Mineral Physics Institute
Summer Scholars Program

Daniel Eldridge
University of Colorado
Geology Major
Mentor : Donald Weidner

This summer I'll be working with a computer program developed by Donald Weidner called TREAM. TREAM, the Thermoelastic Reference Earth Ab initio Model, is a computer program used for testing hypotheses regarding the composition of the mantle. The program utilizes experimentally determined phase equilibria data and the theoretically determined thermoelastic properties of relevant mantle minerals to determine/estimate the composition and other properties of an agglomeration of minerals at any given pressure, temperature, and depth within the mantle. Using the program one can alter the properties of a proposed mantle aggregate, which in our case is pyrolite, by changing the amount of a certain cation present or by altering temperature, which allows one to test whether or not such a change can explain an observed anomaly within the mantle. This summer I will be concerned with familiarizing myself with TREAM and possibly using it to perform such tests as mentioned above.