Acquisition of a Piston Cylinder Apparatus will enhance experimental petrology and mineral physics research in the Jackson School of Geosciences (UT Austin). First, research will focus on the deeper roots of subduction zone volcanoes. The focus will be on the importance of degassing of CO2-rich fluids from intermediate to silicic magma, how such fluids the impact on the solubility water and CO2 in intermediate magma, how CO2-rich bubbles are generated, and how volatiles and other elements partition between CO2-rich fluid and intermediate magma. Mineral physics research into the upper mantle will be enhanced by allowing high-quality, single and polycrystalline samples to be synthesized at controlled conditions. Those crystals will be used in diamond anvil cell experiments to research carbonates and carbon storage in the deep mantle, garnets in the upper mantle and transition zone, and the effects of hydration on the elastic properties of olivine.
Expanding research capabilities with the Piston Cylinder will enhance the education and training of graduate students in experimental research, and enrich the educational experience of undergraduate students, through their involvement in undergraduate research projects. Such research will also enhance a number of outreach programs, including UTeach and GeoFORCE at UT Austin, by being able to demonstrate the Piston Cylinder to secondary school teachers and students during their summer programs.
research in the Jackson School of Geosciences (UT Austin). Its ease of use, simple sample/furnace assembly, and rapid heating/cooling make the Piston Cylinder ideal for investigating high-temperature processes at up to several tens of thousands of bars of pressure, and has been instrumental in our understanding of phase equilibrium, melting relations, diffusivities, volatile abundances, and thermodynamic properties of silicate melts in the deep crust and upper mantle. The apparatus has allowed research to begin investigating the deeper roots of subduction zone volcanoes, focusing on the importance of degassing of CO2-rich fluids. Specific research topics that have begun to be addressed include how much mixed CO2-H2O fluid can be dissolved and transported by magmas in subduction zones and what the rates of generating CO2-rich bubbles in those magmas. It has also allowed high quality, single and polycrystalline samples to be synthesized at controlled pressure, temperature, composition, and oxygen fugacity, for use in ultra-high diamond anvil cell experiments. Those samples are being used in research addressing the stability of carbonate minerals and carbon storage in the deep mantle, and the amounts of water that can be stored in mantle olivine minerals. The new capabilities allow undergraduate and graduate students to be trained in sophisticated experimental techniques and a broader view of deep crustal and mantle processes of our Earth.
