Volcanic eruptions are an unavoidable natural hazard and their impact can be local, regional as well as global depending on the eruptive style. Ash particles are a common product of volcanic eruptions. Upon transport and deposition, ash poses a range of hazards to human and animal health, infrastructures (e.g., power blackout, building collapse), air traffic, and agriculture over variable time scales. Understanding the generation of ash is vital to hazard assessment.
Ash is a descriptive and non-genetic term. Ash refers to a grain size of particles (< 2 mm) that can be generated by primary processes such as 1) bubble burst due to gas expansion, 2) magma rupture at high shear rates, 3) abrasion from friction and collision, 4) magma-water interaction, 5) crystal disintegration, and modified during transport. Such processes concur in determining the role of volcanic ash as an important agent in Earth systems. We propose an interdisciplinary session on physical and chemical aspects of ash genesis and modification that aims to fill the current gap between volcanological and environmental studies.

Invited speaker: Bruce Houghton