SEMINARIS DE LA FACULTAT DE GEOLOGIA I L'INSTITUT DE CIÈNCIES DE LA TERRA 'JAUME ALMERA'
Hora: 12:00
Lloc: Sala d'actes de l'Institut de Ciències de la Terra Jaume Almera

Antonio M. Álvarez Valero (Departamento de Geología, Facultad de Ciencias,
Universidad de Salamanca)

Modern Geology often utilizes numerical
tools to elucidate and solve Earth Sciences problems that allow scientists
to define different Earth properties and their variability in quantitative
terms. In volcanology and petrology, numerical models of conduit dynamics
are based on assumptions that need input from geologic studies on the
petrologic and physicochemical evolution of magma systems; and vice versa,
to fully interpret the petrological dataset requires key numerical
parameters to constrain the entire information given by the rocks.
We present the integration of classical petrology (and thermodynamic
modelling), 2-D fluid dynamics simulation, and experiments (pressure vessel
lab and analog) to model the melting of the wall rock in a magma conduit.
Our approach confronts exhaustive field observations and chemical data (from
El Hoyazo silicic fossil volcano, SE Spain) with thermo-mechanical models of
crust-magma interactions under the volcano. Let Nature talk and let the
rocks act as reality tests on numerical models (and experiments) in an
iterative loop to constrain the geological processes in a more accurate way.
The on-going results reveal essential information on the circulation,
transport and assimilation, from depth to the surface, of crustal xenoliths
hosted by magma. They are based on the relationships of the microtextures
and pressure-temperature conditions of the xenoliths to their position in a
transient thermal regime in the wall rock of the magma conduit, and to the
time spent as a xenolith immersed in magma.