Hydrothermal alteration of andesitic lava domes can lead to explosive volcanic behaviour
2019-11-07
Volcanoes that extrude lava domes – mounds of blocky lava that form as high-viscosity magma slowly extrudes from the top of a volcanic conduit – are among the most hazardous on Earth.
As magma rises to the surface, volatiles trapped in the magma – such as carbon dioxide and water – exsolve to form gas that can, eventually, travel independently throughout the volcanic system. If this gas cannot reach the surface through a permeable network, however, pressure can build up below the dome, priming the volcanic system for explosive behaviour. Explosions at dome-forming volcanoes are common and often unpredictable, suggesting that there is a mechanism that not only reduces permeability sufficiently to promote explosive behaviour, but can also rapidly repeat the feat following an explosive event. Heap et al. (2019), published in Nature Communications, shows that the permeability of a lava dome can be reduced sufficiently by hydrothermal alteration, common to dome-forming volcanoes worldwide, to provide the gas overpressures necessary to fragment rock and magma and promote explosive behaviour. The study highlights that hydrothermal alteration, which can develop over months to years, could therefore be driving the erratic explosive behaviour commonly observed at dome-forming volcanoes. The authors of the study conclude that mapping the extent and evolution of hydrothermal alteration at active lava domes emerges as an important tool to help anticipate explosions at otherwise unpredictable dome-forming volcanoes.
Published in Nature Communications (predicted publication date: 07/11/2019)
News archive 2017
-
Petroleum Experts generously supports Uppsala University in their research and teaching by donating 10 academic licenses and the HARDLOCK licensing manager
Petroleum Experts, a British engineering company, has donated ten licenses of the Move software suite including Petex’s Network Licensing Manager (HARDLOCK) worth equivalent of £1,525,561.89 to the Department of Earth sciences at Uppsala University. The Move software suite is used to visualise and analyse three-dimensional geological data and applied in both research and teaching activities.
-
New study of how sustainable development depends on biodiversity
A new study published today in Nature Sustainability exemplifies the breadth of ways in which biodiversity can contribute to achievement of all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and thereby help to underpin sustainable development.
-
Experimental project for the development of new approach for beneficiation of REE from apatite-bearing rocks and waste
Apatite-bearing rock Research activities in the field of recovery of Rare Earth Elements (REE) from different sources have increased dramatically during the last decade due to high demand on the market, not least for high-efficient magnets and new types of batteries. Extraction and recovery of REE from its most common source, a mineral called apatite, is challenging.
-
Hydrothermal alteration of andesitic lava domes can lead to explosive volcanic behaviour
Figure. Photographs from Merapi volcano (Indonesia) outlining the process described in the study. Left: Volcanic gases can escape (outgas) and the pressure within and beneath the dome does not increase. Middle: Hydrothermal alteration reduces the permeability of the dome and effectively shuts off outgassing, resulting pressure buildup beneath the dome. Right: This gas overpressure drives fragmentation and explosive behaviour. The explosion provides new outgassing pathways and the clock is reset. Volcanoes that extrude lava domes – mounds of blocky lava that form as high-viscosity magma slowly extrudes from the top of a volcanic conduit – are among the most hazardous on Earth.
-
How rare earth element (REE)-rich deposits in central Sweden formed
REE-carbonate Bastnäsite, today one of the worlds most important ore minerals in the extraction of rare earth minerals, first described 1838 by Wilhelm Hisinger based on samples from the Bastnäs-mines in Bergslagen. Photo: C. Rewitzer, Wikimedia Much of our modern technology relies on the use of rare earth elements (REEs), and a key to finding more of them is to understand the processes that concentrate them in the Earth’s crust. In the ancient Bergslagen ore province of central Sweden lies a zone of ‘Bastnäs-type’ rare earth element deposits, and in a new study, scientists from Uppsala University and the Geological Survey of Sweden (SGU) show how these deposits originally formed.
-
Scientists identify signs of activity from Anak Krakatau prior to collapse
Prior to the collapse of a section of the volcano Anak Krakatau in December 2018, which triggered a deadly tsunami, it exhibited several signs of activity in the months leading up to the event. A study recently published in Nature Communications, notes that at the time, and when considered individually, none of the anomalies would have been conclusive enough to predict the events to come, but the observations could prove useful in the future.
-
Vet du inte vad du ska göra i höst? Våra utbildningsprogram är öppna för sen anmälan!
-
Scientists discover how volcanoes release trapped crustal CO2 to the atmosphere
Intense outgassing at Merapivolcano. Photo: Tom Walter The source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted from volcanoes has been the topic of a long-standing debate. Now, a team of scientists show that CO2 is efficiently liberated from limestones by volcanic activity and released into the atmosphere. This limestone-derived CO2 is likely a significant contributor to the global carbon cycle, but has so far been underestimated in respect to climate effects. The findings have been published in the journal Scientific Reports.
-
Professor emeritus Sergej Zilitinkevich får pris från International Meteorological Organization
Professor emeritus Sergej Zilitinkevich has been named as the winner of the prestigious International Meteorological Organization (IMO) Prize for his outstanding contribution to meteorology and climatology and scientific research.
-
New research supports volcanic origin of Kiruna-type iron ores
The origin of giant apatite-iron oxide ores of the so-called ‘Kiruna-type’ has been the topic of a long standing debate that has lasted for over 100 years. In a new article, published in Nature Communications, a team of scientists presents new and unambiguous data in favour of a magmatic origin for these important iron ores. The study was led by researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden.
-
Represent the Department of Earth Sciences at the traditional Uppsala River Rafting!
We need a team of two to four students who wants to represent the Department of Earth Sciences at this years River Rafting event on Valborg, April 30!
-
“Sensors will detect small movements in the rock”
Hello to Björn Lund, seismologist, who tests sensors for the monitoring of the deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel in Forsmark.
-
Stort vulkanutbrott utanför Skottland kan ha bidragit till förhistorisk global uppvärmning
Around 56 million years ago, global temperatures spiked. Researchers at Uppsala University and in the UK now show that a major explosive eruption from the Red Hills on the Isle of Skye may have been a contributing factor to the massive climate disturbance. Their findings have been published in the journal Scientific Reports.
-
Unveiling Earth’s floodplains: a new tool that provides global topographic datasets
A new paper on the Nature’s journal Scientific Data describes the first high-resolution global map of Earth’s floodplains developed by an international team of four water scientists, including Giuliano Di Baldassarre professor of hydrology at the Department of Earth Sciences at Uppsala University, and director of the Centre of Natural Hazards and Disaster Science, CNDS.
-
Chin-Fu Tsang Coupled Processes Award
Professor Chin-Fu Tsang gives out the prize named after him during the CouFrac 2018 Conference in Wuhan Our visiting Professor Chin-Fu Tsang from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, gave out the prize named after him during the CouFrac Conference in Wuhan on 12-14 November 2018