9614376 Spera This research will examine the rheology of multiphase silicate magmatic solid-liquid suspensions and gas-liquid emulsions as a function of shear rate, temperature, and disperse-phase volume fraction. Specific experiments include viscometric measurements of emulsions of air bubbles in molten albite at up to 40 volume percent vapor and of artificially-created suspensions of diopside crystals in equilibrium with anorthite-diopside binary melts at up to 40 volume percent solids. Authoritative experimental studies of the flow properties of multiphase magmatic systems remain quite scarce, and results obtained from the proposed experiments will lead to measurable progress in our comprehension of the complex rheological nature of these materials. This is essential if we are to understand the dynamics of magmatic systems and the natural hazards they pose.
