Physical Volcanology
Three steep-sided domes in Tinatin Planitia, Venus (12N8E) with approximate radii of 31 km, 29 km, and 10.3 km. Magellan image from C1-MIDR 15N009. Illumination from the left.
Previous work, including former student Susan Sakimoto, treated aspects
of physical volcanology mostly applied to Venus, including studies on
conditions for buoyant ascent of magma, and the physics of radial spreading
of gravity currents applied to the engimatic pancake domes shown above.
More recent and current efforts in modeling and field studies of physical volcanological processes involve former student Trish Rogers, who is currently a research scientist at the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
Ongoing efforts include:
- Analysis of the effect of crossflow slopes on leveed lava flow emplacement
- Analysis of regional stresses in Bell Regio, Venus, a prominent
locus of tetonics and volcanism on Venus
- Characterization of the effects of topography at various length scales
on the dynamics of flowing lava
- Analysis of the heat and mass transfer characteristics of lava tube flow
Recent Papers
Diapir Rise:
Sakimoto, S.E.H., and M.T. Zuber, Effects of planetary thermal structure
on the ascent and cooling of magma on Venus", J. Volc. Geotherm. Res., 64, 53-60, 1995.
"Pancake Domes" on Venus:
Sakimoto, S.E.H., and M.T. Zuber, The spreading of variable viscosity axisymmetric radial gravity currents: Applications to the emplacement of Venus "pancake" domes, J. Fluid, Mech., 301, 65-77, 1995.
Volcano-tectonics on Venus:
Campbell, B.A., and P.G. Rogers, Bell Regio, Venus:
Integration of remote sensing data and terrestrial analogs for geologic analysis, J. Geophys. Res. 99, 21,153-21,171, 1994.
Rogers, P.G., and M.T. Zuber, Tectonic evolution of Bell Regio, Venus:
Regional stress, lithospheric flexure, and edifice stresses, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 16,841-16853-1998.
Lava Flow Dynamics:
Rogers, T.G., M.T. Zuber, and B.A. Campbell, Crossflow topographic
effects on the emplacement of leveed lava flows, submitted to Bull. Volcanol.,
1997.
Rogers, T.G., and M.T. Zuber, Topographic effects on flowing lava:
Analysis of small and intermediate scale perturbations, manuscript in
preparation, 1999.
Tube Flow Dynamics:
Sakimoto, S.E.H., and M.T. Zuber, Flow and convective cooling in lava tubes, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 27,465-27,487, 1998.
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