Support for Proposed 'State of the Arc' (SOTA) Conference: Energy and Mass Fluxes in Volcanic Arcs

William Marsh Rice University, Houston TX

Investigators

Abstract

Under this award, the PI will convene the third in a series of State of the Arc (SOTA) conferences aimed at understanding physical-chemical processes operating at subduction zones. The conference will have as its theme, Energy and Mass Fluxes in Volcanic Arcs. The meeting will be held in August 2003 at Timberline Lodge (Mt. Hood). Rice University will act as the lead institution, and the conference will be hosted locally by Portland State University. The meeting will bring together approximately 84 international researchers whose work bears on the conference theme. Specific focus areas will include: (1) the thermal structure of subduction zones, (2) the influence of this structure on release of volatiles and possibly melts from subducted slabs, (3) influence of this structure on the production and differentiation of magmas at various levels in the mantle and crust, (4) geologic, petrologic, geochemical, and geophysical constraints on the reservoirs that store and release those magmas and their associated fluids, and (5) heat and mass transfer processes and rates in arc volcanoes at different spatial and temporal scales, and how these influence volcano evolution and behavior. The conference will include a series of pre-, mid-, and post-conference field trips to view important aspects of arc volcanism as exposed in the Cascades province (Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Hood, and central Oregon). These trips will integrate aspects of field geology with the conference themes and allow contrast between different styles of arc volcanism.