Duration - 01/12/2007 - 30/11/2009
Funding - Embark Post-Doctoral Fellowship to Eoghan Holohan
Basic Aims
Caldera volcanoes form via catastrophic structural failure and km-scale collapse of a magma reservoir roof.
Assessing the hazard and economic potentials of calderas is hindered, however, by continuing uncertainty over
what conditions trigger reservoir roof failure, what the initial fault geometry and modes are at failure, and
how collapse structures evolve thereafter. This is mainly because caldera structures are poorly preserved, combined with
the limitations of recent physical and numerical models of collapse which can yield apparently conflicting
results. This project will apply a relatively new technique to unravelling caldera formation - 2D and 3D Discrete Element
Modelling (DEM). DEM provides a means of (i) quantifying the stress and strain conditions responsible for triggering initial
failure and (ii) directly simulating the formation and evolution of fracture systems thereafter. By systematically and
quantitatively testing the effects of key geometric and mechanical pre-collapse parameters, DEM models will
investigate the 3D development and sub-surface architecture of caldera structures,
and will provide an improved basis for caldera-related hazard assessment and mineral exploration.
Contact: Eoghan Holohan
Email