Marco Brenna Staff Page, Academic staff, Department of Geology, University of Otago, New Zealand

Marco Brenna BSc (University of Western Australia), PhD (Massey)

Igneous petrology and geochemistry
Volcanology
Magma ascent dynamics

Office - Geology Gs09
Tel +64 3 479 5634
Email marco.brenna@otago.ac.nz
Google Scholar: Marco Brenna
ORCID orcid.org/0000-0001-6096-6999

Research Interests

My research spans the interface of magmatic and volcanic processes. I investigate the chemical and petrologic characteristics of igneous rocks to unravel their history. I focus mainly on intraplate alkalic systems such as the Auckland Volcanic Field or the Dunedin Volcano, but have also studied recent eruptions at calc-alkalic arc volcanoes, at Mount Tongariro and Hunga Ha’apai (Tonga). Outlined here are some of my ongoing research projects:

Magma generation and ascent dynamics in small-volume intraplate basaltic volcanic systems. My study of the Jeju Island intraplate volcano in South Korea left me with several questions on the mechanisms that allow small-volume and diverse magma batches to erupt in laterally and temporally dispersed volcanic systems. I am currently measuring rates of elemental diffusion in xenocrystic mantle olivines in the Auckland Volcanic Field to estimate rates of magma ascent. The next step will be to model the process of magma accumulation in the mantle and mechanisms triggering ascent.
Formation of phonolite-trachyte lineages in intraplate alkalic volcanoes. The Dunedin Volcano (and many others) is composed of lavas ranging in composition from basalt to trachyte and phonolite. Some of these lavas contain mantle peridotite xenoliths, indicative of their fast ascent. Together with colelagues at INGV Rome we are experimentally investigating the conditions that lead to the formation of different magmatic liquid lines of descent.
Characterization and eruption dynamics of the 2014-2015 eruption of Hunga Ha’apai (Tonga). I visited and sampled the newly born volcanic cone at Hunga Ha’hapai together with colleagues from the University of Auckland. We collected data ranging from rock samples to characterize the eruption both chemically and physically, underwater bathymetry to reveal features of previous eruption, and drone images of the whole island to generate a 3D model of erosional features.

In addition to these specific projects, I also work on intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks as far afield as Western Australia, Saudi Arabia, Korea and Japan.

A section through a small basaltic volcano at Jeju Island showing the transition from phreatomagmatic-dominated to magmatic-dominated eruption phases.

Precipitous basalt and trachyte cliffs at Ulleung Island.

Inspecting the volcanic deposits from the 2009 and 2015 eruptions at Hunga Ha’apai, Tonga.

Peeking into the crater of the 2012 Te Maari eruption at Mount Tongariro

Teaching

View available student research opportunities

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Publications

Zhang, R., & Brenna, M. (2022). Volcanology, geochemistry and age of Pigroot Hill Volcanic Complex, Waipiata Volcanic Field, New Zealand. In A. V. Zernack & J. Palmer (Eds.), Geoscience Society of New Zealand Miscellaneous Publication. 161A, (pp. 322). Wellington, New Zealand: Geoscience Society of New Zealand. [Abstract]

Wu, Y., Robinson, J., Lee, D., & Brenna, M. (2022). Geological setting and early oligocene invertebrate fauna at McDonald's Quarry, Kakanui, New Zealand. In A. V. Zernack & J. Palmer (Eds.), Geoscience Society of New Zealand Miscellaneous Publication. 161A, (pp. 313). Wellington, New Zealand: Geoscience Society of New Zealand. [Abstract]

Stevenson, T., & Brenna, M. (2022). A synthesis of volcanic edifice evolution based on a 3D lithological reconstruction of Heyward Promontory, East Otago, New Zealand. In A. V. Zernack & J. Palmer (Eds.), Geoscience Society of New Zealand Miscellaneous Publication. 161A, (pp. 256). Wellington, New Zealand: Geoscience Society of New Zealand. [Abstract]

Stenning, A., White, J. D. L., Brenna, M., Hemming, S., Palin, J. M., & Baxter, R. (2022). Refining the early geochronological record for the Dunedin Volcano, New Zealand. In A. V. Zernack & J. Palmer (Eds.), Geoscience Society of New Zealand Miscellaneous Publication. 161A, (pp. 252). Wellington, New Zealand: Geoscience Society of New Zealand. [Abstract]

Paredes-Mariño, J., White, J. D. L., Dürig, T., Baxter, R., Cronin, S. J., Kula, T., … Brenna, M., & Brooks-Clarke, I. (2022). A tale of extreme fragmentation: The volcanic ash from Hunga Eruption. In A. V. Zernack & J. Palmer (Eds.), Geoscience Society of New Zealand Miscellaneous Publication. 161A, (pp. 207). Wellington, New Zealand: Geoscience Society of New Zealand. [Abstract]

Brenna, M., Ubide, T., Nichols, A. R. L., Mollo, S., & Pontesilli, A. (2021). Anatomy of intraplate monogenetic alkaline basaltic magmatism. In M. Masotta, C. Beier & S. Mollo (Eds.), Crustal magmatic system evolution: Anatomy, architecture, and physico-chemical processes. (pp. 79-103). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. doi: 10.1002/9781119564485.ch4

Chapter in Book - Research

Baxter, R. J. M., White, J. D. L., Brenna, M., & Ohneiser, C. (2022). Pre-eruption magma staging at the long-lived intraplate Dunedin Volcano, New Zealand. Terra Nova. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1111/ter.12585

Journal - Research Article

Brenna, M., Cronin, S. J., Smith, I. E. M., Pontesilli, A., Tost, M., Barker, S., … Vaiomounga, R. (2022). Post-caldera volcanism reveals shallow priming of an intra-ocean arc andesitic caldera: Hunga volcano, Tonga, SW Pacific. Lithos, 412-413, 106614. doi: 10.1016/j.lithos.2022.106614

Journal - Research Article

Park, J., Lim, H., Myeong, B., Jang, Y.-D., & Brenna, M. (2022). Basaltic cognate enclaves from Dokdo Island as a window for intraplate mafic alkaline OIB magma dynamics in a back-arc basin. Contributions to Mineralogy & Petrology, 177, 86. doi: 10.1007/s00410-022-01951-4

Journal - Research Article

Pontesilli, A., Brenna, M., Mollo, S., Masotta, M., Nazzari, M., Le Roux, P., & Scarlato, P. (2022). Trachyte-phonolite transition at Dunedin Volcano: Fingerprints of magma plumbing system maturity and mush evolution. Lithos, 408-409, 106545. doi: 10.1016/j.lithos.2021.106545

Journal - Research Article

Kang, H., Kim, Y., Rhie, J., Kang, T.-S., & Brenna, M. (2021). Seismic crustal structure beneath Jeju Volcanic Island, South Korea from teleseismic P-receiver functions. Geophysical Journal International, 227, 58-75. doi: 10.1093/gji/ggab211

Journal - Research Article

McLeod, O. E., Brenna, M., Briggs, R. M., & Pittari, A. (2021). Slab tear as a cause of coeval arc-intraplate volcanism in the Alexandra Volcanic Group, New Zealand. Lithos, 408-409, 106564. doi: 10.1016/j.lithos.2021.106564

Journal - Research Article

Pontesilli, A., Brenna, M., Ubide, T., Mollo, S., Masotta, M., Caulfield, J., … Scott, J. M., & Scarlato, P. (2021). Intraplate basalt alkalinity modulated by a lithospheric mantle filter at the Dunedin Volcano (New Zealand). Journal of Petrology, 62(10), egab062. doi: 10.1093/petrology/egab062

Journal - Research Article

Smith, I. E. M., Brenna, M., & Cronin, S. J. (2021). The magma source of small-scale intraplate monogenetic volcanic systems in northern New Zealand. Journal of Volcanology & Geothermal Research, 418, 107326. doi: 10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2021.107326

Journal - Research Article

Auer, A., Brenna, M., & Scott, J. M. (2020). Influence of host magma alkalinity on trachytic melts formed during incongruent orthopyroxene dissolution in mantle xenoliths. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 63(4), 547-561. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2020.1766519

Journal - Research Article

Kamali, A. A., Moayyed, M., Amel, N., Mohammad, F., Brenna, M., Saumur, B. M., & Santos, J. F. (2020). Mineralogy, mineral chemistry and thermobarometry of post-mineralization dykes of the Sungun Cu-Mo porphyry deposit (Northwest Iran). Open Geosciences, 12, 764-790. doi: 10.1515/geo-2020-0009

Journal - Research Article

Scott, J. M., Pontesilli, A., Brenna, M., White, J. D. L., Giacalone, E., Palin, J. M., & le Roux, P. J. (2020). The Dunedin Volcanic Group and a revised model for Zealandia's alkaline intraplate volcanism. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 63(4), 510-529. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2019.1707695

Journal - Research Article

Wei, C.-W., Xu, C., Chakhmouradian, A. R., Brenna, M., Kynicky, J., & Song, W.-L. (2020). Carbon-strontium isotope decoupling in carbonatites from Caotan (Qinling, China): Implications for the origin of calcite carbonatite in orogenic settings. Journal of Petrology, 61(2), egaa024. doi: 10.1093/petrology/egaa024

Journal - Research Article

Brenna, M., Pontesilli, A., Mollo, S., Masotta, M., Cronin, S. J., Smith, I. E. M., … Scarlato, P. (2019). Intra-eruptive trachyte-phonolite transition: Natural evidence and experimental constraints on the role of crystal mushes. American Mineralogist, 104(12), 1750-1764. doi: 10.2138/am-2019-6963

Journal - Research Article

Pontesilli, A., Masotta, M., Nazzari, M., Mollo, S., Armienti, P., Scarlato, P., & Brenna, M. (2019). Crystallization kinetics of clinopyroxene and titanomagnetite growing from a trachybasaltic melt: New insights from isothermal time-series experiments. Chemical Geology, 510, 113-129. doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2019.02.015

Journal - Research Article

Brenna, M., Cronin, S. J., Smith, I. E. M., Tollan, P. M. E., Scott, J. M., Prior, D. J., … Ukstins, I. A. (2018). Olivine xenocryst diffusion reveals rapid monogenetic basaltic magma ascent following complex storage at Pupuke Maar, Auckland Volcanic Field, New Zealand. Earth & Planetary Science Letters, 499, 13-22. doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2018.07.015

Journal - Research Article

Colombier, M., Scheu, B., Wadsworth, F. B., Cronin, S., Vasseur, J., Dobson, K. J., … Brenna, M., … Dingwell, D. B. (2018). Vesiculation and quenching during Surtseyan eruptions at Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai Volcano, Tonga. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 123, 3762-3779. doi: 10.1029/2017JB015357

Journal - Research Article

Kamali, A. A., Moayyed, M., Amel, N., Hosseinzadeh, M. R., Mohammadiha, K., Santos, J. F., & Brenna, M. (2018). Post-mineralization, cogenetic magmatism at the Sungun Cu-Mo porphyry deposit (Northwest Iran): Protracted melting and extraction in an arc system. Minerals, 8(12), 588. doi: 10.3390/min8120588

Journal - Research Article

Song, W., Xu, C., Smith, M. P., Chakhmouradian, A. R., Brenna, M., Kynicky, J., … Tang, H. (2018). Genesis of the world's largest rare earth element deposit, Bayan Obo, China: Protracted mineralization evolution over ~1 b.y. Geology, 46(4), 323-326. doi: 10.1130/G39801.1

Journal - Research Article

Verolino, A., White, J. D. L., & Brenna, M. (2018). Eruption dynamics at Pahvant Butte volcano, Utah, western USA: Insights from ash-sheet dispersal, grain size, and geochemical data. Bulletin of Volcanology, 80(11), 81. doi: 10.1007/s00445-018-1256-7

Journal - Research Article

Dalton, H. B., Scott, J. M., Liu, J., Waight, T. E., Pearson, D. G., Brenna, M., … Palin, J. M. (2017). Diffusion-zoned pyroxenes in an isotopically heterogeneous mantle lithosphere beneath the Dunedin Volcanic Group, New Zealand, and their implications for intraplate alkaline magma sources. Lithosphere, 9(3), 463-475. doi: 10.1130/L631.1

Journal - Research Article

Stirling, M., Bebbington, M., Brenna, M., Cronin, S., Christophersen, A., Deligne, N., … Wang, T., White, J. D. L., … Wilson, T. (2017). Conceptual development of a National Volcanic Hazard Model for New Zealand. Frontiers in Earth Science, 5, 51. doi: 10.3389/feart.2017.00051

Journal - Research Article

Scott, J. M., Brenna, M., Crase, J. A., Waight, T. E., van der Meer, Q., Cooper, A. F., Palin, J. M., … Münker, C. (2016). Peridotitic lithosphere metasomatized by volatile-bearing melts, and its association with intraplate alkaline HIMU-like magmatism. Journal of Petrology, 57(10), 2053-2078. doi: 10.1093/petrology/egw069

Journal - Research Article

Brenna, M., Cronin, S. J., Kereszturi, G., Sohn, Y. K., Smith, I. E. M., & Wijbrans, J. (2015). Intraplate volcanism influenced by distal subduction tectonics at Jeju Island, Republic of Korea. Bulletin of Volcanology, 77, 7. doi: 10.1007/s00445-014-0896-5

Journal - Research Article

Brenna, M., Nakada, S., Miura, D., Toshida, K., Ito, H., Hokanishi, N., & Nakai, S. (2015). A trachyte–syenite core within a basaltic nest: Filtering of primitive injections by a multi-stage magma plumbing system (Oki-Dōzen, south-west Japan). Contributions to Mineralogy & Petrology, 170, 22. doi: 10.1007/s00410-015-1181-0

Journal - Research Article

Brenna, M., Németh, K., Cronin, S. J., Sohn, Y. K., Smith, I. E. M., & Wijbrans, J. (2015). Co-located monogenetic eruptions ~200 kyr apart driven by tapping vertically separated mantle source regions, Chagwido, Jeju Island, Republic of Korea. Bulletin of Volcanology, 77, 43. doi: 10.1007/s00445-015-0928-9

Journal - Research Article

Brenna, M., & Gee, M. A. M. (2014). Dyke-diatreme transition in monogenetic volcanoes: Insights from the Hillier Bay volcanic complex, Western Australia. Bulletin of Volcanology, 76(9), 853. doi: 10.1007/s00445-014-0853-3

Journal - Research Article

Brenna, M., Price, R., Cronin, S. J., Smith, I. E. M., Sohn, Y. K., Kim, G. B., & Maas, R. (2014). Final magma storage depth modulation of explosivity and trachyte—phonolite genesis at an intraplate volcano: A case study from Ulleung Island, South Korea. Journal of Petrology, 55(4), 709-747. doi: 10.1093/petrology/egu004

Journal - Research Article

Cronin, S. J., Stewart, C., Zernack, A. V., Brenna, M., Procter, J. N., Pardo, N., … Irwin, M. (2014). Volcanic ash leachate compositions and assessment of health and agricultural hazards from 2012 hydrothermal eruptions, Tongariro, New Zealand. Journal of Volcanology & Geothermal Research, 286, 233-247. doi: 10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2014.07.002

Journal - Research Article

Lube, G., Breard, E. C. P., Cronin, S. J., Procter, J. N., Brenna, M., Moebis, A., … Fournier, N. (2014). Dynamics of surges generated by hydrothermal blasts during the 6 August 2012 Te Maari eruption, Mt. Tongariro, New Zealand. Journal of Volcanology & Geothermal Research, 286, 348-366. doi: 10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2014.05.010

Journal - Research Article

Pardo, N., Cronin, S. J., Németh, K., Brenna, M., Schipper, C. I., Breard, E., White, J. D. L., … Auer, A., … Wallace, C. (2014). Perils in distinguishing phreatic from phreatomagmatic ash: Insights into the eruption mechanisms of the 6 August 2012 Mt. Tongariro eruption, New Zealand. Journal of Volcanology & Geothermal Research, 286, 397-414. doi: 10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2014.05.001

Journal - Research Article

Brenna, M., Cronin, S. J., Smith, I. E. M., Maas, R., & Sohn, Y. K. (2012). How small-volume basaltic magmatic systems develop: A case study from the Jeju Island volcanic field, Korea. Journal of Petrology, 53(5), 985-1018. doi: 10.1093/petrology/egs007

Journal - Research Article

Brenna, M., Cronin, S. J., Smith, I. E. M., Sohn, Y. K., & Maas, R. (2012). Spatio-temporal evolution of a dispersed magmatic system and its implications for volcano growth, Jeju Island Volcanic Field, Korea. Lithos, 148, 337-352. doi: 10.1016/j.lithos.2012.06.021

Journal - Research Article

Sohn, Y. K., Cronin, S. J., Brenna, M., Smith, I. E. M., Németh, K., White, J. D. L., Murtagh, R. M., … Kwon, C. W. (2012). Ilchulbong tuff cone, Jeju Island, Korea, revisited: A compound monogenetic volcano involving multiple magma pulses, shifting vents, and discrete eruptive phases. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 124(3-4), 259-274. doi: 10.1130/B30447.1

Journal - Research Article

Brenna, M., Cronin, S. J., Németh, K., Smith, I. E. M., & Sohn, Y. K. (2011). The influence of magma plumbing complexity on monogenetic eruptions, Jeju Island, Korea. Terra Nova, 23(2), 70-75. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3121.2010.00985.x

Journal - Research Article

Brenna, M., Cronin, S. J., Smith, I. E. M., Sohn, Y. K., & Németh, K. (2010). Mechanisms driving polymagmatic activity at a monogenetic volcano, Udo, Jeju Island, South Korea. Contributions to Mineralogy & Petrology, 160(6), 931-950. doi: 10.1007/s00410-010-0515-1

Journal - Research Article

Németh, K., Cronin, S. J., Haller, M. J., Brenna, M., & Csillag, G. (2010). Modern analogues for Miocene to Pleistocene alkali basaltic phreatomagmatic fields in the Pannonian Basin: “Soft-substrate” to “combined” aquifer controlled phreatomagmatism in intraplate volcanic fields. Central European Journal of Geosciences, 2(3), 339-361. doi: 10.2478/v10085-010-0013-8

Journal - Research Article

Jordan, M., Pilet, S., & Brenna, M. (2022). Off-rift axis channelized melt and lithospheric metasomatism along mid-ocean ridges: A case study from Iceland on the limits of melt channelling. Journal of Petrology, 63, egac052. doi: 10.1093/petrology/egac052

Journal - Research Other

Cronin, S. J., Brenna, M., Smith, I. E. M., Barker, S., Tost, M., Ford, M., … Vaiomounga, R. (2017). New volcanic island unveils explosive past. Eos. doi: 10.1029/2017EO076589

Journal - Research Other

Brenna, M., & Cronin, S. J. (2015). Mantle heterogeneity controls on small-volume basaltic volcanism. Geology, 43, e370. doi: 10.1130/G37023C.1

Journal - Research Other

Corella Santa Cruz, C. R., Stirling, C. H., Zellmer, G. F., Straub, S. M., Brenna, M., & Nemeth, K. (2022). New comprehensive Pb isotopic data Elucidate novel petrogenetic processes across the Taupo Volcanic Zone. In A. V. Zernack & J. Palmer (Eds.), Geoscience Society of New Zealand Miscellaneous Publication. 161A, (pp. 55). Wellington, New Zealand: Geoscience Society of New Zealand. [Abstract]