The Centre of Volcanic Textures (CVT)

at the Geological Institute of the

TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany

CVT team:

Prof. Dr. Christoph Breitkreuz

Dr. Michael Magnus

The concept of the CVT

Volcanic textures observable in outcrop, rock slab and thin sections are the result of complex processes during magma ascent, fragmentation during eruption, emplacement, cooling, diagenesis/hydrothermal overprint and deformation. Analysis of volcanic textures provides a powerful tool for the reconstruction of these processes both in young volcanic fields and in ancient volcanic successions. The distinction between SiO₂-rich lavas, ignimbrites and subvolcanic intrusions, for example, is not trivial, and it bears important implications for the geotectonic setting and basin development. Apart from basic scientific projects, volcanic texture analysis is significant in mineral deposit and hydrocarbon exploration, and in assessment of volcanic hazards.

CVT Facilities

In a 75 m² room, the CVT helds an extended collection of volcanic and subvolcanic rocks (over 2000 rock slabs and thin sections), slides and printed material from many regions and periods of the Earth.

The CVT is equipped with

• Archives and cabinets,
• Zeiss microscopes (Polarisation, and binocular with drawing mirrow, analog and digital photography),
• PC-based image analysing,
• Petroscope
• Slide projector, over head projector, beamer

Currently, a web-based data bank is under construction in close cooporation with Prof. Heinrich Jasper (Department of Informatics, TU Bergakademie Freiberg), in which all CVT material together with additional volcanological information is edited. The data bank, which is supposed to grow in time, serves both users of the CVT in Freiberg and externally via Internet. In the future, the data bank can be accessed under www.cvt.geo.tu-freiberg.de.

The CVT can be used for volcanic texture analysis by MSc-, PhD-students and scientists from national and international Institutions and Companies. Users are invited to bring exciting volcanic samples from their projects for incoorporation into the CVT. Participants from East European countries can apply for funding.

Contact us under cbreit@geo.tu-freiberg.de

Biennally, a 5 day short course will be held.

CVT publications:

A nice atlas of important volcanic textures assembled by Marcelo Arnosio and Christoph Breitkreuz (in Spanish)

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