Observing partial melting of rocks by x-ray phase-contrast imaging

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25800295
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Petrology/Mineralogy/Economic geology
• Research Institution: Hiroshima University
• Principal Investigator: SATO TOMOKO 広島大学, 理学研究科, 准教授 (80553106)
• Research Collaborator: Yashiro Wataru 東北大学, 多元物質科学研究所, 准教授 (10401233)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: X線位相イメージング

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study aims to observe partial melting of rocks by x-ray phase-contrast computed tomography (CT) imaging. It is difficult to distinguish host minerals and partial melts by the x-ray absorption imaging, which is a non-destructive imaging method commonly used in various fields of research, industry, and medicine, because of the small difference in the absorption coefficient. X-ray phase-contrast imaging can distinguish them because the difference in the phase shift is larger. We have conducted x-ray CT imaging experiments of natural rock samples and obtained images of absorption, phase shift, and visibility contrasts. Grain boundaries of crystals are well observed in visibility images. It is suggested that using visibility images for in-situ observation of partial melting of rocks may be useful.

Free Research Field

高圧鉱物物理学