Collaborative Research: Beyond the big ones: Petrochronologic investigation of Quaternary small-volume volcanism in the Black Rock Desert, Utah

在过去的300万年里，犹他州经历了数十次火山喷发。这些熔岩的化学成分各不相同，喷发既具有爆炸性，又具有感染力。这些成分和喷发风格的差异往往发生在狭小的地理区域内，时间跨度很窄。这项工作试图解决喷发的时间和了解与岩浆体相关的过程，这些过程最终产生了如此广泛的成分。该项目将为本科生提供参与研究的机会，包括采集样本，前往多个实验室，并在国际会议上展示他们的工作。它还将为犹他州的K-12教育工作者提供培训；这些培训将侧重于火山过程，并将与犹他州环境教育学会联合举办。在过去的十年里，Ar/Ar测年技术与锆石岩石年代学(结合形态、结构、地球化学和地质年代学数据)相结合的精确度和精确度的提高，使得人们能够更好地了解喷发前岩浆室的演化，并将这些过程与双峰火山场联系起来。最近的大多数岩石年代学研究都集中在了解大体积岩浆或大型硅质火山岩田内岩浆的熔体提取和分异趋势，这两者往往导致超级喷发或固化岩层。该项目将扩大岩石年代学的应用范围，通过研究犹他州中部小型单一成因火山田的岩浆过程，并将这些过程与建议的驱动黄石超级喷发的岩浆动力学进行比较。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。

Utah has experienced dozens of volcanic eruptions over the last 3 million years. The chemical compositions of these lavas has varied, and eruptions have been both explosive and effusive. These differences in composition and eruptive style often have occurred within the small geographic area over narrow timespans. This work seeks to resolve the timing of eruptions and understand the processes associated with the magma bodies that ultimately produced such a wide variety of compositions. The project will provide opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in research, including sample collection, traveling to multiple laboratories, and presenting their work at international meetings. It will also provide training to K-12 educators in Utah; these will focus on volcanic processes and will be held in conjunction with the Utah Society for Environmental Education. Over the last decade, improved accuracy and precision of Ar/Ar dating coupled with zircon petrochronology (the combination of morphological, textural, geochemical, and geochronologic data) has allowed for improved understanding of the evolution of magma chambers prior to eruption, and connecting these processes to bimodal volcanic fields. Most of the recent petrochronology studies have focused on understanding melt extraction and differentiation trends in large-volume magmas or magmas within large silicic volcanic fields, both of which often result in super-eruptions or solidified batholiths. This project will expand the scope of petrochronologic applications by examining magmatic processes in small, monogenetic volcanic fields in central Utah, and by comparing those to the proposed magma dynamics that drive super-eruptions like those at Yellowstone.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.