DEFORM · Dead or Alive: Finding the Origin of Caldera Unrest using Magma Reservoir Models
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2020-11-01 → 2022-10-31
- EU contribution
- €201,134
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Dead or Alive: Finding the Origin of Caldera Unrest using Magma Reservoir Models
Magmatic systems in the Earth’s mantle and crust contain multiple phases, including solid crystals, liquid melt and low viscosity fluids, at different proportions. However, the theories underpinning most physical models of magmatic systems describe magma as a single-phase fluid, or as two-phase solid-dominated or liquid-dominated mixtures. Connections among these flow regimes are poorly established, hindering our understanding of magma mushes at intermediate phase fractions, which is the perceived state of large crustal magma bodies. To address this knowledge gap, this project establishes a numerical model to study the mechanics of any multi-phase magma mixture. On a fundamental level, this model transcends the theoretical limitations of existing models and expands the range of possible volcanological investigations. On a broader level, unravelling the processes in magma bodies is critical for assessing the hazard they pose to society, particularly at supervolcanoes whose eruptive impacts extend globally.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Caldera-forming volcanic eruptions can have severe impacts from the local to global scale. As vast quantities of magma are ejected during the eruption, they can trigger deadly pyroclastic density currents and lahars, release noxious gases and even alter global climate. At many calderas, episodic unrest in the form of pronounced uplift, increased seismicity and elevated gas emissions raise concern over the potential for such destructive eruptions. However, it remains difficult to ascertain whether the unrest observations indicate (1) an injection of new magma into the crustal reservoir, which could increase its potential for explosive eruptions, or (2) a sudden release of magmatic volatiles from a cooling and crystallizing reservoir, which would remain unlikely to erupt explosively. In this proposed project, I will develop a physics-based model of a magma reservoir to determine the processes involved in magma injection and evolution that may lead to episodic unrest. Of particular interest is how gases migrate through the system and alter reservoir volume. The model will simulate the thermo-mechanical evolution of a two-dimensional, three-phase (solids, liquids, gas) magma reservoir. By leveraging emerging continuum frameworks for reactive transport modelling, this work will expand existing two-dimensional models to simulate three phases in varying proportions in a computationally efficient approach. The reservoir model will be coupled to ductile-to-brittle crustal deformation to understand the conditions that lead to episodic unrest. I will compare simulation results with time series observations of ground deformation and gas emissions from Laguna del Maule in Chile, thought to be undergoing magma injection, and Long Valley in the US, thought to have experienced punctuated gas release. Results will bridge the gap among current models of three-phase magma dynamics and will improve understanding of the eruption hazard implied by caldera unrest.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZUERICH · ZuerichCoordinatorSwitzerland
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union