Several large calderas were formed in the Permian Oslo Rift. These are characterized by ring faults and a large variety of intrusive igneous rocks, including ring dikes and breccias, and extrusive rocks. Many of the extrusives are ignimbrites formed from high-velocity pyroclastic density currents, and they hold the key to understanding the calderas and their volcanoes. However, the ignimbrites have not been studied for many years, and not by using modern methods.
One of the calderas, the Drammen Caldera, contains several ignimbrites that are easily accessible. We offer this exciting project in order to learn more about the history of the caldera, and what actually happened during this critical time period in the development of the Oslo Rift.
Methods include mapping, stratigraphic logging, major and trace element geochemistry, petrography/petrology, and potentially geochronology. In addition, we can add a geophysical component in order to understand the large-scale aspects of the caldera.
The project will be supervised by several geologists at the department as part of an Oslo Rift initiative.