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Content archived on 2024-05-29

The use of geodetic data to establish the geometry and depth of magma reservoirs and the rate of magma movement towards the Earth and apos;s surface

Objective

Natural disasters can happen anywhere, anytime. Think about the Asian tsunami in 2004, the earthquake in Bam, Iran in 2003 and the eruption of Nyiragongo in Congo in 2003. All of these occurred far away from Europe. However, around 55 active and potentially dangerous volcanoes are located within Europe.

As recent as 1783, over 9000 people died following the Laki eruption in Iceland. Volcano monitoring techniques have improved tremendously but still more needs to be done. On the edifice of the volcano, scientists measure the deformation, the gas output and they study the geochemistry of the lavas. A volcano erupts when a critical pressure is reached inside the volcano.

The inside is often imagined by a cylindrical magma chamber connected with the edifice by a conduit pipe. This magma chamber can be connected to a much deeper magma reservoir. Little is known however about the real geometry and depth of the magma chamber and reservoir. These parameters may be critical in forecasting a volcanic eruption.

The main objectives of this project will be to determine as precise as possible the geometry and depth of the magma chambers of several volcanoes, using advanced modelling techniques. Existing geodetic data of the volcanoes, such as InSAR and GPS, will be used to verify the models. This will lead to an improved understanding of the inside of a volcano and consequently to a better understanding of the volcanic processes leading to a volcanic eruption. We anticipate that the outcomes of this project can be applied to volcanoes in a similar setting worldwide.

This work will built on the practical PhD work conducted by the fellow. Collaboration with the host will complete the fellow's expertise on the theoretical and analytical level and will as such respond to the fellow' s individual needs. After completion the fellow will have a multi-disciplinary background, (both practical and theoretical) which will help to reach professional maturity and independence.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Call for proposal

FP6-2004-MOBILITY-5
See other projects for this call

Coordinator

INSTITUTE DE PHYSIQUE DU GLOBE
EU contribution
No data