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

犹他州在过去的三百万年里经历了几十次火山爆发。这些熔岩的化学成分各不相同，喷发既有爆炸性的，也有喷涌性的。这些成分和喷发风格的差异往往发生在小的地理区域内，时间跨度很短。这项工作旨在解决喷发的时间，并了解与最终产生如此多种成分的岩浆体相关的过程。该项目将为本科生提供参与研究的机会，包括样本收集，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协会联合举办。在过去的十年中，改进的准确性和精度的Ar/Ar测年加上锆石岩石年代学（形态，纹理，地球化学和地质年代学数据的组合），允许更好地了解岩浆房的演化喷发前，并连接这些过程双峰火山领域。近年来的岩石年代学研究主要集中在了解大体积岩浆或大型火山岩区内岩浆的熔融提取和分异趋势，这两种趋势往往导致超级喷发或凝固的岩基。该项目将通过研究犹他州中部小型单成因火山区的岩浆过程，并将其与推动黄石公园等超级火山爆发的岩浆动力学进行比较，扩大岩石年代学的应用范围。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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.