The composition of the Earth

Knowledge of temperature and pressure, however qualitative, has been central to our views of geology since at least the early 19th century. In 1822, for example, Charles Daubeny presented what may be the very first “Geological Thermometer,” comparing temperatures of various geologic processes (Torrens 2006). Daubeny (1835) may even have been the first to measure the temperature of a lava flow, by laying a thermometer on the top of a flow at Vesuvius—albeit several months following the eruption, after intervening rain (his estimate was 390°F). In any case, pressure ( P ) and temperature ( T ) estimation lie at the heart of fundamental questions: How hot is Earth, and at what rate has the planet cooled. Are volcanoes the products of thermally driven mantle plumes? Where are magmas stored, and how are they transported to the surface—and how do storage and transport relate to plate tectonics? Well-calibrated thermometers and barometers are essential tools if we are to fully appreciate the driving forces and inner workings of volcanic systems.

This chapter presents methods to estimate the P-T conditions of volcanic and other igneous processes. The coverage includes a review of existing geothermometers and geobarometers, and a presentation of approximately 30 new models, including a new plagioclase-liquid hygrometer. Our emphasis is on experimentally calibrated “thermobarometers,” based on analytic expressions using P or T as dependent variables. For numerical reasons (touched on below) such expressions will always provide the most accurate means of P-T estimation, and are also most easily employed. Analytical expressions also allow error to be ascertained; in the absence of estimates of error, P-T estimates are nearly meaningless. This chapter is intended to complement the chapters by Anderson et al. (2008), who cover granitic systems, and by Blundy and Cashman (2008) and Hansteen and Klugel (2008), who consider additional methods …

Thermometers and Barometers for Volcanic Systems

We present new reference values for the NIST SRM 610–617 glasses following ISO guidelines and the International Association of Geoanalysts’ protocol. Uncertainties at the 95% confidence level (CL) have been determined for bulk- and micro-analytical purposes. In contrast to former compilation procedures, this approach delivers data that consider present-day requirements of data quality. New analytical data and the nearly complete data set of the GeoReM database were used for this study. Data quality was checked by the application of the Horwitz function and by a careful investigation of analytical procedures. We have determined quantitatively possible element inhomogeneities using different test portion masses of 1, 0.1 and 0.02 μg. Although avoiding the rim region of the glass wafers, we found moderate inhomogeneities of several chalcophile/siderophile elements and gross inhomogeneities of Ni, Se, Pd and Pt at small test portion masses. The extent of inhomogeneity was included in the determination of uncertainties. While the new reference values agree with the NIST certified values with the one exception of Mn in SRM 610, they typically differ by as much as 10% from the Pearce et al. (1997) values in current use. In a few cases (P, S, Cl, Ta, Re) the discrepancies are even higher.



Nous presentons des nouvelles valeurs de reference pour les verres NIST SRM 610–617 en suivant les recommandations de l’ISO et le protocole de l’IAG. Les incertitudes au niveau de confiance de 95% ont ete determinees a des fins d’analyse totale et de micro-analyse. Contrairement aux procedures de compilation precedentes, cette approche fournit des donnees qui tiennent compte des exigences actuelles dans la qualite des donnees. De nouvelles donnees analytiques et le jeu de donnees presque complet de la base de donnees GeoReM ont ete utilises pour cette etude. La qualite des donnees a ete verifiee par l’application de la fonction de Horwitz et par un examen minutieux des procedures analytiques. Nous avons determine quantitativement les possibles inhomogeneites d’element en utilisant des prises d’essai de masses differentes correspondant a 1, 0.1 et 0.02 μg. Bien que nous ayons evite les zones de bordure des disques de verre, nous avons trouve des inhomogeneites moderees pour plusieurs elements chalcophiles/siderophiles et des inhomogeneites flagrantes de Ni, Se, Pd et Pt pour les prises d’essai de petites masses. La mesure d’inhomogeneite a ete incluse dans la determination des incertitudes. Alors que les nouvelles valeurs de reference sont en accord avec les valeurs NIST certifiees a la seule exception du Mn dans SRM 610, elles sont generalement differentes, avec des ecarts de pres de 10%, des valeurs de Pearce et al. (1997) qui sont d’un usage courant. Dans quelques cas (P, S, Cl, Ta, Re), les ecarts sont encore plus eleves.

Determination of Reference Values for NIST SRM 610–617 Glasses Following ISO Guidelines

Data Reduction And Error Analysis For The Physical Sciences

Calibration of the geological time scale is achieved by independent radioisotopic and astronomical dating, but these techniques yield discrepancies of ∼1.0% or more, limiting our ability to reconstruct Earth history. To overcome this fundamental setback, we compared astronomical and 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages of tephras in marine deposits in Morocco to calibrate the age of Fish Canyon sanidine, the most widely used standard in 40 Ar/ 39 Ar geochronology. This calibration results in a more precise older age of 28.201 ± 0.046 million years ago (Ma) and reduces the 40 Ar/ 39 Ar method9s absolute uncertainty from ∼2.5 to 0.25%. In addition, this calibration provides tight constraints for the astronomical tuning of pre-Neogene successions, resulting in a mutually consistent age of ∼65.95 Ma for the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/320/5875/500.full.pdf

Synchronizing Rock Clocks of Earth History

Calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAis) typically contain radiogenic ^(26)Mg (^(26)Mg^*) from the decay of ^(26)Al, with (^(26)Al/^(27)Al); up to 5 x 10^(-5) [e.g., 1]. Some Al-rich chondrules from unequilibrated ordinary chondrites contain detectable ^(26)Mg^*, but (^(26)Al/^(27)Al); is lower [e.g., 2].

Gary R. Huss

Papers

Trace-element abundances and the origin of aluminum-26-bearing chondrules in unequilibrated ordinary chondrites

Non-Atmospheric Noble Gases from CO 2 Well Gases

Solar Nebula Composition Based on Solar Wind Data

Cosmochemistry: Cosmochemical models for the formation of the solar system

Compositional Heterogeneity in Orgueil SiC: Further Comparisons with Murchison