Nearly Three Centuries of Lava Flow Subsidence at Timanfaya, Lanzarote
Abstract The 1730–1736 eruption on Lanzarote was one of the most significant volcanic eruptions to occur on the Canary Islands, with lavas covering over 200 km2. Globally, it is volumetrically the third largest known subaerial basaltic fissure eruption in the past 1,100 years. Here we use Sentinel‐1...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GC010576 |
| _version_ | 1797638096026599424 |
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| author | Victoria Purcell Eoin Reddin Susanna Ebmeier Pablo J. González Andrew Watson Yu Morishita John Elliott |
| author_facet | Victoria Purcell Eoin Reddin Susanna Ebmeier Pablo J. González Andrew Watson Yu Morishita John Elliott |
| author_sort | Victoria Purcell |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The 1730–1736 eruption on Lanzarote was one of the most significant volcanic eruptions to occur on the Canary Islands, with lavas covering over 200 km2. Globally, it is volumetrically the third largest known subaerial basaltic fissure eruption in the past 1,100 years. Here we use Sentinel‐1 and ENVISAT interferograms on both ascending and descending orbits to construct a time series of line‐of‐sight surface displacements and calculate linear vertical deformation rates. We resolve a constant subsidence rate of about 6 mm/yr associated with an area of ∼20 km2 within the central and western portion of the Timanfaya lava flows relative to the rest of the island. This is consistent over the 28‐year period (1992–2020) covered by the Sentinel‐1 and ENVISAT data when combined with the previously published European Remote‐Sensing Satellite data. Time series constructed using Sentinel‐1 short interval interferograms have previously been shown to suffer systematic biases and we find that by making longer period interferograms these biases can be mitigated (when compared against an averaged stack of 1‐year interferograms). Cooling‐driven contraction of an intrusion would require improbably large sill thickness to achieve the observed subsidence rates. Our observations are consistent with the cooling of lavas on the order of one hundred meters, twice as thick as previous estimates, which suggests overall lava volume for this eruption may have been underestimated. This is also evidence of the longest duration of lava flow subsidence ever imaged which indicates that these cumulative thick flows can continue to deform significantly even three centuries after emplacement. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T12:57:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-92c2ae39e4064aa5a9ad80e2044faaf0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1525-2027 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T12:57:41Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems |
| spelling | doaj.art-92c2ae39e4064aa5a9ad80e2044faaf02023-11-03T16:56:07ZengWileyGeochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems1525-20272022-10-012310n/an/a10.1029/2022GC010576Nearly Three Centuries of Lava Flow Subsidence at Timanfaya, LanzaroteVictoria Purcell0Eoin Reddin1Susanna Ebmeier2Pablo J. González3Andrew Watson4Yu Morishita5John Elliott6COMET School of Earth and Environment University of Leeds Leeds UKCOMET School of Earth and Environment University of Leeds Leeds UKCOMET School of Earth and Environment University of Leeds Leeds UKDepartment of Life and Earth Sciences (IPNA‐CSIC) Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas La Laguna SpainCOMET School of Earth and Environment University of Leeds Leeds UKGeography and Crustal Dynamics Research Center Geospatial Information Authority of Japan Tsukuba JapanCOMET School of Earth and Environment University of Leeds Leeds UKAbstract The 1730–1736 eruption on Lanzarote was one of the most significant volcanic eruptions to occur on the Canary Islands, with lavas covering over 200 km2. Globally, it is volumetrically the third largest known subaerial basaltic fissure eruption in the past 1,100 years. Here we use Sentinel‐1 and ENVISAT interferograms on both ascending and descending orbits to construct a time series of line‐of‐sight surface displacements and calculate linear vertical deformation rates. We resolve a constant subsidence rate of about 6 mm/yr associated with an area of ∼20 km2 within the central and western portion of the Timanfaya lava flows relative to the rest of the island. This is consistent over the 28‐year period (1992–2020) covered by the Sentinel‐1 and ENVISAT data when combined with the previously published European Remote‐Sensing Satellite data. Time series constructed using Sentinel‐1 short interval interferograms have previously been shown to suffer systematic biases and we find that by making longer period interferograms these biases can be mitigated (when compared against an averaged stack of 1‐year interferograms). Cooling‐driven contraction of an intrusion would require improbably large sill thickness to achieve the observed subsidence rates. Our observations are consistent with the cooling of lavas on the order of one hundred meters, twice as thick as previous estimates, which suggests overall lava volume for this eruption may have been underestimated. This is also evidence of the longest duration of lava flow subsidence ever imaged which indicates that these cumulative thick flows can continue to deform significantly even three centuries after emplacement.https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GC010576InSAR time serieslong term volcanic deformationlava flow contractionLanzarote |
| spellingShingle | Victoria Purcell Eoin Reddin Susanna Ebmeier Pablo J. González Andrew Watson Yu Morishita John Elliott Nearly Three Centuries of Lava Flow Subsidence at Timanfaya, Lanzarote Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems InSAR time series long term volcanic deformation lava flow contraction Lanzarote |
| title | Nearly Three Centuries of Lava Flow Subsidence at Timanfaya, Lanzarote |
| title_full | Nearly Three Centuries of Lava Flow Subsidence at Timanfaya, Lanzarote |
| title_fullStr | Nearly Three Centuries of Lava Flow Subsidence at Timanfaya, Lanzarote |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nearly Three Centuries of Lava Flow Subsidence at Timanfaya, Lanzarote |
| title_short | Nearly Three Centuries of Lava Flow Subsidence at Timanfaya, Lanzarote |
| title_sort | nearly three centuries of lava flow subsidence at timanfaya lanzarote |
| topic | InSAR time series long term volcanic deformation lava flow contraction Lanzarote |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GC010576 |
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