CAREER: The Buoyancy Drive of Carbonatite Melts in the Lithosphere

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

9508133 Lange Despite the overwhelming evidence for the role of carbonatite melts as metasomatic agents in the mantle, the physical properties of these melts are poorly constrained. Although carbonatite melts are known to have extremely low viscosities, their density and compressibility (particularly as a function of composition) are completely unknown. The research goal of this study is to provide the first direct measurements of density, thermal expansion and compressibility on a wide variety of multicomponent (CaCO vya1 3-MgCO3-FeCO3-SrCO3-BaCO3-Na2CO3-K2CO3) melts over a wide range of temperature (1000-17000oC) and pressure (0-35 kbars). After developing a model equation appropriate to this seven-component system, experiments will be extended to carbonatite liquids containing dissolved SiO2, P2O5, and F. The long-term teaching goals include: the active recruitment, advising and support of undergraduates to pursue research for a senior thesis; teaching an upper division, required petrology course that allows the students to practice the application of calculus and thermodynamics to big-picture, tectonically-related problems of magmatism and metamorphism; teaching summer filed camp each year; development of a new introductory course that will demonstrate why a knowledge of geology has implications for understanding the political and economic structure of a developing country, like Mexico. vya1