- Volcanology group
- School of Environmental Sciences
- University of East Anglia
- Norwich
- NR4 7TJ
- UK
Volcanology at UEA
I'm a second year PhD student at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, supervised by Dr Jenni Barclay, UEA, and Dr Clive Oppenheimer, Cambridge. I did my undergraduate degree in Geology (BA) at Trinity College, Dublin.
The aim of my project is to constrain pre-eruptive conditions in the magmatic system of Ambrym volcano, Vanuatu, using experimental phase equilibria, and to use insights gained from petrology to better understand the unusual degassing behaviour of the volcano.
No previous phase equilibrium studies have been carried out on rocks from Ambrym (or any of the other volcanoes in the Vanuatu island arc), so conditions in the sub-volcanic system are very poorly constrained. Results from this work will provide a starting point for future research on magma storage conditions in the volcanoes of the arc. In addition, studies of phase equilibria for the type of volcano found in the Vanuatu arc – primarily hydrous, calc-alkaline basaltic ocean arc volcanoes – are relatively rare; this research project will hopefully add to advancements in this underdeveloped field.
The main approach used in this project will be experimental petrology. This involves trying to reproduce in the lab the phase compositions (crystals, glass, fluids) and textures observed in natural rocks, to infer their conditions of formation. Experiments will be carried out using a TZM pressure vessel in the high-pressure laboratory at the School of Environmental Sciences (as soon as it's assembled...).
Photomicrograph under crossed polars of large, fritted (sieve-textured) plagioclase crystals with rounded resorption surfaces, clustered with clinopyroxene, from a basaltic intra-caldera lava bomb collected in July 2005 from the ash plain SE of Marum cone, Ambrym. Field of view is c. 2 mm.