AGU Chapman conference 'Explosive subaqueous volcanism'
January 21-25, 2002, Dunedin, New Zealand
A pdf containing the Program with Abstracts
is available (874 kb pdf)
Note the large file size may result in a slow downloadThe pdf file replaces the information below
(which was written before the conference but has been left here for quick
reference)
Conveners
J.D.L. White, Ph.D., Volcanology & Sedimentology, Geology Department,
University of Otago,
PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand 9015
Phone: +64 3 479-7519; Fax: +64 3 479-7527, james.white@otago.ac.nz
B.F. Houghton, Ph.D., Gordon A. Macdonald Professor of Volcanology, Department of Geology and Geophysics
School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, 1680 East West Road, POST Bldg., Honolulu, Hawaii 96822,
Phone: (808) 956 2561; Fax: (808) 956-5512 ,bhought@soest.hawaii.edu
Committee members
- K.V. Cashman (University of Oregon)Models of submarine magmatic eruptions
- K. Wohletz (Los Alamos Nat'l Lab)Models of submarine phreatomagmatism
- J. Smellie (British Antarctic Survey)Subglacial eruptions and deposits
- I. Skilling (Southern Mississippi)Poster session
- D. Clague (Monterey Bay Aquarium)Modern seafloor hyaloclastite deposits
- K. Kano (Geological Survey of Japan)Young submarine pyroclastic deposits
- R. Cas (Monash Univ., Australia)Ancient submarine pyroclastic deposits
- W Mueller(U. Quebec - Chicoutimi) Archean submarine pyroclastic deposits
General Description and Objectives
The purpose of this Chapman Conference is to bring together volcanologists, geophysicists and marine geoscientists with interests in the formation of clastic volcanogenic successions on the modern seafloor and in ancient successions, and in the processes and significance of explosive subaqueous eruptions in seafloor settings. Formation of subaqueous pyroclastic deposits is an important topic that has received little mainstream volcanological attention. It is scarcely addressed in volcanological texts, yet because of the preservation bias in favor of sub-wavebase marine deposits in the geological record, it is likely that deposits of subaqueous explosive eruptions exceed in volume and economic significance those of subaerial ones. The aim of the conference is to foster better communication among these groups of scientists, and to provide an opportunity for recent research results to be presented in a forum in which there is scopeto develop new perspectives and directions for future collaborative researchby interested scientists from a range of backgrounds. The role of explosivity in subaqueous eruptions, particularly in the sea and at large scales, is a topic of both high interest and acknowledged disagreement. A better understanding of the abundance, size and style of subaqueous, particularly submarine, eruptions has practical implications, both for minerals exploration and for our understanding of hazardous natural processes.
Keynote Address
Dr. Richard S. Fiske will give the conference Keynote Address. A goal of his address will be to outline the body of evidence for the nature of subaqueous explosive eruptions, to highlight important open questions, and to provide an update of his most recent work on the submarine caldera of Miyoke-jima.
Outline of Format and Schedule
The Conference will include four and a half days of presentations and discussions with an optional one-day pre-meeting field trip devoted to a group of seacliff exposures of subaqueous surtseyan deposits of early Cenozoic age. The first day will focus on discussions of physical controls of subaqueous explosivity, and on lessons learned from studies of observed shoaling eruptions. A brief general introduction to the posters will be given in the evening. The second day will examine evidence from marine studies of the deposits of subaqueous eruptions, and from studies of recently uplifted onland equivalents. The third day will open with short formal introductions to posters by poster authors, then continue with an ~ 8 hr fieldtrip. Day four of the conference will address ancient deposits and mineralization. The last day will focus on integration and synthesis by considering both the consistencies and incongruities among information
Posters will be installed the first day and remain available for viewing in an area adjoining the meeting area throughout the conference. All poster authors the opportunity to give a 2-3 minute presentation (a single overhead) on their poster to the entire group on the third morning of the conference.
Field Trip
A field trip of approximately 8 hours provides a mid-meeting break relevant to the conference theme. The site of the field trip will be eastern Otago, New Zealand, where we will examine outcrops of the Waiareka-Deborah Formation. Seacliff exposures cut through a number of surtseyan volcanoes formed in a shallow shelf setting during the early Cenozoic.