Office: CHM 1210B
Chemistry Building
8051 Regents Drive
College Park, MD 20742

Mailing Address
8000 Regents Drive
College Park, MD 20742

mryan121 [at] umd [dot] edu

Laboratory for Rock Physics

Wenlu Zhu

My research interests span the processes that control the mechanical behavior of the Earth's lower crust and upper mantle. I am currently investigating melt channelization processes in the upper mantle. My research utilizes high temperature, high pressure experiments combined with 3-D synchrotron microtomography to visualize 3-D melt morphologies and quantify the permeability of melt channels. Before starting at UMD, my Master's research focused on the crystal plasticity and water weakening effect of alkali feldspars, and my undergraduate research examined how crystallographic preferred orientation influences the relative viscosities of wet olivine aggregates.