Steffi Burchardt

Before a volcano erupts it usually shows signs of unrest, which can be measured e.g. as earthquakes. However, the processes that cause the unrest are hard to interpret, because it is impossible to access the interior of active volcanoes. Therefore I study extinct and eroded volcanoes, similar to a pathologist who analyses dead bodies. I try to understand how magma is transported and stored within a volcano, how a magma chamber forms, and what parameters control whether there will be an eruption or not. Apart from studying volcanoes in the field, I use numerical models and analogue experiments that simulate magma dynamics in a more accessible scale. Since magma plumbing systems are very complex and controlled by interacting mechanical, chemical, and thermal processes that occur from crystal to crustal scale and from seconds to millions of years, I collaborate with experts in the fields of geophysics, geochemistry, and geodesy. Ultimately, we want to be able to understand what is going on in a volcano at unrest and predict whether there will be an eruption.