July 10, 2020
Bureau Economic Geologist and New Mexico Tech Assistant Professor in the Earth and Environmental Science Department Dr. Alexander Gysi, and Bureau Associate Director for Labs and Senior Geochronologist Dr. Matthew Heizler presented talks at this year’s virtual Goldschmidt Conference.
Dr. Gysi’s talk “Fluid-mineral partitioning of REE in critical mineral deposits” focuses on the behavior of rare earth elements (REEs) in hydrothermal fluids and the formation of deposits in vein minerals. The talk details experimental work conducted by Dr. Gysi’s lab group (MINES thermodynamic database) that supports the development of new thermodynamic models to help scientists better understand these chemically-complex systems.
Access Dr. Gysi’s talk here.
Dr. Heizler’s talk “Muscovite MDD: In vacuo argon release via volume”, co-authored with Dr. Mark Holland at West Texas A&M University and Dr. Sean Long at Washington State University, focuses on argon gas release from the mineral muscovite during the 40Ar/39Ar dating process via a multiple diffusion domain (MDD) mechanism. The MDD approach could help researchers extract meaning continuous thermal histories when samples are heated from 375°C to 275°C, a significant advance for thermochronology.
Access Dr. Heizler’s talk here.