a b s t r a c t KeywordsMasaya Hydrothermal Self-potential Wavelet Groundwater Volcano Masaya volcano, Nicaragua, is a persistently active volcano characterized by continuous passive degassing for more than 150 years through the open vent of Santiago crater. This study applies self-potential, soil CO 2 and ground temperature measurements to highlight the existence of uprising fluids associated to diffuse degassing structures throughout the volcano. The diffuse degassing areas are organized in a semi-circular pattern and coincide with several visible and inferred surface volcanic structures (cones, fissure vents) and likely consist of a network of buried faults and dykes that respectively channel uprising flow and act as barrier to gravitational groundwater flow. Water depths have been estimated by multi-scale wavelet tomography of the self-potential data using wavelets from the Poisson kernel family. Compared to previous water flow models, our water depth estimates are shallower and mimic the topography, typically less than 150 m below the surface. Between 2006 and 2010, the depths of rising fluids along the survey profiles remained stable suggesting that hydrothermal activity is in a steady state. This stable activity correlates well with the consistency of the volcanic activity expressed at the surface by the continuously passive degassing. When compared to previous structural models of the caldera floor, it appears that the diffuse degassing structures have an important effect on the path that shallow groundwater follows to reach the Laguna de Masaya in the eastern part of the caldera. The hydrogeological system is therefore more complex than previously published models and our new structural model implies that the flow of shallow groundwater must bypass the intrusions to reach the Laguna de Masaya. Furthermore, these diffuse degassing structures show clear evidence of activity and must be connected to a shallow magmatic or hydrothermal reservoir beneath the caldera. As such, the heat budget for Masaya must be significantly larger than previously estimated.
We conducted total magnetic field and Bouguer gravity measurements to investigate the shallow structure beneath the summit caldera of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai'i. Two significant and distinctive magnetic anomalies were identified within the caldera. One is interpreted to be associated with a long‐lived prehistoric eruptive center, the Observatory vent, located ~1 km east of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. The second magnetic anomaly corresponds to a set of eruptive fissures that strike northeast from Halema'uma'u Crater, suggesting this is an important transport pathway for magma. The Bouguer gravity data were inverted to produce 3‐D models of density contrasts in the upper 2 km beneath Kīlauea. The models detect 3.0 km3 of material, denser than 2800 kg m−3, beneath the caldera that may represent an intrusive complex centered northeast of Halema'uma'u. Recent temporal gravity studies indicate continual addition of mass beneath the caldera during 1975–2008 centered west of Halema'uma'u and suggest this is due to filling of void space. The growth of a large intrusive complex, apparent cyclical caldera formation, and continual mass addition without inflation, however, can also be explained by extensional rifting caused by the continual southward movement of Kīlauea's unstable south flank.
[1] Microgravity data were collected between 2002 and 2009 at the Three Sisters Volcanic Complex, Oregon, to investigate the causes of an ongoing deformation event west of South Sister volcano. Three different conceptual models have been proposed as the causal mechanism for the deformation event:(1) hydraulic uplift due to continual injection of magma at depth, (2) pressurization of hydrothermal systems and (3) viscoelastic response to an initial pressurization at depth. The gravitational effect of continual magma injection was modeled to be 20 to 33 mGal at the center of the deformation field with volumes based on previous deformation studies. The gravity time series, however, did not detect a mass increase suggesting that a viscoelactic response of the crust is the most likely cause for the deformation from 2002 to 2009. The crust, deeper than 3 km, in the Three Sisters region was modeled as a Maxwell viscoelastic material and the results suggest a dynamic viscosity between 10 18 to 5 Â 10 19 Pa s. This low crustal viscosity suggests that magma emplacement or stall depth is controlled by density and not the brittle ductile transition zone. Furthermore, these crustal properties and the observed geochemical composition gaps at Three Sisters can be best explained by different melt sources and limited magma mixing rather than fractional crystallization. More generally, low intrusion rates, low crustal viscosity, and multiple melt sources could also explain the whole rock compositional gaps observed at other arc volcanoes.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.