Emplacement conditions of pyroclastic deposits inferred from magnetic properties of the Eger maar-diatreme (ICDP-EGER drill site S4) and Eifel volcanoes

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Agnes Kontny
• Subject Area: Geology ; Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry ; Geophysics
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 517885783

Magneto-mineralogy from different pyroclastic eruptive sequences is mostly complex and offers a complementary tool to paleomagnetic directional analysis for emplacement temperature estimates and may contribute information on the volcanic material history and their emplacement conditions. The aim of this project is to investigate if magnetic mineralogy is suited to separate different eruptive sequences from pyroclastic deposits of differently fractionated alkaline magmatic rocks in the Quaternary volcanic provinces in Central Europe. We will investigate the rock magnetic properties and characteristic magnetic mineralogy of the two ICDP-Eger Rift Drillings S4a/S4b and well-described Quaternary eruptive volcanic sequences from the Volcano Eifel to compare different volcanic structures and their emplacement conditions. We will test if Curie temperature of titanomagnetite and its (non-) reversibility using the temperature-dependence of in- and out-of-phase magnetic susceptibility is suited to unravel not yet explored intrinsic magnetic and structural properties in titanomagnetite, which is new for magneto-mineralogical studies in volcanic rocks. We will combine rock magnetic, magneto-mineralogical and paleomagnetic investigations with mineral chemical, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy in combination with electron energy-loss spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy in order to get a more fundamental understanding of the non-reversibility of Curie temperatures in titanomagnetite.

• DFG Programme: Infrastructure Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1006: International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP)
• International Connection: Czech Republic, Poland
• Co-Investigator: Dr. Horst Kämpf
• Cooperation Partners: Dr. Martin Chadima; Dr. Katarzyna Dudzisz; Dr. Jan Mrlina