Accessory minerals as windows into crustal processes

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The main objectives of my proposed research program are to gain a better understanding of how chemical elements become incorporated in so-called accessory minerals, such as zircon (ZrSiO4), within the Earth.  These minerals occur in nature in relatively low abundances, however, they often contain significant quantities of chemical elements such as uranium, thorium, and the rare earth elements (REE).  This research program builds upon current international research collaborations; some recent developments in new research areas; research interests of faculty in Earth Sciences at Memorial University of Newfoundland; and the excellent analytical geochemistry facilities at that institution.  In order to complete some of the proposed research projects, I will establish an experimental high-temperature/high-pressure geochemistry facility to perform the experiments outlined in this proposal; and both a Raman spectroscopy and cathodoluminescence imaging laboratory, in order to characterize the materials synthesized as part of this research program.  Understanding how chemical elements incorporate in accessory minerals has been previously studied, but the mechanisms and processes (i.e., charge balancing, effects or pressure and temperature, fluid or melt composition, structure of the mineral and structure of the melt, etc.) that govern such partitioning remain poorly understood to this day.  Over the next five years, I plan to develop a combined research program that dovetails carefully planned high-temperature/high-pressure experiments with analyses of carefully selected natural samples.  The results from this research program will provide a much better understanding of how extensively these accessory minerals may be used as indicators of the geologic history of the rock samples from which these minerals were separated.