Tami is a 4th-year Earth Science student who is writing her honours thesis on the behaviour and effectiveness of sodium bentonite as an ash modifier in environmental waste combustion furnaces. She is set to graduate in the spring of 2025 and intends on furthering her education afterwards. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, baking, reading and watching documentaries.
Abstract: This study explores the behaviour of sodium bentonite (an absorbent, swelling clay composed of mainly montmorillonite) in high temperature furnaces and its effect on the compositional and physical properties of hard ash, in particular its ability to weaken ash structure. The objective of the study is to better understand how sodium bentonite additives mitigate “fouling” (adhesion of molten material to furnace surfaces) in furnaces that are utilized to burn environmental waste material, with the goal of maximizing furnace efficiency, and reducing operational costs.
Using a high-temperature muffle furnace, pure samples of sodium bentonite, combusted fuel (clinker fuel and wood ash), and varying mixtures of fuel and bentonite were heated to T from 800 to 1700°C and held at these temperature for 0 to 240 minutes. Final melting points for pure bentonites, pure fuels, and some of the mixtures of fuels and bentonites were determined, followed by run product imaging under a binocular microscope for visual analysis, looking out for partial melting at lower temperatures and ensuring complete melting has occurred at the determined melting points. The composition of glass melt products were analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM-EDS). Compositional data was used to calculate various engineering parameters such as slagging factors and B/A ratios, as well as to calculate liquidus temperatures and melt viscosities, all of which have an influence on fouling and slagging tendencies in industrial furnaces. These data will be used to increase our ability to understand how the chemical composition of the ashes will need to be altered, as well as determine the ideal sodium bentonite composition, within an ideal temperature range that would allow for the generation of more viscous and friable ashes to reduce fouling and slagging.
Gaby is a 4th-year student majoring in Earth Science. Her interests include mapping, structural geology/tectonics, GIS, and a newfound love for igneous petrology. Before pursuing a master's degree, she is determined to gain experience in as many different areas in geology as she can. In her free time, Gaby enjoys cooking, origami, and practicing Jiu Jitsu.
Abstract: The objective of this project is to constrain the timing of mafic magmatism and metasomatism at Clarke Head, Nova Scotia, and to discern their relationships to metasomatic Fe deposits along the Cobequid-Chedabucto Fault Zone (CCFZ). Clarke Head is located within the CCFZ, a 300 km E-W striking, terrane-bounding fault system that hosts numerous metasomatic iron ± copper, gold, and cobalt deposits. These occur within fault breccias with sodic and potassic alteration, suggesting a Metasomatic Iron Alkali Calcic (MIAC) mineralization model is relevant. The source of metasomatic fluids may be from the melting or dissolution of Viséan-aged Windsor Group carbonates and evaporites by mafic magmatism. Clarke Head exposes a megabreccia, bounded to the north by the Clarke Head fault, a NE-SW striking fault splay of the CCFZ, that incorporates igneous and sedimentary blocks of varying size, age, and deformation history. Field evidence of mafic rocks north of the CCFZ indicate syn- to post-Viséan magmatism occurred. Undated igneous blocks at Clarke Head may be related to this magmatic event. Field work and petrography aided by scanning electron microscopy and micro-X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy show that primary minerals in monzodiorite and gabbro blocks consisting of andesine-labradorite are overprinted by two stages of alteration. The first alteration assemblage consists of hornblende-pargasite-actinolite + apatite + magnetite + hematite ± biotite ± chlorite ± oligoclase, consistent with greenschist/amphibolite facies metamorphism. The second alteration assemblage consists of two types of veins associated with metasomatism that crosscut the metamorphic assemblage: i) NaCl-rich scapolite veins, and ii) apatite + chlorite + calcite + analcime veins. Amphibole, apatite, and biotite contain chlorine concentrations up to 2.08 wt%, 6.29 wt%, and 0.83 wt% respectively. In-situ U-Pb Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry of hydrothermal and altered primary apatite yielded no successful ages due to low U contents (<0.1 ppm).
Jacob is a 4th-year Earth Science student with an interest in sedimentology and stratigraphy. Jacob just finished his thesis on carbonate diagenesis and elemental distribution. After graduating he is set to start his masters in September 2025 at Saint Mary's University. Outside of school, Jacob enjoys going out with his friends, painting, and playing basketball.
Abstract: The Pleistocene Ironshore Formation on Grand Cayman consists of six unconformity bound limestone units (units A to F; 500 ka to 80 ka), each having undergone a unique diagenetic history that has resulted in distinct physical and chemical alteration. The varying depositional and diagenetic histories of each unit generated limestones with distinct lithologies, porosities, and diagenetic features. A petrographic analysis was conducted on a 69 of thin sections from six drill cores collected at Rogers Wreck Point on the northeastern corner of Grand Cayman and offshore George Town on the southwest coast of Grand Cayman, to identify the lithological and diagenetic features of each unit. This work expands upon previous research of the Ironshore Formation, which focused on whole rock lithological and chemical analyses, by conducting a detailed microfacies analysis accompanied by elemental mapping. Microfacies analyses of these rocks showed that they are characterized by multiple distinct lithofacies, with each unit undergoing different degrees of diagenesis. Porosity data was quantified using ImageJ software to better determine the role that dissolution, micritization, and cementation played in changing the pore space of these units. Porosity values ranged from 1 -80% and are characterized by growth framework, moldic, intraparticle, interparticle, vuggy, and channel porosities. Elemental distributions of each unit were mapped using micro-X-Ray Fluorescence (µXRF) to understand the type, movements, and effects of various diagenetic fluids that interacted with these limestones. Sr, Mg, P, Al, and Fe were found to play the biggest role in understanding the role of different fluids in diagenesis, as well as what the paleoenvironment and conditions may have been like during deposition.