2:30 PM - 3:00 PM
★ [SVC11-12] Magmatic processes and eruption triggers at openly-degassing volcanoes
Keywords:eruption, forecasting, petrology, geochemistry, Mayon, degassing
Open vent volcanoes typically have a prominent volcanic plume that passively releases abundant gas for months, or years between eruptive events. Some examples of such types of volcanoes are Etna, Mayon, Llaima, and surely some others in Japan (e.g, Asama, Satsuma-Iwojima). The fact that there is a permanent or semi-permanent volcanic plume during quiescence shows that there are some pathways or connections between the magma (perhaps the reservoir itself) and the surface. This allows the coupling of theoretical numerical models, monitoring gas data, and petrological/geochemical data from the erupted rocks, in a holistic model that can be used for improved eruption forecasts. In this study we focus on the quiescent degassing at Mayon volcano (Philippines) using a combination of numerical modeling and petrologic observations.
Our new lumped parameter model correlates the pressure of shallow magma reservoirs with the mean degassing rates measured with monitoring systems. The model accounts for the conduit and reservoir sizes, the viscoelastic properties of the crust, the exsolution and expansion of bubbles at depth, the magma density changes, and the connectivity between the shallow reservoir and deeper magma sources. Our theoretical analysis demonstrates that there are many realistic scenarios under which depressurizations between 1-10 MPa occur in only a few months or years, that is, within the inter-eruptive timescale of persistent degassing volcanoes (Girona et al., 2014). Our results suggest that degassing-induced depressurization could induce new magma replenishment, sudden bubble expansion at depth, collapse of the crater floor, and fractures in the reservoir wall-rock.
On the other hand we also studied the petrology and geochemistry from several historical eruptions of Mayon that span over 35 years of activity (1947, 1968, 1978, 1984) to see if we can identify any magmatic processes that could be related to triggering of the eruption. We concentrated on orthopyroxene crystals, which show a variety of compositions and zoning patterns (reverse, normal or complex) with Mg# (= 100 *Mg/[Mg+Fe]) varying from 67 to 81. The variety of core compositions and patterns can be interpreted simply as mixing and mingling between an evolved resident magma and a more mafic one. There is a general increase in the maximum Mg# of the Opx from 1947 to 1984, indicating a higher proportion or/and more mafic intruding magma. Mg-Fe diffusion modelling of orthopyroxene from all four eruptions indicates that time interval between magma injection and eruption is between 2 to 4 months. Thus these times appear to be characteristic of Mayon, and are consistent with the results from our numerical simulations.
We propose that many eruptions at Mayon could be driven by a complex series of events that involve underpressure followed by overpressure. The sequence starts with the underpressure created by the gas loss at the top, which triggers new magma replenishment from depth when depressurization reaches a critical value in turn. This is what ultimately what drives the eruption by creating an overpressure. The complexity lies in being able to identify, with monitoring datasets (e.g. gas, deformation, seismicity), the cycles of decompression and compression of the system. This is especially important as open vent volcanoes are notoriously seismically silent and do not appear to deform significantly during or before eruptions, possibly because the magma is close to the surface most of the time.
Girona, T., Costa, F., Newhall, C., Taisne, B. (2014) On depressurization of volcanic magma reservoirs by passive degassing. Journal of Geophysical Research, Doi: 10.1002/2014JB011368.
Our new lumped parameter model correlates the pressure of shallow magma reservoirs with the mean degassing rates measured with monitoring systems. The model accounts for the conduit and reservoir sizes, the viscoelastic properties of the crust, the exsolution and expansion of bubbles at depth, the magma density changes, and the connectivity between the shallow reservoir and deeper magma sources. Our theoretical analysis demonstrates that there are many realistic scenarios under which depressurizations between 1-10 MPa occur in only a few months or years, that is, within the inter-eruptive timescale of persistent degassing volcanoes (Girona et al., 2014). Our results suggest that degassing-induced depressurization could induce new magma replenishment, sudden bubble expansion at depth, collapse of the crater floor, and fractures in the reservoir wall-rock.
On the other hand we also studied the petrology and geochemistry from several historical eruptions of Mayon that span over 35 years of activity (1947, 1968, 1978, 1984) to see if we can identify any magmatic processes that could be related to triggering of the eruption. We concentrated on orthopyroxene crystals, which show a variety of compositions and zoning patterns (reverse, normal or complex) with Mg# (= 100 *Mg/[Mg+Fe]) varying from 67 to 81. The variety of core compositions and patterns can be interpreted simply as mixing and mingling between an evolved resident magma and a more mafic one. There is a general increase in the maximum Mg# of the Opx from 1947 to 1984, indicating a higher proportion or/and more mafic intruding magma. Mg-Fe diffusion modelling of orthopyroxene from all four eruptions indicates that time interval between magma injection and eruption is between 2 to 4 months. Thus these times appear to be characteristic of Mayon, and are consistent with the results from our numerical simulations.
We propose that many eruptions at Mayon could be driven by a complex series of events that involve underpressure followed by overpressure. The sequence starts with the underpressure created by the gas loss at the top, which triggers new magma replenishment from depth when depressurization reaches a critical value in turn. This is what ultimately what drives the eruption by creating an overpressure. The complexity lies in being able to identify, with monitoring datasets (e.g. gas, deformation, seismicity), the cycles of decompression and compression of the system. This is especially important as open vent volcanoes are notoriously seismically silent and do not appear to deform significantly during or before eruptions, possibly because the magma is close to the surface most of the time.
Girona, T., Costa, F., Newhall, C., Taisne, B. (2014) On depressurization of volcanic magma reservoirs by passive degassing. Journal of Geophysical Research, Doi: 10.1002/2014JB011368.