CHRONOS

Many fundamental processes evolve over months and years, including 1) the strengthening of fault zones in the interseismic period between earthquakes, 2) the sequestration of carbon-bearing minerals in subsurface geologic reservoirs, 3) charge cycling in batteries, 4) the reactions between mixing magmas preceding volcanic eruptions, and 5) the degradation of fossils. Characterizing these processes in experiments typically requires unnatural methods of increasing the rates of reactions, or periodically removing the material from the apparatus or host material. Organization of a group of experts focused on these processes into a BAG will provide significant advances in our understanding of these processes. The BAG will enable far longer experiments than achieved previously that reveal the 4D evolution in situ, without significant perturbation of the sample, and without unnatural acceleration of the rates of the processes.

诸多基础过程会历经数月乃至数年的演化，具体涵盖以下五类：1）地震间歇期内断层带的强化过程；2）含碳矿物在地下地质储层中的封存过程；3）电池的充放电循环过程；4）火山喷发前混合岩浆之间的反应过程；5）化石的降解过程。若要通过实验表征此类过程，通常需采用非常规手段提升反应速率，或是定期将实验材料从实验装置或宿主材料中取出。将专注于此类过程的专家团队组建为BAG，将显著推进我们对这些过程的认知水平。该BAG将支持开展远超以往时长的实验，实现原位四维演化观测，且不会对样品造成显著扰动，也无需对过程速率进行非常规加速。