12:15 pm
KPTC Room 206
"Mineral Informatics: Data-Driven Discovery in Earth & Planetary Materials Research"
The story of Earth is a 4.5-billion-year saga of dramatic transformations, driven by physical, chemical, and—based on a fascinating growing body of evidence—biological processes. The co-evolution of life and rocks unfolds in an irreversible sequence of evolutionary stages. Each stage re-sculpted our planet’s surface, while introducing new planetary processes and phenomena. This grand and intertwined tale of Earth’s living and non-living spheres is coming into ever-sharper focus thanks to the emerging field of mineral informatics, which employs powerful analytical and visualization methods applied to large and growing mineral data resources. The histories of terrestrial planets and moons are best preserved in the information-rich record of minerals. Mineral attributes, including trace and minor elements, isotopes, solid and fluid inclusions, structural defects, exsolution and twinning, geologic and petrologic context, and scores of other properties, reveal the ancient origins and complex evolution of Earth’s crust. Thus, mineral informatics is ushering in a new era of discovery, while holding the promise to transform mineralogy into a predictive science.