https://emilyfirst.com/research/exoplanets/https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/sphere_sample_cropped.jpgsphere_sample_croppedhttps://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/screen-shot-2021-08-16-at-2.45.03-pm-1.pngScreen Shot 2021-08-16 at 2.45.03 PMhttps://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/screen-shot-2021-08-16-at-3.55.54-pm-3.pngScreen Shot 2021-08-16 at 3.55.54 PM2026-03-19T23:51:23+00:00weekly0.6https://emilyfirst.com/research/https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/pxl_20260319_233645733.jpgPXL_20260319_233645733https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/pxl_20260319_233726319.jpgPXL_20260319_233726319https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/pxl_20260319_233658993.jpgPXL_20260319_233658993https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/pxl_20260319_233607587.jpgPXL_20260319_233607587https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/pxl_20260319_233621259.jpgPXL_20260319_2336212592026-03-19T23:44:59+00:00weekly0.6https://emilyfirst.com/outreach/https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/img_0291.jpgIMG_0291https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/p1020437.jpgP1020437Driving force: pouring the liquid nitrogen into our soda bottlehttps://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/20151023_102430.jpg20151023_102430Audience capture: The kids love it, and so do we! (photo by Wendy Cockshell)https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/p1100192.jpgP1100192Liftoff! This demo had some great lift, courtesy of Newton's Third Lawhttps://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/p1100187.jpgP1100187Asking questions and talking about how volcanoes work, as the team sets up the demo2026-03-19T23:28:55+00:00weekly0.6https://emilyfirst.com/cv/https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/emilymsh.jpgEmily&MSH2026-03-19T23:09:22+00:00weekly0.6https://emilyfirst.com/teaching/https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/trailmixfractionation2024.jpgtrailmixfractionation2024Petrology students "fractionating" trail mix to represent crystallization of a magma chamberhttps://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/olivineplagrock.jpgolivineplagrockA random thin section used for Petrology -- lots of plagioclase, a little clinopyroxene, and a significant scattering of olivine crystalshttps://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/p1020230.jpgP1020230A group of students from my 101L class, on a field trip to Big Island, HI (I'm in my typical field tie-dye). They had a great time exploring old pāhoehoe flows, lava tubes, seeing the glow from Kīlauea's summit lava lake, and visiting petroglyphs carved by early Hawaiians.https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/p1010619.jpgP1010619When your field programs travel across the country, home is where the tent is. Students analyze soil samples, write papers, help the cooks, and study together, by headlamp if necessary! https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/p1010566.jpgP1010566https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/p1010562.jpgP1010562https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/p1010128.jpgP1010128Students on University of Georgia's Interdisciplinary Field Program (IFP) do several mini research projects, like this one measuring the stream health of Silver Bow Creek near the Superfund site in Butte, MT.https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/p1000847_2.jpgP1000847_2https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/p1000522.jpgP1000522https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/p1000460.jpgP1000460Lava Beds National Monument is full of incredible drained lava tubes from the eruptions of Medicine Lake, a dormant shield volcano in northern California. Here, a group of students, a fellow TA, and myself explore one of the caves during IFP 2011.2024-02-29T22:00:58+00:00weekly0.6https://emilyfirst.com/contact/2024-02-29T21:49:36+00:00weekly0.6https://emilyfirst.com/research/earth-magma-chamber-in-chile/https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/phasediagram-01.jpgPT_fulldiagramThe completed phase diagram indicates the stability fields of various phases, the isopleths of constant plagioclase composition, and a gridded field showing where experimental glass compositions are a good match to the natural glass. The shaded region marks the best estimate of the magma chamber depth and temperature.https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/emily-quench-1.jpgEmily Quench 1To end an experiment, the sample must be quickly cooled to ambient temperature in order to freeze in the high temperature (and pressure) phase assemblage. Here, I am about to cool the vessel with compressed air before plunging into a bucket of water.https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/figure3-3_naturalcomptas-01.jpgTASnaturalThe bulk end-member materials erupted at Quizapu are slightly alkalic, mainly due to their high K content. Glass from both lava and pumice samples has evolved to a rhyolitic composition.https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/figure3-2_vq0606tl.jpgVQ0606_TLThe end-member dacite lavas erupted at Quizapu contain ~20 vol% phenocrysts, mainly plagioclase, with subordinate amphibole, orthopyroxene, and rarer clinopyroxene. Accessory minerals include apatite and an iron sulfide phase.2022-04-29T18:53:18+00:00weekly0.6https://emilyfirst.com/resources/2021-08-16T20:52:29+00:00weekly0.6https://emilyfirst.com/research/superheating/https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/superheating.pngsuperheatingRelationships between superheating magnitude (y axis), crystal morphology (SvP), and NiO partition coefficients.https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/hv02-19_xpl_mosaic_2x1.jpgstarting materialHawaiian rejuvenated flow HV02-19https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ttldnio.jpegTtLdNiORelationships between superheating magnitude (y axis), crystal morphology (SvP), and NiO partition coefficients.https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/r-17-c-outlines_filled.jpgR-17-C-outlines_filledOlivine crystal morphology with initial superheating of 100 degrees for 12 hours (subsequently cooled)https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/r-22-c-outlines_filled.jpgR-22-C-outlines_filledOlivine crystal morphology with initial superheating of only 10 degrees for 3 hours (subsequently cooled).2021-05-13T17:19:51+00:00weekly0.6https://emilyfirst.com/research/mars-dynamic-crystallization-of-a-lava/https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/fig-11_lava-flow_3d_v4-01.jpgFig.11_lava flow_3D_v4-01A summary of how the Y-980459 lava flow likely formed and cooled, emphasizing the good probability of sampling.https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/fig-6_svp-summary_new_bw_final-layers-only_diss-01.jpgFig.6_SvP summary_NEW_B&W_final layers only_diss-01The surface area per unit volume of different pyroxene crystal populations is a quantitative textural parameter that correlates with cooling rate.https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/fig-6_end-member-compositions.jpgFig.6_end member compositionsExperimentally produced pyroxene and olivine crystals (diamonds) reproduce the compositions of those phases in the meteorite (circles).https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/fig-2_temperature-time-paths.jpgFig.2_temperature time pathsTwo-stage cooling paths applied to experiments on synthetic Y-980459 compositionshttps://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/inside-the-furnace.jpgInside the FurnacePeering up into the 1-atm DelTech furnace, where a bead of experimental martian basalt hangs on the right, next to an oxygen and temperature sensor at left.2021-05-13T17:17:48+00:00weekly0.6https://emilyfirst.com/research/mg-diffusion-in-plagioclase/https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/figure10_crystal_ellipsoid_moda.jpgFigure10_crystal_ellipsoid_ModAModel of plagioclase (green) with ellipsoid showing the magnitude of DMg across crystallographic orientations. If only the crystallographic axis directions are examined, this anisotropy is not evident, perhaps explaining how it has "hidden" until now.https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/figure5_profiles_defense-01.jpgDMgMg concentration profiles for three different crystals in the same experiment (all different orientations). The profiles are fit with 1-D error function solutions to the diffusion equation.https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/capsulesketch2-01-01.jpgPrintWe decided to see what Mg diffusion would look like under pressurized, hydrous conditions with natural magmatic melt present.https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/arrhenius-plot_defense_vanorman-01.jpgArrhenius Plot_defense_VanOrman-01Previous work determining DMg for plagioclase has not resulted in a consensus regarding the appropriate values or the variables that affect them (e.g., dependent on An content? of composition of surroundings?) These experiments were all performed under dry, 1-atm conditions, without a melt present.https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/figure1_bse-and-polefig-01.jpgPrint2019-05-06T03:37:53+00:00weekly0.6https://emilyfirst.com/research/fe-ti-oxides/https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/figure4-1_ilmenite_morphology-02-01-01.jpgilmenite_morphologyhttps://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/figure4-7_budlin_zoomed4-01.jpgB&L diagramEnd-member compositions of experimental run products, expected to fall on the dark green line, have generally progressed too far from input compositions (hemoilmenite) or else not far enough (titanomagnetite).https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/figure3_feti_atomic-01.jpgFigure3_FeTi_atomic-01Major-element composition of Fe-Ti oxides, showing high Ti in the titanomagnetite rims and in the furthest-reacted hemoilmenite grainshttps://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/figure2_magnetitebse-01-01-01.jpgtimt morphologyTitanomagnetite morphology in starting materials versus experiments (2 log units fO2 lower than starting materials)2019-05-06T03:37:38+00:00weekly0.6https://emilyfirst.com/research/moon-mysterious-red-spots/https://emilyfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/sample-15_e.jpgSample 15_eEvidence of silicate liquid immiscibility in one of a set of ongoing experiments: Fe-rich melt blebs are scattered within silicate-rich melt, in between the large plagioclase and smaller clinopyroxene crystals.2018-07-12T17:07:06+00:00weekly0.6https://emilyfirst.comdaily1.02026-03-19T23:51:23+00:00