Search for: All records

The 2011–2012 eruption at Cordón Caulle, Chile offers an exceptional opportunity to investigate topographic evolution of a laccolith, lava flows, and tephra during and after rhyolitic eruptions using satellite TanDEM-X and Plèiades data. We find distinct phases: rapid surface uplift from the laccolith and tephra (June–August 2011) and lava (June 2011–March 2012), followed by a reduction in the elevation of the laccolith and tephra (up to 19 m yr−1) until February 2013, and slower subsidence of all deposits until 2019 (the most recent data). The spatial distribution of subsidence-to-uplift ratios shows different volcanic and geomorphological processes occurring (degassing, cooling, crystallization, lateral movement, compaction, erosion). Pre-eruptive river channels showed elevation increases of up to 10–50 m due to tephra deposition, but this tephra was largely removed within three to four years. This research shows the potential of repeating high-resolution remote sensing elevation data to elucidate volcanic landscape evolution and yields insights into the co- and post-eruptive evolution of deposits.