Geology Department Postgraduate Web Pages
Name: Paul Byrne
Contact Details
Email: byrnepk@gmail.com
Title of Project
Volcano Flank Terraces on Mars.
Project details
The project uses a combination of remote sensing and physical modelling techniques to determine the nature, origin, and structural context of volcano flank terraces. Terraces are laterally extensive, topographically subtle structures that occur on the flanks of large volcanoes on Mars and Earth. Photogeological evidence indicates that terraces have a convex-upward, convex-outward morphology, are arranged in an imbricate, “fish scale” pattern on each terraced volcano, and have similar properties to thrust faults on Earth. Scaled laboratory experiments simulating lithospheric flexure produce structures with similar geometries to flank terraces, suggesting that terraces are hanging-wall anticlines over blind, inward-dipping thrust faults, formed in response to upper-flank shortening as a volcano flexes the underlying crust and is compressed as a result. The presence of terraces on a volcano indicates that flexure has occurred, which in turn allows for a better understanding of that volcano’s developmental history.
Name of supervisor
Postgraduate personal details
I started a Natural Science undergraduate degree programme at Trinity College Dublin in 2001, and graduated in 2005 with a major in Geology. During my degree I developed a strong interest in planetary sciences, with a focus on volcanism and structural volcanology. As part of my undergraduate dissertation I spent seven weeks mapping lava flows in the Auvergne region of central France.
After graduation I worked as a research assistant in the Geology department for several months, before starting my PhD project in October 2005. Co-registered with Blaise-Pascal Université, France, I have worked closely with colleagues in University College Dublin, The Open University, UK, and the GeoForschungsZentrum, Germany. As part of my project I have travelled extensively throughout Europe and the United States, and have conducted fieldwork on Mt. Etna, Sicily, and on La Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean. As well as presenting at international conferences and working with members of NASA and the European Space Agency, I participated in an eleven-week field campaign on Kerguelen Island in the Southern Ocean, one of the most remote islands in the world.
After completing my PhD I intend to continue working in the field of planetary sciences. I am particularly interested in the role of volcanism in the development of Mercury, and how cryovolcanic processes have shaped the outer moons of Titan and Enceladus.
Project Start Date
October 2005 – October 2009
Publications
Byrne, P. K., van Wyk de Vries, B., Murray, J. B., Troll, V. R. (2009) The geometry of volcano flank terraces on Mars. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 281, 1-13, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2009.01.043.
Murray, J. B., van Wyk de Vries, B., Marquez, A., Williams, D. A., Byrne, P. K., Muller, J.-P., Kim, J.-R. Late-stage water eruptions from Ascraeus Mons volcano, Mars: Implications for its structure and history. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2009.06.020.
Articles in preparation/review
Byrne, P. K., van Wyk de Vries, B., Murray, J. B., Troll, V. R., J.-P. Muller. A volcanotectonic history of Ascraeus Mons. To be submitted to Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.
Byrne, P. K., van Wyk de Vries, B., Murray, J. B., Troll, V. R. Olympus Mons shaped by lithospheric flexure. To be submitted to Geology.
Mathieu, L., Byrne, P. K., Lebas, E., van Wyk de Vries, B., Moine, B. The structure of the Kerguelen archipelago, Indian Ocean. Tectonics, in review.
Selected conference abstracts
2009 Byrne, P. K., van Wyk de Vries, B., Holohan, E. P., Murray, J. P., Troll, V. R. Olympus Mons shaped by lithospheric flexure. Eos Trans. AGU, 90(54), Fall Meet. Suppl., V23E-2161.
Byrne, P. K., van Wyk de Vries, B., Murray, J. B., Troll, V. R. An Overview of Volcano Flank Terraces on Mars. 40th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference proceedings, p.2192.
2008 Byrne, P. K., van Wyk de Vries, B., Murray, J. B., Troll, V. R. Volcano Flank Terraces on Mars. Eos Trans. AGU, 89(53), Fall Meet. Suppl., P43A-1381.
Murray, J. B., Byrne, P. K., van Wyk de Vries, B., Troll, V. R. Tectonic Structures on Ascraeus Mons. Eos Trans. AGU, 89(53), Fall Meet. Suppl., P43A-1382.
Byrne, P. K., Murray, J. B., van Wyk de Vries, B., Troll, V. R. Volcano Flank Terraces on Mars: Architecture. LPI Contribution No. 1391, p.2455.
Byrne, P. K., van Wyk de Vries, B., Murray, J. B., Troll, V. R. Volcano Flank Terraces on Mars: Formation. LPI Contribution No. 1391, p.2439.
2007 Byrne, P. K., van Wyk de Vries, B., Murray, J. B., Troll, V. R. Flank Terraces of Martian Shield Volcanoes: Architecture and Formation. Eos Trans. AGU, 88(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., P41A-0187.
van Wyk de Vries, B., Byrne, P. K., Mathieu, L., Murray, J. B., Troll, V. R. Volcano Flank Structures on Earth and Mars. Eos Trans. AGU, 88(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., V21A-0397.
Byrne, P. K., Murray, J. B., van Wyk de Vries, B., Troll, V. R. Flank Terrace Architecture of Martian Shield Volcanoes. LPI Contribution No. 1338, p.2380.