Determining the current size and state of subvolcanic magma reservoirs

Weber, Gregor; Caricchi, Luca; Arce, José L.; Schmitt, Axel K.

doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19084-2

Scientific article

English

Determining the current size and state of subvolcanic magma reservoirs

Contributors

Weber, Gregor; Caricchi, Luca

; Arce, José L.; Schmitt, Axel K.

Published in

Nature Communications, vol. 11, no. 5477

Publication date

2020

Abstract

Determining the state of magma reservoirs is essential to mitigate volcanic hazards. However, geophysical methods lack the spatial resolution to quantify the volume of eruptible magma present in the system, and the study of the eruptive history of a volcano does not constrain the current state of the magma reservoir. Here, we apply a novel approach to Nevado de Toluca volcano (Mexico) to tightly constrain the rate of magma input and accumulation in the subvolcanic reservoir. We show that only a few percent of the supplied magma erupted and a melt volume of up to 350 km3 is currently stored under the volcano. If magma input resumes, the volcano can reawake from multi-millennial dormancy within a few years and produce a large eruption, due to the thermal maturity of the system. Our approach is widely applicable and provides essential quantitative information to better assess the state and hazard potential of volcanoes.

UNIGE affiliation entities

Faculté des sciences / Section des sciences de la Terre et de l'Environnement / Département des sciences de la Terre

UNIGE research groups

Petrology and Volcanology

Funding

European Commission - Forecasting the recurrence rate of volcanic eruptions [677493]

Citation (ISO format)

WEBER, Gregor et al. Determining the current size and state of subvolcanic magma reservoirs. In: Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, n° 5477. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19084-2

Article (Published version)

OA OTHER

Identifiers

PID : unige:144339
DOI : 10.1038/s41467-020-19084-2

Additional URL for this publication

http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19084-2

Journal ISSN

2041-1723

384views

262downloads

Creation

05/11/2020 13:25:00

First validation

05/11/2020 13:25:00

Update

15/03/2023 23:00:43

Status update

15/03/2023 23:00:42

Last indexation

31/10/2024 20:17:00

Determining the current size and state of subvolcanic magma reservoirs

Contributors

Published in

Publication date

Abstract

UNIGE affiliation entities

UNIGE research groups

Funding

Citation (ISO format)

Main files (1)

Identifiers

Additional URL for this publication

Journal ISSN

Technical informations

Creation

First validation

Update

Status update

Last indexation