International Research Fellowship Program: Flow Focusing in Volcanic and Hydrothermal Systems: Experiments and Theory

国际研究奖学金计划：火山和热液系统中的流动聚焦：实验和理论

• 批准号: 0602101
• 负责人: Richard Katz
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Katz Richard F
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-09-01 至 2009-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0602101&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: International; Research; Fellowship; Program; Flow

0602101KatzThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-four-month research fellowship by Dr. Richard F. Katz to work with Dr. Grae M. Worster at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.Their project involves flow focusing in volcanic and hydrothermal systems. Volcanoes and sea-floor hydrothermal vents erupt fluids with effects that are both devastating and critical for life on Earth. Their existence requires the transport of a hot fluid across a cold layer with very little loss of heat. This transport may be achieved by localizing fluid flow from a broad, diffuse source region to focused flow channels. An important question in understanding volcanoes and sea-floor hydrothermal vents is how this localization occurs. The PI and host hypothesize a mechanism of focusing in which cooling and precipitation by slowly rising fluid locally reduces permeability, redirecting flow into narrow channels. In these channels fluid moves rapidly and hence avoids cooling and precipitation. To test this hypothesis they propose a set of physical experiments and numerical simulations. It is expected that the process of fluid localization is a reactive--dynamic instability that, once understood, can be characterized with simple theory and established mathematical tools. Investigating the physics of hydrothermal vents will help us to understand how this reactive system may have hosted the emergence of life on this planet. The predicted existence of such hydrothermal systems on other planets would be an intriguing lead into the search for life beyond Earth.

[602101]国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行9至24个月的研究。该计划的奖励为联合研究提供了机会，并利用独特或互补的设施、专业知识和国外的实验条件。该奖项将支持Richard F. Katz博士与英国剑桥大学Grae M. Worster博士开展为期24个月的研究。他们的项目涉及火山和热液系统的流体聚焦。火山和海底热液喷口喷出的液体对地球上的生命既具有毁灭性又至关重要。它们的存在需要热流体在极少量热量损失的情况下穿过冷层。这种传输可以通过将流体从广泛的扩散源区域定位到集中的流动通道来实现。了解火山和海底热液喷口的一个重要问题是这种局部化是如何发生的。PI和宿主假设了一种聚焦机制，在这种机制中，缓慢上升的流体的冷却和沉淀局部降低了渗透率，将流体重定向到狭窄的通道中。在这些通道中，流体流动迅速，因此避免了冷却和沉淀。为了验证这一假设，他们提出了一系列物理实验和数值模拟。预计流体局部化过程是一种反应动力不稳定性，一旦理解，可以用简单的理论和既定的数学工具来表征。研究热液喷口的物理特性将帮助我们了解这个反应系统是如何在这个星球上孕育生命的。对其他行星上存在这样的热液系统的预测，将为寻找地外生命提供一个有趣的线索。