Filtering by Subject: Volcanology
Published: 2021-02-18
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
The flow of high-temperature and compositionally-enriched material between mantle plumes and nearby spreading centres influences up to 30% of the global mid-ocean ridge system and represents a significant, but currently unconstrained, flux of volatiles out of the mantle. Here we present new analyses of H2O, F, Cl and S in basaltic glass chips from an archetypal region of plume-ridge interaction, [...]
Published: 2021-02-01
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing, Statistics and Probability, Volcanology
Minerals exhibit zoning patterns that can be related to changes in the environment in which they grew. Using statistical methods that have been designed to segment optical images, we have developed a procedure to segment zonation within minerals and correlate these zones between multiple crystals using elemental maps. This allows us to quantify the complexity and variability of chemical zoning [...]
Published: 2021-02-01
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Stratigraphy, Volcanology
Establishing a quantitative link between magmatic processes occurring at depth and volcanic eruption dynamics is essential to forecast the future behaviour of volcanoes, and to correctly interpret monitoring signals at active centres. Chemical zoning in minerals, which captures successive events or states within a magmatic system, can be exploited for such a purpose. However, to develop a [...]
Published: 2021-01-24
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Cosmochemistry, Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Paleobiology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure, Volcanology
Earth's mantle undergoes convection on million-year timescales as heat is transferred from depth to the surface. Whilst this flow has long been linked to the large-scale horizontal forces that drive plate tectonics and supercontinent cycles, geologists are increasingly recognising the signature of convection through transient vertical motions in the rock record, known as "dynamic topography". A [...]
Published: 2021-01-19
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure, Volcanology
Dykes, sills, and inclined sheets may intrude as continuous, planar sheets, but can also form by the amalgamation of discrete injections of magma. Describing the host rock deformation style around distinct geometric components within sheet intrusions can help us to determine emplacement mechanisms, how magma flow influences accumulation of economic resources, and how magma migration may translate [...]
Published: 2021-01-16
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geophysics and Seismology, Volcanology
Geophysical and petrological probes are key to understanding the structure and the thermochemical state of active magmatic systems. Recent advances in laboratory analyses, field investigations and numerical methods have allowed increasingly complex data-constraint models with new insights into magma plumbing systems and melt evolution. However, there is still a need for methods to quantitatively [...]
Published: 2021-01-12
Subjects: Volcanology
With the evolution of InSAR into a tool for active hazard monitoring, through its ability to detect ground deformation with low latency, new methods are sought to quickly and automatically interpret the large number of interferograms that are created. In this work, we present a convolutional neural network (CNN) that is able to both classify the type of deformation, and to locate the [...]
Published: 2021-01-06
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Higher Education, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Science and Mathematics Education, Tectonics and Structure, Volcanology
Published: 2020-12-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Planetary Geochemistry, Planetary Geology, Planetary Sciences, Volcanology
Thermodynamics has been fundamental to the interpretation of geologic data and modeling of geologic systems for decades. However, more recent advancements in computational capabilities and a marked increase in researchers’ accessibility to computing tools has outpaced the functionality and extensibility of currently available modeling tools. Here we present VESIcal (Volatile Equilibria and [...]
Published: 2020-11-28
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Volcanology
The most intense known explosive volcanic eruptions on Earth are Plinian eruptions of silicic magma. Geospeedometers indicate that Plinian magma erupts from high pressure within the magma chamber at average speeds of 0.001-1 MPa/s. Concurrently dissolved magmatic volatiles, predominantly water, nucleate about one quadrillion bubbles per cubic meter of melt, preserved as vesicles within tephra. [...]
Published: 2020-11-13
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
Trace element and volatile heterogeneity in the Earth's mantle is in uenced by the recycling of oceanic lithosphere through subduction. Oceanic island basalts commonly have high concentrations of volatiles compared to mid-ocean ridge basalts, but the extent to which this enrichment is linked to recycled mantle domains remains unclear. Boron is an ideal tracer of recycled subducted material, [...]
Published: 2020-11-03
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Volcanology
Igneous sheet intrusions are segmented across several orders of magnitude, with segment tip geometry commonly considered indicative of the propagation mechanism (brittle or non-brittle). Proposed propagation mechanisms are inferred to represent host rock mechanical properties during initial magma emplacement; typically, these models do not account for segment sets that show a range of tip [...]
Published: 2020-10-28
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Volcanology
Volcano monitoring is essential for mitigating the risks associated with volcanic activity. As monitoring becomes more sophisticated and widespread, there is a growing need for understanding the relationship between different monitoring records and magmatic processes occurring at depth. This is particularly relevant to the processes that initiate eruptions after the extended periods of repose and [...]
Published: 2020-10-25
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Tectonics and Structure, Volcanology
Many sedimentary basins host thick evaporite (salt) deposits. Some of these basins also host extensive igneous intrusion networks. It thus seems inevitable that, in some locations, magma will interact with salt. Yet how interaction between these materials may influence salt tectonics or magma emplacement, particularly at the basin-scale, remains poorly understood. We use 3D seismic reflection [...]
Published: 2020-10-22
Subjects: Paleobiology, Volcanology
The Kalkarindji continental flood basalt province of Northern Australia is the oldest basaltic LIP in the Phanerozoic having erupted in the mid Cambrian. At this time, during the Cambrian Explosion, the global environment suffered a series of mass extinctions and biotic turnover. Kalkarindji had the potential to release 1.65 x 106 Tg of CO2, approximately 1.72% of the total Cambrian atmospheric [...]