Course Outline

We will have lectures, tutorials, and hands-on exercises, to learn how to extract quantitative time–temperature information from compositional zoning in minerals present in rocks and meteorites - i.e. diffusion chronometry.

Day 1: Fundamentals of Diffusion

• Introduction to diffusion: conceptual background, physical meaning, and geological significance

• Mathematical aspects of diffusion: Fick’s laws, boundary conditions, and analytical solutions

• Practical exercises to visualize diffusion and concentration gradients

Day 2: Diffusion Coefficients and Zoning

• Diffusion coefficients: temperature, pressure, composition, and anisotropy controls

• Compositional zoning: types, measurement strategies, and microanalytical techniques

• Practical exercises on the basics of diffusion modeling

Day 3: Diffusion Modelling of Compositional Zonings

• Estimating simple T–t histories and modeling relaxation of growth zoning

• Introduction to Numerical methods in diffusion modelling

• Multicomponent diffusion: concepts of different diffusion coefficients, coupled fluxes, and moving boundaries

• Practical exercises on diffusion modelling of compositional zonings under isothermal and cooling paths in MS Excel, followed by MATLAB implementation

Day 4: Application to Metamorphic Rocks & Meteorites

• Meteorites and planetary materials: interpreting diffusion records in extraterrestrial samples

• Multistage and non-linear thermal histories (e.g., cooling rates) in metamorphic rocks  

• Introduction to sequential kinetic modeling and simulating multi-component diffusion exchange using specialized programs

Day 5: Case Studies

• Metamorphic case study: applications to rock-forming minerals; implications for geodynamic and thermal models

• Meteoritic case study: diffusion-based chronometry of thermal metamorphism in planetary bodies

• Grain boundary diffusion: incorporating interface effects and discussion of the Dohmen & Chakraborty model

*Please note that the course structure is subject to modification based on the progress and needs of the workshop.