Collaborative Research: Thermodynamics of Magma Mixing

GSTDTAP

项目编号	1551056
	Collaborative Research: Thermodynamics of Magma Mixing
	Frank Spera
主持机构	University of California-Santa Barbara
项目开始年	2016
	2016-02-15
项目结束日期	2019-01-31
资助机构	US-NSF
项目类别	Continuing grant
项目经费	96342(USD)
国家	美国
语种	英语
英文摘要	Molten rock (magma) forms at tens to hundreds of kilometers below Earth's surface. These magmas can ascend, and each year on Earth, about 30 cubic kilometers erupts or stalls, much of it within a few thousand meters of the surface. Transport and storage of magma in the crust (uppermost layer of the solid Earth) is associated with the formation of many strategically- and economically-important mineral resources including gold, platinum, chromium, diamonds and other gemstones and represents a source of untapped green energy called geothermal heat. The research carried out in this study advances infrastructural knowledge of how magmas evolve chemically and thermally through interactions with crust and as they cool, mix, and eventually solidify. Because all magmas initially contain small amounts of dissolved water and carbon dioxide, as magma cools and crystallizes, it often becomes a bubbly mixture containing high-pressure fugitive gas that can produce explosive eruptions, thereby posing risks to humans, property and ecosystems. This research seeks to better understand these phenomena based on the latest results from condensed matter physics, fluid mechanics, and chemical thermodynamics, all in the context of complex system behavior. Magma emplaced in the crust is a classic example of a complex, open system where magmas and crustal host rock exchange material and energy. The thermochemical evolution of magma subject to this exchange is responsible for much of the compositional diversity observed on Earth. This research applies chemical thermodynamics to predict from first-principles the products of magma crystallization and to relate these products to the amount of geothermal energy that flows to the environment. Open system magmatic behavior that emphasizes the consequences of complete blending of two distinct magma batches (a process called magma mixing) is modeled using two mass and energy constrained computational tools: an exploratory model that utilizes simplified mixing thermodynamics and a more complex model, called the Magma Chamber Simulator, that employs state of the art thermodynamics. Simulations using these codes will generate a theoretical magma mixing taxonomy that will classify thermal and chemical characteristics of mixing end-members and products. This taxonomy will be tested by applying it to carefully chosen volcanic and plutonic rock suites that show clear evidence of magma mixing. Analysis of mixed magma products will define mass and thermal consequences of mixing that can be used to refine models of eruption, magma emplacement, and mass and energy exchange from deeper to shallower levels in Earth. Both computer codes will be enhanced to better capture the open-system characteristics identified by these studies, and public distribution of these computer resources to the earth and planetary sciences community will augment computational analysis of magma formation and evolution. The ultimate end product of this research will be enhanced understanding of the transport, storage, and eruption of molten rock, an integral part of the planetary plate tectonic recycling process.
来源学科分类	Geosciences - Earth Sciences
文献类型	项目
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.173/C666/handle/2XK7JSWQ/69140
专题	环境与发展全球科技态势
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Frank Spera.Collaborative Research: Thermodynamics of Magma Mixing.2016.