The experiment that will lead a team of volcanologists from the Institute of Active Volcanoes of the Central American country to conduct experiments on explosive volcanism is underway
From January 18 to 28, a team of twelve volcanologists from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) will be on the active volcanoes of Guatemala for a new edition of themulti-parametric experiment aimed at studying explosive volcanism called “BACIO” (Broadband Acquisition and Imaging Operation), organized by the High Pressure High Temperature Laboratory of Experimental Geophysics and Volcanology (HPHT) of the INGV within the institutional project 'DYNAMO'.
Every year, the BACIO project brings together specialists in volcano monitoring and observation techniques from around the world to Stromboli. In a collaboration with the Guatemalan Observatory INSIVUMEH and the University of Liverpool, this year's meeting is set in Guatemala, at an altitude of over 3.600 meters, on the summits of the Fuego and Santiaguito volcanoes, currently in eruption.
“The goal of BAcIO”, he reports Piergiorgio Scarlato, INGV Research Director in charge of the expedition, "is to promote the synergic use of different measurement techniques in the field, encouraging the sharing of skills and the expansion of our knowledge of eruptive processes. Also this time, therefore, as in previous editions, multiple systems for the acquisition of images will be installed alongside instruments for the recording of acoustic, seismic, geochemical signals".
The experiment will cover various aspects of the eruptive activity of Guatemalan volcanoes to compare it with that observed on other volcanoes such as Stromboli and Etna. Various aspects will be explored, such as the dynamics of eruptive plumes, the dispersion of ejected products on the ground and the gases emitted by volcanoes.
“The volcanic risk in Guatemala is among the highest in the world, with nine out of ten inhabitants exposed to the impact of eruptions. The Fuego and Santiaguito volcanoes have in the past given rise to disastrous eruptions, the last of which occurred in 2018, which caused over 300 deaths”he concludes Scarlet. “This is also the reason why we chose to come here to make our knowledge and techniques developed for the study and monitoring of volcanoes available to the local Observatory”.
Photo 1: Houses destroyed by the 2018 eruption of the Fuego volcano (Photo INGV)
Photo 2: The Fuego volcano in Guatemala (Photo INGV)
Photo 3: INGV staff in Stromboli during the BACIO experiment (INGV photo)