Volcanology
Faculty
Research Fellows and Postdoctoral Researchers
Kim Berlo, Karen Fontijn, Madeleine Humphreys, Melanie Witt
Graduate Research Students
Martin Airey, Susanna Ebmeier, Will Hutchison, Stefan Lachowycz, Michelle Parks, Gemma Prata, Jackie Ratner, Harriet Rawson, Jeannie Scott.
Research
Oxford is a leading centre for research in volcanology. Much of our work builds on collaborations with researchers in other universities in the UK, Europe and beyond. Within Oxford, volcanology is an important component of the activities of the National Centre for Earth Observation (Dynamic Earth and Geohazards theme). In Oxford, we also work closely with colleagues in areas as diverse as atmospheric physics, archaeology, environmental microbiology, oceanography and paleomagnetism.
Our current research themes fall broadly into five main areas:
- volcanic degassing: developing and applying new techniques to measure gas, ash and aerosol emissions from volcanoes; measuring and modelling the impacts of volcanic emissions on the environment, and developing models of volcanic degassing on the early Earth and on other planetary bodies.
- understanding the global-scale cycling of volatile elements through volcanoes.
- understanding the roles of external forcings (e.g. from climate, tectonics) and feedbacks on volcano behaviour.
- using focussed petrological and geochemical studies of volcanic products to understand the inner workings of volcanoes, and the causes and consequences of past volcanic eruptions.
- studying volcanic deformation in order to understand the physical processes of magma movement and storage and the structure and stability of volcanic edifices with potential implications in terms of hazard analysis.
For publications see our individual pages.
Watch/listen about our work
Click here to watch a BBC audio slideshow about some of our work.
Click here to watch NERC's careers video about volcanology.
Click here to listen about collecting ash from the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic plume here in Oxford.
Fieldwork
Field investigations are an important component of our work, whether for developing and testing new equipment and techniques; for measuring volcanic gas and aerosol emissions, or for reconstructing the eruptive histories of particular volcanoes. In recent years, our work has taken us to volcanoes in Italy and Greece, Central and South America, Hawaii and East Africa, amongst others.
Join us
For details of PhD opportunities see the Graduate admissions pages. We also welcome interest in joining us at the post-doctoral level and the department offers considerable support in terms of writing applications for independent fellowship schemes (e.g., NERC, Royal Society or Marie Curie). Contact Tamsin Mather, David Pyle or our research facilitator Jon Cox for details.
Alumni
Sebastian Watt, Naomi Matthews, David Ferguson.
