Dr. Nicholas Barber - A Tale of Two Volcanoes: Mt. Slamet and the Ijen Caldera Complex

The island of Java, Indonesia is home to over 150 million people and 30 active volcanoes. These volcanoes range in activity and eruptive mechanisms: dangerous pyroclastic density currents predominate in explosive eruptions at Mt. Merapi and Mt. Semeru, while other volcanoes, like Mt. Slamet experience persistent Strombolian-style eruptions. Numerous multi-vent caldera systems, like the Bromo-Tengger complex and the Ijen Caldera Complex (ICC), also dot the island, showcasing a range of phreatic and magmatic eruptive episodes in their long history. Java’s growing population coupled with increasing demands on land raises the possibility of increased volcanic hazard exposure in the coming decades. In this talk, I will present my work on two of Java’s active volcanoes, Mt. Slamet and the ICC, to highlight how data-driven petrology plays an important role in shaping our understanding of the origin and behavior of magmas. I will demonstrate how combining mineral chemistry, melt inclusions, and 3D textural measurements reveals the complex magma plumbing systems that underlie each of these systems, to the spatial distribution and geological origin of their various eruptions.