Hydrothermal Geochemistry:

Studying the chemical and physical processes related to groundwater circulation near magma chambers, by theoretically investigating the properties of solution-mineral reactions to predict the nature of elemental mass transfer by reactive hydrothermal fluids and testing the hypotheses through detailed analysis of vein systems and mineralization found in magma-hydrothermal systems formed during crustal rifting in Iceland and Greenland; volcanological controls on the occurrence of geothermal systems in rhyolitic caldera systems.

Faculty: Dennis Bird, Page Chamberlin, Juhn Liou (Emeritus), Atilla Aydin, Gail Mahood

Related Laboratory Facilities:

  • Sensitive High Resolution Ion Microprobe lab (SHRIMP-RG)
  • Electron microprobe with image-analysis system
  • Scanning and transmission electron microscopes
  • X-ray diffractometer
  • Heating/freezing stage for study of fluid inclusions
  • Stable Isotope Laboratory for measurement of O, C, and H isotopes in rocks and minerals
  • Clean labs for isotopic analyses
  • Rock crushing and mineral separation labs for chemical and isotopic analyses
  • for more information, see the GES facilities site.