Regresar

Some Ideas to Improve Pyroclast Density and Vesicularity Data Analysis

Abstract:

Pyroclast density and vesicularity are critical parameters in physical volcanology used to reconstruct eruptive dynamics and feed numerical models. Pyroclastic deposits typically present a wide range of density and vesicularity values, so measurements must be repeated tens of times. These data are generally treated using classical statistical analysis including averages and frequency histograms. One issue in this approach is that density and vesicularity are intensive properties and therefore they cannot be added or averaged directly. We encourage the use of weighted density and vesicularity averages and histograms, which is, until now, done only in few studies. In order to insure an adequate and efficient use of the weighting equations, we introduce an open-source R code to calculate the most common statistical parameters such as range and weighted averages, and produce abundance histograms. An …