Susan DeBari
Department: Geology
Research Areas: Crystal chemistry, chemical zoning profiles in crystals grown in lavas, partition coefficients of trace elements between melt and crystals, magma chemistry
Education
B.A. Geological Sciences, Cornell University (1984)
Ph.D. Geology Stanford University (1990)
Postdoctoral Research, University of Hawaii (1991-1992)
Research Interests
My research interests are focused on understanding how magmas change and evolve chemically as they migrate upward through Earth's crust before eruption. From a materials perspective, the best way to analyze a record of this evolution is through the crystals, or phenocrysts, that were growing from the magma. The crystals display growth zonation patterns that provide a frozen record of changing conditions. These patterns can be analyzed quantitatively by LA-ICPMS (trace elements) and by electron microprobe (major elements), or semi-quantitiavely by SEM (major elements). The crystals also contain melt inclusions that can be used to determine pre-eruptive H2O and CO2 contents (FTIR). In particular, my students and I are interested in magmas generated in subduction zone settings where magmas are most hydrous and explosive, and interact extensively with the crust that they pass through. Determination of whole rock chemistry is also important to my research group. We typically analyze major and trace elements by XRF and ICPMS, and Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopes by TIMS.
