Exploring Volcanic Paroxysmal Explosive Activity From Magma Source to Ground and Atmosphere

Book excerpt: Paroxysmal explosive activity is one of the most spectacular natural phenomena, which is recognized as having strong impact not only at a local scale but whose effects can also reach far areas and, indeed, can significantly affect the atmosphere, and the environment in the overall. The most devastating and recent example occurred in 2010, when the Icelandic Eyiafjallajökull volcano erupted disrupting air traffic all over Europe and the North Atlantic for weeks. Between 2008 and 2013, the long-lasting eruption of Chaitén volcano in Chile produced plumes 14-20 km high reaching the coast of Argentina and causing ash fallout as far as 800 km from the vent, and the continuously erupting volcanoes of the Kamchatka Peninsula and of the Aleutian arc have caused often treats to air traffic. The eruption of Pinatubo (Philippines) in 1991 had a strong impact all over the globe, causing significant and measurable atmospheric perturbation and impacting the world temperature. More recently, Mount Etna in Italy displayed tens of paroxysmal explosive episodes affecting the air traffic, viability, settlements, environment, and economics. Over time, several studies have been devoted to understanding what drives paroxysmal explosive activity. Owning to the treating characteristics, so far great efforts have been made trying to detect precursory signals, parameterize the phenomena, apply conceptual and experimental models, and assess the associated hazards. Published papers have used (i) geophysical data aimed at constraining the source region (depth, size, and position), (ii) gas chemistry and mineral geochemistry and petrology to identify the driving force of explosions and characterize the nature of the involved magmas, (iii) volcanology data and observations as well as ground-based and satellite remote sensing to quantify the volumes of erupted products and track the eruptive process, and (iv) laboratory experiments and plume models to characterize the rheology of the erupted products and forecast the impact of the eruptive clouds on the environment, climate, and the whole planet. In this book, we present a collection of ten papers written by 67 authors spanning from seismicity and ground deformation to geochemistry, volcanology and other geophysical techniques applied to the characterization of paroxysms at several active volcanoes.