This is a past event
Please join us for a research seminar given by Dr Daniele Morgavi, of the University of Perugia, on "Magma Mixing: an open debate. Overview on the recent developments from field to experimental volcanology: case of study Yellowstone Volcanic system." All are welcome to attend.
Abstract
In the history of geosciences the idea of magma mixing went through a long period of strong opposition and delays in acceptance. The first investigation on magma mixing dates back to 1851, when the chemist Robert W. Bunsen from the University of Heidelberg published a research on the chemical variation of some igneous rock samples collected in the western region of Iceland. Since the first hypothesis on the origin of mixed igneous rocks (Bunsen 1851), a plenty of evidence of mixing, in all tectonic environments, throughout geological times, has been recorded. Magma mixing is a physical-chemical process by which two or more batches of magma mingle and by chemical diffusion mix; never the less it has been demonstrated that magma mixing is also an eruption trigger. Understanding the mechanisms that control magma mixing, therefore, is of primary importance for petrology and volcanology, with direct implications in the compositional variability of igneous rocks as well as in hazard assessment in active volcanic areas. Here we focus on the Yellowstone Volcanic System (YVF), located in northwest Wyoming and southeast Idaho (U.S.A.), as a case study for magma mixing. Since in Yellowstone the extra-caldera system contains some of the youngest volcanism in the YVF (Nastanski, 2005; Bennet, 2006; Christiansen et al., 2007) and those volcanic units shows large evidence of magma mixing therefore are for us astonishing units to study in the field and in the lab, as they may provide some of the most relevant information for possible future volcanism.
- Speaker
- Dr Daniele Morgavi
- Venue
- Fraser Noble FN2