The principal investigators, in collaboration with Alan Zindler at Columbia University, will attempt to develop a quartz geochronometer and geothermometer. He will do so by examining the number of Schottky-Frenkel defects in natural quartz using electron spin resonance spectroscopy, then determining the age of the quartz via improved uranium-thorium dating techniques, thereby establishing the rate of accumulation of the defects. Through annealing experiments a study also will be made of the thermal stabilities and mean lives of the defects; this in turn could provide a basis for a geologically useful geochronometer. Since quartz is a common minerals, development of this tool could have wide application, and would be particularly useful for rocks in which other methods cannot be applied. The understanding of defects in quartz also will benefit the semiconductor industry.
