William A. Bassett
Professor, Geological Sciences
4140 and 4154 Snee Hall, 607/255-7502; bassett@geology.cornell.edu
B.A. 1954 (Amherst); M.S. 1956, Ph.D. 1959 (Columbia)
Biography
After completing his dissertation on sheet silicates and receiving his doctorate,
Professor Bassett was a research associate in geochemistry at Brookhaven National
Laboratory, where he used the potassium-argon dating method to determine the ages of a
variety of rocks. In 1962 he joined the Department of Geological Sciences at the
University of Rochester. There, he conducted research on the effects of high
pressure and high temperature on the properties and phase relationships of minerals.
In 1978 he became a faculty member in the Department of Geological Sciences at
Cornell University. In 1985 he received a Guggenheim fellowship for study at the
University of Paris. In 1994 he received the Roebling Medal from the Mineralogical
Society of America for his work in mineralogy, and in 1997 he won the Bridgman Award,
given by AIRAPT, the International Association for High Pressure Research. He
is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American
Geophysical Union, the Geological Society of America, and the Mineralogical Society of
America.
Research Interests
Professor Bassett is the Director of the Mineral Physics Laboratory where he and his
colleagues and students study the properties of minerals and fluids under high pressure
and temperature to better understand the nature of the materials and processes within the
earth's interior. An infrared YAG laser is used to heat samples while they are
under pressure in diamond anvil cells. The intense X-ray beam from the Cornell High Energy
Synchrotron Source (CHESS) is used to make real-time diffraction studies and observe
phase-transformation mechanisms under high pressures and temperatures. Current research
interests include experiments on hydrothermal systems at high pressures and temperatures
and the measurement of elastic properties at high pressures and temperatures in the
diamond-anvil cell.
Current Research Projects
Investigation of the structures of ions in solution by X-ray absorption in collaboration
with Alan Anderson, I-Ming Chou, and Robert Mayanovic
Measurement of elastic properties of materials at high pressures and temperatures in a
diamond anvil cell by use of ultrasonic interferometry in collaboration with Hartmut
Spetzler, Ross Angel, Hans-Joseph Reichmann, Joseph Smyth
Study of fluid inclusions in natural minerals to high temperatures; preventing cracking of the minerals by use of pressure in a diamond anvil cell in collaboration with Robert Darling.
Selected Publications
Liu, L., and W. A. Bassett. 1986. Elements, oxides, silicates: High pressure phases with
implications for the earth's interior. New York: Oxford University Press.
Bassett, W. A., and G. E. Brown, Jr. 1990. Synchrotron radiation: Applications in the
earth sciences. In Annual reviews of earth and planetary sciences, ed. G. W. Wetherill,
vol. 18, pp. 387-447. Palo Alto, CA: Annual Reviews.
Bassett, W. A., A. H. Shen, M. Bucknum, and I.-M. Chou. 1993. A new diamond anvil cell for
hydrothermal studies to 2.5 GPa and from -190°C to 1200°C. Review of Scientific
Instruments
64:2340-45.
Wu, T.-C., W. A. Bassett, P. C. Burnley, and M. S. Weathers. 1993. Shear-promoted phase
transitions in Fe2SiO4 and Mg2SiO4 and mechanism of deep earthquakes. Journal of
Geophysical Research 98:19767-76.
Bassett, W.A., Wu, T.-C., Chou, I.-M., Haselton, H.T., Jr., Frantz, J., Mysen, B., Huang,
W.-L., Sharma, S.K., Schiferl, D. 1996 The hydrothermal diamond anvil cell (HDAC) and its
applications, in, Mineral Spectroscopy: a tribute to Roger G. Burns, The Geochemical
Society, Special Publication No.
5, pp 261-271.
Bundy, F.P., Bassett, W.A., Weathers, M.S., Hemley, R.J., Mao, H.K., Goncharov, A.F. 1996
The pressure-temperature phase and transformation diagram for carbon; updated through
1994, Carbon 34, 141-153.
Wu, T.-C., Bassett, W.A., Huang, W.-L., Guggenheim, S., Koster van Groos, A.F. 1997
Montmorillonite under high H2O pressures: stability of hydrate phases, rehydration
hysteresis, and the effect of interlayer cations, Am. Mineral 82, 70-79.
Schmidt, C., Chou, I.-M., Bodnar, R.J., Bassett, W.A. 1998 Microthermometric analysis of
synthetic fluid inclusions in the hydrothermal diamond anvil cell, American Mineralogist
83, 995-1007.
Bassett, W.A. 1998 Phase transitions I have enjoyed knowing, acceptance of the Bridgman
Award, Rev. High Pressure Sci. Technol. 7, 1-5
Bassett, W.A., Spetzler, H., Angel, R.J., Chen, G.R., Shen, A.H., Reichmann, H.-J.,
Yoneda, A. 1998 Simultaneous gigahertz ultrasonic interferometry and X-ray diffraction in
a new diamond anvil cell, Rev. High Pressure Sci. Technol. 7, 142-144.
Reichmann, H.J., Angel, R.J., Spetzler, H., Bassett, W.A. 1998 Ultrasonic interferometry
and X-ray measurements on MgO in a new diamond anvil cell, American Mineralogist 83,
1357-1360.
Bassett, W.A. and Wu, T.-C. 1999 Real-time X-ray diffraction of montmorillonite
dehydration and rehydration at pressure and temperature in a diamond anvil cell, in-
Synchrotron X-ray Methods in Clay Science, Clay Minerals Society Workshop Lectures Volume
9, Edited by D.G. Schulze, J.W. Stucki, P.M. Bertsch, publ. Clay Minerals Society,
Boulder, CO, pp 221-239
Last revised 8/10/99