9316721 Altaner This award will support collaborative research between Stephen Altaner, University of Illinois, and Antonio Pozzuoli of the University of Naples, Italy. The proposed research has two general objectives: 1) Improved understanding of the mechanism of the smectite to illite reaction through study of a suite of illite- and smectite-bearing samples from Ponza island, Italy, and 2) assessment of the nature of hydrothermal alteration of the Green Tuff and overlying breccia of Ischia (Italy), designed to lead to improved evaluation of volcanic risk on Ischia. Professor Pozzuoli is a specialist in the mineralogy and petrology of clay minerals, particularly those of the Ponza bentonite. He and his colleagues are also experts in the geology of Ponza and Ischia, critical to the collection of appropriate samples. Professor Altaner and his colleagues bring to the collaboration expertise and facilities for integrated state-of- the-art analyses of geologic samples, including K/Ar dating, NMR, oxygen isotope geochemistry, XRD, and TEM analyses. ***
