Fluids have played a significant role in the thermal, structural, geochemical, and economic evolution of the earth's crust. As a consequence, the study of crustal fluids is an important research initiative at LSU. Current student and faculty research in the Department deals with fluids in environments that range from the earth's surface to the deep crust. These fluids include:

Determining pathways for fluid flow

• Permeability architecture of sedimentary basins and metamorphic systems
• Compartmentalization of fluids by faults and diagenetic seals
• Role of faults and microfractures in fluid flow.
• Fluid pressure, stress, and faulting in sedimentary basins
• Characterization of hydrofractures using x-ray tomography
• Transport and fate of volatile organics in unsaturated soils

Quantifying driving forces and rates of fluid flow in crustal rocks and sediments

Documenting and modeling fluid-rock geochemical reactions

• Regional fluid flow and burial diagenesis in sedimentary basins
• Role of fluids in contact metasomatism and the formation of high grade metamorphic rocks
• Salinization of groundwater resources in arid regions
• Predicting the fate of anthropogenic wastes
• Lithium isotopic study of the origin of hypersaline fluids in shield and sedimentary rocks
• Role of fluids in subduction zone processes and arc magma genesis
• Biodegradation of organic pollutants and remediation agents

• Field and laboratory description and verification
• Numerical quantification and simulation; Visualization of complex time-variant 3-dimensional systems
• Chemical and isotopic analysis
• X-ray tomography
• Integration of fundamental field geology with chemistry, physics, and numerical techniques

Continental margins, rifts, intracratonic basins, and plate boundaries

• Lower Mississippi valley, Gulf Coastal Plain
• Saharan margins of Tunisia, Southern France, West Greenland
• Gulf of Mexico outer continental shelf and slope
• Coville Basin, Alaska, North Sea Basin, Michigan Basin, Murray Basin, Australia
• Central America convergent margin
• Aleutian and other island arcs

• William Blanford
  E-mail: blanford@lsu.edu
• Mike Blum
  E-mail: mblum@lsu.edu
• Barb Dutrow
  E-mail: dutrow@lsu.edu
• Jeffrey S. Hanor
  E-mail: hanor@lsu.edu
• Darrell Henry
  E-mail: glhenr@lsu.edu
• Jeffrey A. Nunn
  E-mail: gljeff@lsu.edu