About Us
The Magma Systems Academic Group of the University of the Philippines - National Institute of Geological Sciences is composed of faculty and student researchers who are interested in unraveling scientific information about the earth's inner workings and how they form the economic mineral deposits that are important to mankind by looking at the origin of magmatic rocks. We accomplish this by studying the chemistry of magmas from varying types of volcanoes from different tectonic settings as well as from oceanic and intracontinental basins. The chemistry of magmas from oceanic settings also gives clues to the nature, dynamics, and composition of the mantle. The knowledge about the chemistry of magmas can give important clues about the behavior of volcanoes and the hazards that they pose. Thus, we are like detectives trying to figure out the internal mechanisms of the earth and how they affect not only our lives but also the existence and demise of a variety of species throughout geologic time. Because it encompasses a broad field of geology, our group is further subdivided into three subgroups specializing in different but closely related fields. These are the Volcano Dynamics, the Earth Resources, and the Geochemistry, Petrology and Mineralogy subgroups.