I am working to establish a high temperature and pressure experimental petrology laboratory at HSU. These efforts are nearly complete thanks to support from the National Science Foundation under Grant Number EAR-0510366*. This grant supports the final laboratory set up and a determination of the 2.0-3.0 GPa melting systematics of various peridotite compositions. In addition to recent support from NSF, I gratefully acknowledge the help of HSU, and folks from UC Davis and the UO. The lab features a Rockland Research end-loaded piston-cylinder apparatus and a Deltec 1-atm furnace. Current undergraduate students, Dale, Graham and Kacie, are working with me on various laboratory activities, including the NSF-sponsored project. In the coming months I will be updating this page with more details of the lab and preliminary results of our research efforts.
The HSU lab will be used for both teaching and research. It will serve as my primary research tool and will be used by undergraduate and graduate students in course projects and thesis work. Stay tuned for updates on our activities. For now, check out some of the lab photos below.
Rockland Research piston-cylinder apparatus with pressure gauges.
The piston-cylinder uses hydraulic rams to force a small piston onto a furnace assembly held within a pressure vessel (the cylinder). To generate high temperature while pressurized, an electric current is passed through a graphite tube, which heats up resistively within the furnace assembly. In these devices, small quantities (<1 gm) of rock powders are sealed inside metal capsules during an experiment. The run products are then analyzed using various x-ray and electron microbeam techniques.
Bench-top hydraulic press, new carbon-arc welder, and supporting tools and machinery with Deltec 1-atm furnace visible in background.
The Deltec will be setup with gas-mixing capabilities to control gas environment within the furnace. The device is used for melting/crystallization studies of volcanic systems at the Earth's, or other planetary, surfaces.
My current research is focused on the partial melting of upper mantle and the generation of mid-ocean ridge basalts. I continue collaborative work with Dana Johnston at the University of Oregon.
The pictures above show a dissected furnace assembly and the individual pieces used in a typical piston-cylinder experiment. These include crushable MgO rod (three white pieces on left), a fluorite sleeve (middle of photo), and graphite furnace tube and bottom pieces (black). Scale bar is 3cm.
The picture below shows Kacie and Graham hard at work building the safety shied for the 10 ton bench top press. The press is used for sample prep and extraction of furnace assemblies from the 'bomb' after piston-cylinder experiments.
*"Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation (NSF)."