Premium
Decompression experiments identify kinetic controls on explosive silicic eruptions
Author(s) -
Mangan M. T.,
Sisson T. W.,
Hankins W. B.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2004gl019509
Subject(s) - explosive material , silicic , explosive eruption , kinetic energy , geology , silicic acid , decompression , astrobiology , earth science , volcano , seismology , magma , physics , oceanography , thermodynamics , chemistry , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics
Eruption intensity is largely controlled by decompression‐induced release of water‐rich gas dissolved in magma. It is not simply the amount of gas that dictates how forcefully magma is propelled upwards during an eruption, but also the rate of degassing, which is partly a function of the supersaturation pressure (ΔP critical ) triggering gas bubble nucleation. High temperature and pressure decompression experiments using rhyolite and dacite melt reveal compositionally‐dependent differences in the ΔP critical of degassing that may explain why rhyolites have fueled some of the most explosive eruptions on record.