EAPSI:Investigating Timescales of Magma Injection, Storage and Eruption at Hyperactive Volcanoes

Myers Madison L, Eugene OR

Investigators

Abstract

Studying the products of volcanic eruptions, especially those of highly active centers, is a crucial step to improving our ability to forecast the mechanisms that trigger eruptions, and the timescales over which these processes occur. Volcán Llaima, a hyperactive volcano (54 eruptions in the last 375 years) in the Andean Southern Volcanic Zone, provides an excellent scientific playground to test the timescales between increased magmatic activity and eruption. In this study we will investigate the timescales between magmatic recharge, storage, and eruption, the evidence of which is preserved as geochemical gradients in magmatic minerals. By using eruptive products that have been well characterized, this project will serve as a robust test of how effective diffusional modeling of compositional profiles can be in understanding the behavior of complex volcanic systems. These methods will also serve as tools for advancing predictive monitoring techniques at Volcán Llaima, and be applied to similar highly active volcanoes. Research at Volcán Llaima over the last decade has illuminated the overall complexity associated with its volcanic plumbing systems, resulting in interpretations for the physical processes that are occurring at depth (e.g. storage conditions, magma mixing, crystal remobilization). We now have the capability to pair these extensive geochemical datasets with timescales information allowing us to achieve interesting information regarding the timing between magma recharge, mixing, and eventual eruption. In this research project, we will model diffusion driven compositional profiles preserved in olivine phenocrysts from the voluminous 1751 and 1780 eruptions of Volcán Llaima, Chile, allowing for determination of timescales associated with the inferred magmatic processes based on geochemical evidence. This NSF EAPSI award will be undertaken using the analytical facilities at the Earth Observatory of Singapore (Nanyang Technological University) in collaboration with Dr. Bouvet de Maisonneuve, who has extensive experience with Volcán Llaima, and Dr. Costa, renowned in the community for applying advanced diffusion-rate modeling techniques to determine timescales of magmatic processes. This research is funded in collaboration with the National Research Foundation of Singapore.