Transport models and their application in geochemistry

Abstract

An intense effort has been devoted in recent years toward gaining an understanding of mass transport models and their applications to geochemical problems. Because the investigators participating in this effort are from broadly differing fields and have not had an opportunity to interact, the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington held a series of three conferences in the fall of 1974 and spring of 1975 on (1) transport models, (2) application of models to natural rocks, and (3) application of models to ore deposits. In each conference the participants were chosen to represent a variety of backgrounds and viewpoints. The attendance at the conferences was kept small (about 20) in order to promote informal discussion.The conferees considered the meetings very successful at prompting interaction between theoreticians and field and laboratory workers. The meetings provided a participant with the opportunity to discuss with other investigators the exact details of the approach he is taking toward geochemical kinetics and the assumptions on which his approach is based. Subtle aspects of an approach (particularly subtle differences between two approaches) are commonly glossed over in papers, and face‐to‐face discussion was effective in settling or at least sharply defining these questions.