Research and Teaching Interests
 |
Dr. Holloway's group |
My primary field of research is the study chemical reactions at the high pressure and temperature found at the bottom of the Earth’s ocean and in deeper parts of the Earth’s interior. Projects include measuring the solubility of carbon dioxide in a range of silicate melts from 0.1 to 20 GPa (1 to 200,000 atm.) and measuring melting reactions in the interior of Mars and the Earth’s lower crust and upper mantle. We use non-ideal mixing thermodynamics of volatile molecular species to calculate oxidation-reduction equilibria in planetary interiors at high pressures and temperatures; and we do experiments to determine the stability of hydrous and carbonated minerals in the Earth’s crust and mantle.
Our most recent project is to study mineral catalyzed, abiotic organic synthesis under conditions found in seafloor hydrothermal systems (Black Smokers) at the Earths mid-ocean ridge system. The first result showed that methanol is formed from hydrogen and carbon dioxide in the presence of the mineral magnetite. We are currently studying reactions of aqueous methanol solutions in the presence of different clay mineral types. The results demonstrate abiotic formation of a wide range of simple and complex compounds, including dimethyl ether and hexamethyl benzene. In analyzing the products of our experiments, we employ a wide range of analytical tools including an electron microprobe, field-emission and conventional scanning electron microscopes, secondary ion mass spectrography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and optical microscopy.
|
Ph. D. Dissertations:
J. F. Forneris (2002) Experiments on Dehydration of Subducting Oceanic Crust: Implications for Arc Volcanism. Ph. D. Dissertation, 148 pp.
K. M. Voglesonger (2004) Experimental and field studies of seafloor hydrothermal systems. Ph. D. Dissertation, 200 pp.
D. M. Locke (2004) On the hydration of magnesium –silicate minerals of Earth’s upper mantle. Ph. D. Dissertation, 150 pp.
Brandon M. Canfield, Ph. D. dissertation, 2006, Abiotic Organic Synthesis in Simulated Subseafloor Hydrothermal Vent Conditions.
Representative Publications
"Colonization of nascent, deep-sea hydrothermal vents by a novel Archaeal and Nanoarchaeal assemblage ," E. A. McCliment, K. M. Voglesonger, P. A. O’Day, E. E. Dunn, J. Holloway and S. C. Cary, Environmental Microbiology 89, 114-125 (2006).
"Bubble nucleation as a trigger for xenolith entrapment in mantle melts," N. G. Lensky, R. W. Niebo, J. R. Holloway, V. Lyakhovsky and O. Navon, Earth Planet. Sci. Letters 245, 278–288 (2006).
"Organic molecules formed in a primordial womb," L. B. Williams, C. Canfield, K. M. Voglesonger and J. R. Holloway, Geology 33, 913-916 (2005).
"Optimization of the Manufacture of Surface Plasmon Resonance Fiber Optic Based Dip-Probes," L.A. Obando, D.J. Gentleman, J.R. Holloway and K.S. Booksh, Sensors and Actuators B 100, 439-449 (2004).
"Evolution of mineral compositions during eclogitization of subducting basaltic crust," J. F. Forneris and J. R. Holloway , American Mineralogist 89, 1516-1524 (2004).
"REDOX Reactions in Seafloor Basalts: Possible insights into Silicic Systems," J. R. Holloway, Chemical Geology 210, 225-230 (2004).
"Phase equilibria in subducting basaltic crust: implications for H2O release from the slab," J.F. Forneris and J.R. Holloway, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 214, 187-201 (2003).
"Experimental Abiotic Synthesis of Methanol in Seafloor Hydrothermal Systems," K.M. Voglesonger, J.R. Holloway, E.E. Dunn, P.J. Dalla-Betta and P.A. O'Day, Chemical Geology 180, 129-139 (2001).
"Production of CO2 and H2 by Diking-Eruptive Events at Mid-Ocean Ridges: Implications for Abiotic Organic Synthesis and Global Geochemical Cycling," J.R. Holloway and P.A. O'Day, International Geology Review 42, 673-683 (2000).
"Melting temperature and partial melt chemistry of H2O - saturated mantle peridotite to 11 Gigapascals.," T. Kawamoto and J.R. Holloway, Science 276, 240-243 (1997).
|
