic connections, Durham University, New Hampshire, USA.

2007: Director  of  NUIG based Summer School for the College of William and Mary, Virginia, USA entitled Geological and Environmental Perspectives of the Galway Bay region, western Ireland.

2003-present: Expert on 3 panels appointed by the Geological Survey of Ireland to select Ireland's natural heritage sites. Member of Galway County Council's Heritage Forum.

2007: Founding member of the Irish Gemmological Society

Current Grant-aided Research Activities:

Time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopic analysis of petroleum oils and hydrocarbons bearing fluid inclusions. SFI. 2005-2007. EUR 170,000. Principal Collaborator.

Fluid inclusion studies of Ireland's offshore oil basins. Dept. of Marine and Natural Resources. 2005-2007 (ending). €69,300 (2 grants). Principal Investigator.

3D visualisation studies of Connemara landscapes. Galway County Council and Geography Teachers Support Group. €12,000. 2007 (ending). €10,000 for esker studies ongoing, Principal Investigator.

Oil-bearing fluid inclusion studies for Petroleum Exploration and Production sector. Venture Production Ltd., UK, Nexen Petroleum Ltd., UK, Production Geoscience Ltd., UK., PDF Consulting (UK), Statoil (UK), E & P Consultancy (France). Research contracts ongoing Principal Investigator.

The role and temporal evolution of fluids during orogenesis: Fluid inclusion microthermometry and Rhenium-Osmium geochronometry of granite–related molybdenite mineralization systems along the Ireland-Newfoundland sector of the Caledonian-Appalachian orogen.  2007-2008. Ireland Newfoundland Partnership €10,000, ( IRCSET PhD studentship) Principal Investigator.

Establishment of a new Biogeochemical Monitoring Facility  at NUIG . Principal Investigator  ~ €620,000  Higher Education Authority PRTLI IV 2007.

Brief Grant Support History

I have benefited from 50 funding awards (includes the list above) since 1982.

33 awards were for fluid inclusion research (oil charge studies, granites and mineralisation) and equipment.

10 awards were for geochemistry, base metal-mineralisation, petrology, geochronology related research.

3 awards were for 3d visualisation studies of the natural landscape and publication of two CD ROMs.

2 awards from NUIG’s Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning purchase of teaching materials and equipment

1 award for seaweed –bedrock interface studies.

1 award to publish guidebook on Galway’s building stones.

Research Highlights

Co-author of over 160 scientific publications (abstracts, journal papers, memoirs and guidebooks) presented/co-presented ~100 research papers at national and international conferences. Reviewer for numerous international journals and grant applications.

Supervised/co-supervised to completion 21 postgraduates by research (8 MSc  & 13 PhD) and 3 postdoctoral fellows. Currently supervises 5 PhDs and 1 MSc all by research and 2 post doctoral fellows.

Current research includes: a) geological evolution of Caledonian-Appalachian Orogen and cross-Atlantic correlations, b) Hydrocarbon and aqueous fluid inclusion studies in geological settings from around the world, c) gemstone studies, d) biodeterioration of bedrock, e) 3-D visualisation studies of  landscape.

Published a guidebook to natural building stone in Galway city, two CD Roms on 3D perspectives of geological landscapes and a new guide to the Granites of Connemara.

Active research and teaching exchange links with institutions in Europe, USA, S. America, Canada, New Zealand and Newfoundland. Leader of over 50 fieldtrips to Connemara for national and international third level groups and learned societies.

Sample Publications

Costanzo, A., Moore, K., Wall, F. & Feely, M. 2006. Fluid inclusions in apatite from Jacupiranga calcite carbonatites: Evidence for fluid-stratified carbonatite magma chamber. Lithos.91, 208-228.

Feely, M., Conliffe, J., Faure, K. & Power, S. 2006. Fluid inclusion trails in granite quartz: evidence for low salinity aqueous fluid infiltration in the Oughterard granite, eastern Connemara. Irish Journal of Earth Sciences, 24, 1-11.

Feely, M. & Parnell, J. (2003). Fluid inclusion studies of well samples from the hydrocarbon prospective Porcupine Basin, offshore Ireland. J.Geochemical Exploration, 78-79, p 55-59.

Feely, M., Selby, D., Conliffe, J. & Judge, M. 2007. Re-Os geochronology and fluid inclusion microthermometry of molybdenite mineralisation in the late-Caledonian Omey Granite, western Ireland. Applied Earth Science, (Trans. IMM. B) V 116, No 3, 143-149.

Shryane, T. & Feely, M. 2007. Data Report: Fluid inclusion studies of detrital quartz from the Newfoundland Basin, ODP Leg 210, Site 1276. In: Tucholke, B.E., Sibuet, J.-C. & Klaus, A. (Eds.) Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results Volume 210, 1-21.

Research Topics:

1.      Fluid inclusion studies of rock and vein minerals  from geological settings  around the globe e.g. from granites to oil prospective basins; hydrothermal veins to base metal mineralisation. Development of a laser based microscopic technique for Hydrocarbon Fluorescence Lifetime Measurements for fluid inclusion studies (Dr. A. Ryder, NUIG).

     A three phase (liquid liquid vapour) fluid inclusion trapped in quartz from the late-Caledonian Galway Granite. The inner bubble is gaseous CO 2 , surrounded by a rim of liquid CO 2 . The second liquid phase, an aqueous saline solution, occurs between this rim and the wall of the inclusion. The inclusion is approximately 20 microns long.

2.      Granite studies; orbicular granites and copper-molybdenum mineralisation; cross-Atlantic correlations with granites of New England(D.Gibson,U. Maine); U-Pb zircon age determinations of granites (D. Coleman,U. Nth. Carolina). Re/Os age determinations of Molybdenite in Galway Granite.(U. Alberta)

       Fluorite veins in the late - Caledonian Galway Granite 

3.      Connemara  in stone; Digital perspectives of the geology and natural landscape of Connemara (S.Kelly,ECI, NUIG, M. Mannion,Galway Co. Council & Heritage Council). Development of digital methodologies for teaching the geology of landscape evolution to the primary, secondary and tertiary education sector.

470 million year old folds in marble beds from Connemara

4.      Refining base metal exploration targets in the Irish Midlands using geochemical finger printing. (M. Holdstock, New Boliden, Tara Mines Ltd.).

5.      Geophycology; studies of the seaweed holdfast-bedrock interface in Galway Bay-seeking evidence for biophysical and biochemical interactions through a range of microscopic techniques. (D. Stengal, Botany Dept., NUIG).

6.      Development of Gemmology studies primarily for adult education courses.

7.      Building stones  in the urban landscape.

  A view of Galway Granite used in the pillars of the Claddagh Church, Galway

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