Documentation to "My Case"

Panel Summary #1
PROPOSAL NO.: 0408208
PANEL SUMMARY:

The PI proposes to perform phase equilibrium studies in the NCMAS system with extension to Fe and Cr, as well as work on mineral assemblages found in diamond inclusions at pressures relevant to the mantle transition zone in a multi-anvil device. The panel agrees that the PI has performed high quality phase equilibrium experiments in the past. However, the panel is concerned about the widespread perception in the community that the PI does not consider/cite/discuss other work in the literature that bears on the questions he proposes to address. The PI raised concerns in his proposal that the community is no longer interested in this type of high-pressure (multi-anvil) phase equilibrium studies. However, the PI's best opportunity to ensure continued interest by the broader community in this avenue of research is to mentor a new generation of young scientists and to develop collaborations. The proposal would be greatly strengthened if it included such a broader impact component. There is no requested funding for the summer school program that CHIPR used to fund, so it is not clear how or if that would continue. The panel agrees with most of the reviewers that the science being proposed is of good quality and addresses compelling questions about the mineralogy and composition of the mantle transition zone. This is an expensive proposal owing to the need to fully fund a senior P.I. for the duration of the grant. This is likely to continue into the future, given that the PI does not have a strong track record for developing multiple collaborations. This proposal could be improved with a collaborative component that brings in other investigators into the lab. The proposal is weak in its broader impacts without a significant educational component.

PANEL RECOMMENDATION: Do Not Fund

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Review #1
PROPOSAL NO.: 0408208
INSTITUTION: SUNY Stony Brook
NSF PROGRAM: PETROLOGY AND GEOCHEMISTRY
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Gasparik, Tibor
TITLE: Experimental Investigation of the Origin of Inclusions in Diamonds From the Deep Mantle
RATING: Excellent

REVIEW:
What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity?

This is a very unusual proposal because it requests total salary support for a mature scientist without any salary support for the training of students or post-doctoral fellows. If Gasparik were a faculty member with most of his salary provided by Stony Brook, this same project could be proposed at lower total cost, with the added benefit of training for graduate students and/or a post-doctoral fellow. From statements in the proposal, it appears that the Stony Brook multianvil laboratory is now used very little. This is a surprising and somewhat shocking development for a laboratory that for many years was the premier multianvil laboratory in the United States. As Gasparik states, he is the person who developed the sample assemblies used for the multianvil press at Stony Brook, and he has taught a large number of students, post-docs, and visitors how to do these experiments. There is no question that he has been the key person responsible for the excellent productivity of this laboratory. Somehow, something should be happening at Stony Brook to ensure that this laboratory continues its excellent record - and perhaps something is happening. I have no information on this. Because of the unusual salary request, NSF support may be controlled more be NSF policy than the merit of the science proposed. I will comment only on the value of the science. Gasparik is correct that we have no samples (xenoliths) of the Earth from depths greater than about 220 km. The only direct information for greater depths is inclusions in diamonds. These inclusions appear to be forcing the conclusion that some diamonds come from the upper part of the lower mantle. It is difficult to determine if these inclusions are representative of the mineralogy at these extreme depths, but they are the only samples we have. On the basis of these inclusions, Gasparik has developed some unconventional ideas about the constitution of the transition zone and the upper part of the lower mantle. His goal is to determine the subsolidus phase relations of mantle assemblages guided by these inclusions. His ideas about the constitution of the mantle below 220 km may or may not be correct, but in my view it is unwise to downgrade the proposal because these ideas might be "crazy". One need only recall the ridicule heaped on advocates of continental drift before 1962! I think the key thing to focus on is the fact that he will be producing important phase equilibrium data that will guide the future development of models for the constitution of the Earth's interior. It is the same issue as Bowen's old phase diagrams. These old phase diagrams remain a critically important database even though models for the evolution of magmas continuously evolve and are now quite different from those advocated by Bowen. In the same way, the phase relationships Gasparik proposes to determine will remain an essential database for all future models of the Earth's interior. There is a lot of current discussion among seismologists over the significance of topography on the 410 and 660 km discontinuities. Some have found that 410 is relatively flat whereas there is more topography on 660. Why is this? Should we revise standard ideas about the cause of these discontinuities? Is 410 a chemical boundary rather than a phase change? Is topography caused by temperature or compositional heterogeneity? How does this bear on ideas about the existence of plumes and potential temperatures in the Earth? To think about these issues more precisely, we need all the phase diagram constraints we can get. If Gasparik does not receive funding for this proposal, I believe it would be many years before others would fill in the knowledge gaps he proposes to clarify. Gasparik is a very skilled experimentalist and I think his record shows that he would produce solid and reliable data.

What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity?

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Review #2
PROPOSAL NO.: 0408208
INSTITUTION: SUNY Stony Brook
NSF PROGRAM: PETROLOGY AND GEOCHEMISTRY
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Gasparik, Tibor
TITLE: Experimental Investigation of the Origin of Inclusions in Diamonds From the
Deep Mantle
RATING: Very Good

REVIEW:
What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity?

Dr Gasparik proposes a range of studies covering various aspects of mantle petrology:
(1) He wants to expand his previous studies in the system NCMAS by the inclusion of Fe. Gasparik's previous work on phase relationships in the deep mantle represent an important set of constraints for any research program concerned with the sublithospheric mantle. By looking at phase relationships outside the standard set forsterite-enstatite-diopside-pyrope he made contributions that became highly relevant to the understanding of ultra-deep diamond sources such as Sao Luiz-Juina and Kankan. Systematic studies on phase relationships between 7-24 GPa at much lower Mg# than primitive mantle would be benfitial in particular to elucidate the fate of subducting slabs. However, I find the disregard of previous work in laboratories other than Stony Brook (e.g. about 1/2 century of experimental studies at the ANU) somewhat disturbing. Is that because these experiments were performed based on a pyrolite model as opposed to Gasparik's shell model?
(2) Gasparik proposes to continue his very successful experimental work on "real" transition zone and lower mantle samples observed as inclusions in diamonds. The fact that inclusions in upper mantle diamonds derived from beneath the subcratonic lithosphere are (so far) exclusively eclogitic in paragenesis is taken by Gasparik as a reinforcement of his non-pyrolitic mantle concept. However, for the question at hand it is
not really relevant if Gasparik's model has merits for the mantle as a whole or not, the important point made by Gasparik is that many of these inclusions can only be understood if experiments are done with starting materials vastly different from primitive mantle. If these results in the end are interpreted as evidence for early Earth differentiation as proposed by Gasparik or "merely" as a relationship between ultra deep diamonds and ancient slabs is only of secondary importance. This topic certainly is the strongest part of Gasparik's proposal as it truly ventures into new ground that is highly relevant for the understanding of the composition and dynamics of the transition zone and lower mantle. There is a lingering suspicion that several inclusions sets previously attributed to the lower mantle could actually be derived from the transition zone (e.g. there is a significant mismatch between observed sets of ferropericlase - SiO2 inclusions (with high Mg# for the ferropericlases) and experimental data). A re-interpretation of KK-83 as a transition zone inclusion would also have far reaching implications, e.g. it would show TAPP to occur outside the lower mantle. Is Gasparik aware of the re-examination of KK-83 through Brenker et al. (2002, EPSL 198: 1-9) mainly based on their TEM data?
(3) Experimental studies on CMAS-Cr are particularly relevant for cratonic peridotites where high Cr/Al ratios appear to be a hallmark. In the pressure range relevant for the lithospheric mantle such experiments have been pursued mainly by the group Brey, Doroshev and Girnis. Gasparik now proposes to extend such studies to the deep mantle. In this environment Cr is only likely to play a significant role except for highly depleted rocks such as the harzburgitic portions of subducting slabs. Related to that are some questions of fundamental importance to the mantle community as a whole. For example, what is the effect of Cr on the majorite transition? There are indications that Cr delays the onset of pyroxene solution in garnet by several GPa. This may have implications e.g. on the density of the peridotitic portion of subducting slabs. However, Gasparik's proposal is rather vague as to what exactly he wants to achieve in this area. This applies in particular to his statements about chromite stability. Doroshev et al. (1997) defined the minimum pressure for the stability of pure knorringite, so if Gasparik proposes to explore the maximum pressure limit for chromite stability, what system is he talking about (obviously garnet cannot be present)?

What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity?

The proposal has impact mainly in two areas:
(1) Advancing our basic understanding of the deep Earth, with implications for groups working on the petrology and geochemistry of the upper and lower mantle, and the geophysical modeling of mantle compositions.
(2) Keeping a very well equipped high pressure experimental facility up and running. This would allow students and other scientists to access a functioning lab. Summary Statement Dr Gasparik's proposal highlights a range of areas where high pressure experiments may contribute to a better understanding of the mineralogy and chemical composition of the deep mantle. Of particular interest are the proposed studies of "exotic" compositions found in inclusions in ultra deep diamonds that require experimental data on bulk rock compositions substantially different from primitive mantle. The proposed research on Cr bearing systems is a bit vague but if focused on certain aspects may be very beneficial for scientific community. I cannot fully asses the proposed experiments on NCMAS + Fe as a critical assessment of the already existing body of work is largely absent (apart from some negative comments about unrealistically high fO2 in experiments of other groups and their fixation on forsterite rich compositions). I would have preferred if the applicant had provided a more rigorous review of work completed elsewhere and what he could add to that rather than "reviewing" the policies of NSF (which is hardly of interest to external reviewers).

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Review #3
PROPOSAL NO.: 0408208
INSTITUTION: SUNY Stony Brook
NSF PROGRAM: PETROLOGY AND GEOCHEMISTRY
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Gasparik, Tibor
TITLE: Experimental Investigation of the Origin of Inclusions in Diamonds From the Deep Mantle
RATING: Good

REVIEW:
What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity?

The proposed research addresses an important and significant problem in the study of the Earth's mantle, namely the origin of deep diamonds. The results have implications for a wide range of research fields within the Earth sciences, because the nature of deep diamonds places constraints on mantle structure and dynamics. The experimental experience of the proposer is extensive based on his activities using the same apparatus in prior work, and should ensure that the proposed research will be carried out. One concern, however, lies in data interpretation, since the proposal and publications of the proposer suggest a less than open-minded approach. For example the question of how closely the chemistry of the inclusions reflect the bulk mantle has apparently already been decided by the proposer, despite much evidence to the contrary. One wonders how new data will be made to fit within this framework if an open-minded approach has already been discarded.

What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity?

The proposer makes a strong case for the continued funding of the high-pressure facilityat Stony Brook. The facility significantly enhances the infrastructure for high-pressure research, although contrary to claims of the proposer, it is not the only facility in the United States where phase equilibria experiments are carried out. Collaboration of the proposer with other scientists is crucial to maintaining a high accessibility of the facility, but planning for such collaboration appears to be lacking in the proposal. Also, prior work seems to have excluded most of the ChiPR community, raising questions as to how accessible the facility really was.

Summary Statement

The proposal to continue funding of the high-pressure facility at Stony Brook with a
focus on determining phase equilibria of assemblages found in deep diamonds is a good proposal and deserves funding. The overall rating was reached using a rating of 75% for intellectual merit and 25% for broader impacts.

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Review #4
PROPOSAL NO.: 0408208
INSTITUTION: SUNY Stony Brook
NSF PROGRAM: PETROLOGY AND GEOCHEMISTRY
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Gasparik, Tibor
TITLE: Experimental Investigation of the Origin of Inclusions in Diamonds From the
Deep Mantle
RATING: Very Good

REVIEW:
What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity?

This is my second go-around with this proposal and I find little to be changed relative to the version I reviewed about this time last year. At that time, I recall submitting a quite positive and rather lengthy review offering my views of both the past, and proposed future science of the PI, and what might be viewed as the 'scientific politics' of high pressure research, as they appear from my vantage point. I hasten to add however, that while I work in high pressure research, my efforts are limited to the piston-cylinder pressure range. Thus, while I am reasonably conversant with the activities of those working in the higher pressure range, I am not a member of that community. As such, I hope I can offer an objective view of this proposal. In my opinion, this proposal reflects both the genuine desire on the part of the PI to pursue fundamental studies of the petrology and geochemistry of the deep Earth, and a plea to the community to help him stay active in this field, and area he has invested his entire professional life to. It's a shame that the objective science and the emotion-charged human needs of the PI need to be blurred in this way but I think the sad fact is that they are indeed difficult to separate given the PI's current circumstances. The PI finds himself in the discouraging position of being currently unemployed yet within walking distance of the best equipped, and largely unused at present, ultra high pressure lab in the U.S., but with no means to use it to continue his 20+ years of high pressure research with such equipment. This is the result, in large part, of the 'initiative approach' to big science which, in this instance, led to the creation of the Center for High Pressure Research (ChiPR), an eleven year initiative that the PI was the technical manager of. But, with this initiative having now been replaced with a new mineral physics-oriented initiative known as COMPRES, centered around synchrotron based-x-ray studies of single materials rather than phase equilibrium studies of complex chemical systems, the PI finds himself outside of the future high pressure science plans at his institution. For me, this is a real tragedy and an enormous loss of human talent. The PI's main point is that the current focus on insight derived solely from mineral physics studies of single crystals of this or that, should be complemented with parallel studies like he proposes, on equilibria in multi-phase assemblages in more complex, more real-Earth-like chemical systems. I have to agree that this two-pronged approach has a lot of merit and serious attempts should be made to fund to two approaches in parallel. My presumption is that the mineral physics studies are now well-cared-for, through the COMPRES initiative (primarily funded through the Geophysics program, I presume) so we need to now turn our attention to the petrologic and geochemical studies which the PI points out, and I agree, would be more appropriately funded through the Petrology & Geochemistry program.thus this proposal. The PI's career-long track record has been exemplary with many, many important contributions in every area from development of new experimental methodologies, to the discovery of new high pressure phases, and the systematic investigation of important simple systems. With time, and as important principles have been established in simple systems, he has ventured into more and more complex systems, all with the eventual aim of working out the phase diagrams that will eventually enable us to understand the phase equilibria in the mid- to deep mantle pressure range. Now, I'll be the first to admit that a good deal of this work lacks the flashy, sexy qualities one likes to see but I submit that if that is the only type of that we are going to fund, little of what comes out will probably stand the test of time. This PI offer us the other endmember, namely laborious and , systematic examination of composition and parameter space relevant to phase equilibria in the Earth's mantle. It's a matter of scientific style, I think, and I would hope that there is room for some diversity. I have no doubt that, if funded, the PI will put the funds to good use and will produce well-thought-out results that will build in important ways on his vast body of earlier work. He has put forth three specific work tasks but, curiously, the title of the proposal refers to only the second task as they are laid out in the body of the proposal. To sum the tasks up very briefly, he proposes to: (1) include Fe in his continued systematic investigations of model mantle bulk compositions; (2) continue his investigations into the high pressure stability fields of inclusions found in natural diamonds; and (3) begin to consider the effect of Cr on the phase equilibria of all-of-the-above. All of this work has merit but I believe the sum of it all is way too much for a three year project, as the PI suggests himself. He asks reviewers to recommend areas of focus and for me the top priority should be key reconnaissance experiments involving appropriate amounts of Fe (e.g. Mg#'s ~ 90) to assess the degree to which this quantity of Fe shifts phase boundaries in composition space and lowers the temperatures of key benchmarks. The broader impacts of the proposed research are well-developed and legitimate. During the tenure of the ChiPR initiative, the PI sponsored numerous undergraduate summer interns, developed important new experimental techniques now in use by others, and worked hard to widely disseminate the results of his research, including the publication of a book of phase diagrams relevant to the mid- to deep-mantle. The budget's bottom line is very high but this comes as no surprise given that the PI seeks 36 months of salary support for himself as well as research costs, Curiously, the budget lacks any funds for undergraduate or graduate student help and I think this weakens the proposal by suggesting that training of others will not be a primary aim of this proposal. For me, this budget is out-of-line with others I've seen over the past 20 years and I suggest that the project duration be cut to two years and the work plan focused on the work involving Fe only. Under these circumstances I believe the proposal deserves a summary score of VERY GOOD.

What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity?

The PI has a strong record in this area including the training of a large number of summer interns during the years of the CHiPR initiative. I note, however, that such activities are not specifically indicated in this particular proposal.

Summary Statement

VERY GOOD.

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Review #5
PROPOSAL NO.: 0408208
INSTITUTION: SUNY Stony Brook
NSF PROGRAM: PETROLOGY AND GEOCHEMISTRY
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Gasparik, Tibor
TITLE: Experimental Investigation of the Origin of Inclusions in Diamonds From the Deep Mantle
RATING: Very Good

REVIEW:
What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity?

This is a proposal to conduct a wide range of high-pressure experiments germane to mantle structure with the presently moribund Stony Brook split-sphere multi-anvil device. A major reason for the inactivity of this lab is the PI's inability to obtain funding the past several years. Much of the proposal reads as if the PI believes himself to be the victim of a conspiracy. In this regard, he is perhaps his own worst enemy, for he has managed to marginalize some superb experimental work, vital to our understanding of the Earth's structure, by emphasizing every glimmer of data that might be consistent with an eclogitic transition zone. On the other hand, the work that he is proposing is fundamental . not only in terms of experimental data, but also in extracting thermodynamic data from the phase equilibria. He has recognized inconsistencies between data from other labs in the forsterite-fayalite and enstatite-ferrosilite joins and promise to clean them up while systematically investigating the effects of Fe on the various equilibria involving mantle minerals. This is especially important because most of the work on model mantle systems has left out Fe, yet many cosmochemical models predict that the lower mantle is richer in Fe than the upper (the upper end of pressure for the multi-anvil will just get him into the top of the lower mantle). He is also proposing to investigate the origin of inclusions in diamond . something he began before the funding cutoff. This is also very important. And the proposal, which poses the problem in terms of mineral assemblages shows more promise than his previous efforts in which experiments chased the compositions of individual phases. These inclusions may have more to say about how and where the diamonds formed than about ambient mantle. However, it remains vital to decipher the code.

What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity?

This work is fundamental to understanding the structure of the earth. It will impact on a range of other fields from geodynamics, to seismology, to mineral physics. If this does get funded, the PI will have no money to hire an assistant. This will make students with independent support very welcome, and should lead to a good deal of teaching. Finally, the PI's book is a useful resource for students and professionals alike. It has the detail that The Hand Book series lacked.

Summary Statement

The PI will produce high quality, fundamental data vital to our understanding of the Earth's structure.

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Review #6
PROPOSAL NO.: 0408208
INSTITUTION: SUNY Stony Brook
NSF PROGRAM: PETROLOGY AND GEOCHEMISTRY
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Gasparik, Tibor
TITLE: Experimental Investigation of the Origin of Inclusions in Diamonds From the Deep Mantle
RATING: Good

REVIEW:
What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity?
What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity?

Summary Statement
Tibor Gasparik proposes to continue doing multi-anvil experimental work at pressures appropriate to the transition zone and the top of the lower mantle. Although the proposal title indicates work on inclusions in diamond, this is actually a small portion of a much larger study. In fact, what Gasparik really wants to do is extend experimental work he has done in the system Na2O-CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 to include Fe and Cr. He has done an impressive job in understanding phase equilibria in NCMAS. His experimental methods are rigorous, he has performed over a thousand runs, and he has internally consistent thermodynamic parameterizations for calculating phase diagrams. The results of his career are summarized as a collection of phase diagrams in his book (Gasparik, 2003). This is a monumental achievement. There was a time in Gasparik's early career when he was criticized for being interested in making phase diagrams for its own sake and to the exclusion of all geological applications. He then decided to apply his work and, since experiments were on pyroxenes and their high-pressure equivalents, he came to the conclusion that the transition zone consists of eclogite. He was delighted when majorite garnets were discovered as inclusions in diamond, and he applied his phase diagrams with reasonable success to constrain T & P of equilibration. Now, while pyroxenes and garnets are important phases in a transition zone consisting of either peridotite or eclogite, a phase diagram does not allow one to say anything about the amount of olivine there. Whole-rock chemistry cannot be constrained by phase equilibria. An example is shown by pyroxene thermometry and barometry, Gasparik's Fig. 2 in this proposal. It can be applied to rocks with major elements that range from basalt to peridotite, but it cannot constrain the amount of olivine in these rocks any more than it can constrain the amount of olivine in the transition zone. Gasparik notes that inclusions with an olivine stoichiometry have never been reported as inclusions in diamond, and he asserts that majoritic inclusions are representative of a 200 km thick eclogite layer in the transition zone. He says this is the Earth's original "continental" crust and that it is globe-encircling, but ignores the fact that diamonds are only found on continents. Rather than being representative of the transition zone, inclusions are more likely to be the products of the diamond-forming process itself. Indeed, there is a large amount of experimental data that show enhanced enstatite pyroxene-garnet stability at the expense of olivine when H2O and CO2 are present; both hydrous and carbonated liquids become very poor in SiO2. One outcome is that partial melts of volatile peridotite at very high pressures will likely precipitate Na-rich pyroxenes with the garnet crystal structure, just what is observed as inclusions in diamond. Many of Gasparik's own experiments were performed to test the effects of carbonatite and kimberlite on inclusion chemistry and stability (ie., 2, 4, 5 & 13 in Results from Prior NSF Support). How can Gasparik assert that inclusions in diamonds represent the composition of the transition zone? Gasparik has completely ignored a mountain of evidence that contradicts chemically-layered Earth models. Of course, the issue is still being debated in some circles, and there is some evidence that a subducted slab can temporarily pile up in places before it ends up in the lower mantle. But Gasparik does not discuss current issues, and how his experimental work will be used to test the different possibilities. Indeed, he hardly references papers other than his own, unless it has to do with a difference of opinion concerning the details of a phase diagram. In essence, he completely ignores the work of the rest of the scientific community. Gasparik has made up is mind about Earth structure, and no amount of evidence will change it. I am therefore very convinced that Gasparik will continue to propose a globe-encircling eclogite layer even after he has acquired another 20 years of experimental data.

Aquisition of Phase Diagrams ... Excellent
Scientific objectives & intellectual merit ... Poor
Average overall Rating ... Good