MORPHOMETRIC ANALISIS OF VULCANIC ASHES BY DIGITAL HOLOGRAFIC MICROSCOPY

Abstract

Volcanic ashes features, such as their shapes, textures and sizes, influence their aerodynamic behavior, travel distances, sedimentation and dispersion rates. In particular, their morphology provides information about the fragmentation mechanisms during an eruption, different eruptive styles, magma properties and also is a valuable tool for modeling volcanic plumes. In this work, digital holographic microscopy is used in order to perform a morphological analysis of ashes. A morphological, textural and granulometric 2D and 3D characterization is developed through the calculation of shape and size parameters along with a classification according to the fragmentation mechanism of the eruptive process.