NSF Org:	EAR Division Of Earth Sciences
Recipient:	UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS
Initial Amendment Date:	July 23, 2001
Latest Amendment Date:	August 7, 2002
Award Number:	0106834
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Sonia Esperanca EAR  Division Of Earth Sciences GEO  Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date:	August 1, 2001
End Date:	January 31, 2003 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$59,582.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$59,582.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2001 = $59,582.00
History of Investigator:	John Eichelberger (Principal Investigator) eich@gi.alaska.edu Jonathan Dehn (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	University of Alaska Fairbanks Campus 2145 N TANANA LOOP FAIRBANKS AK  US  99775-0001 (907)474-7301
Sponsor Congressional District:	00
Primary Place of Performance:	University of Alaska Geophysical Institute 903 Koyukuk Drive Fairbanks AK  US  99775-7320
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	00
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	FDLEQSJ8FF63
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s):	Petrology and Geochemistry, CONTINENTAL DYNAMICS PROGRAM
Primary Program Source:	01000102DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):	OTHR, 0000
Program Element Code(s):	157300, 158100
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.050

ABSTRACT

Eichelberger
EAR-0106834


This proposal seeks support for the PIs to participate in internationally collaborative geochemical investigations of samples now being obtained during the first phase of the Unzen Scientific Drilling Project (USDP), Japan. USDP is a developing project of the International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP), which seeks to use drilling as a tool to advance understanding of fundamental processes of continental crust. The United States is a major partner and funding source for ICDP, through the National Science Foundation. The goal of USDP is to understand the eruptive behavior of Unzen as representative of an important class of andesitic arc volcanoes. This is to be done through a program of drilling, borehole observation, and core analysis in complement with ongoing surface geological and geophysical studies as well as the remarkable suite of geophysical and geochemical observations made during the recent eruption. That devastating episode occurred during 1991 to 1994, claimed 44 lives, and did some $2 billion in damage.
In the first phase of the project, for which support is requested through this proposal, flank holes of 750 m and 1500 m are being drilled to the base of the edifice in order to obtain a complete physical and chemical record of the volcano's activity. Simultaneously, and also to be supported under this request, planning will be undertaken for the second phase in which multiple core sections through the conduit will be obtained in order to address problems of magma transport and degassing. These observations will aid in understanding the paradox of effusive eruption of water-rich magma. The overall scientific rationale and plan for this undertaking are presented in the proposals to ICDP and will be repeated in condensed form here to provide context. ICDP itself supports drilling only, not the associated science, hence the need for this request.
Recent eruptions of Unzen, Pinatubo, and Soufriere Hills volcanoes have graphically demonstrated the concept that injection of mafic magma into a crustal slush is an important petrologic process and a volcanic trigger. The high visibility of these events has served to strengthen a dialog between workers on volcanic and plutonic rocks, and reinvigorated the investigation of mafic enclaves and disequilibrium phenocryst assemblages. A basic question has become: how do we fit these products of open system behavior of magma systems, produced by mafic recharge or replenishment, into the broader picture of crustal plutonism and volcanism? A subset of that question, which this proposal seeks to answer, is: What are the long term-petrologic consequences of repeated mafic inputs to the crustal magma system? Studies to date have elucidated single events as sampled by eruption products or viewed the end product of many such events in the form of mafic and silicic layered intrusions (MASLI). We wish to look at the time series provided by 500,000 years of Unzen eruptions, to characterize the inputs to the system and understand their influence on its chemical evolution. The work will be coordinated with complementary efforts in Japan on dating the sequence and documenting the geologic and chemical evolution of the volcano.

Please report errors in award information by writing to: awardsearch@nsf.gov.