EPIC lab had a great time at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting this year. We were busy presenting as part of six abstracts and chairing three sessions, meeting others in our fields, and taking in the AGU and San Francisco experience - for the first time for a number EPIC members!
Abstracts : EPIC authors in bold * = EPIC graduate student ^ = EPIC postdoc K. Brugman*, C.B. Till, M. Bose and R. Hervig, 2015, Development of Clinopyroxene as an Igneous Geospeedometer Using NanoSIMS, EOS AGU Fall Meeting Abstract V31B-3030. S. Cichy^, C. Till, K. Roggensack, R. Hervig, A. Clarke, Experimental Evidence for Fast Lithium Diffusion and Isotope Fractionation in Water-bearing Rhyolitic Melts at Magmatic Conditions, EOS AGU Fall Meeting Abstract V43C-3167 M. Coombs, J. Vazquez, L. Hayden, A. Calvert, M. Lidzbarski, N. Anderson, C. Till, 2015 (INVITED), Rejuvenation of shallow-crustal silicic magma bodies at Augustine and Hayes volcanoes, Alaska, EOS AGU Fall Meeting AbstractV42B-01 M. Guild*, C. Till, R. Hervig, S. Wallis, Boron Isotopic Compositions of High Pressure Hydrous Phases from the Slab-Mantle Wedge Interface, EOS AGU Fall Meeting Abstract V43A-3096 A. Rubin, K. Cooper, A. Kent, F.Costa Rodriguez, C. Till, 2015 (INVITED), Constraining timescales of pre-eruptive events within large silicic volcanic centers, EOS AGU Fall Meeting Abstract V23F-01 C. Till, J. Vazquez, J. Boyce, 2015 (INVITED), Setting a Stopwatch for Post-Caldera Effusive Rhyolite Eruptions at Yellowstone caldera, Wyoming, EOS AGU Fall Meeting Abstract V31G-03 Sessions Chaired:
We're incredibly proud of EPIC undergraduate researcher Eric Escoto, who was awarded the Dean's Medal from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University, the college's highest honor, upon graduation this December!
Dean’s Medalists awardees have "impressed their professors, schools and departments by going above and beyond in their academic careers. Through advanced coursework, innovative strives in research and impressive GPAs, these students will impact communities locally and internationally as they go on to develop themselves professionally." You can find out more about Eric on our "People" page and more about his award here: https://sese.asu.edu/about/news/article/1108 Contributed by Meghan Guild with assistance from Kara Brugman. Hello from the Experimental Petrology and Igneous processes Center (EPIC) at Arizona State University. In our lab, we study how magma forms by simulating pressures and temperatures of the Earth’s interior. Outside of the lab, we travel the world to study the various geologic settings we recreate everyday in the lab. Visting A Paleo-Subduction ZoneIn May 2015, I traveled to Japan, accompanied by Christy (Principal Investigator) and Michael (Lab Manager), to collect rock samples that would help me address fundamental questions about subduction zone processes and arc magma genesis. The rocks from the Higashi-akaishi peridotite that were once deep in a subduction zone but now sit exposed on the Earth’s surface at 1700m. Our steep and strenuous trek to the targeted outcrops essentially traced the path of the subducting slab into the mantle—a unique and generally inimitable experience. Our colleague, Tomoyuki Mizukami, from Kanazawa University, has a wealth of experience in this region and guided us to the high-pressure rocks. We were able to collect and carry ~100 kg of the densest rocks on Earth, which proved to be a challenge—but so worth it! Visiting Active Volcanoes in Japan, Including Mount Aso (aka Aso-san)After we parted ways with our Japanese colleagues we explored the volcanoes of the Japanese island arc. One of the largest and most active volcanoes in the world, Aso-san, lies in the center of Kyushu, Southern Japan. The Aso caldera is impressively large (25km north-south and 18 km east-west) and formed during a series of violently explosive pyroclastic volcanic eruptions between 270 ka and 90 ka years ago. In comparison, the Yellowstone Caldera in Wyoming is about 45 by 85 km and experienced its last caldera-forming eruptions 631 ka. The pyroclastic eruptions that form calderas are particularly dangerous because of the amount of superheated ash and gases they release. After columns of gas and particulates are propelled into the stratosphere, the ash can circulate in the upper atmosphere for weeks and could affect global climate for years. These columns eventually collapse under their own weight into pyroclastic flows—fast-moving currents of hot tephra that rush down the sides of the volcano, destroying everything in their path. After this main eruptive phase, post-caldera eruptions can continue for hundreds of thousands of year, although at Yellowstone, these eruptions were generally less violent and the products were more traditional lavas instead of ash flows. Post-caldera forming at Aso eruptions have been ongoing from 90 ka to present evidenced by the 17 visible volcanic cones found within the caldera walls. The active central cone of Aso caldera, Nakadake Volcano, has been erupting since 22 ka. The 1506 m high edifice is a composite cone composed of basaltic-andesite to basalt. We stayed at the base of Aso (nestled in the massive caldera). It was incredible to be surrounded by fresh volcanics and observe the periodic puff of gas and ash from Nakadake. Because of this small but persistent activity we were unable to get as close as we would have liked—something about volcanic gas emissions being toxic… Of late, Nakadake has been relatively quiet until an unanticipated explosion at 09:43 (local time) on Monday September 14, 2015, which produced a column of ash that rose 2 km above the crater and subsequently collapsed into a small pyroclastic flow. The ash dispersal led to a number of flight cancellations but no one was hurt. I am sorry that we missed the eruption during our visit, but a landscape I observed only 3 months ago has already changed—and that is pretty awesome!
Eruption video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYS2JFWHT0c You can keep an eye on the ongoing activity at Aso at this website: http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/aso/news.html. Our new paper timing the interval between magma injection into the base of Yellowstone caldera and eruption in the recent past was published today in the journal Geology. The paper "Months between rejuvenation and volcanic eruption at Yellowstone caldera, Wyoming" is available online first here ASU press release on the paper is available here Photo Caption: ASU professor Christy Till strives to better understand the potential for future eruptions at Yellowstone volcano by studying those in the recent past. She and paper co-author Jorge Vazquez examine Yellowstone lavas in the field. Credit: Naomi Thompson A couple of weeks ago we welcomed the newest member of the EPIC family: a 2200 lb new Rockland Research piston cylinder! It was an exciting week getting it into place in the lab but everyone is doing well and is in good health (no injuries!). Looking forward to doing our first experiment with her. An article by Christy Till of EPIC and Michael Krawczynski of Washington University & EPSM titled "A (Brief) Tour of Exciting Topics in Experimental Petrology" is now posted on the American Geophysical Union Volcanology Geochemistry and Petrology website, featuring some pictures of our lab!
check it out: http://vgp.agu.org/experimental-petrology2015/ and on twitter: https://twitter.com/AGUvgp Our NanoSIMS grant and work is featured in an article in the Spring 2015 of Tech Connect, Arizona's Technology Magazine. You can see the full article here: http://issuu.com/tcguy/docs/07_tc_sp15_final_flat
....for defending her undergraduate thesis on the origin of primitive basaltic lavas from Lassen Volcanic Center yesterday! Katherine is a Barrett Honors College student at ASU and will soon be heading off to graduate school to pursue a PhD in isotope geochemistry. We are very proud of her and wish her all the best!
EPIC is excited to announce our first experiments since the lab began construction! "Taylor" press was taken to 10 kbar (~30 km depth in the Earth) and temperatures between 1000 and 1300°C for two experiments the week of February 2, 2015, which included the melting of a basalt.
Fun factoid: The two "Kennedy-type" piston cylinders in our lab shown in the above pic.s began their life at UCLA where they were constructed by George C. Kennedy in the 1960's. Their names ("Taylor" (yellow) and "Hunter" (green)) originated with USGS scientist Steven R. Bohlen, when they were later in use at the US Geological Survey, and are named after his kids. Today, we have given these piston cylinders a new coat of paint and replaced a number of parts but is amazing to consider that they have been producing experiments for over 50 years!
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September 2020
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