Ayla Pamukcu
Assistant Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Earth & Planetary Sciences
Bio
Ayla joined the Earth and Planetary Sciences department as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2019. In 2006, she received her B.S. in Geophysical Sciences and a minor in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. She then spent a year in Turkey as a Fulbright Scholar studying geoarchaeology and then as a research assistant continuing her undergraduate research on supereruptions at the University of Chicago. From 2008-2014, she attended graduate school in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Vanderbilt University, where she studied the evolution and eruption of supereruptive magmas. She was awarded her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in 2010 and 2014, respectively. She then held several postdoc positions, expanding her research into new areas as a postdoctoral scholar at Brown University, studying magmas using high-temperature and high-pressure experiments, as a Harry Hess Postdoctoral Fellow at Princeton University, studying links between extrusive and intrusive magmas using zircon geochronology, and as a postdoctoral investigator at the Woods Hole Oceanograhic Institution, studying ascent rates of Antarctic basanites using diffusive water loss from olivine-hosted melt inclusions.
Honors & Awards
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Harry Hess Postdoctoral Fellowship, Princeton University (2015-2017)
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Teaching Certificate, Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching (2010)
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Teaching-As-Research (TAR) Fellowship, Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching (2009)
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Fulbright Scholar (Turkey), Fulbright (2006)
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REU, American Museum of Natural History (2005)
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Foreign Language Acquisition Grant, University of Chicago (2004)
Professional Education
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Ph.D., Vanderbilt University, Environmental Engineering (Earth and Environmental Sciences option) (2014)
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M.S., Vanderbilt University, Earth and Environmental Sciences (2010)
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B.S., University of Chicago, Geophysical Sciences (2006)
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Minor, University of Chicago, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (2006)
Current Research and Scholarly Interests
I have long been fascinated by magmas and volcanic eruptions, for reasons ranging from purely academic (trying to understand the magmatic construction of Earth’s crust) to purely practical (developing effective monitoring and mitigation strategies for volcanic eruptions). Consequently, my research revolves around understanding how, when, where, and why magmas are stored, evolve, and ultimately do (or do not!) erupt.
Within this context, I focus on two main themes: (1) the temporal, chemical, and physical, evolution of magmas, and (2) the interplay between magma storage conditions in the crust and magmatic processes. I employ a multi-faceted approach to explore these topics, integrating data from multiple scales and perspectives; my studies capitalize on information contained in field relations, crystal and melt inclusion textures (sizes, shapes, positions), crystal and volcanic glass geochemistry, geochronology, phase-equilibria and numerical modeling, and experiments. As a function of this approach, I am also engaged in the development of novel methods to address petrologic problems in new, better, and more refined ways than is currently possible.
A major focus of my research has been on supereruptions – gigantic explosive eruptions the likes of which we have never seen in recorded human history – but I am continually exploring other kinds of magmatic systems. I am currently particularly interested in the links (or lack thereof) between extrusive (i.e., erupted) and intrusive (i.e., unerupted) magmas, similarities/differences between large- and small-volume eruptions, and similarities/differences between magmas generated at different levels of the crust. I have also had a longstanding interest in the interactions and relationships between humans and their geologic surroundings (particularly volcanoes).
2024-25 Courses
- Chemistry of the Earth and Planets
EARTHSYS 2, EPS 2 (Aut) - Departmental Seminar in Earth & Planetary Sciences
EPS 290 (Win) - Magmatic and Eruptive Processes
EPS 180, EPS 280 (Aut) - Physical Volcanology
GEOPHYS 385R (Aut, Win, Spr) -
Independent Studies (11)
- Advanced Projects
EPS 399 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Directed Reading with Earth & Planetary Sciences Faculty
EPS 292 (Aut, Win) - Field Research
EPS 299 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Graduate Research
EPS 400 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Graduate Teaching Experience in Geological Sciences
EPS 386 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Honors Program
EPS 199 (Aut, Win) - Practical Experience in the Geosciences
EPS 385 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Research in the Field
EPS 190 (Aut, Win, Sum) - Senior Thesis
EPS 197 (Aut, Win) - Teaching in Geological Sciences
EPS 398 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Undergraduate Research in Earth & Planetary Sciences
EPS 192 (Aut, Win)
- Advanced Projects
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Prior Year Courses
2023-24 Courses
- Chemistry of the Earth and Planets
EARTHSYS 2, EPS 2 (Aut) - Departmental Seminar in Earth & Planetary Sciences
EPS 290 (Win) - Geochemical Instrumentation and Analysis: so you've collected a sample, now what?
EPS 131, EPS 231 (Aut) - Physical Volcanology
GEOPHYS 385R (Aut, Win, Spr)
2022-23 Courses
- Chemistry of the Earth and Planets
EARTHSYS 2, GEOLSCI 2 (Aut) - Departmental Seminar in Geological Sciences
GEOLSCI 290 (Win) - Magmatic and Eruptive Processes
GEOLSCI 180, GEOLSCI 280 (Aut) - Physical Volcanology
GEOPHYS 385R (Aut, Win, Spr)
2021-22 Courses
- Chemistry of the Earth and Planets
EARTHSYS 2, GEOLSCI 2 (Spr) - Departmental Seminar in Geological Sciences
GEOLSCI 290 (Win)
- Chemistry of the Earth and Planets
Stanford Advisees
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Doctoral Dissertation Reader (AC)
Laura Blackstone -
Doctoral Dissertation Advisor (AC)
Sarah Hickernell -
Doctoral (Program)
Sarah Hickernell, Amanda Jackson, Anna Ruefer
All Publications
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Experimental investigation of hydrogen isotope fractionation during hydration of olivine-hosted melt inclusions: Implications for D/H in Baffin Island picrites
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
2024; 647
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.epsl.2024.119052
View details for Web of Science ID 001330777800001
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Deciphering Clues Regarding Magma Composition Encoded in Quartz-Hosted Embayments and Melt Inclusions Through Direct Numerical Simulations
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SOLID EARTH
2024; 129 (4)
View details for DOI 10.1029/2023JB028080
View details for Web of Science ID 001206230400001
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Extensive H2O degassing in deeply erupted submarine glasses inferred from Samoan melt inclusions: The EM2 mantle source is damp, not dry
CHEMICAL GEOLOGY
2024; 651
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2024.121979
View details for Web of Science ID 001205728000001
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Laser heating effect on Raman analysis of CO<sub>2</sub> co-existing as liquid and vapor in olivine-hosted melt inclusion bubbles
VOLCANICA
2023; 6 (2): 201-219
View details for DOI 10.30909/VOL.06.02.201219
View details for Web of Science ID 001283350700003
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Volcano-pluton connections at the Lake City magmatic center (Colorado, USA)
GEOSPHERE
2022
View details for DOI 10.1130/GES02467.1
View details for Web of Science ID 000841451800001
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Constraints on the timescales and processes that led to high-SiO2 rhyolite production in the Searchlight pluton, Nevada, USA
GEOSPHERE
2022; 18 (3): 1000-1019
View details for DOI 10.1130/GES02439.1
View details for Web of Science ID 000803860200003
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Rhyolite-MELTS and the storage and extraction of large-volume crystal-poor rhyolitic melts at the Taupo Volcanic Center: a reply to Wilson et al. (2021)
CONTRIBUTIONS TO MINERALOGY AND PETROLOGY
2021; 176 (10)
View details for DOI 10.1007/s00410-021-01840-2
View details for Web of Science ID 000704431600001
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New Ti-in-quartz diffusivities reconcile natural Ti zoning with time scales and temperatures of upper crustal magma reservoirs
GEOLOGY
2020; 48 (12): E513
View details for DOI 10.1130/G48242C.1
View details for Web of Science ID 000594355000001
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Memorial to Alfred T. Anderson
JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY
2020; 128 (4): 319–23
View details for DOI 10.1086/709833
View details for Web of Science ID 000587500600001
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Magma residence and eruption at the Taupo Volcanic Center (Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand): insights from rhyolite-MELTS geobarometry, diffusion chronometry, and crystal textures
CONTRIBUTIONS TO MINERALOGY AND PETROLOGY
2020; 175 (5)
View details for DOI 10.1007/s00410-020-01684-2
View details for Web of Science ID 000529920900003
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Rhyolite-MELTS vs. DERP – Newer Does Not Make it Better: a Comment on “The Effect of Anorthite Content and Water on Quartz–Feldspar Cotectic Compositions in the Rhyolitic System and Implications for Geobarometry” by Wilke et al. (2017; Journal of Petrology, 58, No. 4, 789–818)
JOURNAL OF PETROLOGY
2019
View details for DOI 10.1093/petrology/egz003
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Climbing the crustal ladder: Magma storage-depth evolution during a volcanic flare-up
SCIENCE ADVANCES
2018; 4 (10): eaap7567
Abstract
Very large eruptions (>50 km3) and supereruptions (>450 km3) reveal Earth's capacity to produce and store enormous quantities (>1000 km3) of crystal-poor, eruptible magma in the shallow crust. We explore the interplay between crustal evolution and volcanism during a volcanic flare-up in the Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ, New Zealand) using a combination of quartz-feldspar-melt equilibration pressures and time scales of quartz crystallization. Over the course of the flare-up, crystallization depths became progressively shallower, showing the gradual conditioning of the crust. Yet, quartz crystallization times were invariably very short (<100 years), demonstrating that very large reservoirs of eruptible magma were transient crustal features. We conclude that the dynamic nature of the TVZ crust favored magma eruption over storage. Episodic tapping of eruptible magmas likely prevented a supereruption. Instead, multiple very large bodies of eruptible magma were assembled and erupted in decadal time scales.
View details for DOI 10.1126/sciadv.aap7567
View details for Web of Science ID 000449221200003
View details for PubMedID 30324132
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC6179376
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High-Ti, bright-CL rims in volcanic quartz: a result of very rapid growth
CONTRIBUTIONS TO MINERALOGY AND PETROLOGY
2016; 171 (12)
View details for DOI 10.1007/s00410-016-1317-x
View details for Web of Science ID 000390028000008
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Melt inclusion shapes: Timekeepers of short-lived giant magma bodies
GEOLOGY
2015; 43 (11): 947–50
View details for DOI 10.1130/G37021.1
View details for Web of Science ID 000364057700005
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Phase-equilibrium geobarometers for silicic rocks based on rhyolite-MELTS-Part 3: Application to the Peach Spring Tuff (Arizona-California-Nevada, USA)
CONTRIBUTIONS TO MINERALOGY AND PETROLOGY
2015; 169 (3)
View details for DOI 10.1007/s00410-015-1122-y
View details for Web of Science ID 000351512400006
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Phase-equilibrium geobarometers for silicic rocks based on rhyolite-MELTS. Part 2: application to Taupo Volcanic Zone rhyolites
CONTRIBUTIONS TO MINERALOGY AND PETROLOGY
2014; 168 (5)
View details for DOI 10.1007/s00410-014-1082-7
View details for Web of Science ID 000344628100010
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Quantitative 3D petrography using X-ray tomography 4: Assessing glass inclusion textures with propagation phase-contrast tomography
GEOSPHERE
2013; 9 (6): 1704–13
View details for DOI 10.1130/GES00915.1
View details for Web of Science ID 000328506400012
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The Evolution of the Peach Spring Giant Magma Body: Evidence from Accessory Mineral Textures and Compositions, Bulk Pumice and Glass Geochemistry, and Rhyolite-MELTS Modeling
JOURNAL OF PETROLOGY
2013; 54 (6): 1109–48
View details for DOI 10.1093/petrology/egt007
View details for Web of Science ID 000319478600003
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Timescales of Quartz Crystallization and the Longevity of the Bishop Giant Magma Body
PLOS ONE
2012; 7 (5): e37492
Abstract
Supereruptions violently transfer huge amounts (100 s-1000 s km(3)) of magma to the surface in a matter of days and testify to the existence of giant pools of magma at depth. The longevity of these giant magma bodies is of significant scientific and societal interest. Radiometric data on whole rocks, glasses, feldspar and zircon crystals have been used to suggest that the Bishop Tuff giant magma body, which erupted ~760,000 years ago and created the Long Valley caldera (California), was long-lived (>100,000 years) and evolved rather slowly. In this work, we present four lines of evidence to constrain the timescales of crystallization of the Bishop magma body: (1) quartz residence times based on diffusional relaxation of Ti profiles, (2) quartz residence times based on the kinetics of faceting of melt inclusions, (3) quartz and feldspar crystallization times derived using quartz+feldspar crystal size distributions, and (4) timescales of cooling and crystallization based on thermodynamic and heat flow modeling. All of our estimates suggest quartz crystallization on timescales of <10,000 years, more typically within 500-3,000 years before eruption. We conclude that large-volume, crystal-poor magma bodies are ephemeral features that, once established, evolve on millennial timescales. We also suggest that zircon crystals, rather than recording the timescales of crystallization of a large pool of crystal-poor magma, record the extended periods of time necessary for maturation of the crust and establishment of these giant magma bodies.
View details for DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0037492
View details for Web of Science ID 000305353400028
View details for PubMedID 22666359
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC3364253
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Crystallization Stages of the Bishop Tuff Magma Body Recorded in Crystal Textures in Pumice Clasts
JOURNAL OF PETROLOGY
2012; 53 (3): 589–609
View details for DOI 10.1093/petrology/egr072
View details for Web of Science ID 000300716800005
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Quantitative 3D petrography using X-ray tomography 2: Combining information at various resolutions
GEOSPHERE
2010; 6 (6): 775–81
View details for DOI 10.1130/GES00565.1
View details for Web of Science ID 000285142400004
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Quantitative 3D petrography using X-ray tomography 3: Documenting accessory phases with differential absorption tomography
GEOSPHERE
2010; 6 (6): 782–92
View details for DOI 10.1130/GES00568.1
View details for Web of Science ID 000285142400005