One of the largest areas of Quaternary potassic volcanics in the world, in NE Asia, is also one of the least well-known. The most potassic, most accessible, and the only sites of historic eruptions of these rocks are in northwestern Heilogjiang and adjacent Inner Mongolia, China. The PI has begun a major petrologic, geochemical and isotopic study of these rocks. A Chinese graduate student is currently working on them at Santa Cruz. This award will provide temporary support for the student until longer-term funding for the project as a whole can be obtained. During this time he will obtain major and trace elements by XRF and complete petrographic characteriaation of samples collected already; complete U-Th disequilibria studies of representative samples; and obtain rare earth analyses of a subset of samples.
