2015 Myers

Madison Myers, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, for her project: Timescales associated with the opening phase of large caldera forming eruptions Madison is starting the 4th year of her Ph.D. at the University of Oregon, where she is working with Dr. Paul Wallace. In 2012 she received her M.S. in Geology at the University of Idaho. Her M.S. thesis involved determining the magmatic volatile concentrations associated with the ‘boiling over’ eruption style that defined the 2006 & 2010 eruptions of Tungurahua volcano, Ecuador. For her Ph.D., she continues to apply microanalytical techniques (FTIR: H2O & CO2, EPMA: major elements, LA-ICP-MS: trace elements) on melt inclusions and host phenocrysts to interpret the storage, evolution, mobilization processes and timescales that lead to explosive rhyolitic eruptions. Her dissertation investigates the timing associated with the initial fall deposits of three large-volume, calderaforming eruptions: the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff (2.1 Ma, Yellowstone Volcanic Field), the Bishop Tuff (0.76 Ma, California), and the Oruanui eruption (25.4 ka, Taupo Volcanic Field, N.Z.). Through careful integration of geochemical data with the physical characteristics of the fall deposits from these three caldera-forming eruptions she aims to understand the processes that control the start and stop nature of some eruptions, and what finally triggers caldera collapse.