CAREER: Connecting Natural and Analogue Systems in Petrological Research and Instruction

California Institute Of Technology, Pasadena CA

Investigators

Abstract

Asimow EAR-0239513 This project is conceived as an integrated teaching and research approach to completing the connection between the natural and the analogue traditions in petrology. A successful thermodynamic model is a way to systematize observations and experiments and to generate and test hypotheses, either in natural or in analogue situations. Thermodynamic treatments that function well in both domains are therefore a key element of completing the link between understanding of the complex and the simple cases. Yet most thermodynamic models of petrological systems, and in particular those presently available for silicate liquids, function on only one side of the divide. The research component of the project focuses on development of a solution model for silicate liquids that is able to fit both natural system experiments and the detailed constraints in bounding subsystems, yet remains manageable to calibrate and to use. A similar idea underlies the approach to teaching of phase equilibria underlying the instructional component of the project. Although the simple phase diagrams often taught may seem poorly connected to observations of real rocks, the idea that rock systems evolve towards thermodynamic equilibrium is essential. Hence phase diagrams must be understood as representations of thermodynamic stability relations. The development of easy-to-use computerized visualization tools that represent simple energy relations or calibrated models of real systems will allow the student to see, explore, and understand the topology of free energy minima and to build the framework that connects elementary concepts to predictions about the real petrological world. Broader impacts include utility to chemistry and materials science students and the introduction of computers as essential tools in research at a beginning stage.