GeoPRISMS Synthesis Workshop: Volatiles from Source to Surface

Montana State University, Bozeman MT

Investigators

Abstract

Volatiles (e.g., water, carbon dioxide, sulfur, chlorine, fluorine) play important roles in nearly every Earth process, from the makeup of our atmosphere to whether a volcanic eruption will be explosive. The ability to quantify and track the distribution and migration of volatiles through the Earth is fundamental to the understanding of numerous processes but requires diligent and clever methods for measuring volatile concentrations. This project will support a GeoPRISMS synthesis workshop on volatiles. Despite the clear significance of volatiles, challenges remain in understanding their storage within Earth, fluxes, chemical interactions, and roles in processes in and around tectonic plate boundaries. In the last decade, the GeoPRISMS program has led to immense progress towards understanding volatiles, but it remains to synthesize these findings across disciplines. The objectives of the workshop will be to (1) share and synthesize progress within the broad research community; (2) identify outstanding questions and foster solutions with focused working groups; (3) develop and integrate students with early-, mid-, and late-career scientists into new research initiatives; and (4) build collaboration in a multidisciplinary community. This workshop will collect and distribute datasets and education materials, as well as create 1-minute videos that highlight researchers in different stages of their careers that have contributed to the GeoPRISMS program in the last decade. The influence of volatiles in Earth processes ranges from the structural and compositional evolution of a subducting slab, rift initiation, mantle melting, magmatic differentiation, magma ascent, and volcanic eruption and gas emission. These processes exert fundamental controls over the composition and properties of Earth’s crust, mantle, and atmosphere. The ability to understand and link these processes and track their distribution and migration throughout Earth is a fundamental requirement for linking observation and process. Interdisciplinary research projects allow for topics such as volatile transport to be approached from multiple perspectives and in varied tectonic settings, providing more observations and more robust models than can be achieved by single-discipline studies. To continue advancement in the rich and diverse field of volatiles, a workshop will be held to share discipline and GeoPRISMs site specific findings and interpretations, which will identify regions of spatial and/or scientific overlap, define focused and tractable questions, and identify action items to help address these questions. Fundamental to the success of interdisciplinary projects, however, is a basic understanding of all of the involved methodologies and their limitations. The early career portion of this workshop will serve to help bridge that gap for upcoming scientists that have had less exposure to interdisciplinary projects. 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.