Magma chamber growth models in the upper crust: A review of the hydraulic and inertial constraints

A multiple-pulse emplacement model for the Shonkin Sag laccolith, Montana, USA

“…One other conceptual model, that uses the pressure of the magma, and that may explain the dimensions of many laccoliths, uses Pascal's Principal to drive uplift. Morgan (2018) and Aragon et al, (2019) outline a model whereby small magma pressures, equivalent to those determined for modern volcanic centers, can be multiplied to produce large vertical forces necessary to uplift shallowly emplaced intrusions. This model is based on a common hydraulic press and assumes that the fluid (magma) pressure is transmitted equally everywhere and does not change and that the cross-sectional area to the feeder dike is small relative to the area of the sill.…”