Quantifying Strombolian Activity at Etna Volcano
Understanding the dynamics of mild explosive activity is a fundamental tool for hazard assessment at open conduit volcanoes. This is a particularly critical task for Etna volcano. Etna is in fact characterized by frequent, mild explosive activity, punctuated by lava flows and paroxysmal events (‘lav...
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MDPI AG
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Geosciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/12/4/163 |
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| author | Laura Pioli Marco Palmas Boris Behncke Emanuela De Beni Massimo Cantarero Simona Scollo |
| author_facet | Laura Pioli Marco Palmas Boris Behncke Emanuela De Beni Massimo Cantarero Simona Scollo |
| author_sort | Laura Pioli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Understanding the dynamics of mild explosive activity is a fundamental tool for hazard assessment at open conduit volcanoes. This is a particularly critical task for Etna volcano. Etna is in fact characterized by frequent, mild explosive activity, punctuated by lava flows and paroxysmal events (‘lava fountains’), which, because of their greater impact, have been the main target for hazard studies, whereas more frequent Strombolian activity has been overlooked. As a result, their impact and associated hazards have been never quantified, despite the extensive monitoring and surveillance activities carried out on this volcano. In this paper, we analyze video recordings of a sequence of Strombolian explosions occurring at the summit craters of Mt. Etna, in Italy, in February 2020. Data were also integrated with a petrographic analysis of collected samples, and drone surveys were performed at the same time as the video recordings. We estimate the frequency of explosions (20–12 per min); particle exit speeds (1–50 m/s), and erupted mass (10<sup>0</sup>–10<sup>2</sup> kg) of those explosions. A very regular, small-scale activity (marked by a single burst of gas breaking the magma free surface into bombs and lapilli fragments) was occasionally punctuated by larger explosions, (at least one every 5 min), with a longer duration, fed by larger magma volumes, and consisting of two to three distinct pulses followed by a stationary phase. We found that the repose times between explosions follows a log logistic distribution, which is in agreement with the behavior of open vent explosive activity. The four largest explosions of the sequence were analyzed in detail: they emitted particles with median diameters (Mdphi) ranging from −10.1 to −8.8 phi, with bimodal distributions. |
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| format | Article |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
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| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T13:37:00Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
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| series | Geosciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-5b5cf9d665a04b058121590e5d4077472023-11-30T21:10:50ZengMDPI AGGeosciences2076-32632022-04-0112416310.3390/geosciences12040163Quantifying Strombolian Activity at Etna VolcanoLaura Pioli0Marco Palmas1Boris Behncke2Emanuela De Beni3Massimo Cantarero4Simona Scollo5Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Cagliari, 09124 Cagliari, CA, ItalyDepartment of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Cagliari, 09124 Cagliari, CA, ItalyIstituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Etneo, Sezione di Catania, 95125 Catania, CT, ItalyIstituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Etneo, Sezione di Catania, 95125 Catania, CT, ItalyIstituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Etneo, Sezione di Catania, 95125 Catania, CT, ItalyIstituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Etneo, Sezione di Catania, 95125 Catania, CT, ItalyUnderstanding the dynamics of mild explosive activity is a fundamental tool for hazard assessment at open conduit volcanoes. This is a particularly critical task for Etna volcano. Etna is in fact characterized by frequent, mild explosive activity, punctuated by lava flows and paroxysmal events (‘lava fountains’), which, because of their greater impact, have been the main target for hazard studies, whereas more frequent Strombolian activity has been overlooked. As a result, their impact and associated hazards have been never quantified, despite the extensive monitoring and surveillance activities carried out on this volcano. In this paper, we analyze video recordings of a sequence of Strombolian explosions occurring at the summit craters of Mt. Etna, in Italy, in February 2020. Data were also integrated with a petrographic analysis of collected samples, and drone surveys were performed at the same time as the video recordings. We estimate the frequency of explosions (20–12 per min); particle exit speeds (1–50 m/s), and erupted mass (10<sup>0</sup>–10<sup>2</sup> kg) of those explosions. A very regular, small-scale activity (marked by a single burst of gas breaking the magma free surface into bombs and lapilli fragments) was occasionally punctuated by larger explosions, (at least one every 5 min), with a longer duration, fed by larger magma volumes, and consisting of two to three distinct pulses followed by a stationary phase. We found that the repose times between explosions follows a log logistic distribution, which is in agreement with the behavior of open vent explosive activity. The four largest explosions of the sequence were analyzed in detail: they emitted particles with median diameters (Mdphi) ranging from −10.1 to −8.8 phi, with bimodal distributions.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/12/4/163volcanic hazarderuptive dynamicsimaging analysisdrone surveyremote sensing |
| spellingShingle | Laura Pioli Marco Palmas Boris Behncke Emanuela De Beni Massimo Cantarero Simona Scollo Quantifying Strombolian Activity at Etna Volcano Geosciences volcanic hazard eruptive dynamics imaging analysis drone survey remote sensing |
| title | Quantifying Strombolian Activity at Etna Volcano |
| title_full | Quantifying Strombolian Activity at Etna Volcano |
| title_fullStr | Quantifying Strombolian Activity at Etna Volcano |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantifying Strombolian Activity at Etna Volcano |
| title_short | Quantifying Strombolian Activity at Etna Volcano |
| title_sort | quantifying strombolian activity at etna volcano |
| topic | volcanic hazard eruptive dynamics imaging analysis drone survey remote sensing |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/12/4/163 |
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