Geology 553-554: Physical and Chemical Petrology

Geology 554: The Generation, Rise, and Storage of Magma

Fall, 2001

415 McClure Hall
Dennis Geist

322 Mines; 885-6491

dgeist@uidaho.edu http://www.uidaho.edu/~dgeist

General Statements

I have designed this course to take a top to bottom look at magmatic systems, starting at the top, where we know a little bit, to the bottom, where we know almost nothing.

Our case study will be a detailed look at the suite from Mauna Kea volcano. Thanks to the Hawaiian Scientific Drilling project, this is probably the best characterized igneous suite on earth. Thanks to friends who participated, we have thin sections and all the data is already entered into a spreadsheet.

The course is designed around a series of seminal and review papers. My strategy is to review each paper as a team. It is essential that you read each paper as it is assigned and be prepared to participate as we work our way through this morass of complicated material.

You will be making heavy use of computers in this class; if you don't know how to drive Excel, sit down this week and do the tutorial that comes with it. You also need to be able to transfer via ftp and use the web routinely. The problem sets are all about numerical modeling as a method of testing hypotheses.

If it works out, we may do Thursday meetings at WSU when seminar is there.

Grading

Your grade will be based 1/3 on problem sets, 1/3 on class participation, and 1/3 on your final project.

Special Circumstance

I will be gone from the start of classes in August until Sept. 27, on a research cruise to explore the submarine parts of volcanoes in the Galapagos. There will be regular class meetings on August 28 and again on September 11. It is essential that you attend those two classes. We will start to meet at the regular time starting on September 27. While I am gone, you will have plenty to do.

Final Project

Starting about the middle of the semester, you will design a final project. On Oct. 23, you will turn in a one-page proposal outlining your project. This project could take a number of forms, but the common theme is that it is to be used by you to learn more about something we covered in class. It could be a paper modeling a data set of your own choice. This may be your thesis rocks, or a published set that we decide on together. Alternatively, you can do a review or literature search of some topic that you would like to learn more about. The paper's format (refs, headings, etc.) is to be that of a manuscript submitted to any professional journal. I expect something on the order of 8-15 pages of text + figures and references.

Field Trip

Unfortunately, because of my extended absense, this will be the first time in 14 years that I haven’t done a big fun field trip in the fall. I promise to lead an optional one in the spring for those who are interested.

Topical Schedule:

Overviews

A. Basalts (Langmuir et al., 1992, Geophys Mon 71, 183-280)

B. Granites (Brown, 1994, Ear Sci Rev 36; 83-130)

C. Subduction zone magmatism (Davidson, Geophys Monog 96, 251)

Evolution During Ascent and Storage

A, What is a magma chamber? (Sinton and Detrick, 1992, JGR 97, 197-21; Marsh, Encyclopedia of Volcanoes, 191-206).

B. Chemical effects of fractional crystallization (Grove et al., Geophys Mon 71, 281-310).

C. Assimilation (Spera and Bohrson, 2001, JPet 42, 999-1041)

III. Generation of Magma

A. Isotope geochemistry of the Earth's mantle (Hofmann, 1997, Nature 385, 219-229)

B. The extraction of partial melt (Turcotte and Phipps-Morgan, 1992, Geophys Mon 71, 155-182).

C. Trace element behavior during partial melting (Feigenson et al., 1995, JGR 101, 11815-11829)

D. Generation of magmas by upwelling (Asimow et al., 2001, JPet)

E. Melt-mantle reaction (Kelemen et al., in Cann, ed., 1999)

IV. Putting it Together

A. Basalts (Langmuir et al., 1992, Geophys Mon 71, 183-280)

B. Granites (Brown, 1994, Ear Sci Rev 36; 83-130)

C. Subduction zone magmatism (Davidson, Geophys Monog 96, 251)