Numerical modelling by the Stokes--DEM coupled simulation for a roof at hot magma chamber

Abstract:

The dynamics of a granular media has been suggested to play an important role in a reheated magma chamber by a hot intrusion (e.g. Burgisser and Bergantz, 2011). Although several mechanisms, such as Rayleigh Taylor instability, unzipping, and rhythmic convection (e.g. Shibano et.al. 2012, 2013), have been proposed for characterizing upward migration process in a crystalline magma chamber, their contributions in the long geodynamical time scale are not clear yet. Thus we perform numerical simulations to investigate the thermal evolution of the magma chamber with basal intrusion in three dimensions.

In order to solve high-viscosity fluid and particle dynamics for modelling a melt--crystal jammed state of the magma, we have developed a coupled Stokes--DEM simulation code with two key techniques: formulation of particle motion without inertia and semi-implicit treatment of particle motion in the fluid equation (Furuichi and Nishiura 2014). Our simulation can successfully handle sinking particles in a high-viscosity fluid.

We examine different types of the granular media heated from the bottom with varying parameters. We especially focus on pattern of the settling particles against the melt density contrast between upper and lower region.