Felix Boschetty

Profile

I am a Post-Graduate Researcher at the Institute of Geophysics and Tectonics. My research interests cover understanding magmatic systems throughout the crust. From different mantle sources to rock-fluid interactions in the shallow subsurface. Past fieldwork on active volcanos in Tanzania and Mexico and planned work in Chile has exposed me to different volcanic styles and processes. Geochemical and petrological studies allow quantification of these processes and insight into which changes drive and control them.

I am funded by the Panorama DTP (2019) and supervised by Dr. David Ferguson, Dr. Dan Morgan and Dr. Susie Ebmeier at the University of Leeds, and Dr. Eduardo Morgado at the University of Chile.

Publications

• Boschetty F, Ferguson D, Cortes J, Morgado E, Ebmeier S, Morgan D, Romero J, Silva Parejas C. 2022. Insights into Magma Storage Beneath a Frequently Erupting Arc Volcano (Villarrica, Chile) from Unsupervised Machine Learning Analysis of Mineral Compositions. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems.
• Boschetty, F.  Jones, A. and Humphreys-Williams, E., (in prep.) A detailed study of fenitization at Oldoinyo Lengai, Tanzania.
• Laxton, K. and Boschetty, F., June 2018. Oldoinyo Lengai Bulletin Report. Global Volcanism Program: Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network.

Conference Proceedings

• Boschetty, F., Ferguson, D., Cortes, J., Morgan, D., Morgado, E., Romero, J., & Silva Parejas, C. (2021, December). Insights into Magma Storage Beneath an Active Arc Volcano (Villarrica, Chile) from Unsupervised Machine Learning Analysis of Mineral Compositions. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts (Vol. 2021, pp. V11B-05).
• Jones, A., Laxton, K., Boschetty, F., February 2019. How much carbon is stored as diamond is in the East African lithosphere? Talk presented by A. Jones at the Janet Watson Meeting 2019: From Core to Atmosphere: Deep Carbon. Geological Society of London, Burlington House.
• Boschetty, F.  Jones, A. and Humphreys-Williams, E., January 2018. Fenitization as a window into processes at Oldoinyo Lengai, Tanzania. Poster presented at the Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group, Leeds, UK.

Research interests

Magma storage, transport, and eruption at Volcán Villarrica, Chile

Volcanic arcs produce most of Earth’s subaerial volcanic activity and are responsible for some of the largest and most devastating historical eruptions. Understanding the factors that govern when and how this stored magma ultimately leaves its crustal reservoir(s) to erupt is key to forecasting hazardous eruptions. The traditional view that the magmas feeding arc volcanoes reside within a melt dominated sub-volcanic ‘magma chamber’ has recently been superseded by a more nuanced view of magma storage and supply, whereby melts ascend through a vertically extensive series of melt-rich zones, termed a trans crustal magmatic system. The suitability of this new model of volcanic subsurface systems will be applied to Volcán Villarrica, Chile and investigated using a combination of geochemical and petrological techniques, and further constrained by new geodetic data. This will allow an increased understanding of the causes of eruptions at Villarrica with application to stratovolcanoes globally.

Fluid-Rock Interactions in Northern Tanzania

Oldoinyo Lengai is famed for its unique natrocarbonatite lavas and silica-undersaturated explosive eruptions. Despite numerous studies of the chemistry of these unique lavas, the volcano’s isolation means that there have been few studies of the volcano’s other products. Xenolithic material erupted in 2007-8 during eruptions that dramatically evacuated the central cone gives a unique view into the sub-volcanic system and how alkali-rich magma interacts with the country-rock. This work gives new insight into the Oldoinyo Lengai volcanic system as a whole, and fenitization processes globally. 

Qualifications

• Msci (Earth Sciences), First Class Honors. University College London

Research groups and institutes

• Volcanology
• Rocks, Melts and Fluids
• Institute of Geophysics and Tectonics