Project Description
The best place in the world to study glaciovolcanism is Iceland. Volcanoes and glacial ice have interacted frequently in Iceland in the recent geological past. As ice retreated since the last glacial maximum about 15,000 years ago, many glaciovolcanic edifices called tuyas have been revealed in the beautiful and unique landscape of Iceland. We have focused on three tuyas in northeast Iceland. The presence of natural volcanic glass in both lower pillow basalts and upper fragmental hyaloclastite deposits reflects the fire-ice interactions. We have also sampled crystalline pillow interiors and crystalline subaerial lava flows. Owing to the pressure-dependence of water and carbon dioxide solubility in magmas, the volatile content of the glass samples can help us determine the thickness of ice at the time of the eruption. The student will analyze doubly polished glass wafers for water and carbon dioxide by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy. This helps us make paleoenvironmental reconstructions during the Pleistocene when the eruptions occurred. Moreover, the glassy samples and the crystalline rock samples can be analyzed for major elements and select trace elements by X-ray Fluorescence at UW-Milwaukee.
Tasks and Responsibilites
The undergraduate student will attend volcanology team meetings to read papers and discuss glaciovolcanism. They will focus on larger glass samples that they have already picked and make doubly polished glass wafers for water and carbon dioxide determinations by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy in my lab in Lapham Hall. Sample preparation of the polished wafers is labor intensive requiring care and concentration. The student will also make mounts of the picked glasses for major element study of the glasses by electron microprobe in Madison. The student will also powder rock samples for determination of major elements and select trace elements by X-ray Fluorescence.