Current work and student
projects
Phreatomagmatic processes – Using field studies
and experimental approaches to understand the energetics of explosions, and
resulting deposits and landforms, caused by interaction of magma and
water. Recent work involved
detonating buried explosives to study crater formation and subsequent
excavation to study the subsurface structures (in nature referred to as
diatremes) that are produced. Current
work includes large-scale experiments mixing magma and water, and lab-scale
experiments on heat transfer between magma and water/air. Current collaborators on this project
include Pranabendu Moitra
(postdoctoral researcher) and Ingo Sonder (both at
UB), colleagues from New Zealand, Quebec, and Italy who specialize in
phreatomagmatic volcanism, and several other experts in volcano monitoring and
eruption dynamics. Field studies
are being conducted at maar volcanoes in Colorado and Chile. PhD student
Matthew Sweeney is addressing phreatomagmatic processes through computational
fluid dynamics and field studies. The
phreatomagmatic research is funded by Univ. at Buffalo and by the National
Science Foundation.
Ignimbrites and
caldera-forming eruptions – This work involves field studies, numerical modeling, and
experiments in order to understand how the details of multiphase flow of
dilute, collapsing mixtures (from collapsing eruption columns or fountains)
determine the dynamics of the subsequent lateral flow (pyroclastic density
currents), and how this might be recorded in ignimbrite deposits. Fieldwork is being conducted at the Latera Caldera in Italy and at the Bandelier Tuff in New
Mexico, where MS student Scott Borchardt is studying
a thin deposit that records the transition from buoyant to collapsing eruption
columns. Matthew Sweeney has led
numerical modeling into this process, and Ingo Sonder
and Marcus Bursik are collaborating on experimental
approaches to understanding these processes. The work is funded by
the National Science Foundation.
Hazard SEES: Persistent Volcanic Crises Resilience in
the Face of Prolonged and Uncertain Risk
– Three-year project involving University at Buffalo, University of
Hawaii, UC Berkeley, Duke University, and Marquette University. Goal of project is to integrate
geophysics, volcanology, social science, and statistical modeling and analysis
to better understand and improve the interplay between scientists and
stakeholders at volcanic systems characterized by decades-scale unrest, while
also improving our underpinning understanding of the volcanism. Case studies are the Long
Valley-Mono-Inyo system (California) and Kīlauea
(Hawaii). The project
is supported by the National Science Foundation.
Volcano plumbing – Field, modeling, and experimental studies related to intrusion
of magma in stratovolcano systems. PhD
student Andrew Harp is conducting detailed field studies of intrusions in
eroded stratovolcanoes with both field mapping and geophysical techniques, and
will use the data to develop synthetic deformation models to inform volcano
monitoring. PhD student Peter
Johnson is using numerical modeling to constrain the processes that cause
rapid, pre-eruptive water discharges from volcanoes, which can in turn cause
significant hazards in the form of lahars.
Lunar Crater Volcanic Field – This project
focuses on the physical volcanology and relationships between volcanism and
structure in a medium sized intraplate volcanic field dominated by monogenetic
activity. The work is part of a
broader effort to understand the plumbing of mafic systems, transitions in
eruptive styles, and the relationship between monogenetic and polygenetic
volcanism. MS student Zachary
Younger is currently characterizing the youngest lava flow in the volcanic
field using high-resolution air-borne LiDAR data
along with fieldwork. The project was funded by the National
Science Foundation.
VHub –
Cyberinfrastructure for Volcano Eruption and Hazards
Modeling and Simulation – VHub (see vhub.org) is a major effort funded by the National
Science Foundation with the
overarching goal to provide a mechanism for globally collaborative research and
development of computational models of volcanic processes and their integration
with complex geospatial, observational, and experimental data. VHub is promoting seamless accessibility
of appropriate models and data to organizations around the world charged with
assessing and reducing risk, reaching across resource levels and cultural
boundaries. VHub is an
international effort and currently includes partners in Italy, France, Spain,
New Zealand, Japan, and Mexico, and is linked with other large efforts such as
the Global Volcano Model (http://www.globalvolcanomodel.org). The Vhub collaboration team includes a
number of people at UB, at Univ. South Florida, at Michigan Tech, and others
around the world.