Tiny Melt Inclusions from 2009 Redoubt Tephra Samples
![Image: Tiny Melt Inclusions from 2009 Redoubt Tephra Samples](https://d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/s3fs-public/styles/full_width/public/KW_lab2.jpg?itok=M2fmsehw)
Detailed Description
Graduate student Allison Payne (USGS ARRA student appointment) uses a binocular microscope to pick out minerals that contain tiny melt inclusions from 2009 Redoubt tephra samples. Melt inclusions are then analyzed with a SHRIMP - Sensitive High Resolution Ion Microprobe - for their volatile (H2O and CO2) content. Determining volatile content of the melt allows petrologists to constrain the pressure, and therefore the depth, of a magma at various stages in the magma's migration toward the surface.
Sources/Usage
Public Domain.