IRES Track I: The origins of magnetite-pipes in the Bushveld Complex, South Africa and their strategic-mineral resources

IRES 第一轨：南非布什维尔德杂岩磁铁矿管的起源及其战略矿产资源

• 批准号: 1854282
• 负责人: Callum Hetherington
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: Texas Tech University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1854282&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: IRES; Track; origins; magnetite; pipes

The project will recruit three cohorts of students from Texas Tech University (TTU) to participate in an International Research Experience for Students (IRES) studying the origins and development of magnetite-pipe structures in the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex, South Africa. Participant cohorts will include students with media and communication training who will document the research experience via real-time social-media platforms, and collate media materials to produce short documentaries of the IRES experience. The students will pursue Geoscience-centric research documenting the occurrence of the pipe-like structures, and apply laboratory techniques to understand their composition, physical properties and origins. The pipe-structures contain significant abundances of magnetite, an important iron-ore resource, and may also contain economically significant abundances of phosphor, vanadium titanium and rare elements such as zirconium, niobium and tantalum. The students will develop research and communication-skills in describing and analyzing these important mineral and metal resources that are critical to economic priorities in the high-tech, defense and telecommunication industries. Participants will also have opportunities to visit mining locations to learn about the extraction and processing of these strategic resources. A parallel research stream will seek to address why Study Abroad Program participation rates by Hispanic students are significantly lower compared to institutional enrollment demographics. Using student produced media, customized communication strategies that appeal to different student populations at TTU will be used to develop models for broadening participation in Study Abroad Programs. Through collaboration with South African researchers and students the program will foster exchange of knowledge, perspectives, cultural experiences and raise awareness of global-scale challenges in mineral resource exploration, exploitation and supply-chains in U.S. students. The Media & Communication products will be available to the TTU Office of International Affairs for promotion and recruitment purposes. More broadly, the materials will be used by the institution to promote the global nature of a Texas Tech education under the ?Bear our Banners Far and Wide ? Communication in a Global Environment? Quality Enhancement Plan. Participants will receive an array of value-added educational and professional development opportunities (communication skills, leadership, cultural awareness) that will promote and advance their preparation for entering the work-place. Magnetite-ilmenite-apatite assemblages that are enriched in iron-titanium-phosphor (Fe-Ti-P) are found in a variety of localities worldwide. Some deposits contain uncommonly high abundances of titanium (Ti) and vanadium (V) and may be exploited for these more valuable resources, which are increasingly sought after for applications in the energy, electronics and high-technology sectors. The Bushveld Complex contains perhaps as much as 90% of the world?s proven V2O5 resources, significant proportions of which are concentrated in layers and pipe-like structures dominated by magnetite. Despite their economic potential the pipes are little studied features that have an unknown distribution, occurrence and volume, poorly constrained relationships with the larger Bushveld Complex and the few descriptions of their petrology have disagreed on their petrogenetic origin. A parallel media and communication research-stream will inform strategies for the recruitment of more diverse student cohorts to STEM and Study Abroad programs. Building participant cohorts from different disciplines will enable perceptions held by STEM and non-STEM students about other fields of study to be examined and strategies to promote inter-disciplinary awareness on complex global structures, such as the strategic-mineral industry, will be examined. The longer-term goal will be to foster familiarization with scientific research methods among participants, particularly from under-represented communities, who are considering applying to graduate programs. Inclusion of the IRES program on R?sum?s will strengthen graduate program application packages increasing their competitiveness for funded offers of admission, which is recognized to be an important consideration for under-represented and first-generation college students considering graduate school. The program will also promote success of participants in graduate research by providing a level of preparedness to counter common challenges faced with students from such cohorts (e.g. imposter syndrome, sense of belonging and place, integration into a research-intensive Department).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目将从德克萨斯理工大学(TTU)招募三批学生参加国际学生研究体验(IRES)，研究南非布什维尔德综合体东侧的磁铁矿管道结构的起源和发展。参与者将包括接受过媒体和通信培训的学生，他们将通过实时社交媒体平台记录研究经验，并整理媒体材料以制作IRES经验的简短纪录片。学生们将继续以地球科学为中心的研究，记录管状结构的发生，并应用实验室技术来了解它们的组成、物理性质和起源。管道结构含有大量的磁铁矿，这是一种重要的铁矿石资源，还可能含有大量的经济上有意义的磷、钒、钛和稀有元素，如锆、铌和钽。学生将在描述和分析这些重要的矿产和金属资源方面培养研究和沟通技能，这些资源对高科技、国防和电信行业的经济优先事项至关重要。与会者还将有机会参观采矿地点，了解这些战略资源的开采和加工情况。一个平行的研究流将寻求解决为什么西班牙裔学生的海外留学计划参与率比机构注册人口统计数据低得多。利用学生制作的媒体，将使用针对TTU不同学生群体的定制交流策略来开发扩大海外留学项目参与的模式。通过与南非研究人员和学生的合作，该项目将促进知识、观点、文化经验的交流，并提高美国学生对矿产资源勘探、开采和供应链方面的全球挑战的认识。媒体与传播产品将提供给电信联盟国际事务办公室用于宣传和招聘目的。更广泛地说，这些材料将被该机构用来宣传德克萨斯理工学院教育的全球性质，打着我们的横幅？全球环境中的沟通？质量提升计划。参与者将获得一系列增值的教育和职业发展机会(沟通技能、领导力、文化意识)，这些机会将促进和推进他们进入工作场所的准备。富含铁-钛-磷(Fe-Ti-P)的磁铁矿-钛铁矿-磷灰石组合在世界各地都有发现。一些矿藏含有异常高的钛(钛)和钒(V)，可用于开采这些更有价值的资源，这些资源在能源、电子和高科技领域的应用日益受到追捧。布什维尔德杂岩可能包含了世界上90%的V2O5资源--S探明的V2O5资源，其中很大一部分集中在以磁铁矿为主的层状和管状结构中。尽管这些管道具有经济潜力，但人们对它们的研究很少，这些特征的分布、产状和体积未知，与更大的布什维尔德杂岩的关系很差，对它们的岩石学描述很少，对它们的岩石成因存在分歧。一个平行的媒体和传播研究流将为招募更多样化的学生群体参加STEM和出国留学项目的战略提供信息。建立来自不同学科的参与者队列将使STEM和非STEM学生对其他研究领域的看法得到审查，并将审查促进对复杂的全球结构(如战略矿产行业)的跨学科意识的战略。长期目标将是促进参与者熟悉科学研究方法，特别是来自代表不足的社区的参与者，他们正在考虑申请研究生课程。在R？Sum？S项目上纳入IRES项目将加强研究生项目申请包，提高他们在资助录取方面的竞争力，这被认为是考虑进入研究生院的代表不足的第一代大学生的一个重要考虑因素。该计划还将通过提供一定程度的准备来应对来自这类群体的学生面临的共同挑战(例如冒名顶替者综合症、归属感和位置、融入研究密集型系)，从而促进研究生研究的成功。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。