Conference: Petrochronology 2017

This award will support participants in a conference that will be convened in Seattle (WA) on October 2017 with the purpose of disseminating new knowledge and skills for the integration of petrology and geochronology. The primary audience for the conference is composed of graduate students, early-stage researchers as well as established professionals that would like to learn this new methodology. Through this type of training, early-career investigators will be able to develop future research directions that, in turn, will promote the advancement of the fields of petrology and tectonics. The conference will be held in the Washington State Convention Center, and will emphasize lecture-style presentations from experts in the discipline, and include a demonstration of data reduction software and possibly additional discussion time to identify areas of improvement of these methods. The first day will cover theory and analytical methods, and begin the systematic survey of relevant mineral systems. The second half-day will complete discussion of petrogenetically useful minerals and the presentation of useful software followed by discussion. Participants will be recruited from the broader communities interested in developing these new skills.

Petrochronology has emerged in the last 5-10 years as a preferred approach to geochronology, basically using chemistry and/or textures to integrate ages of individual crystals or crystal domains into a petrogenetic context. Examples in metamorphic systems include the use of crystal domain-specific trace element patterns or thermometers in minerals like zircon, monazite, titanite and garnet to link an age to an overall P-T-t evolution. Examples in igneous systems include resolution of crystal residence times, timing and rates of magma recharge, and rates of magma transport from zoning in quartz, olivine, feldspar, and melt (glass). Petrochronology directly benefits studies of tectonics, and metamorphic and igneous petrogenesis. It is expected that a corresponding book, published through 'Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry', will provide an important foundation accessible to high-level undergraduate students, graduate students, and junior professional researchers who are interested in theory and applications within this burgeoning field.