Experimental Access to Volcanic Processes

Volcanism, and its underlying magmatic origins, are key elements of the Earth System. Their central role can be summed up in the convention that a planet without volcanism is classified as dead. The scientific investigation of the origins, nature and impact of volcanic eruptions is currently one of the most vibrant areas of the solid earth sciences. Observation and quantification of volcanism is greatly assisted by its very nature which includes solid earth processes at the planetary surface and whose dynamics occur on observable timescales. Thus time and location work in our favour. Working against us however is the generally highly energetic, often highly violent, explosive nature of volcanism which frequently precludes deep access to eruptive processes during their operation. Here, the investigation of eruptive processes, together with their causes and consequences, has been greatly assisted by experimental approaches.

Highlights of the experimental investigation of volcanism have included the following:

1) The geochemical diversity of magma, together with its highly variable phase state, yield a very wide range of magmatic properties which form the basis for much of the variety of volcanic expression.

2) The eruptive products of volcanism present a wide range of types of information on the nature of volcano dynamics that can be calibrated with experimental methods.

3) The fate and influence of volcanic materials in the Earth System, whose investigation is often accessible via highly novel experiments,  provide a rich palette of impacts that have likely made the presence of volcanism on Earth a defining element in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and elsewhere.

Experimental volcanology has a rich future...