This project is for the continuation and extension of research on the structure and dynamics of disordering in silicate liquids, glasses, and crystals, using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The major objective of this work is to better understand the fundamentals of the thermodynamic and transport properties of disordered materials, particularly configurational entropy, density, viscosity, and diffusivity, in order to more accurately extrapolate to conditions of pressure, temperature, and time found in nature. NMR will be used to study the local and intermediate range structure around geochemically significant cations, and the anion O, in liquids at high temperature and in their glassy equivalents. Particular attention will be paid to the effects of temperature and pressure on coordination numbers of Si, Al, and O. Continue studies of crystalline solids will be used to help calibrate and understand observations in glasses and liquids.
