Upgrades to Shock Wave Laboratory for Research in High-Pressure Earth Science

加州理工学院的冲击波实验室是美国唯一一个致力于用冲击波研究地球深部物理问题的大学实验室。该提案是为了维护加州理工学院冲击波实验室的安全运行设备。这些数据被应用于地球物理、材料科学和行星科学等广泛学科的问题。该实验室培养了许多研究生和本科生，以及在世界各地建立地球物理实验项目的访客。外展活动包括主持许多在实验室拍摄的地球科学和天文学相关的电视节目。利用激波装置得到了模型熔体在地球下地幔压力和温度下的状态方程。最终目标是建立相平衡的精确模型，以及简化后的地幔和地核组成的物理性质，这些模型可以与地球物理观测结果进行比较，或者插入到岩浆演化、羽流上升、发电机产生和内核生长等现象的动态模型中。

The Caltech shock-wave laboratory is the only US university-based laboratory dedicated to studying deep Earth geophysical problems with shock waves. This proposal is to maintain equipment for safe operation of the shock-wave laboratory at Caltech. The data are applied to problems across a wide range of disciplines in geophysics, materials science and planetary science. The laboratory has trained numerous graduate and undergraduate students, and visitors who have gone on to establish experimental geophysics programs around the world. Outreach activities include hosting numerous Earth science and astronomy-related television programs filming in the lab. The shock-wave facility is used to obtain equation-of-state behavior of model melts at pressures and temperatures of the lower mantle of the Earth. The ultimate goal is development of accurate models of phase equilibria and physical properties of simplified mantle and core compositions that can be compared to geophysical observables or inserted into dynamic models of phenomena like magma evolution, plume ascent, dynamo generation, and inner core growth.