Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/K007661/1
Magma to ice-cream: the crystallisation of complex fluids
Training Grant Award
- Lead Supervisor:
- Professor M Holness, University of Cambridge, Earth Sciences
- Grant held at:
- University of Cambridge, Earth Sciences
- Science Area:
- Earth
- Marine
- Overall Classification:
- Earth
- ENRIs:
- Global Change
- Natural Resource Management
- Science Topics:
- None
- Abstract:
- Crystallization of poly-component liquids plays an important role throughout the Earth. The effects of solidification on material properties affect the Earth's core, mantle, crust and cryosphere, with implications for our understanding of planetary evolution, the exploitation of mineral deposits and the behaviour of sea-ice and glaciers. Closer to home, the behaviour of complex liquids during freezing has important implications for manufacturing, such as in the casting of many alloys and in the making of ice-cream. Recognising the exciting synergies between the cryosphere, igneous petrology and food science, and the developing research relationships between Cambridge and Unilever, we propose to solve the problems involved in the solidification of low-porosity systems via a combination of experimental work on ice and analysis of natural igneous bodies. We will focus on the fundamental links between mass transport and crystal growth kinetics in confined spaces - these have a wide range of natural and industrial applications and we anticipate that our results will have high impact on the scientific and commercial communities. We will address the following questions: To what extent is the liquid distribution controlled by growth kinetics rather than interfacial energies? How do three-grain junctions form during solidification? When does the remaining liquid lose connectivity and how does this permeability reduction change as a function of microstructure and cooling rate? How does microstructure (grain size, shape, volume and distribution of porosity) affect how the partially solidified material behaves under stress? Answering these questions is important if we are to decode and interpret the microstructural record in exposed plutonic rocks and use it to understand how fractionation can affect volcanic behaviour. It is important for interpreting the climatic record preserved by impurities trapped in glacial ice, and enables the design and control of material properties in any system manufactured through composite solidification. We will use a powerful combination of analogue experiments and analysis of natural examples of igneous intrusions. We will use ice-sucrose and ice-brine systems to track the rate of formation of three-grain junctions and to monitor how they are modified in the sub-solidus. We will compare these results with the record of solidification preserved in fully and partially crystallised bodies of basaltic magma, using the Whin Sill and the Kilauea Iki lava lake as our laboratories. We will use chemical zonation of mineral grains and glass to track the progressive occlusion of porosity and to decode the formation of three-grain junctions over longer time-scale and in chemically more complex liquids than permitted by the experimental program. We will explore the gradual reduction of mass transport and permeability by looking at the distribution of grain size and late-stage silicic segregations. We will design and implement experiments to measure the rheology of ice-sucrose slurries (of vital importance to the manufacture of ice-cream and other frozen confectionery), exploring how this varies with microstructure (grain size and shape). The proposed work spans almost the entire temperature range of solidification at or near the surface of the Earth, but the links between the different parts of the project are tight: each is aimed at addressing one part of the complex web created by the effects of mass transport and crystal growth kinetics in static and dynamic crystal mushy zones. Each in itself will provide valuable information of wide applicability, but the amalgamation of all the various strands will result in a deep understanding of the processes operating in almost-solidified systems. Given the expertise of the three supervisors, their already established research collaboration, and the excellent facilities available we anticipate that fulfilment of these ambitious aims will be possible in three years.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/K007661/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- DTG - directed
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Open CASE
This training grant award has a total value of £72,323
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Fees | Total - RTSG | Total - Student Stipend |
|---|---|---|
| £13,978 | £9,152 | £49,194 |
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