NOTE THAT WE ARE NO LONGER (AS OF MAY 5, 2021) ACCEPTING PROPOSALS FOR CONTRIBUTIONS.
We invite contributions to a set of short perspective articles in the Bulletin of Volcanology that will seek to collectively map out how the field of volcano science will change over the coming decade, based in part on how it has evolved over the past twenty years.
These pieces are inspired by a series of sessions held at the American Geophysical Union fall meetings in 2000, 2010, and 2020. In the first of these, 15 leading volcanologists were asked to make forecasts about how their subfield would change in the coming decade. In 2010 and 2020, many of these same presenters, along with some new additions, were asked to assess the accuracy of their forecasts, and to again speculate on the decade to come. Topics covered a number of volcanic subfields, including seismology, deformation, field methods, and ash-aircraft interactions.
All sciences advance through a combination of three elements--observations, concepts, and tools--each of which progress at different rates. Volcanology is unusual in that while theories and the incorporation of new technologies build steadily through time, observations of infrequent, large eruptions can greatly accelerate understanding by focusing attention, workforce, funding, training, and publications. Notable examples include the eruptions of Mount St. Helens in 1980-86, Pinatubo in 1991, Etna in 1991-93, Unzen in 1991-95, Soufriere Hills in 1995-2010, Stromboli in 2002-03, Piton de la Fournaise in 2007, Eyjafjallajökull in 2010, Puyehue-Cordón Caulle 2011-2012, and Kilauea in 2018. In each case, the global volcanology community gained new insights that informed the next decade of progress.
Our goal is to have a collection of 4- to 6-page articles (~2000 words plus up to four figures/tables and references), each of which looks at a volcano-related topic through the lens of how that subfield has evolved over the past 20 years and how it might change in the coming decade. We would also encourage consideration of how that progress has woven together phenomenological, theoretical, and instrumental elements. We would like to have papers whose authorship includes both senior and junior scientists, and it is acceptable for individuals to be part of more than one entry. Our aim is to have much of the collection assembled by October 1, 2021, but some papers will be published in 2022.
If you are interested in participating, please send a one-paragraph summary of the topic you would like to cover to Kathy Cashman (kathy.cashman@bristol.ac.uk), Jonathan Fink (jon.fink@pdx.edu), and Freysteinn Sigmundsson (fs@hi.is) by April 7, 2021. We may suggest consolidation of author lists. Participants in the 2000, 2010, and 2020 AGU sessions will have priority in organizing contributions around their topics.