This report will focus on the volcanological topic: Catastrophic mass-wasting on ocean island volcanoes, which has some relationship to a Tenerife field trip. It should not be simply an account of what might be seen on Tenerife, but you should draw on field examples from Tenerife to support your report.
The objectives of this assessment are:
1) to gain a deep understanding of the volcanological topic
2) to develop scientific writing skills
3) to develop independent research skills
4) to develop an appreciation of the importance of field observations in volcanology
Exercise:
Write a detailed scientific report on Catastrophic mass-wasting on ocean island volcanoes (maximum 5 sides of A4, including all illustrations, references, etc.). Make your account general but use observations and information from Tenerife to illustrate and support it. A good report will be logically structured, will include figures which support the text, will be well-researched including information from academic articles, will synthesize field observations with information/data from the literature, and will contextualize findings broadly (i.e. beyond Tenerife).
Resources:
• This course reader (which I will upload in the files) and all associated text books and references
• field observations
I will provide you with a written report as an example of what might be done and you could use it in the writing as well.
Some information and guidelines on the topic and what questions should be answered in the report: Tenerife bears the deep scars of several giant sector-collapse landslides. Massive failures of the edifice generated subaerial to submarine debris avalanches, the deposits of which extend many tens of kilometres offshore. There has been much recent speculation in the popular press about the tsunamis that might be generated, yet the collapse events are notoriously difficult to date, and the records of any tsunami remain elusive. How can we advance understanding of the preconditions necessary for the catastrophic mass-wasting events? Are they triggered by volcanic eruptions or might they themselves trigger eruptions? Might climate and sea-level change influence the stability of the volcanic edifice? Are failures more likely to occur during glacial periods, when sea levels are lower, or during wetter periods, when meteoric waters can ‘lubricate’ failure planes? Is there actually any evidence for such links? How are the deposits of debris- avalanches distinguished from those of other forms of mass wasting (e.g., debris flows)?
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