The First International Volcanic and Igneous Plumbing Systems conference!

On the 18-20^th of June, the IAVCEI Commission on Volcanic and Igneous Plumbing Systems (VIPS) held their first international conference, hosted by the MAGMA Lab at the University of Liverpool, UK. This hybrid conference brought together 56 in-person attendees and a 44-person online audience from around the world to discuss the current understanding and challenges of volcanic and igneous plumbing systems. The full scientific programme and abstract book are available to view on the VIPS Commission website here.

Day 1 was dedicated to workshops on real-time VIPS observations using analogue experiments led by Professor Janine Kavanagh (Liverpool) and post-doctoral researcher Dr Caitlin Chalk (Liverpool), exploring crystal histories with Dr Katy Chamberlain (Liverpool) and Dr Geoff Kilgour (GNS Science, New Zealand) and photogrammetry as a tool for studying active and fossil VIPS with Professor Steffi Burchardt (Uppsala University, Sweden) and post-doctoral researcher Dr Stefano Urbani (Liverpool). The workshops were followed by the evening icebreaker at The Font, sponsored by Nature Geoscience.

Days 2 and 3 of the conference were held in The Spine, Liverpool in a hybrid format. The conference programme included 25 oral presentations including 6 keynote speakers:

Professor Janine Kavanagh (University of Liverpool and former President of the IAVCEI Commission on VIPS) – “Modelling magma movement in dykes and sills: Insights from minerals, magnetism and mixing experiments”

Dr Geoff Kilgour (GNS Science, New Zealand) – “Mantle to surface monitoring of an andesite magmatic-hydrothermal system”

Dr Prokop Závada (Czech Academy of Sciences) – “The interplay of deformation and current volcanic activity on the Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland – insights from analogue modelling”

Dr Antonio Costa (Senzione di Bologna) – “Advancements in volcanic conduit modelling: A decade of development, applications, and future perspectives”

Dr Adelina Geyer (Scientific staff at CSIC, Barcelona) – “Understanding the internal dynamics of magma reservoirs: A pending challenge”

Professor Steffi Burchardt (Uppsala University and former President of the IAVCEI Commission on VIPS) – “Deformation related to magma transport in the Earth’s crust – not just in the host rock”

There were 26 posters presented at Poster Session, including topics such as analogue experiments of dyke propagation, numerical modelling of volcanic plumbing systems and petrographic studies into magma flow dynamics.

On the final day, Professor Janine Kavanagh chaired three round table discussion sessions. Questions included ‘what are some unresolved questions about volcanic plumbing systems?’, ‘what are the benefits of multidisciplinary projects?’ and ‘what are the most important questions the VIPS community should focus on answering in the next 5, 10 or 20 years?’, providing opportunity for fruitful discussion amongst attendees.  

We would like to thank all attendees of the first international conference on volcanic and igneous plumbing systems. Many thanks to the sponsors for their support of the conference and travel bursaries for attendees. We also thank the local organising committee, the MAGMA Lab at the University of Liverpool!

This year also marks the 10-year anniversary of the Liverpool MAGMA Lab! You can find out more about their research or follow their social media for updates: YouTube, X, Instagram

The IAVCEI VIPS Commission are delighted to announce we will be hosting our second international VIPS conference in the future in Chile!

Make sure to follow our website and social media channels for updates.

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