Flow Morphology and Isotopic Studies at Sabancaya Volcano, Peru
I. Roughness Studies
In the summer of 2002, Environmental Physical Science major Shawn McColley and I conducted field studies at Sabancaya Volcano, Peru. We measured block size distributions on several of the large, recent silicic lava flows for comparison with data collected by Dr. Mark Bulmer (University of Maryland) and his colleagues on large avalanches. The key question we are interested in answering is how do large, blocky landslide deposits differ from large, blocky lava flow surfaces, and can we discern the two processes in images of blocky flows of unknown origin on other planets (Gregg et al., 2002; Bulmer et al., 2005).
The field work was some of the most spectacular and difficult that I have ever done. We camped at nearly 15000' elevations, and worked in tough field conditions up to 17000'.