An award of volcanic proportions

A PhD student from Monash University has taken out one of the country's most prestigious awards in science research for the study of one of the world’s largest volcanoes.

Madelaine Willcock was awarded a Young Scientist Research Prize at the recent Royal Society of Victoria event for her work on a caldera volcano.  Extremely large or ‘super’ eruptions from caldera volcanoes have the potential to affect society and global climate (cooling), making it important to understand these volcanic systems.

“The impact of this type of volcano erupting could have a huge affect on the region in which it erupts or potentially if large enough, the world.  Thankfully, large caldera eruptions are not common but due to the scarcity of these eruptions there are still many unanswered questions relating to how these volcanic systems work,” said Madelaine.

“Through my research we have conducted both fieldwork and laboratory work to get a thorough understanding of the caldera and are helping to fill some vital gaps in understanding this particular caldera system.”

The study represents the first volcanology based research work to be carried out on the Ora caldera volcano in the Southern Alps, northern Italy, aiming to understand its processes and products and applying this knowledge to broader questions currently in caldera volcano research.

“I am very honoured to be able to study this system in Europe and contribute to the general understanding of these very large volcanic systems,” said Madelaine.

“The Ora caldera is an ancient now inactive volcano, but it is significant for research as the exposure in the high relief Alpine topography allows us to look at and understand the insides of caldera volcanoes, which is not possible with modern, still active calderas.”

Madelaine has completed two field seasons in Italy in 2009 and 2010 and is now in her third year of her PhD.

Madelaine took out top place in the Earth Sciences category at the Royal Society of Victoria event for her scientific content titled Collapse, eruption and products of the crystal rich, >1000km3, Permian Ora ignimbrite and caldera super-eruption, Southern Alps, Italy.  The annual event showcases the extraordinary science research being undertaken at Victorian universities.

For further information on the Faculty of Science at Monash University visit http://www.sci.monash.edu.au/