EAGER: The Feasibility of Simulating of Weak Volcanic Shockwaves with Analog Modeling

Michigan Technological University, Houghton MI

Investigators

Abstract

Information about conditions at a volcano vent can be extracted from observations of atmospheric shock waves. An improved understanding of the burst phenomena that generate shock waves and the dependence upon volcano shape and eruption properties may lead to new methods to access information on the eruption intensity as well as generate the initial conditions required in a buoyancy predictive models of the gas/ash plume dispersion. This EaGER project is a one-year feasibility study that will investigate experimental simulation of a volcanic explosion using a unique shock tube apparatus. Use of atmospheric shock propagation to gauge explosive power and eruption temperature is new and untested. If successful, atmospheric shock propagation has the potential to radically improve the accuracy of measuring explosive power. At the conclusion of the project we anticipate being able to definitively address concerns regarding the feasibility of a shock tube experiment to scale volcanic explosions. The theory developed will enable more precise prediction of explosive power derived from atmospheric shock wave propagation. The proposed research is interdisciplinary and represents a new collaboration between geophysics and mechanical engineering at Michigan Tech. It includes an important opportunity for the postdoctoral investigator to establish his career. The project will address an area of high risk: the feasibility of scaling volcanic eruption with a shock tube experiment.