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1. Precursor-free eruption triggered by edifice rupture at Nyiragongo volcano

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05047-8  

   Smittarello, D. ; Smets, B. ; Barrière, J. ; Michellier, C. ; Oth, A. ; Shreve, T. ; Grandin, R. ; Theys, N. ; Brenot, H. ; Cayol, V. ; et al ( September 2022 , Nature)

   Classical mechanisms of volcanic eruptions mostly involve pressure buildup and magma ascent towards the surface¹. Such processes produce geophysical and geochemical signals that may be detected and interpreted as eruption precursors^1–3. On 22 May 2021, Mount Nyiragongo (Democratic Republic of the Congo), an open-vent volcano with a persistent lava lake perched within its summit crater, shook up this interpretation by producing an approximately six-hour-long flank eruption without apparent precursors, followed—rather than preceded—by lateral magma motion into the crust. Here we show that this reversed sequence was most likely initiated by a rupture of the edifice, producing deadly lava flows and triggering a voluminous 25-km-long dyke intrusion. The dyke propagated southwards at very shallow depth (less than 500 m) underneath the cities of Goma (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Gisenyi (Rwanda), as well as Lake Kivu. This volcanic crisis raises new questions about the mechanisms controlling such eruptions and the possibility of facing substantially more hazardous events, such as effusions within densely urbanized areas, phreato-magmatism or a limnic eruption from the gas-rich Lake Kivu. It also more generally highlights the challenges faced with open-vent volcanoes for monitoring, early detection and risk management when a significant volume of magma is stored close to the surface.

    

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2. Earthquakes Record Cycles of Opening and Closing in the Enhanced Seismic Catalog of the 2008 Okmok Volcano, Alaska, Eruption

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JB026893  

   Garza‐Girón, Ricardo ; Brodsky, Emily E. ; Spica, Zack J. ; Haney, Matthew M. ; Webley, Peter W. ( July 2023 , Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth)

   Seismicity during explosive volcanic eruptions remains challenging to observe through the eruptive noise, leaving first‐order questions unanswered. How do earthquake rates change as eruptions progress, and what is their relationship to the opening and closing of the eruptive vent? To address these questions for the Okmok Volcano 2008 explosive eruption, Volcano Explosivity Index 4, we utilized modern detection methods to enhance the existing earthquake catalog. Our enhanced catalog detected significantly more earthquakes than traditional methods. We located, relocated, determined magnitudes and classified all events within this catalog. Our analysis reveals distinct behaviors for long‐period (LP) and volcano‐tectonic (VT) earthquakes, providing insights into the opening and closing cycle. LP earthquakes occur as bursts beneath the eruptive vent and do not coincide in time with the plumes, indicating their relationship to an eruptive process that occurs at a high pressurization state, that is, partially closed conduit. In contrast, VT earthquakes maintain a steadier rate over a broader region, do not track the caldera deflation and have a largerb‐value during the eruption than before or after. The closing sequence is marked by a burst of LPs followed by small VTs south of the volcano. The opening sequence differs as only VTs extend to depth and migrate within minutes of the eruption onset. Our high‐resolution catalog offers valuable insights, demonstrating that volcanic conduits can transition between partially closed (clogged) and open (cracked) states during an eruption. Utilizing modern earthquake processing techniques enables clearer understanding of eruptions and holds promise for studying other volcanic events.

    

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3. Magma Reservoir Below Laguna del Maule Volcanic Field, Chile, Imaged With Surface‐Wave Tomography

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JB016485  

   Wespestad, Crystal E. ; Thurber, Clifford H. ; Andersen, Nathan L. ; Singer, Brad S. ; Cardona, Carlos ; Zeng, Xiangfang ; Bennington, Ninfa L. ; Keranen, Katie ; Peterson, Dana E. ; Cordell, Darcy ; et al ( March 2019 , Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth)

   The Laguna del Maule (LdM) volcanic field comprises the greatest concentration of postglacial rhyolite in the Andes and includes the products of ~40 km³of explosive and effusive eruptions. Recent observations at LdM by interferometric synthetic aperture radar and global navigation satellite system geodesy have revealed inflation at rates exceeding 20 cm/year since 2007, capturing an ongoing period of growth of a potentially large upper crustal magma reservoir. Moreover, magnetotelluric and gravity studies indicate the presence of fluids and/or partial melt in the upper crust near the center of inflation. Petrologic observations imply repeated, rapid extraction of rhyolitic melt from crystal mush stored at depths of 4–6 km during at least the past 26 ka. We utilize multiple types of surface‐wave observations to constrain the location and geometry of low‐velocity domains beneath LdM. We present a three‐dimensional shear‐wave velocity model that delineates a ~450‐km³shallow magma reservoir ~2 to 8 km below surface with an average melt fraction of ~5%. Interpretation of the seismic tomography in light of existing gravity, magnetotelluric, and geodetic observations supports this model and reveals variations in melt content and a deeper magma system feeding the shallow reservoir in greater detail than any of the geophysical methods alone. Geophysical imaging of the LdM magma system today is consistent with the petrologic inferences of the reservoir structure and growth during the past 20–60 kyr. Taken together with the ongoing unrest, a future rhyolite eruption of at least the scale of those common during the Holocene is a reasonable possibility.

    

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4. Magma Chamber Growth During Intercaldera Periods: Insights From Thermo‐Mechanical Modeling With Applications to Laguna del Maule, Campi Flegrei, Santorini, and Aso

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GC008103  

   Townsend, Meredith ; Huber, Christian ; Degruyter, Wim ; Bachmann, Olivier ( March 2019 , Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems)

   Crustal magma chambers can grow to be hundreds to thousands of cubic kilometers, potentially feeding catastrophic caldera‐forming eruptions. Smaller volume chambers are expected to erupt frequently and freeze quickly; a major outstanding question is how magma chambers ever grow to the sizes required to sustain the largest eruptions on Earth. We use a thermo‐mechanical model to investigate the primary factors that govern the extrusive:intrusive ratio in a chamber, and how this relates to eruption frequency, eruption size, and long‐term chamber growth. The model consists of three fundamental timescales: the magma injection timescaleτ_in, the cooling timescaleτ_cool, and the timescale for viscous relaxation of the crustτ_relax. We estimate these timescales using geologic and geophysical data from four volcanoes (Laguna del Maule, Campi Flegrei, Santorini, and Aso) to compare them with the model. In each of these systems,τ_inis much shorter thanτ_cooland slightly shorter thanτ_relax, conditions that in the model are associated with efficient chamber growth and simultaneous eruption. In addition, the model suggests that the magma chambers underlying these volcanoes are growing at rates between ~10⁻⁴and 10⁻² km³/year, speeding up over time as the chamber volume increases. We find scaling relationships for eruption frequency and size that suggest that as chambers grow and volatiles exsolve, eruption frequency decreases but eruption size increases. These scaling relationships provide a good match to the eruptive history from the natural systems, suggesting that the relationships can be used to constrain chamber growth rates and volatile saturation state from the eruptive history alone.

    

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5. Eruptive and magma feeding system evolution of Sośnica Hill Volcano (Lower Silesia, SW Poland) revealed from Volcanological, Geophysical, and Rock Magnetic Data

   M.S. Petronis, M. Awdankiewicz ( July 2021 , Journal of volcanology and geothermal research)

   null (Ed.)

   The Sośnica Hill volcano is part of the Oligocene to Miocene (30.9–20.0 Ma) Strzelin volcanic field. . It is located 100 km east of the Ohře Rift in the eastern part of the Fore-Sudetic Block, south of the town of Strzelin, Poland. Modern quarrying has exposed the sub-volcanic magma feeder system of the central part of the volcano and an extrusive volcanic succession that includes a 40 m thick sequence of lava flows and pyroclastic deposits that col- lectively form a complex scoria cone. Geophysical data (ground magnetometry and electric resistivity tomogra- phy (ERT)) reveal sharp linear anomalies that are interpreted to reflect normal faults dissecting the volcano. The ERT data map both high and low resistivity bodies, likely representing coherent clay-free dry rocks and partly argilized volcaniclastic deposits, respectively. Paleomagnetic data from 20 intrusive sites reveal two populations of reverse polarity site mean data; 11 sites are of low dispersion and yield a group mean direction that is discor- dant to the expected field direction, while six sites are highly scattered. Three sites did not yield interpretable re- sults. We interpret the 11 sites as time-averaged field directions that are discordant to the expected field. The high dispersion of the remaining six sites are interpreted to indicate sub-volcanic deformation associated with the growth of the volcanic construct or multiple magma pulses over an extended period of time relative to secu- lar variation. AMS data from 35 sites show a range of flow directions that vary across the quarry without an or- derly pattern of fabric orientations. The flow pattern identified from dike paired margin data exhibits sub- vertical upward flow, sub-vertical downward, and moderately inclined northwest flow. Field observations and mapping indicate a complex development of the system in terms of styles of eruptive activity and structure of the final volcanic edifice. The activity included Strombolian and effusive phases, followed by phreatomagmatic, Hawaiian and again effusive eruptions. Such diversity of eruptive styles shows that the origin of the volcano is more complex than a simple, ‘textbook’ monogenetic scoria cone. Palaesoil on top of Strombolian deposits docu- ment a longer break in activity, after which eruptions resumed with different style; this is also not typical of monogenetic cones. The lateral variation in the volcanic succession suggests eruptions from several smaller, local vents. The complex subvolcanic magma flow patterns recorded in dikes match the variation of surface eruptive products and documents dynamically changing magma distribution paths in the near-surface and intra-cone part of the feeding system of the volcano. 

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