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Earth & Environmental Sciences

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Meredith Townsend, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences at Lehigh University

Meredith Townsend

Assistant Professor

610.758.1223
met423@lehigh.edu
Education:

PhD in Geological Sciences, Stanford University, 2017

BS in Geology, Washington and Lee University, 2011

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Research Areas

Additional Interests

  • Volcanology
  • Rock mechanics
  • Geophysics

Biography

Meredith Townsend is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Lehigh University. She is a volcanologist whose research focuses on the physical processes that govern magma storage in the crust, when magma reservoirs fail, and how magma-filled fractures propagate toward the surface. Her work combines field observations, geophysical and petrologic data, and physics-based numerical models to understand how magma transport is influenced by volcanic topography, tectonics, and changes in surface loading such as the growth and retreat of glaciers. Her research spans active and ancient volcanic systems on Earth—including Iceland, the Andes, Hawaiʻi, and eroded volcanic systems in the western United States—as well as volcanic systems on other planets. A central goal of her work is to develop a more predictive understanding of how magma storage and transport interact to control when and where eruptions occur.

Publications

Stevens S., Singer B.S., Jicha B.R., Moreno-Yaeger P., Townsend M., Nachlas W., and Alloway B.V. (2026). Evolutionary progression of the magma plumbing system beneath Puyehue-Cordón Caulle, Andean Southern Volcanic Zone, influenced by loading and subsequent post-glacial unloading by the Patagonian ice sheet. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research.

Keller F., Townsend M., Troch J. and Huber C., (2026). Volatile resorption expedites eruption onset in large silicic systems. Nature Communications: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-70206-8 

Chatterjee A.P., Townsend M., Huber C., Head J.W. and Bachmann O., (2026). Linking planetary-scale spatio-temporal trends in magma compositions and volcanic resurfacing on Mars. Earth and Planetary Science Letters

Townsend M., Moreno-Yaeger P., Harp A., Huber C., and Singer B.S. (2026). Stress pinch points from glacial loading modulate magma ascent and storage in continental arcs. Nature Communications. 10.1038/s41467-026-69485-y

Moreno-Yaeger P., Singer B.S., Alloway B.V., Townsend M., Cuzzone J., Nachlas W.O., Edwards B.R., Jicha B.R., Marcott S.A. and Boschetty F.O., (2025). Expansion and contraction of the Patagonian ice sheet and its influence on magma storage beneath Mocho‐Choshuenco volcano, Chile. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 130(10), p.e2025JB031528.

Aksit G.G., Townsend M. and Harp A., (2025). The influence of magma density and edifice stresses on silicic dike propagation trajectories at Summer Coon volcano, Colorado, USA. Bulletin of Volcanology, 87(10), pp.1-19.

Bussard R.C., Dufek J., Wauthier C. and Townsend M., (2025). Quantifying the effects of volcanic snow cover on InSAR coherence using a computationally inexpensive neural network. Journal of Geophysical Research: Machine Learning and Computation, 2(3), p.e2024JH000553

Singer, B.S., Moreno-Yaeger, P., Townsend, M., Huber, C., Cuzzone, J., Edwards, B.R., Romero, M., Orellana-Salazar, Y., Marcott, S., Breunig, R.E., Ferrier, K.L., Scholz K., Coonin A., Alloway B., Tremblay M., Stevens S., Fustos-Toribio I., Moreno P., Vera F., Amigo A. 2024. New perspectives on ice forcing in continental arc magma plumbing systems. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, p.108187.

Coonin, A.N., Huber, C., Troch, J., Townsend, M., Scholz, K.J. and Singer, B.S., 2024. Magma Chamber Response to Ice Unloading: Applications to Volcanism in the West Antarctic Rift System. Authorea Preprints.

Scholz, K., Townsend, M., Huber, C., Troch, J., Bachmann, O. and Coonin, A.N., 2023. Investigating the Impact of an Exsolved H2O‐CO2 Phase on Magma Chamber Growth and Longevity: A Thermomechanical Model. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 24(12), p.e2023GC011151.

Townsend, M. and Huang, M.H., 2022. Timescales of dike growth and chamber deflation constrain magma storage and transport pathways during Kīlauea's 2018 lower East Rift Zone intrusion. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 127(12), p.e2022JB025636.

Townsend, M., 2022. Linking surface deformation to thermal and mechanical magma chamber processes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 577, p.117272.

Caricchi, L., Townsend, M., Rivalta, E. and Namiki, A., 2021. The build-up and triggers of volcanic eruptions. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 2(7), pp.458-476.

Townsend, M. and Huber, C., 2020. A critical magma chamber size for volcanic eruptions. Geology, 48(5), pp.431-435.

Townsend, M., Huber, C., Degruyter, W. and Bachmann, O., 2019. Magma chamber growth during intercaldera periods: Insights from thermo‐mechanical modeling with applications to Laguna del Maule, Campi Flegrei, Santorini, and Aso. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 20(3), pp.1574-1591.

Huber, C., Townsend, M., Degruyter, W. and Bachmann, O., 2019. Optimal depth of subvolcanic magma chamber growth controlled by volatiles and crust rheology. Nature Geoscience, 12(9), pp.762-768.

Townsend, M., 2018. Modeling thermal pressurization around shallow dikes using temperature‐dependent hydraulic properties: Implications for deformation around intrusions. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 123(1), pp.311-323.

Pollard, D.D. and Townsend, M., 2018. Fluid-filled fractures in Earth's lithosphere: Gravitational loading, interpenetration, and stable height of dikes and veins. Journal of Structural Geology, 109, pp.38-54.

Townsend, M., Pollard, D.D. and Smith, R.P., 2017. Mechanical models for dikes: A third school of thought. Tectonophysics, 703, pp.98-118.

Townsend, M., Pollard, D.D., Johnson, K. and Culha, C., 2015. Jointing around magmatic dikes as a precursor to the development of volcanic plugs. Bulletin of Volcanology, 77, pp.1-13.