Tom Shea (University of Hawaii) is STUDIUM Visiting Professor spending 10 months on sabbatical at ISTO. He is an exceptionally productive scientist whose research is representative of new trends (centered on mineral phases) in the study of magmatic systems. He has initiated and continues to publish first-rate work on mineral growth rates (mainly olivine), zonation and diffusion studies and applications to Hawaiian volcanoes. He comes from an institute renowned for its expertise in the general field of crystallization dynamics. His stay at ISTO should promote knowledge transfer and stimulate the interest of the laboratory and scientists in these subjects.
During his stay, T. Shea proposes to use a new approach to measure element diffusivities in a mineral (plagioclase) emblematic of a wide range of magmatic compositions from rhyolitic to basaltic. Modeling zonations in minerals from diffusivity data has become one of the main methods for calibrating the time scales associated with magmatic transfers beneath active volcanoes. This proposal aims to establish more precisely the duration of magmatic processes, and is directly in line with ISTO's research interests in magma reservoir dynamics, magma ascent in conduits and eruptions. It judiciously combines data acquisition (experiments), modeling (diffusion) and applications to natural systems, a combination that has been the hallmark of ISTO's approach to experimental volcanology.
