0000000000651490
AUTHOR
Jean Vandemeulebrouck
Fumarolic tremor and geochemical signals during a volcanic unrest
Fumaroles are known to generate seismic and infrasonic tremor, but this fumarolic tremor has so far received little attention. Seismic records taken near the Pisciarelli fumarole, a vigorously degassing vent of the restless Campi Flegrei volcano in Italy, reveal a fumarolesourced tremor whose amplitude has recently intensified. We use independent geochemical evidence to interpret this fumarolic tremor for the first time quantitatively. We find that the temporal increase in fumarolic tremor RSAM (real-time seismic-amplitude measurement) quantitatively correlates with increases in independent proxies of fumarole activity, including the CO2concentrations in the fumarole's atmospheric plume, th…
Magmas near the critical degassing pressure drive volcanic unrest towards a critical state
During the reawaking of a volcano, magmas migrating through the shallow crust have to pass through hydrothermal fluids and rocks. The resulting magma–hydrothermal interactions are still poorly understood, which impairs the ability to interpret volcano monitoring signals and perform hazard assessments. Here we use the results of physical and volatile saturation models to demonstrate that magmatic volatiles released by decompressing magmas at a critical degassing pressure (CDP) can drive volcanic unrest towards a critical state. We show that, at the CDP, the abrupt and voluminous release of H2O-rich magmatic gases can heat hydrothermal fluids and rocks, triggering an accelerating deformation …
Hydrothermal fluid flow structures at Solfatara volcano, Somma-Vesuvius volcanic complex and Mt. Etna
Solfatara (Campi Flegrei):We present the first detailed 3-D Resistivity model of the Solfatara-Pisciarelli area, obtained from numerousERT surveys during the “MED-SUV” Project. This inversion was performed by taking into account 44 000ERT data points, as well as surface e-m resistivity measurements and the magneto-tellurics model from A.Siniscalchi et al. respectively as surface and bottom boundary conditions. The 3-D resistivity structure wellmatches with the CO2 flux, temperature and self-potential variations at the crater surface. This model clearlyhighlights the main geological units of the area (Monte Olibano, Solfatara crypto-dome, layers of eruptivedeposits), and the structures of hy…