RUI: Investigating the relationship between magmatic processes and copper mineralization at the Lights Creek Stock.

随着世界在未来几十年向绿色能源过渡，对金属的需求将会增加。这是能源转型中最被忽视的问题之一。所有金属都来自矿物，随着较大的矿藏枯竭，较小的矿藏在经济上将变得更加可行。该项目将研究加州北部形成一个小岩体的过程与其相关铜矿床形成之间的关系。Lights Creek Stock的三个小型氧化铁-铜-金(IOCG)矿床正在被评估为未来的铜来源。当地下水和岩浆流体沿着裂缝改变现有岩石时，IOCG矿床就形成了。流体改变了岩石中的矿物，并沿着裂缝沉积了新的铜矿物。这可能会产生集中的铜矿，这可能会对采矿产生经济影响。了解岩浆作用如何影响铜矿形成，可以为在其他地方寻找类似矿床提供信息。这项工作将由三名研究生，最多十二名本科生独立研究人员进行，并将包括三个班级项目。“真正的”研究经验(即当讲师也不知道答案时)已被证明在帮助STEM学生感觉自己是真正的科学家方面非常重要，增加了他们作为科学家的自信和认同感。该项目将支持三个班级的学生在课堂上开展真正的研究项目，极大地增加学生对CSU-CHICO地质学项目研究的接触，因为通常不到一半的本科生与教职员工一起进行独立研究。这些类别项目的发现将与独立研究人员的发现相结合，以扩大对Lights Creek Stock形成的理解。这项工作的目标是调查Lights Creek Stock(LCS)内岩浆作用和铜矿化之间的时间和地球化学关系。Lights Creek Stock(LCS)是内华达山脉北部的一个花岗岩类侵入体，拥有三个IOCG(氧化铁铜金)铜矿床。拟议的工作将检验两个假设：1)LCS是通过数百万年来的多个岩浆脉冲侵位的；2)LCS承载的Superior、Moonlight和Engels IOCG矿床在地球化学上相互关联，由LCS的晚期水岩浆流体与大气流体反应形成。2021年的Dixie大火强烈烧毁了这片植被稠密的地区，揭示了新的露头，并允许进行比以前更详细的实地考察。花岗岩类岩石的详细野外描述和样品采集将有助于通过对岩石学、地球化学和地质年代学分析来重新评估LCS形成的历史模式。在初级岩石学课程的学生进行的三次基于课程的本科生研究体验(CURE)期间，将通过对钻芯样本的类似分析来评估LCS内的垂直变化。这些纵向和横向数据将被整合在一起，以产生LCS的岩石成因模型(假设1)。Superior和Engels IOCG矿床的岩石成因将作为MS项目，通过几个岩心的详细岩心测井，在岩石学、地球化学和蚀变地质年代学的支持下进行单独分析(假设2)。IOCG和LCS成岩模型的整合将产生一个更大的图景模型，将IOCG矿床与LCS的岩浆历史联系起来，然后可以在整个内华达山脉北部和世界各地的类似地区进行放大。这项工作还将在火成岩岩石学和经济地质学的研究方法方面培训多达12名本科生和3名研究生，并让3个学期的学生参与真实的研究体验。研究表明，参加研究可以提高学生的STEM认同感、自我效能感和在这一领域的坚持性。治疗增加了更广泛和更多样化的学生获得研究经验的机会，因此被归类为高影响力的教学实践。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。

As the world transitions to green energy over the next few decades, there will be an increasing demand for metals. This is one of the most overlooked issues in the energy transition. All metals come from minerals, and smaller ore deposits will become more economically viable as the larger ones are depleted. This project will investigate the relationships between the processes that formed a small pluton in northern California and the formation of its associated copper ore deposits. The three small iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits of the Lights Creek Stock are being assessed as a future source of copper. IOCG deposits form when groundwater and magmatic fluids alter existing rocks along fractures. The fluids change the minerals in the rocks and deposit new copper minerals along the fractures. This can create a concentration of copper minerals which may become economic to mine. An understanding of how magmatic processes affect copper mineral formation can provide information about where to search for similar deposits elsewhere. This work will be carried out by three graduate students, up to twelve undergraduate independent researchers, and will also encompass three class projects. “Real” research experiences (i.e. when the instructor also doesn’t know the answer) have been shown to be very important in helping STEM students to feel like the real scientists they are, increasing their self-confidence and identity as scientists. This project will support three classes of students to carry out a real research project in the classroom, dramatically increasing student exposure to research in CSU-Chico’s geology program, as less than half of undergraduate students typically carry out independent research with a faculty member. The findings of these class projects will be integrated with the findings of the independent researchers to broaden understanding of the formation of the Lights Creek Stock.The goal of this work is to investigate the temporal and geochemical relationship between magmatic processes and copper mineralization within the Lights Creek Stock (LCS), a granitoid intrusion in the northern Sierra Nevada that hosts three IOCG (iron oxide copper gold) copper deposits. Proposed work will test two hypotheses: 1) LCS was emplaced through multiple pulses of magma over several million years; and 2) the LCS-hosted Superior, Moonlight and Engels IOCG deposits are geochemically related to one another, and were formed from the reaction between late-stage hydromagmatic fluids from the LCS and meteoric fluids. The Dixie Fire in 2021 intensely burned this densely vegetated area, revealing new outcrops and allowing for more detailed fieldwork than has previously been possible. Detailed field descriptions and sample collection of the granitoid rocks will aid reevaluation of a historic model for LCS formation through petrographic, geochemical and geochronological analysis of the lateral variation within the stock. Vertical variation within the LCS will be assessed through similar analyses of drillcore samples during three course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) undertaken by students in a Junior-level petrology class. These vertical and lateral data will be integrated to produce a model for petrogenesis of the LCS (Hypothesis 1). The petrogenesis of the Superior and Engels IOCG deposits will be analyzed individually as MS projects through detailed core logging of several cores, supported by petrography, geochemistry and alteration geochronology (Hypothesis 2). The integration of the IOCG and LCS petrogenetic models will produce a bigger picture model to relate the IOCG deposits to the magmatic history of the LCS, which can then be scaled up throughout the northern Sierra Nevada and analogous regions throughout the world. This work will also train up to twelve undergraduate and three graduate students in research methods in igneous petrology and economic geology, as well as engaging three semesters of students in authentic research experiences. Research has shown that taking part in a research experience increases a student’s STEM identity, self-efficacy, and persistence in the field. CUREs increase access to research experiences to a broader and more diverse range of students, so are classed as a high-impact pedagogical practice.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.