Travis and 2007 Summer REU intern, Kayla Iacovino
in the probe lab
B.S., 2003, University of Minnesota
Major: Geology
M.S., 2005, University of Michigan
Ph.D., 2010, University of Minnesota
Office: 284 Pillsbury Hall
Lab: 261 Kolthoff Hall
Email: tenn0047@...
Replace ... with @umn.edu to email.
My research interests focus on the properties of H2O in the upper mantle, and how it effects partial melting. I have been investigating these issues in a couple of different ways. My current project is a fairly direct investigation, which involves adding 1 to 2.5 wt. % H2O to peridotite and performing experiments at 2 and 3 GPa and various upper mantle temperatures that induce partial melting. This allows me to characterize all equilibrium phases by electron microprobe (EMP) analysis. Not only do these analyses allow insights into the chemistry of hydrous partial melts, they also allow calculation of the melt fraction (F) under hydrous conditions, which can then be compared to a dry peridotite system to quantify the effect of H2O on fluxing partial melting. The goal of this study is to provide a data set that will allow for modeling of F at P and T, and at bulk water contents applicable to the upper mantle (50-1000 ppm H), which are nearly impossible to investigate experimentally at these constraints.
Another way to approach the effect of H2O on partial melting is to determine the partitioning behavior of H2O in equilibrium upper mantle phases. Mineral/melt hydrogen partition coefficients (the ratio of H in minerals vs. melt), when combined with the modes of upper mantle phases with depth, allow estimation of the peridotite/melt hydrogen partitioning of the upper mantle. This parameter, when combined with simple batch melting and cryscopic calculations, allows estimation of how much water partial melts contain at a given bulk H2O content, and how much the upper mantle solidus is depressed as a result. In a separate project I investigated upper mantle hydrogen partitioning behavior by adding H2O to a basaltic composition and performing a suite of experiments that quenched hydrated equilibrium glass (melt) and pyroxenes ± garnet ± olivine from 3 to 5 GPa. The H2O contents of all phases were quantified with a combination of analyses by Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR) and EMP, as well as secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) performed at Arizona State University. These measurements yield a peridotite/melt hydrogen partition coefficient that suggests that the hydrous solidus depression is a few tens of kilometers beneath relatively dry (50-200 ppm H) mid-ocean ridges, and several tens of kilometers beneath hotspots with up to 1000 ppm bulk H.
I have also been a research assistant in the electron microprobe lab since the spring of 2006, which has given me the opportunity to assist with several projects including, but not limited to, fish feeding habits and travel patterns through analysis of otoliths, analyses of metamorphic rocks from Turkey for geothermometry, quality control of artificial heart valves for Medtronic, and analysis of sand grains in musket balls from the 16th century explorer Coronado in an attempt to document his travels in the southern United States.
Laboratory courses taught in the past:
- Fall 2005 - GEO 1001 "Earth and Its Environments"
- Spring 2006 - GEO 2303W "Geochemical Principles"
- Spring 2007 - GEO 5353 "Electron Microprobe Theory and Practice"
- Hirschmann, M.M., Tenner, T., Aubaud, C., and Withers, T. (in press) Dehydration melting of nominally anhydrous mantle: The primacy of partitioning. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors. doi: 10.1016/j.pepi.2009.04.001
- Tenner, T.J., Hirschmann, M.M., Withers, A.C., and Hervig, R.L. (2009) Hydrogen partitioning between nominally anhydrous upper mantle minerals and melt between 3 and 5 GPa. Chemical Geology. 262: 42-56. doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2008.12.006
- Davis, F.A., Tangeman, J.A., Tenner, T.J., and Hirschmann, M.M. (2009) The composition of KLB-1 peridotite. American Mineralogist. 94: 176-180. doi: 10.2138/am.2009.2984
- Tenner, T.J., Lange R.A., and Downs R.T. (2007) The albite fusion curve re-examined: New experiments and the high-pressure density and compressibility of high albite and NaAlSi3O8 liquid. American Mineralogist 92: 1573-1585. doi:10.2138/am.2007.2464
- Liu, Q., Tenner, T.J., and Lange R.A. (2007) Do carbonate liquids become denser than silicate liquids at pressure? Constraints from the fusion curve of K2CO3 to 3.2 GPa. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 153: 55-66. doi:10.1007/s00410-006-0134-z
- Withers, A.C., Hirschmann, M.M., and Tenner, T.J. (2009). The effect of Fe on OH- Content of Olivine: Implications for Extraction of H2O from the Martian Mantle. 40th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Abstract 1490.
- Tenner, T.J., and Hirschmann, M.M. (2008). The effect of water on the partial melting of peridotite at 3 GPa. Eos Trans. AGU, 89(53), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract MR33C-02.
- Tenner, T.J., and Hirschmann, M.M. (2008). The effect of water on the partial melting of peridotite at 3 GPa. Oral presentation: AGU Chapman Conference on Shallow Mantle Composition and Dynamics Fifth International Orogenic Lherzolite Conference.
- Tenner, T., Hirschmann, M., and Hervig, R. (2008). SIMS mineral/glass 16O1H calibration and tuning. 5th Biennial Geochemical SIMS Workshop (BGSW5). Poster P-13.
- Tenner, T.J., Hirschmann, M.M., Aubaud, C., and Withers, A.C. (2007). Hydrous Partial Melting of the Upper Mantle as Judged From Mineral/Melt Partition Coefficients. Eos Trans. AGU, 88(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract DI42A-07.
- Tenner, T.J., and Lange R.A. (2005). The Albite Fusion Curve Re-examined: New experiments and the Density and Compressibility of NaAlSi3O8 Liquid With Pressure. Eos Trans. AGU, 86(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract MR13A-0074.
- Liu, Q., Tenner, T., and Lange, R. (2004). Experimental Determination of the K2CO3 Fusion Curve to 3 GPa and constraints on the Liquid Equation of State. Eos Trans. AGU, 85(47), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract V52A-02.
