Jelly and lasers: New way to trigger volcanoes

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online

A new study published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters could pave the way for predicting volcanic eruptions using a combination of satellite and surface observations.

The study team came to its conclusion by using jelly and lasers to model the plumbing of volcanoes and see how magma rises to the surface via a series of connected fractures in the earth.

“Understanding the triggers for volcanic eruptions is vital for forecasting efforts, hazard assessment, and risk mitigation,” study author Janine Kavanagh, a volcanologist from the University of Liverpool, said in a press release.

In the study, researchers filled a tank with gelatin and injected the jelly with colored water in a way that modeled rising magma. Researchers then observed the magma model using a high-speed camera and a synchronized laser.

“It was at this point that we discovered a significant and previously unknown drop in pressure when the ascending vertical dyke stalled to form a horizontal sill,” said Sandy Cruden, a geodynamics expert from Monash University.

Causing jelly eruptions

Cruden added that sills form in nature as a volcano’s plumbing system develops. A pressure drop in the system can drive the release of dissolved gasses, causing the magma to erupt.

“It’s similar to removing a cap from a bottle of shaken fizzy drink – the pressure drop causes bubbles to form and the associated increase in volume results in a fountain of foam erupting from the bottle,” he said.

The researchers said volcano-monitoring programs of the future could be based on signals of Earth’s surface and subsurface gathered by satellites, seismometers, and other devices on the ground that record when and how magma moves underfoot.

“With more than 600 million people worldwide living near a volcano at risk of eruptive activity, it is more important than ever that our understanding of these complex systems and their triggering mechanisms is improved,” Kavanagh said. “There is also a strong economic incentive to understand the causes of volcanic activity – as demonstrated in 2010 by the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland, which caused air-traffic disruption across Europe for more than one month, with an estimated US $1.8 billion loss in revenue to the airline industry.”

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