Laboratory for Crustal Petrology

Laboratory for Crustal Petrology There is a variety of opportunities for undergraduate geology students to participate in research with members of the LCP. These include the possibility of fieldwork and potential GEOL 393/394 projects. Interested students are encouraged to contact Michael Brown or Sarah Penniston-Dorland for further information.

Research Goals
Examples of Research
Affiliated Researchers
Research Associate
Graduate Students
Opportunities for Undergraduates
Visiting Researchers
Completed Theses
Recent Publications
Granulites and Granulites 2006

RESEARCH GOALS OF THE LABORATORY FOR CRUSTAL PETROLOGY

Research in the Laboratory for Crustal Petrology is concerned with the origin and evolution of the earth’s crust, including crust-mantle interactions, processes of mass transfer within the crust and intracrustal differentiation during orogenesis. To understand crustal evolution, faculty and students investigate the pressure-temperature-time-deformation (P-T-t-d) history of metamorphic belts through detailed study of metamorphic rocks and interpretation of microstructures, phase petrology and geochemistry; we investigate the role of fluids and the generation, segregation, transfer and emplacement of granite within orogens. Currently, we have a particular interest in granulite facies metamorphism, particularly high-pressure granulite and ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism, and the relationship between metamorphism, mass transfer and mineralization in the Platreef of the Bushveld Complex, South Africa.

In the Laboratory for Crustal Petrology, our interests span the fields of mineralogy and petrology, structural geology and tectonics, and geochemistry. Our work involves integration between field studies and laboratory studies [CSS 2259, CHEM 1211A, the Geochemistry Laboratories and the Electron Probe Microanalyzer Facility within the Nanoscale Imaging, Spectroscopy, and Properties Lab (http://www.nanocenter.umd.edu/labs/nisplab.php)], and theoretical analysis and modeling (e.g. phase petrology using THERMOCALC and the Holland & Powell internally consistent thermodynamic dataset).

Areas of active work include: the northern Appalachians of New England, particularly Vermont, New Hampshire and western Maine; Southern Brittany in the Variscides of France; the Neoproterozoic Brasília fold belt in Brazil; the contact aureole of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa; and, the Fosdick Migmatitic Gneiss Dome, Fosdick Mountains, Antarctica.

EXAMPLES OF RESEARCH SUPPORTED BY THE LAB

Click on the image to view an animated gif of gray scale inverted images of 112 HR X-ray CT scans of the migmatitic garnet amphibolite. First and last slices are outlined in white. Animation cycles from first to last slice (Movie 10 Mb; GIF).

Animation of projection of false-color three-dimensional image of stromatic migmatite, derived from the stack of two-dimensional representations of the HR X-ray CT scans, created using VoxBlast® . A scale bar is not presented because these are projections of a three-dimensional image (Fig. 4(b) contains the scale for the first image in the stack). The leucosome is rendered transparent in this image. The color of the solid part of the image is brighter for material with higher mineral density, with garnet appearing yellow (Movie: 115 Mb, AVI).

More information on these migmate images is available in the article:
Brown, M.A., Brown, M., Carlson, W.D. and Denison, C., 1999. Topology of syntectonic melt flow networks in the deep crust: inferences from three-dimensional images of leucosome geometry in migmatites. American Mineralogist, 84, 1793-1818.

Penniston-Dorland et al., 2006. American Geophysical Union, Joint Assembly

Baldwin et al., 2006. Granulites and Granulites 2006, Brazilia

Reno et al., 2006. Granulites and Granulites 2006, Brazilia

Reno et al., 2006. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Philadelphia

MARYLAND RESEARCHERS AFFILIATED WITH THE LABORATORY FOR CRUSTAL PETROLOGY

Hier-Majumder, Saswata ( saswata AT umd.edu) (Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory)
Martin, Aaron ( martinaj AT umd.edu) (Tectonics Laboratory)
Piccoli, Philip M. ( piccoli AT umd.edu) (Nanoscale Imaging, Spectroscopy, and Properties Lab (NISPLab), Electron Probe Microanalyzer Facility; Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research)

RESEARCH ASSOCIATE

Korhonen, Fawna J. ( korhonen AT umd.edu)
Project: ”The role of partial melting in the evolution of continental crust, Fosdick Mountains, Antarctica" [NSF Graduate Fellow (Polar Programs)]

GRADUATE STUDENTS (current)

Advisor: Brown, Michael

Reno, Barry ( reno AT umd.edu)
Ph.D. Project: “HP granulites in Andrelândia, Brazil” (co-advised with Piccoli, Philip M.)

Chen, Yan ( chenyan AT umd.edu)
Ph.D. Project: "Metamorphic Studies" (co-advised with Piccoli, Philip M.)

Advisor: Penniston-Dorland, Sarah

Potter, Rachel ( rhpotter AT umd.edu)
M.S. Project: "Diffusion of oxygen and lithium isotopes at a contact between the Bushveld and metasediments: Implications for diapiric rise of the Phepane Dome"

Undergraduate Interns (current)

OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERGRADUATES

There is a variety of opportunities for undergraduate geology students to participate in research with members of the LCP. These include the possibility of fieldwork and potential GEOL 393/394 projects. Interested students are encouraged to contact Michael Brown ( mbrown AT umd.edu) or Sarah Penniston-Dorland ( sarahpd AT umd.edu) for further information.

VISITING RESEARCHERS

Baldwin, Julia A. (University of Montana) jbaldwin@mso.umt.edu
Project: “UHT granulites of the Anápolis-Itauçu Complex, Goiás, Brazil”

Johnson, Timothy (Graz, Austria) timj AT umd.edu
Project: “The role of metasediment-derived melt in the Platreef"

Moraes, Renato (University of Sao Palo, Brazil) moraes@igc.usp.br
Project: “UHT and HP granulites, Goias and Minas Gerais, Brazil”

COMPLETED THESES (1994-present)

Advisor: Brown, Michael

Burgess, J.L., Metamorphic studies in the Port aux Basques Area, SW Newfoundland, Canada.
Awarded M.S. in 1994.

Pressley, R.A., Petrogenesis of the Phillips pluton, west-central Maine.
Awarded M.S. in 1997.

Solar, G.S., Structural and petrologic investigations in the Central Maine Belt, west-central Maine, with special reference to the migmatites.
Awarded PhD in 1999.

Tian, J., A geological and geochemical study of the Mooselookmeguntic composite pluton, west-central Maine and east-central New Hampshire.
Awarded MS in 2000.

Advisor: Penniston-Dorland, Sarah

RECENT PUBLICATIONS (2003-present)

Johnson, T.E., Brown, M. and Solar, G.S., 2003. Low-pressure subsolidus and suprasolidus phase equilibria in the MnNCKFMASH system: Constraints on conditions of regional metamorphism in western Maine, northern Appalachians. American Mineralogist, 88, 624-638.

Johnson, T.E., Gibson, R.L., Brown, M., Buick, I.S. and Cartwright, I., 2003. Partial melting of metapelitic rocks beneath the Bushveld Complex, South Africa. Journal of Petrology, 44, 789-813.

Marchildon, N. and Brown, M., 2003. Spatial distribution of melt-bearing structures in anatectic rocks from Southern Brittany: implications for melt-transfer at grain- to orogen-scale. Tectonophysics, 364, 215-235.

Brown, M., 2003. Hot orogens, tectonic switching, and creation of continental crust: Comment and Reply. Geology: On-Line Forum. June 2003, doi:10.1130/0091-7613(2003)31<e9:HOTSAC>2.0.CO;2.

Johnson, T. and Brown, M., 2004. Quantitative Constraints on Metamorphism in the Variscides of Southern Brittany - a Complementary Pseudosection Approach. Journal of Petrology, 45, 1237-1259; doi:10.1093/petrology/ehg012.

Johnson, T., Brown, M., Gibson, R. and Wing, B., 2004. Spinel-cordierite symplectites replacing andalusite: Evidence for melt-assisted diapirism in the Bushveld Complex, South Africa. Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 22, 529-545; doi:10.1111/j.1525-1314.2004.00531.x.

Brown, M., 2004. The mechanism of melt extraction from lower continental crust of orogens. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences, 95, 35-48.

Invited Contribution
Tomascak, P.B., Brown, M., Solar, G.S., Becker, H.J., Centorbi, T.L. and Tian, Jinmei, 2005. Source contributions to Devonian granite magmatism near the Laurentian Border, New Hampshire and Western Maine, USA. Lithos, 80, 75-99.

Invited Contribution
Brown, M., 2005. Invited comments on Clemens's 'Granites and granitic magmas'. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 116, 9-16.

Baldwin, J.A., Powell, R., Brown, M., Moraes, R. and Fuck, R.A., 2005. Mineral equilibria modeling of ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism: an example from the Anápolis-Itauçu Complex, central Brazil. Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 23, 511-531.

Penniston-Dorland, S.C. and Ferry, J.M., 2005. Coupled dichotomies of apatite and fluid composition during contact metamorphism of siliceous carbonate rocks. American Mineralogist, 90, 1606-1618.

Ferry, J.M., Rumble, D. III, Wing, B.A. and Penniston-Dorland, S.C., 2005. A new interpretation of centimeter-scale variations in the progress of infiltration-driven metamorphic reactions: Case study of carbonated metaperidotite, Val d'Efra, Central Alps, Switzerland. Journal of Petrology, 46, 1725-1746.

Brown, M., 2006. Duality of thermal regimes is the distinctive characteristic of plate tectonics since the Neoarchean. Geology, 34, 000-000.

Baldwin, J.A., Brown, M. and Schmitz, M.D., 2007. First application of titanium-in-zircon thermometry to ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism. Geology, 35, 000-000.

Brown, M., 2007a. Metamorphic conditions in orogenic belts: A record of secular change. International Geology Review, 00, 000-000.

Brown 2007b. Metamorphism, plate tectonics and the supercontinent cycle. Earth Science Frontiers, 00, 000-000.

Moraes, R., Fuck, R.A., Brown, M., Piccoli, P., Baldwin, J., Dantas, E.L., Laux, J.H. and Junges, S.L., 2007. Wollastonite-scapolite-clinopyroxene marble of the Anápolis-Itauçu Complex, Goiás: More evidence of ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism. Revista Brasileira de Geociências, 37, 000-000.