Experimental Studies of Earth and Planetary Materials at Extreme Conditions of Pressure and Temperature

行星内部深处的大规模热量和质量运动过程控制着表面上发生的大部分事情。塞科博士的研究计划的重点是通过在四台大容量压力机(其中一台是北美容量最大的压力机之一)上同时测量极端压力(0-23 Gpa)和温度(220-2300K)条件下核和地幔材料的物理性质，将难以接近的行星深部带入实验室。已经开发出新的技术，并将用于在高压下测量类地行星核高温下的Fe-S-Si固体和液体以及外部行星卫星次表层海洋中的NH3-H2O流体的高温电导率。这些研究将提供关键数据，以解决在流体外核中的热对流、内核年龄、地球发电机和冰卫星次表层海洋中的磁感应等模型中的新争议。利用我们实验室最近发展的一项技术，将通过测量相变地幔橄榄石(Mg1-xFex)2SiO4(0.1)的声发射来研究深源地震的神秘起源

Large scale processes of heat and mass movement deep in the interior of planets control much of what happens on the surface. The focus of Dr. Secco's research program is to bring the inaccessible deep interior of planets into the lab by measuring physical properties of core and mantle materials under simultaneous extreme pressure (0-23GPa) and temperature (220-2300K) conditions in four large volume presses – one of which is the largest capacity research press in North America. Novel techniques have been developed and will be employed at high pressures to measure electrical conductivity of terrestrial planetary core mimetic Fe-S-Si solids and liquids at high temperatures as well as NH3-H2O fluids at the low temperatures of subsurface oceans of outer planetary satellites. These studies will provide critical data to address the new controversies in models of thermal convection in fluid outer cores, inner core age, geodynamo, and magnetic induction in subsurface oceans of icy satellites. Using a technique recently developed in our lab, the enigmatic origin of deep focus earthquakes will be investigated by measuring acoustic emission in phase transforming mantle olivines (Mg1-xFex)2SiO4 (0.1