GMPV
Geochemistry, Mineralogy, Petrology & Volcanology

Magma

EGU22: Wednesday highlights

EGU22: Wednesday highlights

This Wednesday we are at exactly half time through the congress! Here are some tips for today as one looks forward to a wonderful day of learning and sharing. We start between 8.30 and 11.45 CEST immersing ourselves in the world of metamorphic minerals (session GMPV 7.2– Room D2 https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU22/session/41922#Presentations) and geodynamic processes (session GD …[Read More]

EGU GMPV ECS Campfires – 16th Edition

EGU GMPV ECS Campfires – 16th Edition

After a short winter break, the Geochemistry, Mineralogy, Petrology and Volcanology division’s early career scientists talks (EGU campfires) are back! The first session in 2022 (and 16th overall) will be a general format event. The talks will be held on Wednesday 16th February at 4pm CET on Zoom. Our four speakers are: Barbara Bonechi (PostDoc …[Read More]

Happy Birthday Mama Etna!

Happy Birthday Mama Etna!

18 May 1971. This date may not mean anything to you at the moment, but it represents a very special day for the evolution of Mount Etna, leaving a deep mark in the recent eruptive activity of the volcano. Exactly 50 years ago, Mount Etna saw the birth of what, only a short time later, …[Read More]

How do crystal aggregates form in magma chambers?

How do crystal aggregates form in magma chambers?

By Penny Wieser (PhD student at the University of Cambridge) Clues into the inner workings of volcanoes can be gleamed from material which is erupted at the surface, or that which solidified at depth in the crust. Just before eruption, three main phases are present: a gas phase (containing water, carbon dioxide, sulphur, chlorine etc), …[Read More]

Are mantle melts heterogeneous on a centimeter scale?

Are mantle melts heterogeneous on a centimeter scale?

The mantle makes up the majority of the volume of the Earth, but there is still a lot about it that we don’t understand. This is because we can’t observe it directly – forget ‘Journey to the center of the Earth’ – even our deepest drill holes (about 12 km deep) are merely tickling the …[Read More]

Building a lava dome: one block at a time

Building a lava dome: one block at a time

Lava domes form when lava is extruded from a volcanic vent, but is too viscous to flow far away. Think of thick treacle that does not flow as easily as runny honey, and so when it is extruded, it forms a “lava pile” around the vent. Lava domes commonly form within the crater of a …[Read More]

Living with volcanic gases

Living with volcanic gases

Professor Tamsin Mather, a volcanologist in Oxford’s Department of Earth Sciences reflects on her many fieldwork experiences at Masaya volcano in Nicaragua, and what she has learned about how they effect the lives of the people who live around them.  Over the years, fieldwork at Masaya volcano in Nicaragua, has revealed many secrets about how …[Read More]

A little fracture can go a long way: How experiments illuminate our understanding of volcanic eruptions

A little fracture can go a long way: How experiments illuminate our understanding of volcanic eruptions

What controls how violently a volcano erupts? Stratovolcanoes like Mount St Helens (USA), Gunung Merapi (Indonesia), or Volcán de Colima (Mexico) tend to erupt in two distinct ways: effusively and/or explosively. Effusive eruptions are eruptions where lava is extruded without any major explosions. Although effusive eruptions can be dangerous, at stratovolcanoes they tend to be …[Read More]