PhD defence: Marie Katrine Traun

Marie Katrine Traun defends her thesis,

Geochemistry and Magmatic Petrology of Silicic Volcanism of the Loicas Trough Volcanoes, Southern Andes

Supervisors:
Professor Tod Waight, IGN
Post Doc Pedro Waterton, IGN
PhD Nina Søager, GEO

Assessment Committee:
Professor Valentin Troll, Uppsala University – Sweden
Principal Researcher Chiara Petrone, Natural History Museum London – UK
Associate Professor Kristoffer Szilas (chair), IGN

Summary:
The volcanoes of the Andes, South America, have some of the most explosive eruptions in the world. The volcanoes are part of a belt of volcanoes known as the Ring of Fire, which form in response to oceanic tectonic plates moving underneath the continents around the Pacific Ocean. In the Andes, two main types of volcanoes exist, the ones belonging to the Ring of Fire and a second type occurring in the interior of the South American continent. This thesis explores a province of volcanoes known as the Loicas Trough in North Patagonia, Argentina. The Loicas Trough volcanoes occur between the two main types of volcanoes in the Andes, and have chemical compositions that usually result in very explosive eruptions. The tallest volcano of the Loicas Trough is called Domuyo, and has one of the biggest geothermal heat provinces in the world. Concretely, this thesis aims to determine the source of the lavas, the depth of magma chambers in the crust, how the lavas evolve prior to eruption and how they interact with their surroundings. This is achieved using different types of chemical and crystal analyses and magma evolution modelling.

A digital version of the PhD thesis can be obtained from the PhD secretary Mikala Heckscher at mikala@ign.ku.dk up until the time of the defence.