Magmatism is central to planetary evolution, controlling volcanic eruptions and most geothermal systems. The presence of volatiles (water, carbon dioxide, sulfur, etc) regulates magma buoyancy, storage and transport. When magma are subjected to certain changes in pressure and temperature conditions volatiles exsolve (akin to uncorking a bottle of Champagne) and either accumulate or escape magma, influencing the probability and style of an eruption. Understanding the controls on magma-gas coupling is thus fundamental to resolve volcanic activity as well as manipulate its response to drilling operations when harnessing geothermal energy near magma. This project aims to constrain Magma Outgassing During ERuptions And geoThermal Exploration (MODERATE).
MODERATE is a timely, innovative, interdisciplinary project aiming to radically broaden our understanding of magma-gas coupling in volcanic and superhot, geothermal systems. The objectives are to: 1) constrain the impact of external forcing mechanisms (i.e. decompression, temperature changes, shear and pressure oscillations from shaking, impact and rupture) on the formation of gas bubble (i.e. vesticulation), 2) quantify the development of gas bubble connectivity (i.e. permeability) to allow gas release, and 3) define manipulationstrategies to moderate magma outgassing and alleviate the risk of volcanic eruption associated with drilling and borehole operations.
A map of magma vesiculation and permeability under a wider range of conditions and stressing scenarios than everachieved before will allow us to resolve current conundrums and explore new regimes to control permeability in magma. This innovative effort will allow us to moderate magma outgassing, thus enabling direct access to magma energy and eventually providing a means to control outgassing and alleviate eruption potential.
