9506393 Stebbins This research will involve continuation of a research program on the structure and dynamics of silicate melts, glasses and crystals. The primary experimental approach will be nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and relaxation measurements, but a variety of new NMR methods will also be used. An unusual aspect of this research will continue to be NMR spectroscopy at temperatures as high as 1400 to possibly 1600oC. The general objective of this research plan is to provide quantitative data on the atomic-scale nature of disorder in silicate minerals and the dynamics of how this disorder is produced, in order to better constrain models of macroscopic properties such as free energy, entropy, viscosity, and diffusivity, emphasizing those which are most important for eeological processes.
