Volcanotectonics
Understanding the Structure, Deformation and Dynamics of Volcanoes

A volcanic eruption occurs when a magma-filled fracture propagates from its source to the surface. Analysing and understanding the conditions that allow this to happen constitute a major part of the scientific field of volcanotectonics. This new volume introduces this cutting-edge and interdisciplinary topic in volcanological research, which incorporates principles and methods from structural geology, tectonics, volcano-deformation studies, physical volcanology, seismology, and physics. It explains and illustrates the physical processes that operate inside volcanoes and which control the frequencies, locations, durations, and sizes of volcanic eruptions. Featuring a clear theoretical framework and helpful summary descriptions of various volcanic structures and products, as well as many worked examples and exercises, this book is an ideal resource for students, researchers and practitioners seeking an understanding of the processes that give rise to volcanic deformation, earthquakes, and eruptions.

1. Introduction; 2. Volcanotectonic structures; 3. Volcanotectonic deformation; 4. Volcanotectonic earthquakes; 5. Volcanotectonic processes; 6. Formation and dynamics of magma chambers and reservoirs; 7. Magma movement through the crust: dike paths; 8. Dynamics of volcanic eruptions; 9. Formation and evolution of volcanoes; 10. Understanding unrest and forecasting eruptions; Appendix A. Units, dimensions, and prefixes; Appendix B. The Greek alphabet; Appendix C. Some mathematical and physical constants; Appendix D. Elastic constants; Appendix E. Properties of some crustal materials; Appendix F. Properties of lavas and magmas; Index.

Agust Gudmundsson is Chair of Structural Geology at the Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London. He has been instrumental in founding the field of Volcanotectonics, which combines principles from structural geology, field geology and physics. He is a member of Academia Europaea, and has written some 200 scientific papers and two previous books: Rock Fractures in Geological Processes (Cambridge, 2011) and The Glorious Geology of Iceland's Golden Circle (2017).