{"524521":{"#nid":"524521","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The Cozier the Better for Bubbles Inside Powerful Volcanoes","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHow did the eruptions of Katmai, Taupo and Santorini grow into a massive blast that spewed fine ash, sulfur and crystal-poor magma into the atmosphere? New research from Georgia Institute of Technology and Eidgen\u00f6ssische Technische Hochschule Zurich (ETH) suggests they occurred due in part to how light vapor bubbles migrate and accumulate in some parts of shallow volcanic chambers. \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nature.com\/nature\/journal\/vaop\/ncurrent\/full\/nature17401.html\u0022\u003EThe findings are published online by Nature\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVolcanic chambers are a maze of crystal-rich and crystal-poor regions, especially in the last place where magma stalls and builds before eruption. The Georgia Tech-ETH team used lab experiments and computer models to focus on how bubbles move to and through these shallow reservoirs, which are typically about three to five miles below the surface.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe know that bubbles control the style and power of eruptions, but we don\u2019t fully understand how they behave,\u201d said Georgia Tech Assistant Professor Christian Huber, a faculty member in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. \u201cIt\u2019s probably like opening a soda and watching the bubbles race to the top of the bottle.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to their study, Huber and his colleagues believe these bubbles maneuver their way through crystal filled magma until they settle in these open-spaced reservoirs \u0026shy;\u2013 areas without many crystals \u0026shy;\u2013 and build up the necessary energy for an impending eruption.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen we started this project, we thought that the bubbles, as they moved through compact, crystal-rich areas, would be significantly slowed down on their way to the reservoirs,\u201d said Huber. \u201cInstead, these seem to be the best conditions for their ascent through the chamber.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team\u2019s experiments indicate that bubbles squeeze through the narrow openings to create finger-like paths. These long paths allow the bubbles to merge and form connected pathways that transport low density vapor efficiently through the crystal-rich parts of magma chambers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOnce they reach the end of this crystal-rich area and get more space, the water vapor fingers transform back into their usual, spherical bubble shape,\u201d said Andrea Parmigiani, who led the study during his postdoctoral work in Huber\u2019s group at Georgia Tech and in Olivier Bachmann\u2019s group at ETH. \u201cOnce vapor forms these bubbles, the ascent of the light vapor bubbles is slow and bubbles accumulate.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team says the bubbles, once free to move around in their natural, spherical shape, settle into crystal-poor areas of the reservoir. That\u2019s where their accumulation provides additional potential energy that can drive large volcanic eruptions that release large amounts of sulfur to the atmosphere and result in voluminous crystal-poor deposits.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech team also included Salah Faroughi and Yanqing Su, who are both co-authors on the paper and Ph.D. candidates in Huber\u2019s group. Faroughi\u2019s lab experiments demonstrated the accumulation of bubbles in the crystal-poor areas. Su\u2019s calculations measured sulfur releases.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe paper, \u0022Bubble accumulation and its role in the evolution of magma reservoirs in the upper crust,\u0022 was published online on April 13, 2016.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Study examines paths of vapor bubbles inside volcanoes and how they affect eruptions"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new study finds that bubbles maneuver their way through crystal filled magma until they settle in open-spaced reservoirs \u0026shy;\u2013 areas without many crystals \u0026shy;\u2013 and build up the necessary energy for an impending eruption.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Study focues on how bubbles move through and accumulate in volcanoes before powerful eruptions."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2016-04-13 17:42:21","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:21:21","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-04-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-04-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"524531":{"id":"524531","type":"image","title":"Volcano","body":null,"created":"1460995200","gmt_created":"2016-04-18 16:00:00","changed":"1475895296","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:56","alt":"Volcano","file":{"fid":"205463","name":"istock_000080203603_medium.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/istock_000080203603_medium_0.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/istock_000080203603_medium_0.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1155450,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/istock_000080203603_medium_0.jpeg?itok=q8IcXvBY"}},"524511":{"id":"524511","type":"image","title":"Christian Huber","body":null,"created":"1460995200","gmt_created":"2016-04-18 16:00:00","changed":"1475895296","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:56","alt":"Christian Huber","file":{"fid":"205462","name":"huber.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/huber_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/huber_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":365163,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/huber_0.png?itok=n8BAexVh"}}},"media_ids":["524531","524511"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.nature.com\/nature\/journal\/vaop\/ncurrent\/full\/nature17401.html#videos","title":"Read the Study"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"171917","name":"Bubble"},{"id":"171918","name":"Christian Huber"},{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"171919","name":"Eruptions"},{"id":"27001","name":"Volcano"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003ENational Media Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}