Search results for "Volcano"

Volcanic Lakes in Africa: The VOLADA_Africa 2.0 Database, and Implications for Volcanic Hazard

2021

Volcanic lakes pose specific hazards inherent to the presence of water: phreatic and phreatomagmatic eruptions, lahars, limnic gas bursts and dispersion of brines in the hydrological network. Here we introduce the updated, interactive and open-access database for African volcanic lakes, country by country. The previous database VOLADA (VOlcanic LAke DAta Base, Rouwet et al., Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 2014, 272, 78–97) reported 96 volcanic lakes for Africa. This number is now revised and established at 220, converting VOLADA_Africa 2.0 in the most comprehensive resource for African volcanic lakes: 81 in Uganda, 37 in Kenya, 33 in Cameroon, 28 in Madagascar, 19 in Ethiop…

Geochemistry of gases and waters discharged by the mud volcanoes at Paternò, Mt. Etna (Italy)

1996

Approximately 20 km south of Mt. Etna craters, at the contact between volcanic and sedimentary formations, three mud volcanoes discharge CO2-rich gases and Na–Cl brines. The compositions of gas and liquid phases indicate that they are fed by a hydrothermal system for which temperatures of 100–150 °C were estimated by means of both gas and solute geothermometry. The hydrothermal system may be associated with CO2-rich groundwaters over a large area extending from the central part of Etna to the mud volcanoes. Numerous data on the He, CH4, CO2 composition of the gases of the three manifestations, sampled over the past 5 years, indicate clearly that variations are due to separation processes of…

Fast tracking of wind speed with a differential absorption LiDAR system: First results of an experimental campaign at Stromboli volcano

2017

Carbon dioxide ( CO 2 ) is considered a precursor gas of volcanic eruptions by volcanologists. Monitoring the anomalous release of this parameter, we can retrieve useful information for the mitigation of volcanic hazards, such as for air traffic security. From a dataset collected during the Stromboli volcano field campaign, an assessment of the wind speed, in both horizontal and vertical paths, performing a fast tracking of this parameter was retrieved. This was determined with a newly designed shot-per-shot differential absorption LiDAR system operated in the near-infrared spectral region due to the simultaneous reconstruction of CO 2 concentrations and wind speeds, using the same sample o…

Phase petrology reveals shallow magma storage prior to large explosive silicic eruptions at Hekla volcano, Iceland

2017

Abstract Understanding the conditions that culminate in explosive eruptions of silicic magma is of great importance for volcanic hazard assessment and crisis mitigation. However, geological records of active volcanoes typically show a wide range of eruptive behavior and magnitude, which can vary dramatically for individual eruptive centers. In order to evaluate possible future scenarios of eruption precursors, magmatic system variables for different eruption types need to be constrained. Here we use petrological experiments and microanalysis of crystals to clarify the P – T – x state under which rhyodacitic melts accumulated prior to the H3 eruption; the largest Holocene Plinian eruption of…

The percolation threshold and permeability evolution of ascending magmas

2017

Abstract The development of gas permeability in magmas is a complex phenomenon that directly influences the style of a volcanic eruption. The emergence of permeability is linked to the concept of percolation threshold, which is the point beyond which gas bubbles are connected in a continuous network that allows gas escape. Measurements of the percolation threshold, however, range from ∼30 to 78 vol%. No known combination of parameters can explain such a wide range of threshold values, which affects our understanding of the relationship between percolation and permeability. We present permeability calculations on bubble-bearing rhyolitic melts that underwent experimental decompression. Sampl…

2017

Information about past volcanic impact on climate is mostly derived from historic documentary data and sulfate depositions in polar ice sheets. Although these archives have provided important insights into the Earth's volcanic eruption history, the climate forcing and exact dating of many events is still vague. Here we apply a new method of break detection to the first millennium-length maximum latewood density reconstruction of Northern Hemisphere summer temperatures to develop an alternative record of large volcanic eruptions. The analysis returns fourteen outstanding cooling events, all of which agree well with recently developed volcanic forcing records from high-resolution bipolar ice …

Stratospheric aerosol-Observations, processes, and impact on climate

2016

Interest in stratospheric aerosol and its role in climate have increased over the last decade due to the observed increase in stratospheric aerosol since 2000 and the potential for changes in the sulfur cycle induced by climate change. This review provides an overview about the advances in stratospheric aerosol research since the last comprehensive assessment of stratospheric aerosol was published in 2006. A crucial development since 2006 is the substantial improvement in the agreement between in situ and space-based inferences of stratospheric aerosol properties during volcanically quiescent periods. Furthermore, new measurement systems and techniques, both in situ and space based, have be…

Three-dimensional kernel-based coda attenuation imaging of caldera structures controlling the 1982-84 Campi Flegrei unrest

2019

Abstract Coda-wave attenuation imaging has risen as a state-of-the-art technique to depict volcanic structures using their dispersion effects. The 1982–84 seismic and deformation unrest at Campi Flegrei caldera (Italy) is a unique example of non-eruptive volcanic activity in a structured caldera. Here, we propose the first application of 3D coda-attenuation kernels to image caldera structures at multiple frequencies during unrest. Using sensitivity kernels is necessary to assess the effective resolution of coda imaging in highly heterogeneous volcanoes. The technique relies on the solution of Paasschens' equations in the framework of radiative transfer theory. The results map coda attenuati…

2015

Large volcanic eruptions are major geohazards, so identifying their frequency in the geologic record is critical for making predictions and hazard assessments. Following the discovery of a thick (18 cm) tephra layer in marine sediments from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site U1396 between Montserrat and Guadeloupe in the Caribbean Sea, we document here how high-precision Pb isotopes, trace elements, and grain morphological analyses of the tephra can be used, together with volcanological models, to identify a large (Volcanic Explosivity Index ?6) Plinian eruption from Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, at ca. 2.36 Ma. This previously unrecognized eruption is believed to be the largest docum…

Turmoil at Turrialba Volcano (Costa Rica): Degassing and eruptive processes inferred from high-frequency gas monitoring

2016

Eruptive activity at Turrialba Volcano (Costa Rica) has escalated significantly since 2014, causing airport and school closures in the capital city of San Jose. Whether or not new magma is involved in the current unrest seems probable but remains a matter of debate as ash deposits are dominated by hydrothermal material. Here we use high-frequency gas monitoring to track the behavior of the volcano between 2014 and 2015 and to decipher magmatic versus hydrothermal contributions to the eruptions. Pulses of deeply derived CO2-rich gas (CO2/S-total>4.5) precede explosive activity, providing a clear precursor to eruptive periods that occurs up to 2weeks before eruptions, which are accompanied by…