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1. Pressure alters rock magnetization

   https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.6.1.20200518a  

   Berkowitz, Rachel (January 2020, Physics Today)

   null (Ed.)

   A rock buried in Earth’s crust or a meteorite compressed on impact may end up with increased magnetization. 

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2. Hands on Rock Weathering!

   https://doi.org/10.1080/08872376.2025.2478798  

   Nutt, Mara; Scheingross, Joel; Beckam, Megan (May 2025, Science Scope)

   In the Earth sciences, weathering encompasses all the physical, chemical, and biological processes that break down rocks in place. Rock weathering takes decades to millions of years and impacts climate and soil formation. In our two-part lesson, students develop an understanding of weathering and how it can influence climate and human society through hands-on experiments. Lesson 1 focuses on how rock weathering impacts climate; students investigate how changing the temperature and acidity of weathering agents affects the rate of rock weathering. Lesson 2 focuses on how weathering impacts human society; students perform experiments simulating weathering of mudstone and granite via shaking rocks in containers; students observe that these rocks weather at different rates and produce different-sized particles because of physical weathering. Students relate their experimental observations to the process of soil formation and then apply this knowledge to societally relevant topics. These lessons bring rock weathering into the classroom with crosscutting concepts and connect the Earth, climate, and human society together in an interactive way. 

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3. Discussion on “On the Measurement of B for a Sandstone” [Rock Mech Rock Eng 56:6127–6133]

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-023-03645-0  

   Makhnenko, Roman Y; Bondarenko, Nikita (February 2024, Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering)
4. Solubility of Rock in Steam Atmospheres of Planets

   https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/824/2/103  

   Fegley, Bruce; Jacobson, Nathan S.; Williams, K. B.; Plane, J. M.; Schaefer, L.; Lodders, Katharina (June 2016, Astrophysical journal)

   Extensive experimental studies show that all major rock-forming elements (e.g., Si, Mg, Fe, Ca, Al, Na, K) dissolve in steam to a greater or lesser extent. We use these results to compute chemical equilibrium abundances of rocky-element-bearing gases in steam atmospheres equilibrated with silicate magma oceans. Rocky elements partition into steam atmospheres as volatile hydroxide gases (e.g., Si(OH)4, Mg(OH)2, Fe(OH)2, Ni(OH)2, Al(OH)3, Ca(OH)2, NaOH, KOH) and via reaction with HF and HCl as volatile halide gases (e.g., NaCl, KCl, CaFOH, CaClOH, FAl(OH)2) in much larger amounts than expected from their vapor pressures over volatile-free solid or molten rock at high temperatures expected for steam atmospheres on the early Earth and hot rocky exoplanets. We quantitatively compute the extent of fractional vaporization by defining gas/magma distribution coefficients and show that Earth's subsolar Si/Mg ratio may be due to loss of a primordial steam atmosphere. We conclude that hot rocky exoplanets that are undergoing or have undergone escape of steam-bearing atmospheres may experience fractional vaporization and loss of Si, Mg, Fe, Ni, Al, Ca, Na, and K. This loss can modify their bulk composition, density, heat balance, and interior structure. 

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5. Effect of Water‐Rock Ratio on the Stable Isotope Record of Fluid‐Rock‐Deformation Interactions in Detachment Shear Zone

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GC011340  

   Gottardi, Raphaël; Mire, Camron; Davis, Niya; Casale, Gabriele (May 2024, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems)

   Abstract Oxygen and hydrogen stable isotope analyses of quartz and muscovite veins from the footwall of the Raft River detachment shear zone (Utah) provide insight into the hydrology and fluid‐rock interactions during ductile deformation. Samples were collected from veins containing 90%–100% quartz with orientations either at a high angle or sub‐parallel to the surrounding quartzite mylonite foliation. Stable isotope analysis was performed on 10 samples and compared with previous quartzite mylonite isotope data sets. The results indicate that the fluid present during deformation of the shear zone was meteoric in origin, with a δ²H value of approximately −100‰ and a δ¹⁸O value of approximately −13.7‰. Oxygen stable isotope O¹⁸O depletion correlates with the muscovite content of the analyzed rocks. Many of the analyzed samples in this and other studies show an apparent lack of equilibrium between the oxygen and hydrogen isotope systems, which can be explained by hydrogen and oxygen isotope exchange at varying fluid‐rock ratios. Our results suggest that the Raft River detachment shear zone had a low static fluid‐rock ratio (<0.1), yet experienced episodic influxes of fluids through semi‐brittle structures. This fluid was then expelled out into the surrounding mylonite following progressive shearing, causing further¹⁸O‐depletion and fluid‐related embrittlement. 

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