http://www.meredithtownsend.com

I combine field work and mechanical modelling to learn about magma transport and storage in the crust. Some of the questions I am interested in pursuing include:

• What controls the propagation and arrest of magmatic dikes and sills? 
• How does the architecture of volcanic plumbing systems evolve structurally over time?
• How are magma chambers assembled and what promotes their growth into large, long-lived crustal reservoirs?
• How do crystal-scale dynamics lead to chamber-scale compositional and rheological heterogeneity?

While most of my work to date has applied to volcanology, I generally am fascinated by all things rock mechanics. I am interested in understanding how geologic structures like faults and fractures initiate and evolve, and how their behavior affects hydrologic, hydrocarbon, and magmatic systems.