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Whitehead & Helfrich 1991
Whitehead, J.A. and Helfrich, K.R. (1991). Instability of flow with temperature-dependent viscosity: a model of magma dynamics. Journal of Geophysical Research 96: doi: 10.1029/90JB02342. issn: 0148-0227.

In material whose viscosity is very temperature dependent, flow from a chamber through a cooled slot can develop a fingering instability or time-dependent behavior, depending on the elastic properties of the chamber, the viscosity-temperature relationship, and the geometry of the slot. A laboratory experiment is described where syrup flows from a reservoir through a tube immersed in a chilled bath to an exit hole at constant pressure. Flow is either steady or periodic depending on the temperature of the bath and the flow rate into the reservoir. A theory indicates that the transition from steady to periodic flow depends on nonlinearities in the steady state relation between pressure and flow rate. A general stability criterion is advanced that states that the Peclet number must be within a certain range for instability to develop. Parameters governing the oscillation period are determined. Theory also indicates that flow through a slot would develop finger-like instabilities under certain conditions. Qualitative laboratory experiments with paraffin spreading over a cold plate reveal the fingering. ¿1991 American Geophysical Union

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Abstract

Keywords
Tectonophysics, Physics of magma and magma bodies, Volcanology, Lava rheology and morphology, Volcanology, Magma migration, Volcanology, Eruption mechanisms
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research
http://www.agu.org/journals/jb/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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