85-1 Petrology– Who Needs It? Applications of Petrology and Experimental Techniques to Geohazards, Critical Minerals and Carbon Capture, Uptake and Storage

Session: The Power of Hard Rocks: Driving the Energy Transition and Serving Society

Presenting Author:

Laura Waters

Authors:

Waters, Laura E.¹, Grismer, Magdalen A², Banerjee, Debarati³, Hurtig, Nicole C.⁴, Gysi, Alexander P.⁵, Scholten, Oscar⁶, Harlov, Daniel Eric⁷, Wang, Sai⁸

(1) Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM, USA, (2) MST-16, Nuclear Materials Science Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA, (3) Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM, USA, (4) Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM, USA, (5) Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM, USA; New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM, USA, (6) Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM, USA, (7) Division of Chemistry and Physics of Earth Materials, GeoForschungsZentrum, Section 3.6 Chemistry Earth Materials, Potsdam, Germany; Faculty of Earth Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China, (8) Petroleum Engineering Department, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM, USA; Petroleum Recovery Research Center, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM, USA,

Abstract:

Skills that are fundamental to petrology include mineral identification and characterization, microbeam analysis, interpretation of geochemical suites, determination of intensive variables, and using high-temperature and pressure experiments. These skills are all also essential to a range of applied sciences from geohazard mitigation, critical mineral mobility and carbon capture uptake and sequestration. In this talk, we describe three different applications of petrology and high temperature experiments to themes in applied science to highlight portable skills for careers in applied science. Recent experimental and petrologic work on Valles Caldera find that common storage conditions (750–770°C; 130–165 MPa) for the post-collapse rhyolites and are similar to those of the most recent caldera-forming ignimbrite, the Upper Bandelier Tuff. The results suggest that magmatic storage was consistent beneath the caldera for ~10⁶ y and can be used by seismic monitoring to understand spacing of geophones for optimal imaging in hazard monitoring and by modelers to forecast potential eruptive pathways. Experimental petrology techniques can also be used to understand critical mineral mobility in fluids at magmatic-hydrothermal conditions (500-700°C; 150-170MPa). Recent experiments conducted in cold-seal pressure vessels are used to determine the solubility of monazite-(Nd) and xenotime-(Dy) in hydrothermal fluids find that NdPO₄ is approximately two orders of magnitude more soluble than DyPO₄ in similar fluids at similar temperatures. The results may provide the mechanism for Dy-enrichment (Nd-depletion) in pegmatite deposits and may help inform rare earth separation techniques. New data on critical mineral mobility in fluids, like those mentioned here, are being generated from experiments conducted by a newly formed research hub at New Mexico Tech (NMT CritMinExp). Finally, we present results from a petrologic study on New Mexican basalts to determine their potential as reservoirs for carbon capture uptake and sequestration projects and to characterize mantle sources, which is important for understanding continental break up and evolution of Earth’s crust.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-9982

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