Collaborative Research: Behavior Of Moderately Volatile Elements During Silicate Evaporation

Tektites are a type of glass formed by meteorite impacts. This project will study how elements behave in tektites and volcanic glass from the Moon. Researchers will study how elements are lost or depleted in these natural glasses (quenched silicate melts).

Using silicate melts makes this research more accurate than previous work that uses data from simple compounds. This research could improve methods for studying Earth’s resources, which supports the national interest in science and technology. Another major benefit of this project is its emphasis on education and inclusion.

The project will help train students who are from underrepresented groups in science for future careers in the Geosciences. The research team will also create an educational module on how chemical elements behave in nature. This resource will become publicly available to students and teachers everywhere.

Researchers will also update the tektite display in the UCLA Meteorite Museum, where every year tens of thousands of visitors will learn about the latest research findings.

The goal of the project is to investigate how certain moderately volatile elements, such as alkali metals (e.g. potassium, rubidium), transition metals (e.g. copper, zinc), and sulfur-loving elements (e.g. lead, gallium, germanium), behave when silicate melts (melted rock) evaporate. We will use a special laser-heating technique with an aerodynamic levitation setup to conduct these evaporation experiments.

The project has two main objectives: (1) Volatility Scale of Elements: To create a ranking of how easily different trace elements evaporate; and (2) Activity Coefficients in Silicate Melts: To determine how the activity (or reactivity) of these elements changes based on temperature, the type of melt, and gas composition around it. The project’s findings will help improve models that predict the volatility of these trace elements, which is key to understanding how volatile elements behave and change on Earth and other rocky planets.

Earth, for instance, has lost a significant portion of these elements during its formation. Understanding when and how this happened will shed light on Earth’s water sources, the formation of its atmosphere and oceans, and possibly even the origins of life. The project will train students at UCLA, especially women and students from other underrepresented groups in science, preparing them for future careers in geochemistry and related fields.

In addition, the team will create a new educational module on the history and current understanding of how chemical elements behave in nature, making this resource publicly available to students and teachers everywhere. The proposal also includes an update to the tektite display in the UCLA Meteorite Museum, where tens of thousands of visitors will learn about the latest research findings every year.

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.