Dr. Ulrich Küppers

Research Interests

My research interests revolve around explosive volcanic eruptions and I am combining field studies and laboratory experiments to enhance our understanding of the related phenomena: The dynamics of volcanic eruptions (how fast? How much? How long? etc.) and the related transport processes that form volcanic deposits (clast textures, grain size, deposit thickness, sedimentary features etc.) are the only proxy of the related processes that take place under Earth surface or in a hostile environment during volcanic eruptions and can accordingly not be observed directly

Vergrößern

Quantitative Understanding of Explosive Volcanic Eruptions

This research aims to advance volcanology from a largely observational field to quantitatively understanding the complex dynamics of explosive volcanic eruptions and the subsequent transport processes. Explosive eruptions represent a major global hazard, capable of causing widespread catastrophe and fatalities, particularly given that approximately 15% of the world's population lives near potentially active volcanoes. Since processes inside a volcanic conduit, near the vent and during some transport processes cannot be directly observed without risk, we here derive crucial eruption, transport, and sedimentation characteristics by closely investigating pyroclasts—the only direct proxies of these processes. The focus is on the deposits from four Sub-Plinian to Plinian eruptions of intermediate to felsic magma composition (such as Laacher See, Montagne Pelée, Sete Cidades, and Vesuvius), selected based on location, eruption age eruption style. Key questions involve determining the controls on variations in eruptive behavior (style, intensity, duration) and what intrinsically affects the mobility of pyroclastic density currents (PDCs). To address this, the project expands on the petrophysical and morphological characterization of pyroclasts, including the measurement of porosity and shape parameters. Porosity offers insights into the interplay of volatile content, magma ascent, and degassing, which controls the final overpressure, while morphology analysis helps define shape families that may distinguish primary shapes (result of magma fragmentation) or secondary shapes (overprinted by transport processes involving e.g. abrasion and comminution). The generated data set, derived from extensive field campaigns and tumbling experiments, complements routine deposit descriptions and significantly contributes to enhancing the hazard mitigation capabilities for explosive eruptions.

Running project

• PYTON: PYroclast Textures to understand vOlcaNic behaviourProject (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, 2024-2027)

Figueiredo, C., Kueppers, U., Pereira, L. et al. Shape evolution of pumice during granular flow. Commun Earth Environ 6, 941 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02936-4

Publikationsliste