Spiegate the mechanisms that precede the triggering of volcanic eruptions to find new ways to monitor active and quiescent volcanoes. These are the results of a new research signed by INGV and the University of Oxford and Durham in the United Kingdom, which has appeared in Nature Geoscience
The change in the composition of the gases emitted to the surface could represent a significant sign of a volcanic eruption in a few days or months. When magma forms gas bubbles, the gas emitted to the surface would register a change in composition, thus providing a potential early warning signal. According to a team of researchers from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology - Vesuvius Observatory of Naples (INGV-OV) and from the Universities of Oxford and Durham in the United Kingdom, who conducted a research (Late-stage volatile saturation as a potential trigger for explosive volcanic eruptions), recently published in Nature Geoscience.
"We used the Campi Flegrei volcano in the Naples area as a case study," explains Roberto Isaia, INGV-OV researcher. “This volcano erupted for the last time in 1538, but it is still active and constantly studied and monitored by INGV. Precisely the studies and research on this volcano were the basis for a collaboration with the University of Oxford which has been going on for some years and whose results have already been the subject of scientific publications”.
In the specific case, the researchers focused on the study of materials generated during an explosive volcanic eruption that took place about 4.000 years ago at Campi Flegrei. Through a new methodology for investigating apatite crystals, developed at the University of Oxford, it has been possible to reconstruct the evolution of magma over time, up to the processes that can trigger an explosive eruption. Previous studies had hypothesized that the eruptions are determined by an increase in pressure in the magma reservoir under the volcano, following a slow accumulation of gas, over a period of tens to hundreds of years. This work indicates, however, that explosive conditions can also trigger in shorter times (ie months and days). Hence the idea that the detection of gas saturation conditions in magma could be a useful methodology for monitoring volcanoes.
"Having proved that this new method works on the Campi Flegrei volcano, also considering that apatite is a mineral present in many volcanic systems, may stimulate interest in applying this method to other volcanoes to identify similar behaviours", continues Isaia.
This research will also help the scientific community refine what to measure about volcanoes and how to interpret the long-term monitoring signals already widely used by volcanologists.
“For some time it has been observed that some volcanoes erupt with little warning (e.g. Rabaul – New Guinea). Now new hypotheses could explain the reason for these sudden eruptions and suggest new ways to monitor active and quiescent volcanoes”, concludes the INGV researcher.