TY - JOUR
T1 - Links between volcanic activity and flank creep behavior at Pacaya Volcano, Guatemala
AU - Gonzalez-Santana, Judit
AU - Wauthier, Christelle
AU - Burns, Michelle
N1 - Funding Information:
TanDEM-X digital elevation model data were provided through the German Aerospace Center (DLR Proposal ID 1552) and RADARSAT-2 SAR data were provided through CEOS, the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites Volcano Pilot and Demonstrator working groups (http://ceos.org/ourwork/workinggroups/disasters/volcanoes). COSMO-SkyMed data were obtained through both CEOS and ASI Cosmo-SkyMed Open Call for Science Proposal 731. We thank Diego Coppola for providing the MIROVA data, NASA and LPDAAC for access to ASTER data through the Earth Observing System Data and Information System, ESA for access to Sentinel-1 data and precise orbit files, the ASF Vertex DAAC for access to ALOS-1 data, and Planet Explorer for access to Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 data. We thank Carla Chun for sharing the vent locations from 2006-2019 obtained during her undergraduate thesis at Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, in collaboration with INSIVUMEH. We thank Amilcar Roca, Gustavo Chigna, Roberto Merida, and Peter Argueta from INSIVUMEH, as well as Derek Elsworth, Charles Ammon, Damian Walwer, Kevin Reath, Gregory Waite, and Kirsten Stephens for useful discussions. We also thank Jamie Farquharson for sharing the rainfall time-series script. Computations were performed on The Pennsylvania State University’s Institute for Computational and Data Sciences’ Roar supercomputer.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) grant 80NSSC20K1632 and NASA Earth Surface and Interior grant 80NSSC20K0490, issued through the Science Mission Directorate’s Earth Science Division.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, International Association of Volcanology & Chemistry of the Earth's Interior.
PY - 2022/9
Y1 - 2022/9
N2 - Magmatism is a recognized potential driver of volcanic flank instability. Recently, this driver was identified at Pacaya Volcano, Guatemala, where a large eruption in 2014 accelerated southwest flank creep. This work investigates the links between flank creep and eruptive behavior at Pacaya to better understand the conditions under which flank creep can be initiated, sustained, or halted at active volcanoes. Time-series of surface displacements from 2007 to 2020 computed using seven Synthetic Aperture Radar datasets are compared with volcanic activity reports, ash advisories, thermal anomalies, and lava flow maps. We find that large transient flank instabilities occurred during vigorous eruptions in 2010 and 2014, but not during times of similarly elevated activity in 2007–2009 and 2018–2020. Flank creep continued years after the two transient instability events, during the relatively quiescent intervals of 2010–2014 and 2015–2018. During periods of elevated volcanic unrest attributed to open-vent volcanic activity, as in 2007–2009 and 2018–2020, magma migrates in an open conduit with little associated deformation or flank motion. Conversely, the opening of new vents outside the summit area, irrespective of whether this marks the start or a transition in an eruption, can initiate transient flank creep as in 2010 and 2014. Thus, future opening of new magma pathways, particularly in a north-northwest to south-southeast alignment, might provide forewarning for an increased likelihood of renewed or accelerating flank creep at Pacaya.
AB - Magmatism is a recognized potential driver of volcanic flank instability. Recently, this driver was identified at Pacaya Volcano, Guatemala, where a large eruption in 2014 accelerated southwest flank creep. This work investigates the links between flank creep and eruptive behavior at Pacaya to better understand the conditions under which flank creep can be initiated, sustained, or halted at active volcanoes. Time-series of surface displacements from 2007 to 2020 computed using seven Synthetic Aperture Radar datasets are compared with volcanic activity reports, ash advisories, thermal anomalies, and lava flow maps. We find that large transient flank instabilities occurred during vigorous eruptions in 2010 and 2014, but not during times of similarly elevated activity in 2007–2009 and 2018–2020. Flank creep continued years after the two transient instability events, during the relatively quiescent intervals of 2010–2014 and 2015–2018. During periods of elevated volcanic unrest attributed to open-vent volcanic activity, as in 2007–2009 and 2018–2020, magma migrates in an open conduit with little associated deformation or flank motion. Conversely, the opening of new vents outside the summit area, irrespective of whether this marks the start or a transition in an eruption, can initiate transient flank creep as in 2010 and 2014. Thus, future opening of new magma pathways, particularly in a north-northwest to south-southeast alignment, might provide forewarning for an increased likelihood of renewed or accelerating flank creep at Pacaya.
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U2 - 10.1007/s00445-022-01592-2
DO - 10.1007/s00445-022-01592-2
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85135741994
SN - 0258-8900
VL - 84
JO - Bulletin of Volcanology
JF - Bulletin of Volcanology
IS - 9
M1 - 84
ER -