CAREER: Enhancing Thermodynamic Applications and Learning in Petrology (EnThALPy)

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Igneous processes are of fundamental importance in shaping the planet, and in transferring heat and material within the Earth. On the human scale, millions of people are threatened by potentially active volcanoes. Eruption products include lava, ash, and gases such as H2O and CO2, which in large part drive explosive volcanic activity. A quantitative understanding of the physical properties and thermodynamics of magma is essential to modeling magma chamber processes, which cannot be observed directly. In particular, magma viscosity can vary by many orders of magnitude over short lengthscales and timescales. This project will determine the viscosity and heat capacity of calc-alkaline basaltic liquids containing the main magmatic volatiles: H2O, CO2, F, and combinations thereof. The key goals are to understand the effects of volatiles on basaltic liquids, and the implications of these effects for magma chamber dynamics and eruptive behavior. The active basaltic arc volcanoes Fuego and Pacaya, in Guatemala, will be studied in detail. Experimental data will be used to develop a predictive model for the viscosity of hydrous arc magmas from basalts through to rhyolites, based on configurational entropy theory. The effects of multiple volatile species will be investigated to test whether the combined effects are additive or result in more compex behavior.This project will have several broader impacts beyond the research aims stated above. In addition to their research, PhD students will take the Minor in College Teaching. They will be mentored by the PI and the on-campus Preparing Future Faculty program, and will gain experience in University science teaching and mentoring undergraduate researchers. Undergraduates will gain lab skills and research experience, better preparing them for graduate school. All students will present their research at national or international meetings, and conduct outreach activities including talks for local schools, with training and supervision from the PI. The PI will use systems dynamics tools to develop a constructivist learning environment for teaching igneous petrology in undergraduate classes. The goal is conceptual change in student perceptions of igneous systems and the nature of scientific inquiry.