Set up and troubleshooting of the depths of the earth piston cylinder: a high pressure apparatus for studying mantle melting processes

Piston-cylinder apparatuses are used in experimental petrology to recreate the conditions inside the Earth. The MagMaX Laboratory at the University of Utah recently acquired a non-end loaded bench-top piston-cylinder from Depths of the Earth with a ¾" and a ½" pressure vessel that should allow researchers to perform experiments between 0.5 GPa and 2.5 GPa and 1000 °C and 1600 °C. Those conditions correspond to pressure (P) and temperature (T) conditions expected at the base of the crust or in the upper mantle. However, complications due to manufacturing failure resulted in several pieces from the instrument needing to be replaced and retested. The issues have been resolved and the apparatus is ready to be utilized. This thesis covers the methodology leading to experimentation and how these issues were resolved. We then describe how such apparatus will be used in the future to simulate the decompression melting of a heterogeneous mantle in order to determine the conditions for melts derived from recycled material (pyroxenite) to reach the surface without being in full re-equilibration with the surrounding mantle (peridotite).