2nd International Conference of the IAVCEI commission on Volcanic and Igneous Plumbing Systems (VIPS)

Welcome to the 2nd International VIPS Conference in Chile!

We invite you to be part of the 2nd International Conference of the VIPS Commission of IAVCEI, which will be held from November 1 to 6, 2026 at Hotel Nevados, in Chillán, Chile. This event is being hosted by the Millenium Institute on Volcanic Risk Research – Ckelar Volcanoes.

Conference Overview

Date: November 1–6, 2026
Location: Chillán, Chile
Official language: English

Contact: conference.vips@ckelar.org

Abstract Submission and Registration

There are six proposed scientific sessions, and you can indicate on the form which of
the sessions you feel your research best fits.

Modelling Magma Movement and Plumbing System processes
The volcanic-plutonic connection
Magma storage
Geothermal energy and georesources
Hydrothermal systems and mineral deposits
Volcano monitoring

Click here to send your abstract by August 14th. Two submissions are permitted per author.

Registration and Payment Information

Payment amounts are listed in Chilean pesos.

Early registrations, prior to 30 June, receive a 5 % discount on the registration cost but spaces for early registration places are limited. So, sign up as soon as possible!

Complete the Google Form here to register and you will be sent a payment link
shortly after completion.

*An Early Career Researcher is one whose last degree was within 8 years

Payment method

Click here to pay

This payment is “all inclusive” The payment covers:

Use of thermal pools. (until 22:00 hrs.)
Daily entertainment activities led by the hotel team.
Accommodation
Breakfast lunch and dinner for each conference day
Scientific sessions
Welcome and accreditation
Excursion within the conference
Closing dinner

Registration here

Important dates

Registration, travel grant and abstract submission opens | 15th April 2026
Travel/registration bursary deadline | 31th May 2026
Abstract submission deadline | 14th August 2026
Registration deadline | 15th September 2026
Pre-conference field trip | 31st October 2026
Conference | 1 – 6 November 2026

About the Conference

The international conference of the IAVCEI Commission on Volcanic and Igneous Plumbing Systems (VIPS) aims to provide an interdisciplinary forum that fosters an integrated understanding of magma transport and storage within the Earth’s crust.

The conference focuses on the study of volcanic plumbing systems through multiple approaches, including:

Analogue, numerical, and petrological modelling to constrain their dynamics and evolution

Volcano geodesy and seismology to investigate active systems

Structural geology, igneous petrology, and geochemistry to examine fossil, eroded, and active systems

* Early registrations, prior to 30 June, receive a 5 % discount on the registration cost but spaces for early registration places are limited. So, sign up as soon as possible!

What is the VIPS Commission?

The VIPS Commission (Volcanic and Igneous Plumbing Systems) is an international working group within the IAVCEI (International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior).

The primary objective of the Commission is to provide a forum for research on VIPS (Volcanic and Igneous Plumbing Systems) that transcends disciplinary and methodological boundaries, with the aim of fostering an integrated understanding of magma transport and storage within the Earth’s crust. The Commission was established in 2016, and we are pleased to have grown into one of the largest commissions within the IAVCEI.

Scientific Programme and Fieldtrips

The conference consists of two days of dedicated talks, poster sessions and discussions. The scientific program will be finalized once all abstracts have been received.

In addition, there will be two full days of field trips on and around the Nevados de Chillan volcanic complex.

Both field days will involve walking (up to 10 km round trip) with elevation gains of less than 500 m and maximum slope angles of around 15 degrees on variable terrain from loose soil, vegetation, and scoria. The temperature at Nevados de Chillan in November may range from between 5 to 15 degrees celcius and at higher elevations there will likely be snow cover. Decisions on trips related to conditions in the field will be taken nearer the time but no additional equipment required for walking on snow or ice will be needed based on these assessments.

Please check back for more information on the field days.

Travel and Accommodation

Travel within Chile is reasonably straightforward and the hotel is accessible by buses or taxis from Chillan. Two bus options will be arranged for direct transfer to the hotel at an additional cost.

A bus will depart from a point in downtown Santiago at a time to be announced during the morning of Sunday 1^st November. That bus will make a stop at Chillan train station in the afternoon of Sunday 1^st November. The options and costs will vary depending on how many opt for this arranged transport.

Pre and post conference trips

An optional 1-day pre-conference fieldtrip to Punta de Tralca near El Quisco on the coast south of Valparaiso is available for a limited number of participants.

There may be the opportunity to visit the Southern Andean Volcano observatory in Temuco for a tour and discussions during the afternoon of Friday 6^th November if a sufficient number of people would like to. It takes around 3 hours to get from Nevados de Chillan to Temuco but once there and after the visit, participants may wish to continue on to Pucon (the home of Villarrica volcano) or elsewhere.

Would you like to show the VIPS community your favourite outcrop? Please contact conference.vips@ckelar.org if you are interested in organizing any additional pre or post conference activities. Please also consider continuing your stay in Chile for a week and attending the 8^th Colloquium on Geophysical Signatures of Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Landslides which will be held at the University of Chile between 11-13^th November.

Field Workshop: Magma Emplacement and Geomechanics at Punta de Tralca

Saturday 31 st October 2026

Located 110 km west of Santiago (~90 min), the Punta de Tralca sector in El Quisco city
offers a premier natural laboratory into the magmatic plumbing system of a Mesozoic
magmatic arc. The fundamental value of this site lies in the exceptional quality of
preservation and continuous exposure of its shore platforms; in both plan and vertical
sections, allows for geometric characterization of magma sheets.

During the field workshop, discussion will be focused on the following topics:
Kinematics and Paleostress: Discussing and contrasting the validity of classic
kinematic models applied to dike swarms and the ability accurately reconstruct
regional paleostresses.

Fracture Mechanics: Debating the geomechanical conditions that determine
whether magma generates new fractures or utilizes pre-existing discontinuities.
Emplacement Parameters: Discussion on the methods used for precisely dating
magmatic event and the ways to estimate the emplacement depth of the exposed
dikes under observation.
Geochemical Signatures: Integrating questions regarding the information that
geochemical and trace element signatures can provide concerning the evolution and
connectivity of the magma source.
Magnetic Fabric and Flow: Assessing the potential of anisotropy of magnetic
susceptibility (AMS) analysis to reveal internal flow fabrics and determine whether
magmatic transport was predominantly lateral, vertical or complex.

Location: Nevados de Chillán

The Nevados de Chillán volcanic complex is a group of active volcanoes in southern Chile that has shown frequent activity in recent years, including ash emissions, gas release, and the formation of lava domes. In addition to its importance for scientific research, it is a popular destination for its mountain landscapes, hot springs, and outdoor activities, making it a place where tourism and continuus volcanic monitoring coexist.

Geological context

The Nevados de Chillán Volcanic Complex (NChVC) comprises two sub-complexes: Cerro Blanco in the north and Las Termas (currently active) in the south, along with numerous satellite vents distributed between them. Each sub-complex is located at the intersection between the main trace of the Cortaderas-Chillán Lineament (CChL; WNW-ESE) and two regional NE-SW-striking faults, the Shangri-La and Valle Hermoso faults (ShLF and VHF, respectively). This spatial configuration suggests that the migration of eruptive centers is linked to the development of fault intersections.

*View of the active Nevados de Chillan summit looking North with the other edifices in the background*

Since 2016, the complex has entered a period of sustained eruptive activity characterized by eruptive columns, lava flows, and cyclic dome destruction and construction at the Nuevo crater, which continues to the present day (Coppola et al., 2016; Cardona et al., 2021). Geodetic and petrological evidence indicates that the NChVC is underlain by a compartmentalized system in which magma is stored and processed at multiple crustal levels (González-Vidal et al., 2018; Cardona et al., 2021; Oyarzún et al., 2022). An upper crustal reservoir, located at ~4-6 km depth, is primarily associated with recent eruptive cycles, including the 2016-2022 activity (Coppola et al., 2016; Cardona et al., 2021). InSAR data commonly identify inflation-deflation sources at these depths, reflecting pressurization of dacitic magma prior to magma injection and eruption (Cardona et al., 2021). For example, a recent unrest episode between January and November 2019 is consistent with an inflation source at 5.5 ± 0.5 km depth (Astort et al., 2022).

At greater depth, a feeder system located near the mid-to lower-crustal boundary (~15 km) has been identified as a primary staging zone for primitive, mantle-derived magmas. This system is characterized by dense intrusions that supply the thermal and chemical energy required to sustain volcanic activity (Lizama et al., 2025). Between these shallow and deep reservoirs, a complex mixing zone (~7-12 km depth) has been inferred, where hot mafic (basaltic-andesite) magma interacts with cooler, more evolved (dacitic) magma stored in the upper crust (Pineda et al., 2025).

*Cerro Blanco edifice (left) and Nevados de Chillan (Right). In the foreground, the Shangri-la lavas and an outcrop of columnar jointed lavas from the historic edifice.*

*Features within a large dacitic lava flow of the Shangri-la lavas*

The volcanic sits on Miocene basement of granitoids and volcano-sedimentary sequences which are heavily faulted and intruded by magma and outcrop at accessible levels to the west and south. Historic andesite-dacite lavas are also accessible, many exhibiting evidence of magma-ice interaction and columnar jointing. An exposed near-surface conduit, which fed a fissure on the south-west flank of the Las Termas, provides insight on magma densification and fragmentation processes (Rojas et al., 2025).

*The Shangri-la dacitic lavas in the foreground and the basement batholith of jointed granodiorite and diorites intruded with inclined sheets and dykes.*

*Magma sheets in batholith rocks, forming the basement of Nevados de Chillan (From Espinosa-Leal et al., 2025)*

The NChVC therefore represents an exceptional natural laboratory for investigating the evolution of multi-level magmatic plumbing systems in subduction zones.

Understanding its plumbing system, the network of conduits, sills, and reservoirs through which magma is stored and transported, is essential for interpreting surface signals and assessing volcanic hazards.

Sponsorship

SZ4D, or Subduction Zones in four Dimensions, is a community-driven initiative for a long-term, interdisciplinary research program to understand the limits and possibilities of predicting subduction zone geohazards. The group works together to create the multifaceted infrastructure and other resources needed to enable new discoveries. SZ4D brings together US-based and international scientists from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds who study earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and surface processes.

SZ4D brings together scientists across disciplines to build tools and resources needed to transform forecasting earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, landslides, and debris flows.

SZNet – the international collaboration component of SZ4D – is a coordination network for an international community studying subduction zone geohazards. SZNet has been created to connect existing regional networks and provide a unified framework when studying these hazards.

SZ4D is funded by the National Science Foundation

SZ4D is hosted by the University of California, Santa Cruz

Sponsorship Opportunities

We are actively seeking sponsorship for the meeting and welcome any assistance. Financial support from sponsors will be primarily used to reduce the costs for students, early-career researchers and researchers from resource-limited contexts.

Please contact conference.vips@ckelar.org if you are interested in sponsoring the meeting.