This program focuses on atomic-scale structure and dynamics of crystalline, glassy, and molten silicates and oxides, and emphasizes the application of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) to obtain fundamental data to help better understand and predict processes of interest in geochemistry and geophysics. An unusual aspect of the program is in situ, high temperature NMR work to temperatures up to 1500C; the capability to extend this to high pressures (1 kb) and temperatures (1000 C) is currently under development. High temperature research on melt structure and dynamics will be emphasized, as will studies of the corresponding quenched glasses with a variety of new NMR methods, including multinuclear and multidimensional techniques. For crystalline materials, the focus will be on experiments to determine site-specific kinetics of exchange between water and minerals, and on the re-visiting of a number of questions of structural disorder using new NMR methods that give much improved resolution for quadrupolar nuclides such as 17O and 27Al. Most of these projects will be greatly enhanced by the recent purchase of a new spectrometer by the P.I. and collaborators, a "wide bore" (89 mm), 600 MHz (14.1 Tesla magnet) system that will be installed in the near future.
