Name Surname
DEGAS: ML-based atomistic simulations of volcanic degassing
Main Supervisor: : Razvan Caracas (Institut de physique du globe de Paris)
Co-Supervisors: : Hélène Balcone-Boissard (Sorbonne Universite Paris), Daniele Spiga (INFN)
Objectives
The presence of volatiles in lavas is a major factor causing explosive volcanic eruptions. Their presence and their loss highly influence other magma properties, like buoyancy and rheology. The project aims at extracting solubility values and degassing efficiency of major volatiles, like CO2, H2O, and SO2, from lavas during eruptions. The solubilities will be estimated using ab initio molecular dynamics. The obtained results will shed light on the nucleation of nanobubbles and the incipient stage of gas release. The ab initio work will be the basis for refining interatomic potentials for volatile-rich silicate lavas. Then the DC will perform large-scale MD simulations of degassing and devolatilization, which will capture the kinetics of devolatilization, bubble coalescence, and adsorption. Finally, the Dc will study the chemical reactions taking place in the gas phase, their interaction with the bubble surfaces, and the fluxes through the liquid-gas interface.
Epected Results
- Solubility curves of various volatile species as a function of magma composition, pressure, and temperature;
- Volatility relations between various gases. Reactions and volatile fluxes at the gas-melt interface;
- Chemical speciation of the volcanic gases.