We test two methods of 3-D acoustic source localization on volcanic explosions and small-scale jetting events at Karymsky Volcano, Kamchatka, Russia. Recent infrasound studies have provided evidence that volcanic jets produce low-frequency aerodynamic sound (jet noise) similar to that from man-made jet engines. Man-made jets are known to produce sound through turbulence along the jet axis, but discrimination of sources along the axis of a volcanic jet requires a network of sufficient topographic relief to attain resolution in the vertical dimension. At Karymsky Volcano, the topography of an eroded edifice adjacent to the active cone provided a platform for the atypical deployment of five infrasound sensors with intra-network relief of ~600 m in July 2012. A novel 3-D inverse localization method, srcLoc, is tested and compared against a more common grid-search semblance technique. Simulations using synthetic signals indicate that srcLoc is capable of determining vertical source locations for this network configuration to within ±150 m or better. However, srcLoc locations for explosions and jetting at Karymsky Volcano show a persistent overestimation of source elevation and underestimation of sound speed by an average of ~330 m and 25 m/s, respectively. The semblance method is able to produce more realistic source locations by fixing the sound speed to expected values of 335-340 m/s. The consistency of location errors for both explosions and jetting activity over a wide range of wind and temperature conditions points to the influence of topography. Explosion waveforms exhibit amplitude relationships and waveform distortion strikingly similar to those theorized by modeling studies of wave diffraction around the crater rim. We suggest delay of signals and apparent elevated source locations are due to altered raypaths and/or crater diffraction effects. Our results suggest the influence of topography in the vent region must be accounted for when attempting 3-D volcano acoustic source localization. Though the data presented here are insufficient to resolve noise sources for these jets, which are much smaller in scale than those of previous volcanic jet noise studies, similar techniques may be successfully applied to large volcanic jets in the future.

Explosive volcanic eruptions can inject sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the stratosphere to form aerosol particles that modify Earth’s radiation balance and drive surface cooling. Eruptions involving interactions with shallow layers (≤500 m) of surface water and ice modify the eruption dynamics that govern the delivery of SO2 to the stratosphere. External surface water controls the evolution of explosive eruptions in two ways that are poorly understood: 1) by modulating the hydrostatic pressure within the conduit and at the vent, and 2) through the ingestion and mixing of external water, which governs fine ash production and eruption column buoyancy flux. To make progress, we couple one-dimensional models of conduit flow and atmospheric column rise through a novel “magma-water interaction” model that simulates the occurrence, extent and consequences of water entrainment depending on the depth of a surface water layer. We explore the effects of hydrostatic pressure on magma ascent in the conduit and gas decompression at the vent, and the conditions for which water entrainment drives fine ash production by quench fragmentation, eruption column collapse, or outright failure of the jet to breach the water surface. We show that the efficiency of water entrainment into the jet is the predominant control on jet behavior. For an increase in water depth of 50–100 m, the critical magma mass eruption rate required for eruption columns to reach the tropopause increases by an order of magnitude. Finally, we estimate that enhanced emission of fine ash leads to up to a 2-fold increase in the mass flux of particles < 125 μm to spreading umbrella clouds, together with up to a 10-fold increase in water mass flux, conditions that can enhance the removal of SO2 via chemical scavenging and ash sedimentation. On average, compared to purely magmatic eruptions, we suggest that hydrovolcanic eruptions will be characterized by reduced climate forcing. Our results suggest one possible mechanism for volcano-climate feedback: temporal changes with climate in surface distributions of water and ice may modify the relative global frequency or dominance of hydrovolcanic eruption processes, modulating, in turn, global patterns in volcano-climate forcing.

No abstract

Explosive volcanic eruptions can inject sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the stratosphere to form aerosol particles that modify Earth’s radiation balance and drive surface cooling. Eruptions involving interactions with shallow layers (< 500 m) of surface water and ice modify the eruption dynamics that govern the delivery of SO2 to the stratosphere. External surface water potentially controls the evolution of explosive eruptions in two ways that are poorly understood: (1) by modulating the hydrostatic pressure within the conduit and at the vent, and (2) through the ingestion and mixing of external water, which governs fine ash production as well as eruption column buoyancy flux. To make progress, we couple one-dimensional models of magma flow in the conduit and atmospheric column rise through a novel ”magma-water interaction” model that simulates the occurrence, extent and consequences of water entrainment depending on the depth of a surface water layer. We explore the effects of hydrostatic pressure on magma ascent in the conduit and gas decompression at the vent, and the conditions for which water entrainment drives fine ash production by quench fragmentation, eruption column collapse, or outright failure of the jet to breach the water surface. We show that the efficiency of water entrainment into the jet is the predominant control on jet behavior. For an increase in water depth of 50 to 100 m, the critical magma mass eruption rate required for eruption columns to reach the tropopause increases by an order of magnitude. Finally, we estimate that enhanced emission of fine ash leads to up to a 2-fold increase in the mass flux of particles < 125 microns to spreading umbrella clouds, together with up to a 10-fold increase in water mass flux, conditions that can enhance the removal of SO2 via chemical scavenging and ash sedimentation. Overall, compared to purely magmatic eruptions, we suggest that hydrovolcanic eruptions will be characterized by a reduced delivery of SO2 to the stratosphere. Our results thus suggest the possibility of an unrecognized volcano-climate feedback mechanism arising from modification of volcanic climate forcing by direct interaction of erupting magma with varying distributions of water and ice at the Earth’s surface.

The impacts of volcanic eruptions on climate are increasingly well understood, but the mirror question of how climate changes affect volcanic systems and processes, which we term “climate-volcano impacts”, remains understudied. Accelerating research on this topic is critical in view of rapid climate change driven by anthropogenic activities. Over the last two decades, we have improved our understanding of how mass distribution on the Earth’s surface, in particular changes in ice and water distribution linked to glacial cycles, affects mantle melting, crustal magmatic processing and eruption rates. New hypotheses on the impacts of climate change on eruption processes have also emerged, including how eruption style and volcanic plume rise are affected by changing surface and atmospheric conditions, and how volcanic sulfate aerosol lifecycle, radiative forcing and climate impacts are modulated by background climate conditions. Future improvements in past climate reconstructions and current climate observations, volcanic eruption records and volcano monitoring, and numerical models all have a role in advancing our understanding of climate-volcano impacts. Important mechanisms remain to be explored, such as how changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation will affect the volcanic ash life cycle. Fostering a holistic and interdisciplinary approach to climate-volcano impacts is critical to gain a full picture of how ongoing climate changes may affect the environmental and societal impacts of volcanic activity.

Volcanic plumes typically have unsteady source conditions, where mass and heat fluxes from the vent evolve or fluctuate on time scales from seconds to hours. However, integral plume models routinely assume source conditions that are statistically stationary, and the degree to which source unsteadiness influences the mechanics of plume rise and air entrainment has not been established with quantitative predictions. We address this knowledge gap by examining eruptions with varying unsteady character at Sabancaya Volcano, Peru. We develop a novel tracking algorithm based on spectral clustering, which tracks the spatiotemporal evolution of coherent turbulent structures in plumes using ground-based, thermal infrared imagery. For turbulent structures tracked in time and space, we calculate the power law decay exponent of excess temperature with height. In general, more unsteady or transient events are characterized by power law exponents matching theoretical predictions for an instantaneous point release of buoyancy (i.e. a thermal), which evolve with sustained emissions to values consistent with steady plumes. Our results support previous findings from field evidence and laboratory experiments that entrainment and gravitational stability in unsteady volcanic plumes are inadequately captured by time-averaging or constant entrainment coefficients. We propose a quantitative definition for plume source unsteadiness which captures the timing and magnitude of source fluctuations on time scales that influence entrainment mechanics, and which provisionally predicts our observed differences in power law behavior. We argue for systematic experimental and numerical studies of the relationship between source unsteadiness and entrainment to develop unsteady entrainment parameterizations for integral plume models.

The impacts of volcanic eruptions on climate are increasingly well understood, but the mirror question of how climate changes affect volcanic systems and processes, which we term “climate-volcano impacts”, remains understudied. Accelerating research on this topic is critical in view of rapid climate change driven by anthropogenic activities. Over the last two decades, we have improved our understanding of how mass distribution on the Earth’s surface, in particular changes in ice and water distribution linked to glacial cycles, affects mantle melting, crustal magmatic processing and eruption rates. New hypotheses on the impacts of climate change on eruption processes have also emerged, including how eruption style and volcanic plume rise are affected by changing surface and atmospheric conditions, and how volcanic sulfate aerosol lifecycle, radiative forcing and climate impacts are modulated by background climate conditions. Future improvements in past climate reconstructions and current climate observations, volcanic eruption records and volcano monitoring, and numerical models will contribute to boost research on climate-volcano impacts. Important mechanisms remain to be explored, such as how changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation will affect the volcanic ash lifecycle. Fostering a holistic and interdisciplinary approach to climate-volcano impacts is critical to gain a full picture of how ongoing climate changes may affect the environmental and societal impacts of volcanic activity.