Collaborative Research: How are Rhyolites Generated? Evaluating Models for the Volcanic-plutonic Connection in the Searchlight Magmatic System, Nevada

高硅流纹岩岩浆的喷发是爆炸性的，猛烈的，潜在的极其危险的事件。然而，如何，在什么条件下，以及在什么时间尺度上，这些喷发的岩浆体聚集的问题仍然存在争议。解决这些问题对于了解各种岩浆和地壳过程至关重要，从地壳的地球化学分层到监测火山，这些火山是未来危险爆发的根源。回答这些问题的一个重大挑战在于难以记录物理（例如，温度，压力）和地球化学条件的岩浆系统通过时间。对现代火山的地球物理测量可以提供岩浆系统的“快照”，但它们无法揭示发生在数万年至数百万年之间的长期变化。弥合这一差距的一种方法是研究古代火山，其中断层和侵蚀暴露了火山喷发的物质和未喷发的物质，这些物质构成了地壳内这些系统的根源。结合使用，这些喷出和侵入矿床可以成为了解长期过程的有力工具。该项目旨在调查内华达州（美国）探照灯附近的一座这样的古老火山。更具体地说，PI将产生一个高分辨率（5万年）的时间记录，跨越岩浆系统的1-2百万年的生命周期，他们将建立地壳中的岩浆侵位历史，地球化学趋势，以及喷发的相对时间。为此，研究人员将利用高精度的U-Pb锆石地质年代学，全岩和矿物地球化学和气压测量以及热模型。这一记录将揭示岩浆积累和储存在地球上地壳内的时间尺度，在喷发之前发生并影响岩浆体的过程，以及潜在的喷发触发因素。资金还将支持两名博士后研究人员（1名女性），为普林斯顿大学和东北大学的本科生提供研究机会，并参加普林斯顿大学的教师学者计划，它引入了本地K-该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得支持的，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。

Eruptions of high-silica rhyolite magma are explosive, violent, and potentially extremely hazardous events. However, questions of how, under what conditions, and over what timescales the magma bodies that source these eruptions are assembled remain debated. Resolving these issues is critical for understanding a variety of magmatic and crustal processes, ranging from the geochemical stratification of the crust to monitoring the volcanoes that source such dangerous eruptions for future hazards. A significant challenge to answering these questions lies in the difficulty in documenting the physical (e.g., temperature, pressure) and geochemical conditions in magmatic systems through time. Geophysical measurements on modern volcanoes can provide 'snapshots' of a magmatic system, but they cannot shed light on long-term changes that occur over tens of thousands to millions of years. One way to bridge this gap is to study ancient volcanoes where faulting and erosion have exposed both the material that erupted from the volcano and the un-erupted material that comprises the roots of these systems within the Earth's crust. Used in combination, these extrusive and intrusive deposits can be a powerful tool to understand longer-term processes. This project aims to investigate one such ancient volcano near Searchlight, Nevada (USA). More specifically, the PIs will produce a high-resolution (50,000 years) temporal record spanning the magmatic system's 1-2 million year lifetime, with which they will establish the history of magma emplacement in the crust, geochemical trends, and the relative timing of the eruption(s). To do this, the researchers will utilize high-precision U-Pb zircon geochronology, whole-rock and mineral geochemistry and barometry, and thermal models. This record will shed light on the timescales over which magmas accumulate and are stored within the Earth's upper crust, the processes that occur in and affect the magma body prior to eruption, and potential eruption triggers. Funding will also support two postdoctoral researchers (1 female), research opportunities for undergraduate students at Princeton and Northeastern Universities, and participation in Princeton University's Teachers as Scholars program, which introduces local K-12 teachers to the Earth sciences and helps them in building science curricula for use in their classrooms.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.