Colloquium - Dr. Noah Randolph-Flagg

Speaker:  Hamed Noah Randolph-Flagg

Title: Rain falling on hot rocks: how critical mineral deposits and hazards emerge from hydrothermal processes

Hosted by: Dr. Klimczak

Abstract:

Volcanoes pose acute hazards to nearby communities (including populous cities such as Mexico City or my hometown in Hawaii,) can change global temperatures, and produce many of the mineral deposits that enable modern life (e.g., copper, gold, lithium.) Extensive work has gone to understand the magmatic and eruptive processes that give rise to all of these phenomena. In this talk, I will discuss the afterlife of large eruptions— what happens to hot rocks (mostly ignimbrites) after they erupt? We begin by discussing the evolving energy within pyroclastic density flows to quantify how much of the energy remains within the deposit. We then look at how that energy affects lithium deposition using hydrothermal modeling and can help target mineral exploration using big data. Finally, we look at the deposit-derived hazards that emerged after the 1991 Pinatubo eruption and what we can learn from the deposits in the Long Valley, Valles, and La Primavera calderas. 

Bio:

Noah Randolph-Flagg is an Assistant Professor in EES. His research focuses on the interactions among groundwater, geologic processes, and habitability on Earth and throughout the solar system. This work often focuses on numerical fluid flow models, equilibrium geochemistry, and field observations. Before joining UK, he was an NPP research fellow at NASA Ames Research Center where he won a 2023 NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal. He received his PhD in Earth and Planetary Science from UC Berkeley as a NSF Graduate Research Fellow, was a Fulbright Scholar based in Xi'an, China, and received a BA in Geology from Carleton College. He has opportunities for students at all levels to address fundamental earth science questions driven by student curiosity.