A Global Volcanic Collaboration

In August 2024, Sheffield Hallam volcanologist Dr Natasha Dowey attended a workshop and fieldtrip in Oregon, USA, as part of the NERC-funded FIAMME project. This project has developed an international collaboration between volcanologists from the USA, New Zealand, Germany, France and the UK to improve how we analyse and model deadly volcanic hazards.

The project involves field, laboratory and numerical volcanologists who study pyroclastic density currents (PDCs). These fast-flowing, hot currents of ash, rock and gas (also known as pyroclastic flows) form during highly explosive volcanic eruptions and pose a deadly hazard to many people living on active volcanoes worldwide. 

While in Oregon, Natasha and the team attended a workshop to share new work to develop a global database of PDC deposits. This new information will improve computer models that predict how PDCs flow and behave. They also discussed the development of new recommendations to improve field data collection. At Crater Lake volcano, in the Cascades Volcanic Arc, they carried out team fieldwork to create a new dataset to put these new recommendations into practice!