Magma Dynamics
Our interests cover all aspects of the origin and evolution of magma, including physical properties, emplacement processes, the building of mush columns beneath magmatic centers, and the detailed crystallization processes giving rise to the common textures found in magmatic rocks. This is a coupled approach of applying the fundamentals of heat and mass transfer to the growth, destruction, and transport of solidification fronts and the kinetics of crystal growth within these fronts. The coupling of solidification dynamics and Crystal Size Distribution (CSD) theory allows the details of the rock textures to be inverted and understood in terms of the overall process of magma emplacement and cooling.
