Development of High-Pressure Environmental Chamber

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0929312GuggenheimThis award provides funding of $85,141 over 12 months to develop a high pressure cell which will allow real-time XRD studies simulating the environment of the ocean floor. The chamber will allow high temperature (200 °C) operation simulating hydrothermal regions. The cell will thus allow analyzing the effects of vent gases such as methane, carbon dioxide, and oxygen on mineral dynamics and solid phases in suspension will also be able to be analyzed. The cell will have injection and extraction valves so that samples can be manipulation and temporally sub-sampled. A mixing pump will be fitted in-line to keep suspensions mixed and solutes in equilibrium. The specialized cell will allow studying mineral interactions at temperatures and pressures previously unobtainable. Targeted environments will be black- and white-smoker hydrothermal systems and methane-bearing benthic systems. The cell will be critical for understanding authigenic mineral formation, especially dolomite. Other research foci include clay mineralogy and biologically-enhanced illitization. In other clay mineralogy studies, the cell will be used to assay the function of salinity, temperature and pressure on biological material-clay interactions. Salinity, temperature and pressure effects will also be assayed in relation to sedimentation, methane and carbon dioxide content and sequestration, and mineral-brine interactions. The cell will also be used better understand continentally-derived material alteration in marine sedimentary basins. The new system will be critical for studying deep-ocean biogeochemistry and will help provide an experimental platform for studying hydrothermal and basin systems. A graduate and undergraduate student will be supported from this award. Student focus will be on instrument development and testing. ***