Seismo-acoustic evidence for vent drying during shallow submarine eruptions at Bogoslof volcano, Alaska

Bulletin of Volcanology Special Issue on the Bogoslof Eruption
By: , and 

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Abstract

Characterizing the state of the volcanic vent is key for interpreting observational datasets and accurately assessing volcanic hazards. This is particularly true for remote, complex eruptions such as the 2016–2017 Bogoslof volcano, Alaska eruption sequence. Bogoslof’s eruptions in this period were either shallow submarine or subaerial, or some combination of both. Our results demonstrate how low-frequency sound waves (infrasound), integrated with seismic and satellite data, can provide unique insight into shallow vent processes, otherwise not available. We use simple metrics, such as the infrasound frequency index (FI), event duration, and acoustic-seismic amplitude ratio, to look at changes in the elastic energy radiation and infer changes in seawater access to the vent. Satellite imagery before and after selected eruptions is used to ground-truth inferences on vent conditions. High FI and gradual increases in infrasound frequency content at Bogoslof correspond with transitions from submarine to subaerial vent conditions and a diminished or absent role of water, likely resulting in a drying out of the vent region. Event durations generally correlate with high FI and the range of FI values for each event, suggesting long duration events were more effective at drying out the vent region. A trend from low to high acoustic-seismic amplitude ratios for some long duration events also suggests an increase in acoustic efficiency as the vent dried out. We demonstrate that infrasound can serve as a robust indicator of seawater involvement for Bogoslof and other shallow submarine eruptions that may not be inferable from other datasets, particularly in near-real-time.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Seismo-acoustic evidence for vent drying during shallow submarine eruptions at Bogoslof volcano, Alaska
Series title Bulletin of Volcanology Special Issue on the Bogoslof Eruption
DOI 10.1007/s00445-019-1326-5
Volume 82
Year Published 2020
Language English
Publisher Springer
Contributing office(s) Volcano Science Center
Description 2, 14 p.
Country United States
State Alaska
Other Geospatial Bogoslof volcano
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