Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Volcanology
Petrographical evidence of the >1000 km voyage of a white pumice raft that arrived at the Ogasawara and Nansei Islands after the October 2023 earthquakes in the southern Izu Islands
Published: 2025-02-12
Subjects: Volcanology
An earthquake swarm occurred at Sofu Seamount near Izu-Torishima in the Izu-Ogasawara (Bonin) Arc, Japan, on 8 October 2023, followed by the arrival of unexpectedly-large tsunamis over a wide area of the Pacific coast of southwest Japan. On 20 October, aerial observation identified floating pumice rafts extending for ~80 km in the area the seamount, which were subsequently sampled and found to [...]
Methodological Advances in Volcanology: The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Volcano Monitoring, Modelling, and Hazard Assessment
Published: 2025-02-11
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Volcanology
This chapter explores the opportunities and challenges of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in volcanology. It starts by introducing the basic concepts of AI and ML. Then, it discusses the current and potential applications of AI and ML in volcanology, including recent advances in petrology, geophysics, remote sensing, and ground monitoring. We highlight that AI and ML [...]
Where has all the Sinter gone? From the Pink and White Terraces, the Greatest Tourist Attraction of the Southern Hemisphere
Published: 2025-02-02
Subjects: Environmental Studies, Geology, Geomorphology, Other Geography, Paleontology, Physical and Environmental Geography, Spatial Science, Stratigraphy, Volcanology
Debate continues over the silica sinter Pink and White Terraces, the greatest tourist attraction of the southern hemisphere. The 1886 Tarawera eruption may or may not have destroyed them by burial or eruption. This research compiles surviving sinter. The volume is unexpectedly tiny, which bears on the debate. A database was developed including photography. A forensic approach was taken to [...]
Stratigraphic influence on emplacement and 3-dimensional structure of a large mafic sill in sedimentary strata
Published: 2025-01-31
Subjects: Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure, Volcanology
Sills are fundamental elements of volcanic plumbing systems emplaced, among other, in sedimentary basins. Even though sills are commonly considered simple, straight concordant igneous sheets, they are actually complex 3-dimensional objects. The detailed knowledge of the 3D structure of sills and their host rock is of primary relevance to better constraining the emplacement mechanisms and the [...]
Origin and fate of methane in the Central American convergent margin
Published: 2025-01-11
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology Life Sciences, Volcanology
Convergent margins are gateways to Earth’s interior where volatile species are cycled between the planet's surface and interior. At these locations, carbon is recycled from deep reservoirs in two main forms: oxidized carbon, such as carbon dioxide, and reduced carbon, such as methane. While the former is quantitatively more important and its volcanic fluxes have been better constrained, the [...]
Leaky faults modulated magma ascent and seismicity during the 2022 São Jorge (Azores) volcanic unrest
Published: 2024-12-17
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Tectonics and Structure, Volcanology
Understanding the signatures and mechanisms of failed volcanic eruptions is vital for mapping magma plumbing systems and forecasting volcanic hazards. Geological structures like fractures and faults are key to guiding magma, but their mechanisms remain unclear due to limited 3-D mapping of faults in volcanic regions and sufficiently precise earthquake locations. The triple-junction setting of the [...]
VolcAshDB – A global database of volcanic ash particles
Published: 2024-11-25
Subjects: Geology, Volcanology
Volcanic ash is made of particles smaller than 2 mm and is produced during volcanic eruptions. Studying the properties of volcanic ash is key for a range of applications, including volcano monitoring. However, given the large variety of textures, colors, and shapes of particles from different eruptions and volcanoes it is challenging to classify them in a reproducible and systematic manner. Here, [...]
Improved Precision and Reference Materials for Stable Carbon Isotope Analysis in Basaltic Glasses using Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry
Published: 2024-09-27
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Volcanology
We introduce three new reference materials and a new high-precision set-up for stable carbon isotope analysis in basaltic glasses using large-geometry secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) instrument. The new hydrous basaltic reference materials, characterised for carbon concentration and isotope composition by step-heating gas extraction and manometry followed by isotope ratio mass [...]
Evidence supporting a broader than previously thought influence of solar activity over Earth system’s processes. Discussion of a possible mechanism.
Published: 2024-09-08
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Meteorology, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Other Earth Sciences, Tectonics and Structure, Volcanology
In this article, I show lines of evidence supporting a modulation of volcanic activity and some weather phenomena by solar wind conditions in the near-Earth environment. On a daily timescale, a correlation is found between the LP earthquake activity of Kilauea volcano, related to magma transport, and the Bx component of the interplanetary magnetic field as measured in the OMNI database for [...]
Audible and Infrasonic waves generated during the 2022 Hunga eruption: Observations from across Aotearoa New Zealand
Published: 2024-08-09
Subjects: Other Earth Sciences, Volcanology
The 15 January 2022 eruption of Hunga volcano (Kingdom of Tonga) featured one of the most powerful blasts in recent history, generating atmospheric acoustic phenomena observed around the world. Here we examine seismo-acoustic data of the eruption from across Aotearoa New Zealand, host of the densest network of seismo-acoustic sensors in the south-west Pacific. We find clear evidence for two [...]
Volcanic arc structure controlled by liquid focusing from the slab — evidence from boron isotopes and trace elements
Published: 2024-07-16
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
The rates and pathways of material transport from subducting plates to arc volcanoes control the long-term chemical evolution of the atmosphere, continents, and mantle. Arc magma compositions are commonly used as proxies for the state of the slab directly below a volcanic vent, under the assumption of vertical transport from the slab to the surface. Here, we present new boron (B) isotope and [...]
Seamounts control subducted carbonate recycling in Central America – evidence from stable Sr isotopes
Published: 2024-07-13
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
Accurate estimates of carbon recycling efficiency at subduction zones are crucial for understanding the long-term evolution of the planet’s climate. Estimating subducting carbon recycling efficiency is difficult, however, due to magmatic degassing deep within the crust. Stable strontium (δ88Sr) isotopes have the potential to serve as an additional proxy for carbonate recycling due to carbonate’s [...]
Interdiffusion of major elements at 1 atmosphere between natural shoshonitic and rhyolitic melts
Published: 2024-07-12
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Volcanology
The diffusive mass exchange of eight major elements (Si, Ti, Al, Fe, Mg, Ca, Na, and K) between natural, nominally dry shoshonitic and rhyolitic melts was studied at atmospheric pressure and temperatures between 1230 and 1413 °C using the diffusion couple method. For six elements, effective binary diffusion coefficients were calculated by means of a concentration-dependent method to obtain an [...]
Shallow storage conditions at Krafla IDDP-1 revealed by rhyolite-MELTS geobarometry, and implications for global shallow magmatism
Published: 2024-06-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Other Earth Sciences, Volcanology
Identifying the storage depths of melt-dominated magma bodies prior to eruption is critical for understanding magma transport, eruption hazards, and magma body longevity. Rhyolite-MELTS has been used effectively to calculate pre-eruptive storage pressures for silicic magma bodies in the upper crust (~100-350 MPa), but its precision and accuracy in very low-pressure systems (<100 MPa) has not [...]
A myriad of melt inclusions: a 3D view into the volcanic time capsules of Colli Albani Volcano (Italy)
Published: 2024-06-06
Subjects: Geology, Volcanology
Melt inclusions are small parcels of magma trapped in crystals, which hold key information about pre-eruptive magmatic conditions including volatile content and melt chemistry. We focus here on melt inclusions for a nuanced view of the magmatic pre-eruptive state of Colli Albani, a mafic-alkaline ignimbrite forming system in central Italy. Recent years have seen an increased amount of research [...]