The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding FOR 2881: Diffusion Chronometry of Magmatic Systems for another three years.
Researchers from the geosciences from two universities and four departments are pooling their expertise in this project cooperation, which has been running since 2020: The project is led by Prof. Dr. Sumit Chakraborty, Institute of Geology, Mineralogy and Geophysics at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB). At Leibniz Universität Hannover, three partners from the Leibniz Research Centre GEO (FZ:GEO) are involved in the research group - two working groups from the Institute of Earth System Sciences, the Geochemistry Working Group, Prof. Dr. Stefan Weyer, and the Petrology Working Group, Prof. Dr. François Holtz, as well as the Institute of Cartography and Geoinformatics, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Monika Sester.
The interdisciplinary team of the research group develops methods for analyzing processes in magmatic systems on short time scales. The properties of crystals, which often exhibit chemical diffusion profiles, are useful for determining the time scales of geological processes. For example, it is possible to investigate how long the magmas remain in the reservoirs at depth before the eruption or how quickly they rise during the eruption.
One focus of the research group is to use targeted experiments to better determine the diffusion rate of various elements in the most common magmatic minerals, olivine, pyroxene and plagioclase, as well as their dependence on various factors, such as temperature, and thus to better calibrate the "clock" of the crystals. Together, deep learning approaches are being developed to enable automated evaluation of diffusion profiles; this has the potential to greatly simplify and accelerate the application of diffusion chronometry. It enables near real-time investigation of the rocks produced by active volcanoes and a corresponding rapid response by the relevant authorities.
