Tehnuka Ilanko BSc(Hons)

PhD student (Probationary)

Degassing and eruptive processes of Erebus volcano, Antarctica

Biography

Growing up in New Zealand, I decided to become a volcanologist at age twelve. I went on to do a BSc at Waikato, majoring in Earth Sciences and Japanese, and recently completed my honours degree with a focus on volcanic processes.

As part of my current PhD research at Cambridge, I was fortunate enough to spend December 2010 on Erebus volcano, measuring its volcanic gas emissions, through the US Antarctic Program.

Career

2010-present: PhD candidate; Murray Edwards College, Cambridge.
2009-2010: BSc(Hons) Earth Sciences; University of Waikato.
2006-2008: BSc Earth Sciences, Japanese; University of Waikato.

Qualifications

BSc(Hons), Waikato

Research

Erebus lava lake provides a stable window into a convecting magma system which extends from the lake down to the magma chamber. My project will investigate degassing at the lava lake, and how this links to conduit magma flow and eruption styles. Open-path FTIR spectroscopy, measuring gas emissions from the Erebus plume, will be combined with theoretical modelling to give an insight into the causes of transitions from passive to violent degassing.