Esteban Gazel
Cornell University, NY·Earth & Environmental Science
Studies of what makes volcanoes erupt explosively have focused mostly on silica-rich (felsic) magmas. Yet magmas rich in magnesium and less chemically evolved (mafic magmas, such as basalt) drive the most common volcanic activity on Earth, and some erupt with extreme violence.
- Fields
Earth & Environmental Science
Chemistry
- Topics
volcanology
basaltic volcanism
Plinian eruption
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2027
What they work on
- Reconstruct pre-eruptive magma conditions, volatile saturation and degassing pathways of basaltic Plinian eruptions using olivine-hosted melt inclusions, droplets of melt trapped during crystal growth.
- Constrain magma decompression rates for explosive basaltic eruptions using volatile diffusion across olivine-hosted embayments and hydrogen (H+) concentration gradients within olivine crystals.
- Test whether decompression rate correlates with eruption magnitude in high-intensity mafic eruptions, combining new rate measurements with decompression data from the literature.
More about the research
These high-intensity basaltic eruptions, classed as sub-Plinian, Plinian and ultra-Plinian, can alter the global environment and devastate nearby communities, but they remain the least studied end-member of explosive volcanism.
Why it matters
Knowing how fast basaltic magma rises before a violent eruption could sharpen eruption forecasts and response plans for communities near basaltic volcanoes. Results will be shared through the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory with monitoring and risk assessment agencies worldwide, and the project aims to broaden the use of geochemical techniques in routine volcano monitoring.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Jessica Larsen
University of Alaska Fairbanks, AK·Earth & Environmental Science
Estimate magma storage depths beneath Mt. Edgecumbe by combining experimental petrology and melt inclusion analyses of rock samples with InSAR satellite measurements of ground deformation.
Alison Graettinger
University of Missouri-Kansas City, MO·Earth & Environmental Science
Determine at what depths silica-rich and basaltic magmas build up beneath Askja and how often magma is refilled, using plagioclase and clinopyroxene mineral analyses and gabbro xenoliths, chunks of deep rock carried up by eruptions.
Stephan Kolzenburg
University at Buffalo, NY·Earth & Environmental Science
Deploy two new field rheometer prototypes on active lava flows to build a large dataset of natural lava viscosity, measured in lava that still contains its bubbles, crystals and melt.
The school
Cornell University: 37 labs on PI Pages, $1.6B a year on research, 537 research doctorates a year.
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