SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM

VI. Volcanoes, energy and resources  

VI.1 Volcano-hydrothermal system dynamics: Hazards, resources, and extremophiles

Conveners:
Isabelle Chambefort, GNS Science – New Zealand; i.chambefort@gns.cri.nz
Franco Tassi, University of Florence, Italy;  franco.tassi@unifi.it
Shaul Hurwitz, U.S. Geological Survey - USA; shaulh@usgs.gov
Andri Stefansson, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland; as@hi.is
Ryunosuke Kazahaya, Geological Survey of Japan (AIST) - Japan; von.kazahaya@aist.go.jp
Severine Moune, Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, University of Clermont-Ferrand France; S.Moune@opgc.univ-bpclermont.fr
Everett Shock, Arizona State University; Everett.Shock@asu.edu
Eric Boyd, Montana State University;  eric.boyd@montana.edu

Active volcano-hydrothermal systems are characterized by heterogeneous spatial and temporal changes of temperature, pressure, chemistry, and permeability, as well as unique microbial communities.  In these systems, aqueous and gas-rich fluids are a source of hazard (e.g., propellant in steam-driven explosions, lubricant in mudflows, toxic gases and dissolved constituents), a resource (e.g., geothermal energy and mineral deposits), a potential indicator for one of the earliest warnings of unrest, and a habitat for life. Understanding and quantifying the dynamic of the physicochemical processes in these systems is necessary for the development of monitoring systems, for successful resource exploration and for understanding life in extreme environments.

The goal of this session is to bring together scientists from a broad range of disciplines (e.g. igneous petrology, economic geology, volcano and geothermal fluid geochemistry, crustal geophysics, numerical modeling and microbiology) to elucidate processes of mass and energy transfer in active volcano/magma-hydrothermal systems with implications for hazards, resources, and life.