Mark R. Frank

Research Activities

My general research activities focus on understanding the physicochemical principles that determine mineral stability in the interior of the Earth. This goal is achieved through characterizing, by experimentation and the theory of mineral physics, equilibrium and the kinetics of mineral-melt-fluid systems in the Earth's crust. My research program is grounded in the use of diamond anvil cell assemblies, cold-seal and one-atmosphere furnaces to collect data relevant to pressing geologic questions. Subsequent thermodynamic models provide a means of applying experimental data to ancient and present geologic processes. The core of the research program is outlined below, but experimental studies are conducted in numerous other areas relating to Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry.

Economic Geology Projects

I generally work on metal solubility and speciation in minerals, melts and magmatic volatile phases with applications to porphyry, epithermal, MVT, and layered intrusion type depositions. Some of my current projects include:

• Cu, Au and Fe partitioning between a vapor, liquid, and melt.
• Au association with and incorporation into various sulfide minerals (bornite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, and arsenopyrite)
• The stability of select Cu-Fe, Fe-As and Fe- sulfide minerals as a function of temperature, pressure and sulfur activity/fugacity.
• Pt, Pd, and Cu partitioning between a silicate and sulfide melt
• Fluorite solubility in a low salinity, high-F fluid.

Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology Projects

Experimental petrology has contributed significantly to our understanding of rock genesis. My research laboratories are well suited for a variety of experimental studies and are capable of producing the pressures and temperatures found deep within the Earth or other planetary bodies. I have diverse interests within these fields that include:

• Mineral-fluid alteration reactions (± bacteria assistance)
• Exchange of alkali elements between volatile phases, minerals and melts
• Serpentine dehydration kinetics in subduction zones
• Mantle wedge metasomatism

High Pressure Mineralogy and Petrology (with some Planetary Geology Applications)

My present research is centered on using diamond anvil assemblies to address problems in mineralogy, petrology and geochemistry. My research group uses the cell together with a synchrotron radiation source (APS, NSLS, CHESS, etc.) to explore the properties of minerals and fluids over a range of crustal conditions (300-3000 K and 0.001-200 GPa).

• High pressure studies of H₂O-rich planetary bodies
• The incorporation of impurities into high-pressure phases
• The reactivity of CO₂ in the deep mantle
• The kinetics of serpentine dehydration reactions

Selected Publications

Frank, M.R., Aarestad, E., Scott, H.P., and Prakapenka, V.B. (2012) A comparison of ice VII formed in the H₂O, NaCl-H₂O, and CH₃OH-H₂O systems: Implications for H₂O-rich planets. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interior, 215, 12-20.

Tanis, E.A., Simon, A., Tschauner, O., Chow, P., Xiao, Y., Shen, G., Hanchar, J., and Frank, M. (2012) The solubility of xenotime in aqueous fluid at 1.2 to 2.6 GPa and 300 to 500°C: Extension of an in situ experimental technique to quantify trace element concentrations in fluid at high P and T. American Mineralogist. 97, 1708-1713.

Frank, M.R. and Vaccaro, D.M. (2012) An Experimental Study of High Temperature Potassic Alteration: Implications for Magmatic-Hydrothermal Systems. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 83, 195-204. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2011.12.007.

Frank, M.R., Simon, A.C., Pettke, T., Candela, P.A., and Piccoli, P.M. (2011) Gold and copper partitioning in magmatic-hydrothermal systems at 800 °C and 100 MPa. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 75, 2470-2482. DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2011.02.012.

Frank, M.R., Scott, H.P, Maglio, S.J., Prakapenka, V., and Shen, G., (2008) Temperature Induced Immiscibility in the NaCl-H₂O System at High Pressure. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 170, 107-114, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pepi.2008.07.035.

Simon, A.C., Frank, M.R., Pettke, T., Candela, P.A., Piccoli, P.M., Heinrich, C.A., and Glascock, M.D., (2007) An evaluation of synthetic fluid inclusions for the purpose of trapping equilibrated, coexisting, immiscible fluids at magmatic conditions. American Mineralogist, 92, 124-138.

Fei, Y., Ricolleau, A., Frank, M.R., Mibe, K., Shen, G. and Prakapenka, V., (2007) Toward an internally consistent pressure scale. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 10.1073/pnas.0609013104, 104, 9182-9186.

Frank, M.R., Runge, C.E., Scott, H.P., Maglio, S.J., Olson, J., Prakapenka, V.B., and Shen, G., (2006)  Experimental Study of the NaCl-H₂O System up to 28 GPa:  Implications for Ice-rich Planetary Bodies.  Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 155, 152-162.

Frank, M.R., Fei, Y., and Hu, J., (2004) Constraining the equation of state of fluid H₂O to 80 GPa using the melting curve, bulk modulus and thermal expansivity of Ice VII. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 68, 13, 2781-2790. 

Frank, M.R., Candela, P.A., and Piccoli, P.M., (2003) Alkali exchange equilibria between a silicate melt and coexisting magmatic volatile phase:  An experimental study at 800ºC and 100 MPa. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 67, 7, 1415-1427.  Published subsequently in Experimental Earth, 1, Issue 1.

Frank, M.R., Candela, P.A., Piccoli, P.M., and Glascock, M.D., (2002) Gold solubility, speciation and partitioning as a function of HCl in the brine-silicate melt-metallic gold system at 800°C and 100 MPa. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 66, 21, 3719-3732.

Teaching

• Introductory Physical Geology
• Economic Geology
• Metallic Ore Deposits
• Solid Earth Composition (An Introductory course to Mineralogy and Petrology)
• Structural and Determinative Mineralogy
• Synchrotron Radiation and Advanced Mineralogy
• High-Pressure Mineralogy and Petrology
• Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology
• Introductory Planetary Geology
• Planetary Geosciences