EPSCoR Research Fellows: NSF: Evolution of Planetary Interiors - Insights from Orthopyroxene/Melt Trace Element Partitioning Experiments

This Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) EPSCoR Research Fellows project provides a fellowship to an Associate Professor and training for a graduate student at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. This work is conducted in collaboration with Anne Pommier at Carnegie Institution for Science. Through the fellowship, the PI will experimentally document the phase stability and trace element partitioning of low-Ca pyroxene species at upper mantle conditions of Earth and Mars. These experiments will provide the foundation for numerical models of mantle evolution of terrestrial planets which is currently handicapped by the absence of experimental constraints for such systems. The project will be focused on the broad fields of geosciences while addressing the questions on the stability and trace element budget of orthopyroxene at mantle pressures. Results will help to understand the mechanisms driving volcanism and distribution/recycling of critical minerals while enhancing high-pressure experimental infrastructure and training of graduate students at the home institution. The proposed research focuses on conducting new low-Ca pyroxene/melt trace element partitioning experiments appropriate for both Earth and Mars. Specific goals will be to 1) constrain the partitioning behavior of trace elements in melts that crystallize low-Ca pyroxenes, 2) document the stability of low-Ca pyroxene species in refractory domains of the mantle on Earth and Mars, 3) apply the training gained at the host institution in reconstruction and calibration of piston cylinder press, and interlaboratory testing in the PI’s laboratory. Establishment of this high-pressure facility at the home institution will allow the PI Ustunisik to build on her record of high-pressure research, train her graduate students in the use of the piston cylinder press, and apply state-of-the-art analytical instrumentation. This project will enhance the research capacity of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology faculty in materials and manufacturing, data science/numerical modeling, and critical minerals. This project is supported by the EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Program: EPSCoR Research Fellows (ERF). The ERF program supports early- and mid-career investigators in eligible jurisdictions to develop collaborations at the nation’s private, government or academic research institutions. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.