Questions I've been asking
A snippet of where my curiosity has taken me
I used the petrology and geochemistry of mafic enclaves from Shiveluch to determine primitive magmatic water contents in the lower crust.
I found that water contents may be 2x as high as what is recorded in melt inclusions on average! What does this mean for the global water cycle? Is Shiveluch a global anomaly? Do experiments agree with these findings? I'm excited to find out! |
I conducted a series of piston-cylinder experiments to determine "predictive" partition coefficients for Fe3+ between amphibole and melt. By comparing the expected Fe3+ to measured values amphibole in mafic enclaves, I calculated the timing of mafic recharge events relative to eruption. In addition to using experiments to understand natural observables, this project also involved visits to two synchrotron facilities for analysis of Fe3+.
Amphibole records mafic recharge events up to 3 months before eruption, which can help us understand eruption triggering mechanisms at this volcano. How does this compare to other volcanoes at similar settings? What determines differences in these behaviors? I look forward to thinking about this more in the future. |
At the base of this project is a seemingly simple question: why are some volcanoes bigger than others? While I don't have the answer to that exact question quite yet, I executed a Monte Carlo calculation based on a novel box model of a subduction zone that lets me predict volumetric magma production rates ("flux") along arcs.
While my estimates match observations for oceanic arcs, they are an order of magnitude larger than estimates of flux at continental crust. If flux is indeed higher than current estimates, it means we are underestimating Carbon flux from the sub-arc mantle by up to 30%, making a strong case for C storage in the crust! Taking a "volume-first" approach to questions in volcanology and geochemistry is a massively exciting, new avenue of research that I am looking forward to pioneering going forward. |