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Explosive-effusive volcanic eruption transitions caused by sintering (2020)
Journal Article
Wadsworth, F. B., Llewellin, E. W., Vasseur, J., Gardner, J. E., & Tuffen, H. (2020). Explosive-effusive volcanic eruption transitions caused by sintering. Science Advances, 6(39), Article eaba7940. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba7940

Silicic volcanic activity has long been framed as either violently explosive or gently effusive. However, recent observations demonstrate that explosive and effusive behavior can occur simultaneously. Here, we propose that rhyolitic magma feeding sub... Read More about Explosive-effusive volcanic eruption transitions caused by sintering.

Quantifying Microstructural Evolution in Moving Magma (2020)
Journal Article
Dobson, K. J., Allabar, A., Bretagne, E., Coumans, J., Cassidy, M., Cimarelli, C., …Wanelik, K. (2020). Quantifying Microstructural Evolution in Moving Magma. Frontiers in Earth Science, 8, https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.00287

Many of the grand challenges in volcanic and magmatic research are focused on understanding the dynamics of highly heterogeneous systems and the critical conditions that enable magmas to move or eruptions to initiate. From the formation and developme... Read More about Quantifying Microstructural Evolution in Moving Magma.

An experimentally validated numerical model for bubble growth in magma (2020)
Journal Article
Coumans, J., Llewellin, E., Wadsworth, F., Humphreys, M., Mathias, S., Yelverton, B., & Gardner, J. (2020). An experimentally validated numerical model for bubble growth in magma. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 402, Article 107002. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2020.107002

Volcanic eruptions are driven by the growth of gas bubbles in magma. The timing and rate of bubble growth are important because they determine whether enough gas pressure can develop to fragment the melt. Bubbles grow in response to decompression and... Read More about An experimentally validated numerical model for bubble growth in magma.

Can nanolites enhance eruption explosivity? (2020)
Journal Article
Cáceres, F., Wadsworth, F. B., Scheu, B., Colombier, M., Madonna, C., Cimarelli, C., …Dingwell, D. B. (2020). Can nanolites enhance eruption explosivity?. Geology, 48(10), 997-1001. https://doi.org/10.1130/g47317.1

Degassing dynamics play a crucial role in controlling the explosivity of magma at erupting volcanoes. Degassing of magmatic water typically involves bubble nucleation and growth, which drive magma ascent. Crystals suspended in magma may influence bot... Read More about Can nanolites enhance eruption explosivity?.

Petrophysical properties, mechanical behaviour, and failure modes of impact melt-bearing breccia (suevite) from the Ries impact crater (Germany) (2020)
Journal Article
Heap, M. J., Gilg, H. A., Byrne, P. K., Wadsworth, F. B., & Reuschlé, T. (2020). Petrophysical properties, mechanical behaviour, and failure modes of impact melt-bearing breccia (suevite) from the Ries impact crater (Germany). Icarus, 349, Article 113873. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2020.113873

The physical properties and mechanical behaviour of impactites are an important parameter in fluid flow models and slope stability and landscape evolution assessments for heavily impacted planetary bodies. We first present porosity, permeability, You... Read More about Petrophysical properties, mechanical behaviour, and failure modes of impact melt-bearing breccia (suevite) from the Ries impact crater (Germany).

The thermal properties of porous andesite (2020)
Journal Article
Heap, M. J., Kushnir, A. R., Vasseur, J., Wadsworth, F. B., Harlé, P., Baud, P., …Deegan, F. M. (2020). The thermal properties of porous andesite. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 398, Article 106901. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2020.106901

The thermal properties of volcanic rocks are crucial to accurately model heat transfer in volcanoes and in geothermal systems located within volcanic deposits. Here we provide laboratory measurements of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity fo... Read More about The thermal properties of porous andesite.

Permeability of polydisperse magma foam (2020)
Journal Article
Dingwell, D. B., Wadsworth, F. B., & Vasseur, J. (2020). Permeability of polydisperse magma foam. Geology, 48(6), 536-540. https://doi.org/10.1130/g47094.1

Effective models for the evolution of magma permeability are key to understanding shallow magma ascent and eruption dynamics. Models are generally empirical constructs, commonly focused on monodisperse systems, and unable to cope with the foam limit... Read More about Permeability of polydisperse magma foam.

Determination of permeability using a classic Darcy water column (2019)
Journal Article
Wadsworth, F. B., Vossen, C. E., Schmid, D., Colombier, M., Heap, M. J., Scheu, B., & Dingwell, D. B. (2020). Determination of permeability using a classic Darcy water column. American Journal of Physics, 88(1), 20-24. https://doi.org/10.1119/10.0000296

Permeability is a macroscopic property of materials with a percolating pore phase, such as many rocks and filters. We describe a simple experiment for the empirical determination of permeability using a low-cost method similar to that used by Darcy.... Read More about Determination of permeability using a classic Darcy water column.

The permeability of columnar jointed lava (2019)
Journal Article
Vasseur, J., & Wadsworth, F. B. (2019). The permeability of columnar jointed lava. Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth, 124(11), 11305-11315. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019jb018118

Columnar jointed lava is an important facies in many geothermal reservoir systems. The permeability of jointed lavas is dominated by the contribution from fracture networks. We use a scaling for the permeability of a set of fractures in a solid or po... Read More about The permeability of columnar jointed lava.

A general model for welding of ash particles in volcanic systems validated using in situ X-ray tomography (2019)
Journal Article
Wadsworth, F. B., Vasseur, J., Schauroth, J., Llewellin, E. W., Dobson, K. J., Havard, T., …Heap, M. J. (2019). A general model for welding of ash particles in volcanic systems validated using in situ X-ray tomography. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 525, Article 115726. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2019.115726

Welding occurs during transport and deposition of volcanic particles in diverse settings, including pyroclastic density currents, volcanic conduits, and jet engines. Welding rate influences hazard-relevant processes, and is sensitive to water concent... Read More about A general model for welding of ash particles in volcanic systems validated using in situ X-ray tomography.

SO2 scrubbing during percolation through rhyolitic volcanic domes (2019)
Journal Article
Casas, A. S., Wadsworth, F. B., Ayris, P. M., Delmelle, P., Vasseur, J., Cimarelli, C., & Dingwell, D. B. (2019). SO2 scrubbing during percolation through rhyolitic volcanic domes. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 257, 150-162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2019.04.013

Accurate estimates of the atmospheric impacts of large eruptions on the environment are complicated by a paucity of models for gas-magma or gas-rock interactions that can occur in the subsurface. It is in these environments that high-temperature scav... Read More about SO2 scrubbing during percolation through rhyolitic volcanic domes.

Experimental constraints on the textures and origin of obsidian pyroclasts (2019)
Journal Article
Gardner, J. E., Wadsworth, F. B., Llewellin, E. W., Watkins, J. M., & Coumans, J. P. (2019). Experimental constraints on the textures and origin of obsidian pyroclasts. Bulletin of Volcanology, 81, Article 22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-019-1283-z

Obsidian pyroclasts are commonly preserved in the fall deposits of explosive silicic eruptions. Recent work has suggested that they form by sintering of ash particles on the conduit walls above the fragmentation depth and are subsequently torn out an... Read More about Experimental constraints on the textures and origin of obsidian pyroclasts.

Fracture healing and strength recovery in magmatic liquids (2019)
Journal Article
Lamur, A., Kendrick, J., Wadsworth, F., & Lavallée, Y. (2019). Fracture healing and strength recovery in magmatic liquids. Geology, 47(3), 195-198. https://doi.org/10.1130/g45512.1

Cycles of fracture and healing in magma are important controls on outgassing time scales and repetitive seismicity at silicic volcanoes. Here, we experimentally drove silicate melts (at 109–1011 Pa·s) to tensile failure, measuring the strength during... Read More about Fracture healing and strength recovery in magmatic liquids.

The permeability evolution of tuffisites and implications for outgassing through dense rhyolitic magma (2019)
Journal Article
Heap, M. J., Tuffen, H., Wadsworth, F. B., Reuschlé, T., Castro, J. M., & Schipper, C. I. (2019). The permeability evolution of tuffisites and implications for outgassing through dense rhyolitic magma. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 124(8), 8281-8299. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018jb017035

There is growing evidence that outgassing through transient fracture networks exerts an important control on conduit processes and explosive‐effusive activity during silicic eruptions. Indeed, the first modern observations of rhyolitic eruptions have... Read More about The permeability evolution of tuffisites and implications for outgassing through dense rhyolitic magma.

Combined effusive-explosive silicic volcanism straddles the multiphase viscous-to-brittle transition (2018)
Journal Article
Wadsworth, F. B., Witcher, T., Vossen, C. E., Hess, K., Unwin, H. E., Scheu, B., …Dingwell, D. B. (2018). Combined effusive-explosive silicic volcanism straddles the multiphase viscous-to-brittle transition. Nature Communications, 9(1), Article 4696. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07187-w

Magma is a viscoelastic fluid that can support fracture propagation when local shear stresses are high, or relax and flow when shear stresses are low. Here we present experiments to confirm this using synthetic and natural magmatic liquids across eru... Read More about Combined effusive-explosive silicic volcanism straddles the multiphase viscous-to-brittle transition.

Upscaling permeability in anisotropic volcanic systems (2018)
Journal Article
Farquharson, J. I., & Wadsworth, F. B. (2018). Upscaling permeability in anisotropic volcanic systems. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 364, 35-47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2018.09.002

Permeability is an important input to models of shallow magma ascent. It is a property that can exhibit anisotropy in volcanic magmas, rocks and edifices. Here we show that some important features of permeability anisotropy can be captured by a simpl... Read More about Upscaling permeability in anisotropic volcanic systems.

Disclosing the temperature of columnar jointing in lavas (2018)
Journal Article
Lamur, A., Lavallée, Y., Iddon, F. E., Hornby, A. J., Kendrick, J. E., von Aulock, F. W., & Wadsworth, F. B. (2018). Disclosing the temperature of columnar jointing in lavas. Nature Communications, 9(1), Article 1432. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03842-4

Columnar joints form by cracking during cooling-induced contraction of lava, allowing hydrothermal fluid circulation. A lack of direct observations of their formation has led to ambiguity about the temperature window of jointing and its impact on flu... Read More about Disclosing the temperature of columnar jointing in lavas.

Experimental sintering of ash at conduit conditions and implications for the longevity of tuffisites (2018)
Journal Article
Gardner, J. E., Wadsworth, F. B., Llewellin, E. W., Watkins, J. M., & Coumans, J. P. (2018). Experimental sintering of ash at conduit conditions and implications for the longevity of tuffisites. Bulletin of Volcanology, 80(3), Article 23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-018-1202-8

Escape of gas from magma in the conduit plays a crucial role in mitigating explosivity. Tuffisite veins—ash-filled cracks that form in and around volcanic conduits—represent important gas escape pathways. Sintering of the ash infill decreases its por... Read More about Experimental sintering of ash at conduit conditions and implications for the longevity of tuffisites.

Microstructural and petrophysical properties of the Permo-Triassic sandstones (Buntsandstein) from the Soultz-sous-Forêts geothermal site (France) (2017)
Journal Article
Heap, M. J., Kushnir, A. R., Gilg, H. A., Wadsworth, F. B., Reuschlé, T., & Baud, P. (2017). Microstructural and petrophysical properties of the Permo-Triassic sandstones (Buntsandstein) from the Soultz-sous-Forêts geothermal site (France). Geothermal Energy, 5(1), Article 26. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40517-017-0085-9

Geothermal projects in the Upper Rhine Graben aim to harness thermal anomalies that have arisen due to hydrothermal circulation within the granitic basement and the overlying Permo-Triassic sedimentary units. We present here a systematic microstructu... Read More about Microstructural and petrophysical properties of the Permo-Triassic sandstones (Buntsandstein) from the Soultz-sous-Forêts geothermal site (France).