Persistent shallow micro-seismicity at Llaima volcano, Chile, with implications for long-term monitoring

This is a Preprint and has not been peer reviewed. The published version of this Preprint is available: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2022.107528. This is version 4 of this Preprint.

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Authors

Oliver Lamb , Jonathan M Lees , Luis Franco Marin, Jonathan Lazo, Andrés Rivera, Michael Shore, Stephen Lee

Abstract

Identifying the source mechanisms of low-frequency earthquakes at ice-covered volcanoes can be challenging due to overlapping characteristics of glacially and magmatically derived seismicity. Here we present an analysis of two months of seismic data from Llaima volcano, Chile, recorded by the permanent monitoring network in 2019. We find over 2,000 repeating low-frequency events split across 82 families, the largest of which contains over 200 events. Estimated locations for the largest families indicate shallow sources directly beneath or near the edge of glaciers around the summit vent. These low-frequency earthquakes are part of an annual cycle in activity at the volcano that is strongly correlated with variations in atmospheric temperature, leading us to conclude that meltwater from ice and snow strongly affects the seismic source mechanisms which is likely dominated by basal slip beneath the glaciers. The results presented here should inform future assessments of eruptive potential at Llaima volcano, as well as other ice-covered volcanoes in Chile and worldwide.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31223/X58G94

Subjects

Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Glaciology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology

Keywords

Cryoseismology, Volcano-seismology, Llaima volcano

Dates

Published: 2021-11-01 16:57

Last Updated: 2022-03-25 04:46

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License

CC BY Attribution 4.0 International

Additional Metadata

Conflict of interest statement:
None