About
Craig Manning is a Distinguished Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Personnel at UCLA's Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences (EPSS). His role involves academic leadership within the department, contributing to the development and administration of academic programs and policies. Manning's work is associated with research in earth, planetary, and space sciences, and he is actively involved in departmental activities, including seminars, research groups, and community updates. His contact information includes a phone number and email at UCLA EPSS, and he is engaged in supporting inclusive excellence and academic resources within the department.
Research topics
- Geology
- Geochemistry
- Seismology
- Geophysics
- Petrology
- Chemistry
- Materials science
- Environmental chemistry
- Organic chemistry
- Metallurgy
- Thermodynamics
- Mineralogy
- Composite material
- Chemical engineering
- Physics
- Paleontology
- Inorganic chemistry
- Oceanography
Selected publications
Lithos · 2025-03-07
articleSenior author2025-01-01
articleSenior authorSSRN Electronic Journal · 2024-01-01
preprintOpen accessSenior authorChemical Geology · 2024-05-10 · 3 citations
articleOpen accessCarbonate-silicate melts that originate in Earth's interior are described as transitional melts which possess compositions intermediate between carbonatitic and basaltic end members. The covariation of key oxides between carbonatite and basalt (e.g., 10–35 wt% SiO 2 and 40–10 wt% CO 2 , respectively) is expected to have a strong effect on liquid properties. However, due to their paucity both in the record of terrestrial rocks and as quenched glasses, their molecular structure has remained poorly explored to date. We investigated the atomic structure of a synthetic carbonate-silicate liquid with chemical composition within the CaO-MgO-Al 2 O 3 -SiO 2 -FeO-Na 2 O-ClO − -CO 2 oxide system having 18.28 wt% SiO 2 and 22.54 wt% CO 2 using multi-angle energy dispersive X-ray diffraction at pressures (P) and temperatures (T) of 1.4 GPa/1815 °C, 2.6 GPa/1865 °C, 4.3 GPa/1990 °C, 4.4 GPa/1950 °C. The results show that the intermediate range ordering of the structure decreases with an increase of both P and T. Based on this study, the carbonate-silicate magmas at upper mantle P-T conditions are expected to increase their viscosities during their ascent through the mantle as a result of increasing intermediate range ordering upon cooling and decompression. Additionally, spectroscopic measurements were carried out on the quenched glasses at ambient pressure using micro-Raman as well as micro-FTIR in reflection and transmission modes in the mid infrared range. High pressure investigation using micro-FTIR was also conducted. The distribution of Q n species obtained by deconvolution of the Raman spectra within the aluminosilicate region confirms the depolymerized nature of the quenched glasses as inferred by the low viscosities of the corresponding liquids; peculiar characteristics of the C vibrations would suggest a distorted environment surrounding the network modifying CO 3 2− anion. No evidence of molecular CO 2 was detected. Notably, we find evidence of both dissolved molecular CO and CO linked to a metal cation forming carbonyl complexes in the quenched glasses at P-T- f o 2 conditions compatible with a hot Archean upper mantle. This suggests a role for carbonate-silicate magmas as carriers of reduced gaseous C-O-H species towards the early atmosphere along with the mobilization of PGE-elements.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters · 2023-10-19 · 10 citations
articleEuropean Journal of Mineralogy · 2023-11-09 · 9 citations
articleOpen accessCorrespondingAbstract. Mount Somma–Vesuvius is a stratovolcano that represents a geological hazard to the population of the city of Naples and surrounding towns in southern Italy. Historically, volcanic eruptions at Mt. Somma–Vesuvius (SV) include high-magnitude Plinian eruptions, such as the infamous 79 CE eruption that occurred after 295 years of quiescence and killed thousands of people in Pompeii and surrounding towns and villages. The last eruption at SV was in 1944 and showed a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 3 (0.01 km3 of volcanic material erupted). Following the 1944 eruption, SV has been dormant for the past nearly 79 years, with only minor fumarolic and seismic activity. During its long history, centuries of dormancy at SV have ended with Plinian eruptions (VEI 6) that signal the beginning of a new cycle of eruptive activity. Thus, the current dormancy stage demands a need to better understand the mechanism involved in high-magnitude eruptions in order to better predict future eruption magnitude and style. Despite centuries of research on the SV volcanic system, many questions remain, including the evolution of magmatic volatiles from deep primitive magmas to shallower more evolved magmas. Developing a better understanding of the physical and chemical processes associated with volatile evolution at SV can provide insights into magma dynamics and the mechanisms that trigger highly explosive eruptions at SV. In this study, we present new data for the pre-eruptive volatile contents of magmas associated with four Plinian and two inter-Plinian eruptions at SV based on analyses of reheated melt inclusions (MIs) hosted in olivine. We correct the volatile contents of bubble-bearing MIs by taking into account the volatile contents of bubbles in the MIs. We recognize two groups of MIs: one group hosted in high-Fo olivine (Fo85–90) and relatively rich in volatiles and the other group hosted in low-Fo olivine (Fo70–69) and relatively depleted in volatiles. The correlation between volatile contents and compositions of host olivines suggests that magma fractionation took place under volatile-saturated conditions and that more differentiated magmas reside at shallower levels relative to less evolved/quasi-primitive magmas. Using the CO2 contents of corrected MIs hosted in Fo90 olivine from SV, we estimate that 347 to 686 t d−1 of magmatic CO2 exsolved from SV magmas during the last 3 centuries (38–75 Mt in total) of volcanic activity. Although this study is limited to only few SV magmas, we suggest that further study applying similar methods could shed light on the apparent lack of correlation between the volatile contents of MIs and the style and age of eruptions. Further, such studies could provide additional constraints on the origin of CO2 and the interaction between the carbonate platform and ascending magmas below SV.
Experimental determination of quartz solubility in H2O-CaCl2 solutions at 600–900 °C and 0.6–1.4 GPa
American Mineralogist · 2023-01-05
articleSenior authorAbstract Fluid-mediated calcium metasomatism is often associated with strong silica mobility and the presence of chlorides in solution. To help quantify mass transfer at lower crustal and upper mantle conditions, we measured quartz solubility in H2O-CaCl2 solutions at 0.6–1.4 GPa, 600–900 °C, and salt concentrations to 50 mol%. Solubility was determined by weight loss of single-crystals using hydrothermal piston-cylinder methods. All experiments were conducted at salinity lower than salt saturation. Quartz solubility declines exponentially with added CaCl2 at all conditions investigated, with no evidence for complexing between silica and Ca. The decline in solubility is similar to that in H2O-CO2 but substantially greater than that in H2O-NaCl at the same pressure and temperature. At each temperature, quartz solubility at low salinity (XCaCl2 < 0.1) depends strongly on pressure, whereas at higher XCaCl2 it is nearly pressure independent. This behavior is consistent with a transition from an aqueous solvent to a molten salt near XCaCl2 ~0.1. The solubility data were used to develop a thermodynamic model of H2O-CaCl2 fluids. Assuming ideal molten-salt behavior and utilizing previous models for polymerization of hydrous silica, we derived values for the activity of H2O (aH2O), and for the CaCl2 dissociation factor (α), which may vary from 0 (fully associated) to 2 (fully dissociated). The model accurately reproduces our data along with those of previous work and implies that, at conditions of this study, CaCl2 is largely associated (<0.2) at H2O density <0.85 g/cm3. Dissociation rises isothermally with increasing density, reaching ~1.4 at 600 °C, 1.4 GPa. The variation in silica molality with aH2O in H2O-CaCl2 is nearly identical to that in H2O-CO2 solutions at 800 °C and 1.0 GPa, consistent with the absence of Ca-silicate complexing. The results suggest that the ionization state of the salt solution is an important determinant of aH2O, and that H2O-CaCl2 fluids exhibit nearly ideal molecular mixing over a wider range of conditions than implied by previous modeling. The new data help interpret natural examples of large-scale Ca-metasomatism in a wide range of lower crustal and upper mantle settings.
Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · 2022-01-01
articleCompletely carbonated peridotites represent a window to study reactions of carbon-rich fluids with mantle rocks. Here, we present details on the carbonation history of listvenites close to the basal thrust in the Samail ophiolite. We use samples from Oman Drilling Project Hole BT1B, which provides a continuous record of lithologic transitions, as well as outcrop samples from listvenites, metasediments, and metamafics below the basal thrust of the ophiolite. 87Sr/86Sr of listvenites and serpentinites, ranging from 0.7090 to 0.7145, are significantly more radiogenic than mantle values, Cretaceous seawater, and other peridotite hosted carbonates in Oman. The Hawasina sediments that underlie the ophiolite, on the other hand, show higher 87Sr/86Sr values of up to 0.7241. δ13C values of total carbon in the listvenites and serpentinites range from −10.6‰ to 1.92‰. We also identified a small organic carbon component with δ13C as low as −27‰. Based on these results, we propose that during subduction at temperatures above >400°C, carbon-rich fluids derived from decarbonation of the underlying sediments migrated updip and generated the radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr signature and the fractionated δ13C values of the serpentinites and listvenites in core BT1B. © 2021. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth · 2022-01-13 · 41 citations
articleOpen accessAbstract This paper provides an overview of research on core from Oman Drilling Project Hole BT1B and the surrounding area, plus new data and calculations, constraining processes in the Tethyan subduction zone beneath the Samail ophiolite. The area is underlain by gently dipping, broadly folded layers of allochthonous Hawasina pelagic sediments, the metamorphic sole of the Samail ophiolite, and Banded Unit peridotites at the base of the Samail mantle section. Despite reactivation of some faults during uplift of the Jebel Akdar and Saih Hatat domes, the area preserves the tectonic “stratigraphy” of the Cretaceous subduction zone. Gently dipping listvenite bands, parallel to peridotite banding and to contacts between the peridotite and the metamorphic sole, replace peridotite at and near the basal thrust. Listvenites formed at less than 200°C and (poorly constrained) depths of 25–40 km by reaction with CO 2 ‐rich, aqueous fluids migrating from greater depths, derived from devolatilization of subducting sediments analogous to clastic sediments in the Hawasina Formation, at 400°–500°. Such processes could form important reservoirs for subducted CO 2 . Listvenite formation was accompanied by ductile deformation of serpentinites and listvenites—perhaps facilitated by fluid‐rock reaction—in a process that could lead to aseismic subduction in some regions. Addition of H 2 O and CO 2 to the mantle wedge, forming serpentinites and listvenites, caused large increases in the solid mass and volume of the rocks. This may have been accommodated by fractures formed as a result of volume changes, mainly at a serpentinization front.
Nature Communications · 2022 · 36 citations
- Geology
- Environmental chemistry
- Geochemistry
isotopic signature with the fluid-rock ratios and the redox state in force in its subarc source.
Recent grants
Aqueous Aluminosilicate Complexing in Deep-Crustal and Upper-Mantle Fluids
NSF · $303k · 2007–2011
Experimental Study of Mineral Solubility in Fluids of the Deep Crust and Upper Mantle
NSF · $468k · 2017–2021
Aqueous Aluminosilicate Polymers: Transport Agents in Crustal and Mantle Fluids?
NSF · $398k · 2011–2015
Experimental Investigation of Mineral-Fluid Equilibria at High Pressure
NSF · $315k · 2004–2008
NSF · $435k · 2014–2017
Frequent coauthors
- 66 shared
Robert C. Newton
Planetary Science Institute
- 50 shared
P. B. Kelemen
- 50 shared
C. J. MacLeod
- 44 shared
An Yin
- 40 shared
Peter Tropper
- 38 shared
A. R. Makhluf
University of California, Los Angeles
- 31 shared
T. Mark Harrison
University of California, Los Angeles
- 29 shared
Edward Young
Planetary Science Institute
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