The principal investigator will document the chemical, mineralogic, and physical processes of xenolith disaggregation, and will characterize the mechanisms by which heterogeneous contaminants are assimilated in adjacent magma. To do so he will study granodiorite xenoliths in the Watts Point and Monmouth Creek complexes of southwestern British Columbia. The results will provide geologists with a better understanding of magma contamination mechanisms in the upper part of the Earth's crust, and with new insights into contamination processes at greater depths.
