|
From September 264 to 30 th, 2002, a group of researchers met at Seiano di Vico
Equense, on the Sorrento Peninsula, Italy, to participate in the "Workshop-Short Course
on Volcanic Systems. Gecx:hcmical and Geophysical Monitoring. Melt Inclusions:
Methods, Applications and Problems", sponsored by the Istituto Nazionalr di Geofisica
e Vulcanologia (INGV), the University of Napoli Fedrico II and by the Campania
Regional Government. Approximately 90 researchers from 15 countries attended the
Workshop-Short Course, which included 33 oral presentations and 16 posters. The
group visited the world-famous Mt. Vesuvio volcano as part of the Workshop, to see
first-hand the awesome beauty and power that volcanoes offer.
The aim of the Workshop was to discuss current state-of-the-art techniques and
models for using silicate melt inclusions in crystals of volcanic rocks to determine preemptive
volatile concentrations m magmas, and to describe applications of melt
inclusions analyses to fundamental problems of petrology in general, and volcanology,
in particular. Because magmas degas as they ascend and erupt, or crystallize at depth,
direct knowledge of the prc-eruptive volatile content of magnms, mainly HE0, CO2, S
species and CI, can be obtained from studies of melt inclusions. This information is
fundamental to understand dynamics of magnkas, mechanisms of explosive volcanic
eruptions, gas emissions from active volcanoes, volcanic addition to the atmosphere and
the magmatic contribution to hydrothermal ore deposits. Melt inclusions thus represent
our best source of information on the compositions of magmatic fluids during their
transport from depth to the earth's surface, and the study of dissolved volatile
concentrations (H20, S, CI, CO2, F) m magnkas provides a history of the complex
evolution magmatic systems.
The lecturers who kindly accepted the invitation to give presentations at the
Workshop and to this volume represent top researchers at the international level. We are
grateful to those who, with their participation at the Workshop first and contributions to
this volume, have made possible the organization of a very successful Workshop and
this publication, which we hope will be well received.
The history of melt inclusion research parallels that of fluid inclusions m general
They were already known in the eighteenth century, although the really important
developments in this type of research started after 1970. In recent years, hundreds of
research papers have been published on subjects related to melt inclusions compared
with the few papers published only 10 years ago (see figure. Data compiled by Alex
Sobolev). The impact of melt inclusion studies on understanding magmatic systems has
been profound and will certainly become more so in the coming years, as analytical
techniques evolve. Future advances m the development of sophisticated analytical tools,
such as EPMA, LA-ICP-MS, ion microprobe, FTIR Spectroscopy, Raman and
synchrotron-based XRF, combined with data available from high temperature
heating/quenching stages, such as the Vemadsky Stage, developed by Sobolev group in
the former Soviet Union, will further enhance our ability to use data from melt
inclusions to better understand magmatic systems. |
