Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 13 July 2007:
Vol. 317. no. 5835, pp. 227 - 230
DOI: 10.1126/science.1141900
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Magmatic Gas Composition Reveals the Source Depth of Slug-Driven Strombolian Explosive Activity

Mike Burton,1* Patrick Allard,1,2 Filippo Muré,1 Alessandro La Spina1,3

Strombolian-type eruptive activity, common at many volcanoes, consists of regular explosions driven by the bursting of gas slugs that rise faster than surrounding magma. Explosion quakes associated with this activity are usually localized at shallow depth; however, where and how slugs actually form remain poorly constrained. We used spectroscopic measurements performed during both quiescent degassing and explosions on Stromboli volcano (Italy) to demonstrate that gas slugs originate from as deep as the volcano-crust interface (~3 kilometers), where both structural discontinuities and differential bubble-rise speed can promote slug coalescence. The observed decoupling between deep slug genesis and shallow (~250-meter) explosion quakes may be a common feature of strombolian activity, determined by the geometry of plumbing systems.

1 Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Catania, Italy.
2 Groupe des Sciences de la Terre, Laboratoire Pierre Süe, CNRS-CEA, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
3 Dipartimento di Chimica e Fisica della Terra ed Applicazioni, Palermo University, Palermo, Italy.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: burton{at}ct.ingv.it

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Experimental Constraints on the Deep Magma Feeding System at Stromboli Volcano, Italy.
M. Pichavant, I. Di Carlo, Y. Le Gac, S. G. Rotolo, and B. Scaillet (2009)
J. Petrology 50, 601-624
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mafic magma recharge supplies high CO2 and SO2 gas fluxes from Popocatepetl volcano, Mexico.
J. Roberge, H. Delgado-Granados, and P. J. Wallace (2009)
Geology 37, 107-110
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
New geochemical insights into volcanic degassing.
M. Edmonds (2008)
Phil Trans R Soc A 366, 4559-4579
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The consequences of fluid motion in volcanic conduits.
J. S. Gilbert and S. J. Lane (2008)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 307, 1-10
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Modelling the rapid near-surface expansion of gas slugs in low-viscosity magmas.
M. R. James, S. J. Lane, and S. B. Corder (2008)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 307, 147-167
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dome-building eruptions: insights from analogue experiments.
S. J. Lane, J. C. Phillips, and G. A. Ryan (2008)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 307, 207-237
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)