Modeling
Physics-based numerical simulations allow us to investigate simplified versions of natural systems over a range of conditions to understand how volcanic systems respond to internal and external processes, and improve our interpretations and predictions about natural systems. Models can serve as a link between laboratory-scale experiments and field-scale dynamics.
Finite Element Modeling
Finite Elements are one numerical method we can use to solve complex physical problems in the lab and in nature. I am currently working on developing a numerical model for lava flows that accounts for solidification and crust growth to understand the effects of a cooled or quenched skin on lava dynamics and to investigate the conditions that promote fracture and lava flow breakouts. These sites of instability and bifurcation of flows pose a significant geohazard and alter the morphology of lava flows beyond what can be readily predicted by traditional models.
Periodic outgassing at Erebus Volcano
Numerical simulations can aid in interpretations of field observations. Erebus volcano hosts an active lava lake that demonstrates periodic behavior. Previously interpreted as periodic inflow from the conduit, we used numerical models to demonstrate the ways in which periodicity can be generated by internal lake dynamics that overprint periodic inflow conditions or can be generated during steady supply from the conduit. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2019.115903
