Magma chamber

A magma chamber is a large pool of liquid rock under the surface of the Earth.

The molten rock, or magma, in such a chamber is less dense than the surrounding rock. This produces buoyant forces on the magma that tend to drive it upwards.^[1]

If the magma finds a path to the surface, then the result may be a volcanic eruption. Many volcanoes sit over magma chambers.^[2] These chambers are hard to detect if they are deep within the Earth. Most of those known are close to the surface.^[3]

1. ↑ Philpotts, Anthony R.; Ague, Jay J. (2009). Principles of igneous and metamorphic petrology (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 28–32. ISBN 9780521880060.
2. ↑ "Forensic Probe of Bali's Great Volcano". Eos. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
3. ↑ Dahren, Börje; Troll, Valentin R.; Andersson, Ulf B.; Chadwick, Jane P.; Gardner, Màiri F.; Jaxybulatov, Kairly; Koulakov, Ivan (2012-04-01). "Magma plumbing beneath Anak Krakatau volcano, Indonesia: evidence for multiple magma storage regions". Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology. 163 (4): 631–651. Bibcode:2012CoMP..163..631D. doi:10.1007/s00410-011-0690-8. ISSN 1432-0967. S2CID 52064179.