Applied crystal chemistry, earth materials

应用晶体化学、地球材料

• 批准号: 138566-2007
• 负责人: McDonald, Andrew
• 金额: $ 1.98万
• 依托单位: Laurentian University of Sudbury
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2007-01-01 至 2008-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=363410
• 关键词: Applied; crystal; chemistry; earth; materials

My research focuses on the chemical and structural-state characterization of minerals (and their synthetic analogues) associated with magmatic ores.  The long-term goal is to apply obtained data as a means of quantifying the geological conditions under which these minerals developed.  Currently, I am most interested in applying data obtained from analyses of minerals in the Fe-Ni-Cu-PGE system to quantitatively assess primary conditions of crystallization and growth and secondary processes that may have modified them.This work currently involves two directives, the first involving Fe-Ni sulfides (Pyrrhotite Mineral Family, PMF).  Pyrrhotite is a family of Fe-deficient sulfides that constitute the most abundant sulfide in magmatic ore deposits.   The PMF exhibits fairly simple phase relations at T >350 °C, but complex relations below this, owing to the way that Fe ions and vacancies are arranged.  In general, two basic PMF minerals are known, hexagonal (hpo) and monoclinic (mpo) pyrrhotite, and understanding how the two vary in terms of modal abundance, their intergrowths, minor-element chemistry, etc. is critical to assessing how an ore body has evolved.  My goal is therefore to determine the hpo:mpo ratios in natural ore bodies to apply the data obtained as means of understanding how the chemistry and conditions of formation have been modified with time.  The second directive involves Platinum-Group Minerals (PGM) that host the economically and technologically important Platinum-Group Elements (PGE).  Traditionally, PGM have been poorly understood owing to their small grain sizes, complex and highly varied chemistries and because of their overall rarity.  However, PGE constitute important industrial commodities, owing to their use in high-tech industries (fuel cells, electronics) so an understanding of PGM and how they can be found is important.  My research goal is to resolve some of the outstanding complexities associated with these minerals, through analyses of the atomic arrangements, and to combine results from studies into their synthesis with field-based data as a means of understanding their formation.

我的研究重点是矿物的化学和结构状态表征（及其合成类似物）。长期目标是将获得的数据用作量化这些矿物发育的地质条件的手段。目前，我最感兴趣的是应用从铁镍铜矿物分析中获得的数据，PGE系统定量评估结晶和生长的主要条件以及可能改变它们的次级过程。这项工作目前涉及两个指令，第一个涉及Fe-Ni硫化物磁黄铁矿是一种贫铁硫化物，构成岩浆矿床中最丰富的硫化物。 PMF在T >350 °C时表现出相当简单的相关系，但在此温度以下，由于Fe离子和空位的排列方式，PMF的相关系复杂。一般来说，已知两种基本PMF矿物，六方（hpo）和单斜（mpo）磁黄铁矿，了解这两种矿物在模态丰度，共生体，微量元素化学，等是评估矿体如何演化的关键。因此，我的目标是确定hpo：第二个指令涉及铂族矿物（PGM），铂族矿物中含有经济和技术上重要的铂族元素（PGE）。传统上，由于铂族矿物的粒度小，人们对铂族矿物的了解很少，复杂和高度变化的化学性质，并由于其总体稀有性。然而，铂族元素构成重要的工业商品，由于它们在高科技产业中的使用（燃料电池，电子）所以了解PGM以及如何找到它们是很重要的。我的研究目标是通过分析原子排列，解决与这些矿物相关的一些突出的复杂性，并将研究结果联合收割机与实地数据结合起来，作为了解其形成的一种手段。