From Magma to Eruption: Modeling VolcanicProcesses with Diffusion Theory

We present a model for volcanic eruption based on the Brownian motion of denser bodies of magma, embedded in a less dense one. The viscosity of the embedding magma contrasts the gravity and the unique global force, acting on these bodies, is represented by the vesicles of gas, dissolved in the magma, that accumulates beneath the denser bodies. Some simple assumptions lead to a theoretical expression that can fit very well the erupted
volumes distribution obtained from experimental data. Numerical simulations, including the main ingredients of the theoretical model, also reproduce the experimental distribution. The model is a good representation of the Strombolian eruptive style. However the capability of fitting the whole data set, including all eruptive styles, suggests that it could be viewed as a specific version of a more general model describing the whole spectrum of
eruptive styles..