Julia Schunke
Doctoral candidate
I am a PhD student in Experimental Volcanology at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, where I focus on the evolution of permeability in volcanic deposits and its influence on volcanic outgassing and eruptive behavior. I hold a M.Sc. (2022) in Climate and Environmental Sciences from the University of Augsburg, where I completed my master’s thesis at the Laboratory of Physics and Chemistry of the Environment and Space (LPC2E) in Orléans (France), focusing on volcanic emissions. Before that, I obtained a B.Sc. (2018) in Geosciences from the Technical University of Munich and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.
Research
I am interested in how permeability evolves in volcanic systems and how it controls gas escape, which can drive shifts in eruptive style. In this context, I combine experimental work with rheological, petrophysical, and textural analyses, as well as modelling. Next to this, I am interested in volcanic emissions combining air quality data, satellite observations, and modelling.
© Yan Lavallée
Controlling permeability evolution in fragmental systems
My research, as part of the MODERATE project (Magma outgassing during eruptions and geothermal exploration), focuses on the evolution of porosity and permeability in fragmental volcanic systems - hot, hydrous volcanic deposits produced by magma fragmentation. After deposition, these particles can continue to evolve as they vesiculate (causing volumetric expansion and dehydration), diffusively outgas (causing contraction and further dehydration), and sinter, progressively sealing the system. These processes act on different timescales, controlling the densification of the fragmental magma and the evolution of permeable pathways that regulate volcanic outgassing, and ultimately eruptive behaviour. I perform high-temperature sintering experiments to systematically map how factors, such as grain size distribution or rigid inclusions, influence the timescales of these competing processes. This work also helps to understand how magma may respond to drilling, as thermal re-equilibration of the system would allow viscous relaxation and so, physio-chemical evolution of the magma fragments.
MODERATE - Magma outgassing during eruptions and geothermal exploration (ERC-CoG)