Time Frame:  01.10.2017 - 30.09.2020

Funding:  DFG

Principal Investigators: Dr. Eleonora Rivalta

Personnel:  Prof. Torsten Dahm, Jeane Dagoy

Project collaborators:  Dr. Francesco Maccaferri

Partner:  ISTerre, Grenoble, FR

Methods & Instruments:  Numerical simulations

In this project, we will reveal how a volcano’s shape (e.g. stratovolcano vs. caldera) and growth history influences the depth and construction of magma storage. We simulate the ascent pathways of magma in the crust by means of numerical and analog models of dike propagation. Previous studies have shown that the loading of a volcanic edifice rotates the principal stresses, thereby steering ascending dikes to focus below the edifices. Surface mass destruction events, such as the formation of a caldera, cause instead a de-focusing of ascending dikes, steering them to erupt offset from the center of the volcano (for example under the rims). In this project we simulate the incremental growth of a magma chamber below a stratovolcano and below a caldera in different tectonic contexts. We will study how the different shapes of volcanoes and typical loading histories and cycles affect the incremental accumulation of dikes into magma reservoirs. We will link the model results to observations including crustal deformation, seismology, magnetotelluric and petrology.