Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Volcanology
A shake and a surge: Assessing the possibility of an earthquake-triggered eruption at Steamboat Geyser
Published: 2024-01-03
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
When and why earthquakes trigger volcano and geyser eruptions remains unclear. In September 2022, Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone, USA erupted 8.25 hours after a local M3.9 earthquake—an improbable coincidence based on the geyser’s eruption intervals. We leverage monitoring data from the surrounding geyser basin to determine if the earthquake triggered this eruption. We calculate a peak ground [...]
Medieval and recent SO2 budgets in the Reykjanes Peninsula: implication for future hazard
Published: 2023-11-23
Subjects: Geochemistry, Geology, Volcanology
Exposure to volcanic SO2 can have adverse effects on human health, with severe respiratory disorders documented on short- and long-term timescales. Here, we use melt inclusion and groundmass glass data to calculate potential syneruptive SO2 emissions during the medieval and the recent, 2021–2024, eruptions across the Reykjanes Peninsula, the most populated area of Iceland, th[AC1] at [...]
Plagioclase-saturated melt hygrothermobarometry and plagioclase-melt equilibria using machine learning
Published: 2023-11-23
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
Compositions of plagioclase-melt pairs are commonly used to constrain temperatures (T), dissolved water contents (H2O) and pressures (P) of pre-eruptive magma storage and transport. However, previous plagioclase-based thermometers, hygrometers, and barometers can have significant errors, leading to imprecise reconstructions of conditions during plagioclase growth. Here, we explore whether we can [...]
Helium, carbon and nitrogen isotope evidence for slab influence on volcanic gas emissions at Rabaul caldera, Papua New Guinea
Published: 2023-11-14
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
The chemical and isotopic composition of the gases emitted by subduction zone volcanoes can provide insights into the origin of magmatic volatiles. In volcanic arcs, magmatic volatiles and therefore emitted gases can be supplied from the mantle, the subducting slab, or the rocks of the arc crust. Determining the relative contributions of these distinct sources is important for understanding the [...]
PyIRoGlass: An Open-Source, Bayesian MCMC Algorithm for Fitting Baselines to FTIR Spectra of Basaltic-Andesitic Glasses
Published: 2023-11-02
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
Quantifying volatile concentrations in magmas is critical for understanding magma storage, phase equilibria, and eruption processes. We present PyIRoGlass, an open-source Python package for quantifying H2O and CO2 species concentrations in the transmission FTIR spectra of basaltic to andesitic glasses. We leverage a database of naturally degassed melt inclusions and back-arc basin basalts to [...]
Petrographic and geochemical evidence for a complex magmatic plumbing system beneath Bagana volcano, Papua New Guinea
Published: 2023-10-31
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Volcanology
Bagana is a persistently active stratovolcano located on Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. Characteristic activity consists of prolonged lava effusion over months to years, with occasional shifts to explosive vulcanian or subplinian eruptions which threaten surrounding communities. Satellite observations have shown that Bagana is a major SO2 emitter, particularly during eruptive intervals. [...]
New insights into the Upper Pleistocene directed blast eruption, Popocatépetl volcano, México
Published: 2023-10-30
Subjects: Geology, Stratigraphy, Volcanology
Volcanic eruptions of the directed blast type are characterized by powerful explosions with a significant lateral pyroclastic density current (PDC) component that can travel at speeds above 100 m s–1 and affect hundreds of square kilometers around a volcano. This study presents preliminary results of a detailed fieldwork and stratigraphic study of deposits associated with the Ocoxaltepec Blast [...]
A shift in the Sr isotopic composition of the magmatic source triggering 2019 paroxysmal eruptions at Stromboli Volcano
Published: 2023-10-05
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
The persistent volcanic activity of Stromboli Volcano, Aeolian Islands, Italy, is interrupted by paroxysmal eruptions on a decadal interval. In 2019, two strong paroxysms on July 3rd and August 28th, ended a more than a decade long period of regular strombolian activity. During normal strombolian activity the volcano erupts highly porphyritic scoria and lava (HP)20 with a shoshonitic basalt [...]
Generation of LOMU type alkali basalts in East Asia by melting and melt metasomatism of the asthenospheric mantle by a Paleoproterozoic subducted slab component
Published: 2023-08-30
Subjects: Geochemistry, Geology, Volcanology
The origin of alkali basalts with distinctive time-integrated low U/Pb (low µ, LOMU) from East Asia is controversial due to the complex geochemical and tectonic signatures reported from this region. We report new data on the petrology and geochemistry of the Higashi-Matsuura and Kita-Matsuura alkali basalts from southwest Japan, which confirm the presence of a LOMU-type mantle component below the [...]
Monogenetic volcanoes as windows into transcrustal mush: A case study of Slamet and Loyang volcanoes, Central Java
Published: 2023-08-26
Subjects: Volcanology
Monogenetic volcanic "fields (MVFs) are commonly associated with long-lived polygenetic composite volcanoes in many tectonic settings. The association between polygenetic and monogenetic volcanoes has raised questions as to the source of monogenetic melts – specifically, whether they are derived from the transcrustal mush underlying a nearby polygenetic volcano, or from a different batch of [...]
Determining the Pressure – Temperature – Composition (P-T-X) conditions of magma storage
Published: 2023-08-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
Determining the pressures and temperatures at which melts are stored in the crust and upper mantle, and the major element composition, redox state and volatile contents of these melts, is vital to constrain the structure and dynamics of magmatic plumbing systems. In turn, constraining these parameters helps understand the geochemical and structural evolution of the Earth’s lithosphere, and [...]
Spontaneous Unsteadiness and Sorting in Pyroclastic Density Currents and their Deposits
Published: 2023-08-22
Subjects: Geology, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Volcanology
Pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) pose substantial risk to populations living on and around active volcanoes, but their structure and internal dynamics are poorly understood. Much of this understanding is derived from interpretation of their widespread deposits. Scaled experiments are able to probe different conditions, to explore how changing flow dynamics relate to the wide variety of [...]
Tephra dispersal and composition reveal the explosive onset of a large basaltic fissure eruption: Timanfaya, Lanzarote, 1730–1736 CE
Published: 2023-08-03
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Stratigraphy, Volcanology
Basaltic fissure eruptions are chiefly characterized by sizable emissions of lava flows and volcanic gases, posing significant hazards. However, such eruptions may be punctuated by explosive episodes, which are comparatively poorly understood but may have important volcanic hazard and environmental implications. The 1730–1736 CE Timanfaya eruption on Lanzarote, Canary Islands, is a large basaltic [...]
Innovating and networking global geochemical data resources through OneGeochemistry
Published: 2023-06-14
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Cosmochemistry, Databases and Information Systems, Geochemistry, Geology, Planetary Biogeochemistry, Planetary Geochemistry, Planetary Geology, Volcanology
A vision of the not-to-distant future: Imagine yourself as a researcher who is making plans for fieldwork in the Andes Mountains. You are behind your computer and load a three-dimensional visualisation of the Earth and its geology to investigate the research already done in the southern Patagonian regions. You zoom in to the mountain range of interest and select various data layers to show [...]
Volcanic lightning reveals umbrella cloud dynamics of the January 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption
Published: 2023-06-07
Subjects: Volcanology
The 15 January 2022 eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai (HTHH) significantly impacted the Kingdom of Tonga as well as the wider Pacific region. The eruption column attained a maximum height of 58 km whilst the umbrella cloud reached a diameter approaching 600 km within about 3 hours. The intensity of volcanic lightning generated during the eruption was also unprecedented, with the Vaisala [...]