Volcanic systems evolve through the interaction of numerous highly dynamic processes that govern the ascent, emplacement and eruption of magma. These processes operate and interlink on scales of millimetres to kilometres, from the Mantle to the Earth’s surface, and involve complex physics that are challenging to address. Understanding the physical and temporal development of volcanic systems, whether single edifices or volcanic fields, is nonetheless crucial for forecasting the location, style and violence of volcanic eruptions, and for providing accurate hazard and risk assessments.

This session aims to bring together geoscientists, physicists and theoreticians who address the physical development of sub-volcanic and volcanic phenomena by using e.g. experimental, numerical and analytical modelling, and field-based approaches. This session includes, but is not restricted to, the following topics:
- Fracture mechanics in rocks related to dyke, sill and cone sheet emplacement;
- Deformation of both magma and host rock related to pluton and laccolith emplacement;
- Prediction of volcanic vent location and distribution;
- Effects of regional-tectonics on intrusions, edifices and volcanic fields;
- Fragmentation of the magma and the host rock during magmatic and phreatomagmatic explosions;
- Dynamics of volcanic jets, plumes and turbulent flows;
- interaction between pyroclastic flows and topography, and effects on runout distance.

This session is fundamentally process-oriented, and it aims to trigger cross-disciplinary interactions. We therefore strongly encourage comparisons and validation of modelling results with field and/or geophysical observations, as this is a crucial step toward fully unravelling the complex processes beneath, within and upon volcanoes.