RUI: Thermodynamic and Thermal Expansion Behavior of Mineral Systems

这项研究试图了解地球材料和地球本身是如何作为温度和压力的函数的。这些信息可以预测地球矿物形成的条件以及如何解释它们的共存。有相当多的研究是专门为本科生的参与而开发的。这些经验告诉学生研究是如何进行的，以及为什么结果在伦理科学行为的背景下是重要的。研究参与对于学生对科学的热情和对科学的保留也很重要。这个实验室过去参与项目的学生中，除一人外，所有人都参与了今天的科学研究，其中50%以上是女性。此外，对任何教师来说，在整个职业生涯中始终专注于自己的学科是很重要的。科学家的集体研究经验丰富了他/她的职业生活，但同样重要的是，他/她的学生因课堂上的知识、经验和热情而受益。该实验室的主要目的是利用50°C下进行的酸性溶液量热实验收集具有重要地质意义的材料的热力学数据。这些数据有助于确定地球上物质存在的条件，即使是在地表下的极深处。一个重点是晶体溶液的“热力学混合性质”，因为对于矿物系列的中间成分，直接测量的热力学数据相对较少。后者是热力学建模的关键，也是准确预测固溶体系列中间成员矿物赋存状态所必需的。此外，量热数据有助于阐明矿物形成的基本能量基础，这一知识可应用于尚未测量热力学性质的其他材料。这项工作的第二部分包括面向本科生的关于矿物热膨胀的高温X射线调查。这些将提供对理解矿物结构在地球表面下存在的高温下如何表现至关重要的信息。它们还将有助于理解进行扩张的机制。最后，后一项研究将产生矿物系列的混合体积作为温度的函数。

This research seeks to understand how earth materials, and the earth itself, behave as a function of temperature and pressure. Such information allows prediction of the conditions under which the earth's minerals form and how their coexistence are interpreted. A significant number of studies have been developed specifically for undergraduate participation. These experiences teach students how research is conducted and why results are important in the context of ethical scientific behavior. Research involvement also is important to the enthusiasm of students for science and their retention in science. All but one of the students involved in past projects in this laboratory, more than 50% of them women, remain involved in science today. Additionally, it is important for any teacher to remain engaged in her/his discipline throughout a professional lifetime. The collective research experiences of a scientist enrich his/her professional life, but just as importantly benefit his/her students as a result of the knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm brought to the classroom.The principal purpose of this laboratory is the collection of thermodynamic data on geologically important materials utilizing acid solution calorimetric experimentation conducted at 50 °C. Such data contribute to determination of the conditions in the earth under which materials occur, even at great depths below the surface. One focus is on "thermodynamic mixing properties" of crystalline solutions, as relatively few directly measured thermodynamic data exist for mid-compositional members of mineral series. The latter are critical to thermodynamic modeling, and required for the accurate prediction of mineral occurrences for intermediate members of solid solution series. In addition, calorimetric data help clarify the fundamental energetic bases of mineral formation, knowledge that can be applied to additional materials whose thermodynamic properties have not been measured. A second component of this work involves undergraduate-oriented high-temperature X-ray investigations on the thermal expansion of minerals. These will yield information critical to understanding how mineral structures behave at the elevated temperatures that exist below the earth's surface. They also will contribute to an understanding of the mechanisms through which expansion takes place. Finally, the latter studies will yield volumes of mixing for mineral series as a function of temperature.