Accomplishment Based Renewal: Numerical Modeling of Coupled Magma-Hydrothermal Processes at Oceanic Spreading Centers Including Magma Replenishment and Phase Separation

海洋扩张中心的岩浆-热液过程是地球热机制的重要组成部分，在海洋和地壳之间的主要和次要化学成分循环中起着关键作用。这些过程导致金属矿床的形成，并为海底独特而多样的微生物和大型动物生态系统提供营养。本研究利用最新开发的数值模拟代码FISHES，建立了第一套将海洋扩张中心岩浆体的时效对流、结晶和补给与海洋地壳多相热液循环联系起来的模型。这项工作为理解几十年来海底热液系统的观测提供了一个基本的、整体的、目前缺乏的定量框架。它还将提供对岩浆-热液相互作用和海洋扩张中心热传递的深入了解。更重要的是，这些模型将为在海洋扩张中心将热液循环与复杂的生物地球化学过程联系起来提供必要的起点。它还将训练一名学生掌握最先进的建模技术。

Magma-hydrothermal processes at oceanic spreading centers are an important component of Earth's thermal regime and play a critical role in cycling major and minor chemical constituents between the oceans and the crust. These processes lead to the formation metallic ore deposits and provide nutrients for unique and diverse microbial and macrofaunal ecosystems on the sea floor. This research uses the recently developed numerical modeling code, FISHES, to develop the first set of models that link time-dependent convection, crystallization, and replenishment of a magma body at an oceanic spreading center with multiphase hydrothermal fluid circulation in the oceanic crust. The work provides an essential, holistic, and presently lacking quantitative framework for understanding decades of observations of seafloor hydrothermal systems. It will also provide insight into magma-hydrothermal interactions and heat transfer at oceanic spreading centers. Of broader importance, these models will provide a necessary starting point for linking hydrothermal circulation with complex biogeochemical processes at oceanic spreading centers. It will also train a student in state-of-the-art modeling techniques.