Modelling the Behaviour of Volatiles in Magmas

Join us in Montréal (and online)!

If you are attending Goldschmidt 2026 in Montréal (or even if you’re not…), consider signing up to our full‑day workshop dedicated to advancing the science and practice of volcanic gas measurements and modelling. It is free and running both in-person in Montréal and virtually! You do not need to register for the Goldschmidt conference to attend.

We have space for 50 in-person participants so first in, first served! If you’re not in Montréal or we’ve reached our in-person limit, you can join us online.

The workshop will begin with an overview of natural volcanic degassing processes and the current state of in situ and satellite‑based monitoring techniques. A series of structured presentations will provide insights into case studies from natural volcanic systems. Topics will include gas measurements during monitoring, experimental approaches (including melt and fluid inclusion analyses), sulfur partitioning, Raman‑based SO₂/CO₂ speciation, and current challenges in calibrating and applying numerical models.

Participants will also engage in guided group exercises run through VICTOR designed to reproduce benchmarking results, compare methodological approaches, and identify priorities for improving data quality and model performance. Outcomes from these activities will contribute to an updated Workshop White Paper, helping to shape collective standards and future directions.

All researchers, students, and professionals engaged in volcanic gas studies are encouraged to attend this collaborative event.

Overview

Volatiles are a critical component of magmas, driving volcanic eruptions, creating and modifying planetary atmospheres, and generating ore deposits. Over the last few decades, there has been an immense amount of work quantifying the solubility of individual volatile species in a wide variety of magma compositions and the creation of various modelling capabilities to look at melt-vapor chemical equilibria of C-H-S-N-Cl-bearing magmas (e.g., pressure of vapour-saturation and degassing calculations). At IAVCEI2023, the first "Modelling volatile behaviour in magmas" workshop brought together experimentalists, numerical modellers, and observational researchers with an interest in volatile solubility in magmas to explore the current landscape and look for future directions. At Goldschmidt2026 we will host a follow-on workshop, supported by a Catalyst: Seeding grant from the Royal Society Te Apārangi (Aotearoa New Zealand).

There is wide variety of tools currently available to the community for modelling melt-vapor chemical equilibria, such as VESIcal, D-Compress, Sulfur_X, MAGEC, EVo, CHOSETTO, MELTS+DEW, and VolFe. This workshop will showcase some of these currently available tools with the opportunity to learn how to run calculations and compare calculation outputs. We will also present a benchmarking exercise, where different melt-vapor chemical equilibria tools have run the same degassing calculations, and explore the different behaviour of the tools (e.g., depth of sulfur degassing, changes in oxygen fugacity during ascent, melt and vapor composition, etc.). We will have discussions on future directions, outlining the progress on "what are the experimental and modelling gaps?", "what do observational researchers need these codes to do?", and "can we link monitoring needs to solubility outputs?" and discussing new topics to support future work to improve these tools.

Whether you're just getting started with modelling the behaviour of volatiles in magmas, or have used a variety of these tools in your own work, we are excited to see you at our workshop!