Publication Date:
2019-01-25
Description:
Models of most magmatic processes, including realistic models of planetary lava flows require accurate data on the rheological properties of magma. Previous studies suggest that field and laboratory rheological properties of Hawaiian lavas can be calculated from their physico-chemical properties using a non-Newtonian rheology model. The present study uses new measurements of the rheological properties of crystallizing lavas to show that this is also true for lavas from Mount Etna. Rheological measurements on quenched Etna basalts were made in a specially designed furnace using a Haake Rotovisco viscometer attached to a spindle which has been designed to eliminate slippage at the melt-spindle interface. Using this spindle, we have made measurements at lower temperatures than other workers in this field. From these measurements, Mount Etna lavas are Newtonian at temperatures above 1120 C and they are thixotropic pseudoplastic fluids with a yield strength at lower temperatures. The close agreement between calculated and measured rheology over the temperature range 1084 - 1125 C support the use of the non-Newtonian rheology model in future modeling of planetary lava flows.
Keywords:
GEOPHYSICS
Type:
Lunar and Planetary Inst., Twenty-Fourth Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Part 3: N-Z; p 1149-1150
Format:
text
