Syllabus
The main focus of the course is physical description of processes in magma chambers.
The course is updated according to its actual progress and actual interests of the students enrolled.
Main topics:
Why study magma chambers?
Cooling of magma chambers: conduction, convection, rate of cooling.
Crystallization in the static environment: undercooling, kinetics of nucleation and growth, static coarsening, textures.
Crystallization it the dynamic environment: gravity as a driving force, gravitational differentiation, cumulates, flow, solidification regimes.
Crystal mushes and their mechanics: rheology of suspensions and crystal frameworks, compaction of crystal mushes, interstitial melt migration.
Annotation
The course is taught in English when at least one international student is enrolled. Basic background in igneous petrology is welcome.
This course presents basic findings and physico-chemical background needed for understanding of the internal dynamics of magma chambers, mainly for analyzing the thermal, crystallization and mechanical processes active during magma chamber cooling. Main focus of the the course is in practical exercises in which the simple models of magma chamber behavior as a function of its parameters are developed. In this exercises the students will learn to use the software for crystallization, heat transport, and fluid dynamics simulation and strengthen their general skills for quantitative description of natural phenomena.