Large igneous provinces (LIPs) represent some of the largest volcanic events in Earth history with significant impacts on the ecosystem, including mass extinctions. However, there are some fundamental questions related to the eruption rate, eruption style, and vent locations for LIP lava flows that remain unanswered. In this review, we use the Cretaceous-Paleogene Deccan Traps as an archetype to address these questions since it is one of the best-preserved large continental flood basalt provinces. We describe the volcanological features of the Deccan flows and their potential temporal and regional variations as well as the spatial characteristics of potential feeder dikes. Along with estimates of eruption rates for Deccan lavas from paleomagnetism and Hg proxy records, the Deccan volcanic characteristics suggest a unified conceptual model for the eruption of voluminous (> 1000 km$^3$) LIP lavas with large spatial extent (> 40,000 km$^2$). We conclude the review by highlighting a few key open questions and challenges that can help improve our understanding of how Deccan, as well as LIP flows in general, erupt and flow over long distances.

Geotechnical engineering and geology faculty at Drexel and Villanova Universities and a graduate teaching assistant collaborated with an environmental hydrogeologist from a local civil engineering firm to develop a field trip for their undergraduate engineering geology courses. At Villanova, Geology for Engineers is required for all civil and environmental engineering students. Similarly, at Drexel, Geologic Principles for Infrastructure & Environmental Engineering is a required course for all civil, architectural and environmental engineering students. The learning goal of both courses is to have students understand how basic topics in geology and geomorphology apply to civil and environmental engineering practice. The field trip focuses on the core elements of the courses: the importance of rock type on engineering properties, the effects of plate tectonics and weathering on rocks, and the interaction of human activity with the lithosphere and hydrosphere. The team selected Wissahickon Valley Park as the location for the field trip because it provides a dynamic stream ecosystem within a geologically diverse setting that has been highly impacted by urban development of the surrounding City of Philadelphia. The engineering aspects bring novelty into an established practice of classical geology field trips. In addition to examining outcrops and evidence of geologic processes, the students were required to critically identify engineering issues associated with the infrastructure in the valley, storm water management, and the impact of development on the stream valley. From anonymous surveys disseminated after the first offering of the field trip, students indicated the trip had enriched their learning experience, improved their ability to apply basic geology knowledge in a real-world context, and increased their interest in how rock, soil, water, and climate play roles in infrastructure engineering. Without exception, the students agreed that the field trip should be offered again. This presentation will describe the development of the collaboration between the educators and practitioners, the resulting field trip and materials that have been adopted at both universities. We will also update the surveys’ results from two more trips of the fall of 2018.

Lava domes form by the effusive eruption of viscous lava and are inherently unstable and prone to collapse. Dome collapses can generate pyroclastic flows and trigger explosive eruptions and thus represent a significant natural hazard. Many processes may contribute to the instability and collapse of lava domes, including advance of the dome margins, overtopping of confining topography, internal gas overpressure, and gravitational instability of the dome structure. Collapses that result from these processes can generally be grouped into two types: active and passive. Active collapses are driven by processes associated with active lava effusion, (e.g. dome growth or gas pressurization), while passive collapses are not directly associated with eruptive activity and can be triggered by overtopping of topographic obstacles or weakening of the dome structure. We use data collected by uncrewed aerial systems (UAS, commonly called ‘drones’) and a slope stability model to both identify and assess the stability of potential collapse sites for both passive and active processes. We collected visual and thermal infrared images by UAS and used structure-from-motion photogrammetry to generate thermal maps and digital elevation models (DEMs) of two example lava domes at Sinabung Volcano (Sumatra, Indonesia) and Merapi Volcano (Java, Indonesia). We evaluate the stability of erupted lava using the Scoops3D numerical model to assess the risk of passive and active collapses, including an assessment of the effect of lava material properties and internal pore pressure on the dome stability. We compare the collapse risk from Scoops3D with UAS-derived temperature maps and DEM differencing to evaluate the stability, size, and location of observed or potential collapses. We test whether Scoops3D can hindcast the sites and magnitudes of passive collapses at Sinabung that occurred in 2014 and 2015 and assess the stability of the remaining lava dome (growth has ended in spring 2018). For both volcanoes. Through application of these techniques, we are able to evaluate the collapse risk due to multiple processes that may act contemporaneously to generate dome instability. This study demonstrates how identification and classification of individual collapse mechanisms can be used to assess hazards at dome-forming volcanoes.