Volcanic lightning and plume behavior reveal evolving hazards during the April 2015 eruption of Calbuco volcano, Chile

Eaton, Alexa R. Van; Amigo, Á.; Bertin, D.; Mastin, Larry G.; Giacosa, Raúl Eduardo; González, Jerónimo; Valderrama, Oscar; Fontijn, Karen; Behnke, S. A.

doi:10.1002/2016gl068076

Cited by 123 publications

(169 citation statements)

References 44 publications

(67 reference statements)

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“…These aggregates were composed of both accretionary pellets bound by water/ice and ash clusters bound by electrostatic attraction, which disaggregated upon impact (Van Eaton et al, 2015;Wallace et al, 2013). Aggregation is an important factor for ash dispersion and deposition, because it will prematurely remove finer-grained ash particles from the plume (Brown et al, 2012;Carey & Sigurdsson, 1982;Lane et al, 1993;Sorem, 1982;Van Eaton et al, 2016).…”

Section: 1029/2018gl081298mentioning

confidence: 99%

Lightning Effects on the Grain Size Distribution of Volcanic Ash

Genareau

Wallace

Gharghabi

et al. 2019

Geophysical Research Letters

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Natural volcanic ashfall samples were examined, and high‐current (~100 kA) electrical impulse experiments were conducted to reveal the changes in grain size that can occur during lightning discharge. Experiments on pseudo ash samples manufactured from volcanic deposits of both rhyolitic and basaltic composition show that aggregates of very fine grained ash particles (<32 μm) melt and degas to form vesiculated pumice fragments >100 μm in size. In some cases, bubbles <5 μm in diameter expand and detach from the outer surface of the pumice to form hollow spheres of glass, one type of lightning‐induced volcanic spherule, while other bubbles fragment. Volcanic ashfall from the 2009 Redoubt eruption and the 2016 Pavlof eruption contains both pumiceous grains and individual spherules. Results of this study reveal that volcanic lightning will alter the grain size distribution of ash through melting, vesiculation, and fragmentation of individual particles or ash aggregates.

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Section: 1029/2018gl081298mentioning

confidence: 99%

Lightning Effects on the Grain Size Distribution of Volcanic Ash

Genareau

Wallace

Gharghabi

et al. 2019

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…It is often pointed out that lightning discharges occur in the ash plumes of volcanos on Earth, and in fact, the lightning networks such as WWLN are now used to remotely monitor volcanic activity, as in the case of the 2015 eruption of the Chilean volcano Calbuco (Van Eaton et al 2016).…”

Section: Lightning and Volcanosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lightning detection on Venus: a critical review

Lorenz

2018

Prog Earth Planet Sci

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Claimed detections and nondetections of lightning and related electromagnetic emissions on Venus are qualitatively contradictory. Here, motivated by the commencement of observations by the Akatsuki spacecraft and by studies of future missions, we critically review spacecraft and ground-based observations of the past 40 years, in an attempt to reconcile the discordant reports with a minimal number of assumptions. These include invoking alternative interpretations of individual reports, guided by sensitivity thresholds, controls, and other objective benchmarks of observation integrity. The most compelling evidence is in fact the first, the very low frequency (VLF) radio emissions recorded beneath the clouds by all four of the Veneras 11-13 landers, and those data are re-examined closely, finding power-law amplitude characteristics and substantial differences between the different profiles. It is concluded that some kind of frequent electrical activity is supported by the preponderance of observations, but optical emissions are not consistent with terrestrial levels of activity. Venus' activity may, like Earth's, have strong temporal and/or spatial variability, which coupled with the relatively short accumulated observation time for optical measurements, can lead to qualitative discrepancies between observation reports. We note a number of previously unconsidered observations and outline some considerations for future observations.

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“…Remote sensing studies of volcanic lightning have determined the altitude of the −20 • C isotherm Heterogeneous ice nucleation will occur on volcanic ash particles between the −10 °C and −20 °C isotherm [8,9], the latter of which is the highest temperature examined in this study using both deposition-mode and immersion-mode experiments. Based upon remote sensing studies of volcanic lightning, the −20 °C isotherm occurs at an altitude ranging from 4 to 10 km [10][11][12][13]. Scale to the left side of the figure does not reflect the true height of the eruption column.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compositional and Mineralogical Effects on Ice Nucleation Activity of Volcanic Ash

et al. 2018

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Volcanic ash produced during explosive eruptions may serve as ice nuclei in the atmosphere, contributing to the occurrence of volcanic lightning due to tribocharging from ice-ice or ice-ash collisions. Here, different ash samples were tested using deposition-mode and immersion-mode ice nucleation experiments. Results show that bulk composition and mineral abundance have no measurable effect on depositional freezing at the temperatures tested, as all samples have similar ice saturation ratios. In the immersion mode, there is a strong positive correlation between K 2 O content and ice nucleation site density at −25 • C and a strong negative correlation between MnO and TiO 2 content at temperatures from −35 to −30 • C. The most efficient sample in the immersion mode has the highest surface area, smallest average grain size, highest K 2 O content, and lowest MnO content. These results indicate that although ash abundance-which creates more available surface area for nucleation-has a significant effect on immersion-mode freezing, composition may also contribute. Consequently, highly explosive eruptions of compositionally evolved magmas create the necessary parameters to promote ice nucleation on grain surfaces, which permits tribocharging due to ice-ice or ice-ash collisions, and contribute to the frequent occurrence of volcanic lightning within the eruptive column and plume during these events.

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Volcanic lightning and plume behavior reveal evolving hazards during the April 2015 eruption of Calbuco volcano, Chile

Cited by 123 publications

References 44 publications

Lightning Effects on the Grain Size Distribution of Volcanic Ash

Lightning Effects on the Grain Size Distribution of Volcanic Ash

Lightning detection on Venus: a critical review

Compositional and Mineralogical Effects on Ice Nucleation Activity of Volcanic Ash

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