Mineral Physics Commons^™

Assessment Of The Radionuclide Concentration Levels Of Water And Sediments Along The Mara River, Gasper Kachenge, Abubakary Salama, Abdalah Kileo, Furaha Chuma

Tanzania Journal of Science

For many years, several factors have impacted the water quality of the Mara River, including population growth, agricultural expansion, livestock keeping, mining, and industrial activities. These factors have intensified water pollution and climate change effects around the river. While previous studies have mainly focused on assessing heavy metal pollution risks on the Mara River, this study evaluates the concentration levels of radionuclides in boreholes, water, and sediments along the river and its tributaries. Naturally occurring radioactive materials, including 226Ra, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K, were evaluated. A high-purity germanium radiation detector (HPGe) with a coaxial detector system coupled with Gamma Vision software …

Mono Gold: An Informal Account Of The Geology, Production, And History Of Mono County Gold And Silver Mining Districts, D. D. Trent

Eastern Sierra History Journal

Mono Gold explores the mining production, technology, and history of the Eastern Sierra, with a special focus on Mono County. Author Dee Trent, a geologist, spent decades visiting, researching, and photographing each of the mining operations discussed in this book-length monograph.

Toward The Significance Of Crevasse Orientation In Low And High Crevassed Regions On The Kennicott Glacier, Alaska, Usa, Claire A. Sturm

DePaul Discoveries

Supraglacial landforms serve as potential indicators of underlying bedrock morphology and glacier dynamics. The distribution and morphology of crevasses are closely associated with stress fields and ice-flow regimes, representing processes of stable glaciers, in contrast to their reduced occurrence in stagnant or receding ice masses. The orientation and density of crevasses influence a glacier’s ability to absorb solar energy, as they facilitate movement of meltwater down to subglacial rivers. Beyond the meltwater acting as a lubricant for basal sliding, the slope of the bedrock further impacts the local velocity and ice deformation of a glacier. The study of ice-fracturing mechanics …

Book Review: Atlas Of Minerals And Igneous And Metamorphic Rocks In Thin-Section (2025) By Alessandro Da Mommio And Victoria Pease., Kenneth L. Brown

Geology and Environmental Geoscience Faculty Publications

"Optical mineralogy and petrography not only equip us with the skills necessary to address society’s growing need for rock and mineral resources but also awaken a deeper curiosity—inviting us into moments of discovery that change the way we understand these resources. From observing the vibrant and mesmerizing interference colors of a dunite thin section to examining the uniaxial interference figure of calcite, many of us can still recall the first time we peered through the oculars of a polarizing microscope. Atlas of Minerals and Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks in Thin-Section is an exceptional reference textbook, which nurtures that curiosity and …

Challenges In Strategic Exploitation Of Deep-Sea Minerals And China’S Countermeasures, Chang Wang, Xiaojie Shu, Siyuan Zhou, Huiling Song, Shaojun Liu, Xiangxin Xu, Tao Dai, Tao Zhang, Peng Wang, Zheng Li, Jinhua Cheng

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Facing the new stage of strategic mining of deep-sea minerals and the long-term pressure of supply of critical minerals, China urgently needs to seize the window of opportunity for the strategic exploitation of deep-sea critical minerals and open up new sources of supply of critical minerals. Having analyzed the new global situation and challenges of the strategic exploitation of deep-sea critical mineral resources, the study attempted to clarify the supporting role of deep-sea mining in securing critical mineral supply, as well as the actual conditions and main obstacles for the strategic exploitation of deep-sea critical mineral resources in China. Based …

Effect Of Light Elements On The Melting Behavior Of Liquid Iron Alloys Under Earth’S Inner Core Boundary Conditions, Olaniyi Anisere

LSU Master's Theses

The temperature at Earth’s inner core boundary (ICB) is set by the melting temperature of the iron-rich outer core at core pressures, yet this remains uncertain because melting depends strongly on composition and pressure. Light elements are required to explain the core’s density deficit, but the identity, abundance, and combined influence of these elements on melting under ICB conditions are still debated. This thesis quantifies how candidate light elements modify the melting behavior of iron alloys at ICB-relevant pressures and uses these composition-dependent melting relations to constrain ICB temperature.

Melting relations were determined using molecular dynamics simulations in VASP accelerated …

An Integrated Geophysical Approach For Estimating The Depth Of Mineral Potential In Some Part Of Basement Complex Terrain Southwestern Nigeria, Hamid Titilope Oladunjoye, Joseph Coker, Niyi-Ola Adebisi, Omolara Abosede Adenuga, Sofiat Adetomilola Adekoya, Aderemi Alabi, Abisola Akinmoladun

Al-Bahir

Effective mineral exploration in a basement complex necessitates precise delineation of overburden thickness and mineral potential within the Basement Complex terrain. This study examined the subsurface geology and assesses the abundance of prospective mineral deposits within the study area The objective of the study was to outline the overburden thickness and infer mineral potential using integrated ground magnetic and electrical resistivity geophysical methods. The electrical resistivity method unraveled the litho-stratigraphic sequence as surmised from geo-electric layers. Consequently, the mineralization of the basement delineated was characterized by the magnetic method. The acquired data were processed using WINRESIST and Oasis Montaj respectively. …

Evidence Of Mineral Alteration In A Salt Marsh Subterranean Estuary: Implications For Carbon And Trace Element Cycling, J. J. Tamborski, M. J. Eagle, M. T. Thorpe, M. A. Charette, B. L. Kurylyk, S. Rahman, K. D. Kroeger, J. O'Keefe Suttles, A. G. Mann, T. W. Brooks, Z. A. Wang

OES Faculty Publications

Subterranean estuaries (STE) in salt marshes are biogeochemically active zones where interactions between terrestrial groundwater and seawater drive complex cycling of carbon and trace elements, influenced by mineral dissolution. These systems, characterized by fine-grained organic-rich peat overlying permeable coastal aquifers, play a crucial role as a blue carbon sink, yet their geochemical dynamics remain poorly understood. We investigated dissolved trace elements, carbon, silica, and radium isotopes in a salt marsh STE (Sage Lot Pond, Waquoit Bay, MA) over seasonal and annual cycles. Our results reveal that groundwater and estuarine water circulation through marsh peat and aquifer sediments leads to enrichments …

Critical Mineral Exploration In The Superior Province Of Northwestern Minnesota - A Geophysical Data Analysis, Michell L. Waterman

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The Archean basement geology of northwest Minnesota, a region covered by glacial deposits and historically underexplored for minerals, was analyzed using gravity, magnetic, radiometric, and geochemical data. These datasets were integrated to aid in identifying subsurface structures and evaluating the area's potential for economic mineralization within the Wabigoon, Quetico, and Wawa Subprovinces of the Superior Province. Gravity and magnetic datasets, analyzed through upward continuation, derivative maps, and two-dimensional modeling, revealed distinct northeast-to-southwest-trending maxima corresponding to fault-bounded, high-density, and magnetically susceptible bodies. These features were interpreted as mafic to ultramafic intrusions and dikes, several of which align with known Proterozoic fault …

Impact Of Young Biocrust On Dryland Surface Albedo, Rhynhardt Mudde, Rebekah Magness, Raul Roman, Nicole Pietrasiak

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

More than 40% of the Earth’s surface is covered by drylands. Due to limited availability of water, less surface area is covered by vascular plants. Instead, this space is occupied by microbial communities that exist in close contact with mineral soil, creating a living aggregate on the upper soil layer and are known collectively as biological soil crusts or “biocrusts”. Biocrusts play a vital role in ecosystem functioning in drylands specifically through their influence on hydrological processes (e.g., water retention, infiltration). However, the impact of biocrusts on evaporation is not well understood. Biocrusts have been reported to either increase or …

Characterizing The Mechanical And Visoelastic Properties Of Sodium Alginate, Vesper Evereux

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

A crucial part of tissue engineering lies in understanding and characterizing the mechanical and viscoelastic properties of various types of biomaterials. Understanding these properties allows better biomaterials to be produced with characteristics more similar to those of the human body and with better biocompatability. In this study, sodium alginate was chemically crosslinked with calcium chloride and subsequently tested for it's instantaneous Elastic Modulus, instantaneous Shear Modulus, and equivalent viscosity using indentation testing methods consisting of a stress-relaxation test and nonlinear curve-fitting analysis. Two and three millimeter indentation tests were performed using a low-cost and portable device built in-lab that resulted …

Adhesive Force Of Minerals And Substrates, Cynthia Domergue

Posters - 2024

Traditional processing for the separation and concentration of minerals requires a large volume of water to process ores to produce metals and other mineral resources. Furthermore, most copper mines in the US are in the southwest, particularly Arizona and New Mexico, which both have arid climates (Fig. 1). Therefore, sustainable practices need to be developed to maintain the production of metals. Objectives:

• Examine the contact angle of mica and silica at varying surface treatment • Determine the average adhesive forces for each sample

• Compare the average adhesive forces for each sample based on the surface treatment and mineral …

Interconnectivity Of Melt During Partial Melting And Deformation Of A Peridotite, Jordan Collins

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The mechanisms that allow basaltic magma to be transported to the surface are well understood, but not much is known about how the transport channels form as the basalt melt forms at the source. I performed experiments to determine these mechanisms during general shear deformation of a natural olivine aggregate (dunite) from Anita Bay, New Zealand as it partially melts using a high pressure/temperature rock deformation apparatus. Samples were analyzed using the scanning electron microscope and I observed that melt pockets started to form at the grain scale (1-2 vol% melt) prior to becoming interconnected at the sample scale (3 …

Zagamiite, Caal2si3.5o11, The Hexagonal High-Pressure Cas Phase With Dominant Si, As A Mineral From Mars, Chi Ma, Oliver Tschauner, John R. Beckett, Eran Greenberg, Vitali B. Prakapenka

Geoscience Faculty Research

Within the Ca-Al-silicate system, dense, layered hexagonal phases occur at high temperatures and pressures between 20 and 23 GPa. They have been observed both in nature and in experiments. In this study, we describe the endmember with a dominant sixfold coordinated Si as a mineral zagamiite (IMA 2015-022a). This new mineral identified in Martian meteorites has a general formula of (Ca,Na)(Al,Fe,Mg)2(Si,Al,□)4O11, thus defining CaAl2Si3.5O11 as a previously unknown endmember of the hexagonal CAS phases. Zagamiite assumes space group P63/mmc with a unit cell of a = 5.403(2) Å, c = 12.77(3) Å, V = 322.9(11) Å3, and Z = 2. …

High P-T Single Crystal Elasticity Of Zircon And Its Implications For Determining Metamorphic P-T Conditions In Nature, Arlacee Luu

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Understanding the natural petrologic and tectonic processes, such as slab subduction, requires accurate determination of the pressure (P) and temperature (T) conditions of these processes. Recent development of elastic thermobarometry based on the difference between the elastic evolution of mineral inclusions and their host minerals allows constraining the formation P-T conditions of the inclusion/host system without assuming thermodynamic equilibrium, which is typically needed for the widely used chemistry-based thermobarometry in metamorphic petrology. However, the reliability of elastic thermobarometry heavily depends on the accurate determination of the high P-T single-crystal elastic properties of relevant minerals. In this study, we performed the …

First-Principles Molecular Dynamics Study Of Liquid Iron-Rich Alloys Under Conditions Of The Earth’S Core, Dipendra Banjara

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, we report the results of the first-principles molecular dynamics (FPMD) simulations and data analysis on the thermodynamic, structural, and transport properties of iron-rich metallic liquids considering several light and heavy elements under wide ranges of pressure and temperature that are relevant to the earth’s core. Our simulations of pure liquid iron cover the pressure range from 0 GPa at 2000 K to 380 GPa at 7000 K perhaps representing the most extensive computational study to date. We studied four molten iron-rich alloys corresponding to 2.67 atom% of Ni, Co, Mo, and W at pressures up to 380 …

A Study Of The Cultural And Geological Environment Of The Magic Mountain Site In Golden, Colorado, Brianna K. Dalessandro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Magic Mountain site, located in Golden, Colorado, has been the subject of intensive academic studies since the 1950s because of its extensive artifact assemblage and long habitation periods. The aim of this thesis was to use ground-penetrating radar, magnetometry, GIS models, and lithic analysis to further study when and how the Magic Mountain site was used during prehistoric times and contextualize a variety of hypotheses about site habitation and migratory patterns of prehistoric people in Colorado.

The results of these analyses indicate the habitation and migratory pattern of the Magic Mountain site was a periodic, but consistent, proximal visitation …

Textural And Mineral Analysis Of Pegmatites From The Pala And Mesa Grande Districts In San Diego, California, Gabrielle Potter

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

San Diego pegmatites of the Pala and Mesa Grande mining districts are world renowned for their gem-quality minerals and their Li-bearing mineral phases. Pegmatite genesis, especially in San Diego mines, has been a debated topic since the 1900’s (Morgan and London, 2012). Pegmatite genesis is caused by partial melting processes and fractional crystallization that form granitic melts with high concentrations of rare earth elements (REE), such as lithium. Assessing the exact mineralogy and determining the overall textures can provide insight into the crystallization history of pegmatites. In the San Diego pegmatites, lithium-bearing phases, such as lepidolite and pink elbaite (a …

Calcite Spherulite Formations And Their Controls In Halophilic Bacterial Cultures, Zakaria Jibrin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study arose from an accidental discovery of calcite spherulites forming on colonies of various halophilic bacteria grown on solid Luria-Bertani medium made containing water from a brine pool in Death Valley, their natural habitat. Further studies with a large spherulite forming bacteria, Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis, showed that calcite precipitation conditions were the consequence of bacteria using amino acids as a source of carbon and energy, a metabolism that produces NH3 and CO2 waste products. NH3 raises the pH of the medium, turning CO2 into CO32-. Calcium in the natural brine combines with CO32-. The resulting spherulitic calcite precipitation is nano-acicular …

Analysis Of Critical Mineral Strategies Of Us And Eu And Their Enlightenment To China

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

As the world's major consumers of critical minerals and China's primary competitors, US and the EU have developed comprehensive and systematic critical mineral strategies, which have significant impact on China's resource security. To assist in developing China's critical mineral strategy, by thoroughly examining the critical mineral strategies of US and EU, this study finds their strategic attempts to slow China's development, summarizes their characteristics in the preparation, implementation mechanism, and main strategic measures, and, based on this, proposes suggestions for raising the safety level of China's critical minerals.

Challenges And Security Strategies Of China’S Critical Metals Supply For Carbon Neutrality Pledge, Weiqiang Chen, Peng Wang, Weiqiong Zhong

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The grand transition to low-carbon energy system is essential to bend the growing carbon emission and further achieve the dual carbon goals. Critical metals such as rare earth elements, lithium, cobalt, nickel, and platinum are widely considered as the material base to support low-carbon technologies. However, given the supply of those metals are scarce and risky, the emerging conflicts between their supply and demand have spurred global attention and competition among countries. This study aims to explore the linkage between critical metals and low-carbon energy systems with a particular focus on the bottlenecks of China's supply chains of those critical …

China’S Rare Earth Supply And Demand Pattern And Balanced Utilization Strategy From Perspective Of Elements, Tao Dai, Tianming Gao, Bojie Wen

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Rare earth is one of the key minerals in the global competition. At present, the global rare earth resources and supply pattern are changing, and Western countries are actively building a supply chain to replace China. This paper describes the evolution of China's rare earth supply and demand pattern from the perspective of elements, analyzes the dislocation of supply and demand of China's rare earth elements and the challenges it faces under the great changes, and puts forward the balanced utilization strategy of rare earth elements, which provides an optimization plan for promoting the globalization of the industrial chain and …

Security Of China’S Strategic And Critical Minerals Under Background Of Great Power Competition, Anjian Wang, Xiaojing Yuan

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Strategic and critical minerals are a type of resource that is essential to the country's economic development, indispensable to strategic emerging industries, and closely related to geopolitics. The types of strategic and critical minerals show some laws of spatial-temporal evolution due to the different stages of national economic development, economic structure and global industrial division of labor. Especially since the new century, with the rapid development of strategic emerging industries such as information technology, artificial intelligence and renewable energy, the connotation of strategic critical minerals has been continuously extended and closely connected with the industrial chain, highlighting its important position …

Recycling Of Critical Metals In Green And Low-Carbon Transition: Strategies And Countermeasures, Gang Liu, Litao Liu, Xin Ouyang, Qiance Liu, Xiang Li, Qiang Yan

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

As green and low-carbon transition has gained world-wide recognition and become the inherent requirement of fully building a modern socialist China, the consumption of critical metals will increase drastically in the next decades. Meanwhile, this will mean a continually increasing potential of critical metals recycling. Facing changes and pandemic unseen in a century and increasing geopolitical conflicts, it has become a strategic consensus on the national security level for Western countries like the United States and Europe Union to acknowledge and enhance the role of recycling in secure provision of critical metals. Here, in this study, we have discussed the …

Single-Crystal Elasticity Of Earth’S Mantle Transition Zone Minerals And High Pressure-Temperature Phase Equilibrium Experiments On Martian Basalts, Wenyi Zhou

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Wadsleyite and ringwoodite are major minerals in the Earth’s Mantle Transition Zone. Global and local seismic studies have detected strong lateral variations in seismic velocity and anisotropy in the Mantle Transition Zone, reflecting temperature and possible composition variations. Interpretation of these seismic observations requires knowledge of thermoelastic properties of wadsleyite and ringwoodite with different compositions (water and Fe contents) under high pressure-temperature conditions. In this dissertation, we have measured single-crystal elastic properties of wadsleyite and ringwoodite under high pressure-temperature conditions by Brillouin spectroscopy. Based on our measurements and previous experimental results, we further model the effects of water and Fe …

The Application Of Detrital Zircon Geochronology, Pressure-Temperature Modeling, Monazite Petrochronology, And Quartz-In-Garnet Elastic Geobarometry To The Tectonic Evolution Of The Funeral Mountains And Related Metamorphic Core Complexes, Suzanne Renae Mulligan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation investigates and applies different techniques for studying mid-crustal metamorphic rocks including detrital zircon geochronology, monazite petrochronology, thermodynamic pressure-temperature modeling, and elastic geobarometry. The first chapter reconstructs stratigraphy in deformed metamorphic rocks from the Funeral Mountains metamorphic core complex in Death Valley, California, and the Bullfrog Hills, Nevada, using U-Pb detrital zircon (DZ) geochronology. This study documents another successful application of stratigraphic techniques applied to metamorphic rocks and migmatites. DZ geochronology identified Pahrump Group metasediments in rocks that were previously interpreted to be Paleoproterozoic basement gneisses, providing insights into the distribution of Rodinia rift basins. This analysis has shown …

Single-Crystal Elasticity Of Clinopyroxenes And The Viscosity Of Kimberlite Magma Under High Pressure-Temperature Conditions, Ming Hao

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Clinopyroxene is not only an important mineral phase in the pyrolitic upper mantle, but also one of the dominated mineral phases in the subducted or delaminated eclogitic materials in the deep Earth. Identifying and locating these eclogitic materials requires the knowledge of the thermoelastic properties of clinopyroxene under high pressure-temperature conditions. In this dissertation, we have measured the single-crystal elastic properties of jadeite and omphacite, which are major clinopyroxene phases in the eclogitic materials, up to 18 GPa 700 K by Brillouin spectroscopy and utilized these data to identify the eclogitic heterogeneities in the mantle.

We also measured the viscosity …

Deformation Of Antigorite + Olivine Aggregates: Implications For Mantle Wedge Dynamics, Roselyn K. Hurlow

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Aggregates with varying volume proportions of antigorite and olivine were deformed at mantle wedge conditions of high-pressure (P) (2.5-7.6 GPa), -temperature (T) (675 K), and strain rates from ~1.0*10^-5 to ~1.0*10^-4 s^-1 using the deformation-DIA (D-DIA) to investigate deformation mechanisms and stress/strain partitioning. Macroscopic strain, lattice strain, and texture were measured in situ using synchrotron x-ray diffraction and radiography and were modeled for olivine using Elasto-Viscoplastic Self-Consistent (EVPSC) simulations. These modeled results are coupled with microstructure images and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) measurements results to determine stress and deformation mechanisms. Previous to this study, investigations have been …

Using Geologic Principles And Data To Create A Symphony For Wind Ensemble, Thomas J. Davis

2022 Symposium

Geology and geologic processes have featured in many pieces of classical music such as Alan Hovhaness’ symphonic works after Mt. St. Helens and Glacier Peak but these pieces are impressionistic and only take general inspiration from the geology of their subjects. This paper describes the creation of Tectonics (2021) a piece which incorporates and describes many geologic principles and processes, such as mantle convection, through the musical form of cannon, the formation of fold and thrust belts whose cross sections are directly visually recreated in the score, and the physical dynamics of earthquake waves demonstrated through variations of pitch and …

A Geochemical And Mineralogical Evaluation Of The Mona Lisa Turquoise Mine, Polk County, Arkansas, Alexander Arai Goodsuhm

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The presence of turquoise in Arkansas has long been disputed by geologists and gem collectors. Despite the prevalence of other phosphate minerals in Arkansas, such as planerite, wavellite, and variscite, the absence of an obvious copper (Cu) source required for turquoise formation was considered too great of an obstacle for turquoise mineralization. In this study, geologic, mineralogical, and geochemical techniques provide overwhelming evidence that the novaculite-hosted Mona Lisa Mine in Arkansas does produce turquoise. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy have confirmed the structural nature of the material and identified other phosphate minerals, such as crandallite, often found in assemblage with …