It is proposed to incorporate principles of fluid dynamics, heat and mass transfer with knowledge of mineral and aqueous chemistry. Ultimately, this will lead to an integrated approach concerning the behavior of minerals and fluids resulting from changes in state conditions caused by fluid flow, and the physical manifestation of such processes. Identification and quantification of the dominate factors involved in fluid circulation allows one to predict and describe where the most vigorous fluid mineral reactions will occur. Integration of fluid dynamics will hopefully lead to new innovative methods of exploration and frontiers of discovery in fluid-mineral systems. The proposed activities are designed to obtain an indepth working knowledge of dynamic fluid systems, to acquire necessary skills to expand the research program into this area, and to develop innovative research methods applicable to these systems. Activities will concentrate on processes and mechanisms associated with fluid motion, emphasis of concepts describing transport theory, the physics of fluid dynamics, the mathematical tools and constructs required to formalize the problem, and the computational and numerical techniques necessary to obtain and visualize the results. Integration of fluid dynamics, with traditional mineralogic approaches and theoretical methods from aqueous geochemistry and irreversible thermodynamics, will more fully permit the explanation and prediction of chemical alteration caused by flow of fluids.
