Smallest volcanoes in the world

Ben Williamson from Camborne School of Mines has been analysing pockets of melt (solidified to glass, see photo) trapped in plagioclase and quartz which burst due to decompression as a result of the eruption of the Soufrière Hills volcano, Montserrat. 

The study provides important insights into the effects and timing of decompression in the volcanic edifice and the switch from benign magma emplacement to more hazardous explosive eruptions.

The results have been published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters

Photo: Scanning electron photomicrograph of a burst pocket of melt (now glass) on the fractured surface of a plagioclase crystal (field of view 35 microns).

[Back to News Index]

^