About the lecture

In this lecture, the focus is on beginning to understand volcanoes in relation to their tectonic setting and how it influences their behaviour. To begin, we take a look at the Earth’s tectonic plates, with varying boundaries and how they play a crucial role in determining the nature of volcanoes found at those plate boundaries. We take a look at the structure of volcanism at subduction and divergent zones, and how their structure influences the characteristics of a volcano.

About the lecturer

Professor Matthew Watson is a Professor of Volcanoes and Climate in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol. His research involves inversion of remotely-sensed data to retrieve physical parameters of volcanic plumes and clouds over several spatial scales, using both ground- and satellite-based techniques. These include ultraviolet (DOAS) and thermal infrared (ASTER) gas spectroscopy, and visible, near infrared (Sun-photometers) and thermal infrared aerosol retrievals (MODIS, AIRS).