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GE5185 Open-vent Volcanoes

Spring semester 2010
2 credits

Description and scope of the course: Open-vent volcanoes represent a broad class of systems that exhibit persistent, often varied activity and share the characteristic that there is generally an open path between the magma free surface and the atmosphere. Etna, Fuego, Kilauea, Pacaya, Popocatepetl, Santiaguito, and Stromboli are examples of volcanoes that spend long time periods in an open vent state. These systems often show periods of persistent, low-level activity interspersed with paroxysmal erutions, creating special challenges for hazard mitigation efforts. Because of the nature of the activity, which includes passive and explosive degassing, and varied seismic and airborne acoustic emissions, these volcanoes must be studied with an interdisciplinary approach that involves specialists from several fields. This course seeks to expose students to recent studies of open-vent system to facilitate integration of data in student research. Students will be required to read research papers, prepare presentations and discuss their work. Paricipation by students who are off campus will be enabled through web conferencing.

Instructors:
Dr. Greg Waite
Dow 428
Office phone: 906.487.3554
e-mail: gpwaite AT mtu DOT edu

Dr. Simon Carn
Dow 424
Office phone: 906.487.1756
e-mail: scarn AT mtu DOT edu

Dr. Bill Rose
Dow 207
Office phone: 906.487.2367
e-mail: raman AT mtu DOT edu

Discussion:
Tuesday 3-4 and Thursday 10-11 in Dow 610.

Texts: There is not a required textbook as most of the material will be handed out.

Readings: Journal articles and book sections will be assigned.

Course web page: http://www.geo.mtu.edu/~gpwaite/teaching/open-vent

General Course Outline
Week Date Discussion Topics Reading
1Jan 12 Introductions, scheduling, etc. Dow 633 from 3:30-4.Read Sparks, R.S.J. (2003), Dynamics of magma degassing, in Oppenheimer, C., D.M. Pyle, and J. Barclay, Volcanic Degassing, Geol. Soc. London, v 213, pp. 5-22
and
Shinohara, H. (2008), Excess degassing from volcanoes and its role on eruptive and intrusive activity, Rev. Geophys, 46 RG4005, doi:10.1029/2007RG000244.
2Jan 19 More degassing reading plus defining projects.Read Oppenheimer, C., A. S. Lomakina, P. R. Kyle, N. G. Kingsbury, and M. Boichu (2009), Pulsatory magma supply to a phonolite lava lake, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 284, 392-398, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2009.04.043.
3Jan 26 No class on Tuesday.
Schedule will be updated periodically throughout the semester.

Last modified: 18 August 2011 21:12