Lava flow hazards at Mount Etna: constraints imposed by eruptive history and numerical simulations

Negro, Ciro Del; Cappello, Annalisa; Neri, Marco; Bilotta, Giuseppe; Hérault, Alexis; Ganci, Gaetana

doi:10.1038/srep03493

Cited by 81 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…In particular, with reference to lava-flow hazards, the project LAVA was run to improve the lava-flow modelling techniques and to produce hazard maps that could be dynamically upgraded. Within this broad and fruitful framework, the INGV focused their research efforts on developing new efficient methods of detecting hotspots from satellite images, transforming these data into effusion rates, and applying these results to routines that produce reliable deterministic lava-flow simulations using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) approach Ganci et al 2012b;Del Negro et al 2013) and probabilistic modelling of future eruptions (Cappello et al 2011(Cappello et al , 2012. In addition, we greatly expanded the network of fixed visible cameras, also adding several fixed thermal cameras that allow any eruptive event to be recognized rapidly (e.g.…”

Section: Conclusive Remarksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hazard mitigation and crisis management during major flank eruptions at Etna volcano: reporting on real experience

Bonaccorso

Calvari

Boschi

2015

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Etna volcano is characterized by frequent effusive eruptions from the summit craters or from flank fissures, and these have often threatened villages, infrastructures and tourist facilities. Considerable experience of lava-flow mitigation has been gained by scientists working on this volcano, and in this paper we principally discuss the problems arising from lava flows emplaced during the 2002-03 flank eruption, when eruptive fissures opened both on the northern and southern flanks of the volcano, feeding lava flows towards several villages, tourist facilities and forests. We highlight the importance of the monitoring system to follow the spreading of eruptive fissures and predict when they stopped propagating. We illustrate the value of thermal mapping in identifying active lava flows, in measuring effusion rates to estimate the maximum distance that flows can travel, and in obtaining reliable lava-flow simulations in real time in order to predict possible paths of the lava flow and to adopt the most appropriate solutions to limit its damage. Collaborations between scientists from different institutions and fields once again proved essential to understand and model the eruptive processes, to mitigate hazards and to obtain the best results.

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Section: Conclusive Remarksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hazard mitigation and crisis management during major flank eruptions at Etna volcano: reporting on real experience

Bonaccorso

Calvari

Boschi

2015

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“…Generally, this information consists of: (i) the location of the hotspot(s); (ii) the area and temperature of the heat source; (iii) the excess of 'radiance' or heat flux(s); and (iv) the mass or volume flux(s). This data can be used to help reduce eruption-related hazards to lives and property and, in the case of effusive activity, provide essential input parameters for numerical models that predict the path of lava flows (Favalli et al 2005;Wright et al 2008;Proietti et al 2009;Vicari et al 2009;Ganci et al 2012b;Del Negro et al 2013). Lava flows can cause a major decrease in agricultural productivity and considerable damage to property, and, in some cases, they may also cause a significant number of deaths, such as during the 1977 and 2002 eruptions of Nyiragongo volcano (IRIS 2002;Baxter 2011).…”

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confidence: 99%

Enhanced volcanic hot-spot detection using MODIS IR data: results from the MIROVA system

et al. 2015

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We describe a new volcanic hotspot detection system, named Middle InfraRed Observation of Volcanic Activity (MIROVA), based on the analysis of infrared data acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer sensor (MODIS). MIROVA uses the middle infrared radiation (MIR), measured by MODIS, in order to detect and measure the heat radiation deriving from volcanic activity. The algorithm combines spectral and spatial principles, allowing the detection of heat sources from 1 megawatt (MW) to more than 10 gigawatt (GW). This provides a unique opportunity to: (i) recognize small-scale variations in thermal output that may precede the onset of effusive activity; (ii) track the advance of large lava flows; (iii) estimate lava discharge rates; (iv) identify distinct effusive trends; and, lastly, (v) follow the cooling process of voluminous lava bodies for several months. Here we show the results obtained from data sets spanning 14 years recorded at the Stromboli and Mt Etna volcanoes, Italy, and we investigate the above aspects at these two persistently active volcanoes. Finally, we describe how the algorithm has been implemented within an operational near-real-time processing chain that enables the MIROVA system to provide data and infrared maps within 1 -4 h of the satellite overpass.

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“…Etna today has a central conduit that feeds four summit craters named Voragine (VOR; formed in 1945 inside the former Central Crater), Northeast Crater (NEC;1911), Bocca Nuova (BN;1968) and Southeast Crater (SEC; 1971); the latter has been the most active in recent decades with the growth of a huge new cone on its southeast flank, named the New Southeast Crater (NSEC;2007;Del Negro et al, 2013). Volcanic events from any of these summit craters are known as summit eruptions (Acocella and Neri, 2003, and references therein).…”

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic feeder dyke systems in basaltic volcanoes: the exceptional example of the 1809 Etna eruption (Italy)

Geshi

Neri

2014

Front. Earth Sci.

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The detection and understanding of the movement of magma at very shallow levels remains one of the most fascinating challenges of modern volcanology, because such information allows us to identify and circumscribe the most probable location where future eruptive vents will open. Unfortunately, it is rarely possible to observe any detail of the internal structure of the feeder system of recent eruptions; in only very few cases, geological observations in dissected volcanoes can help us imagine how magma moved and evolved inside the feeder system. In this paper, we describe the 1809 eruption of Mt. Etna, Italy, which represents one historical and rare case in which it is possible to closely observe the internal structure of the feeder system. This is possible thanks to the presence of two large pit craters located in the middle of the eruptive fracture field that allow studying a section of the shallow feeder system. Along the walls of one of these craters, we analyzed well-exposed cross sections of the uppermost 15-20 m of the feeder system and related volcanic products. Here, we describe the structure, morphology and lithology of this portion of the 1809 feeder system, including the host rock which conditioned the propagation of the dyke, and compare the results with other recent eruptions. Finally, we propose a dynamic model of the magma behavior inside a laterally-propagating feeder dyke, demonstrating how this dynamic triggered important changes in the eruptive style (from effusive/Strombolian to phreatomagmatic) during the same eruption. This is therefore an exceptional case to understand how basaltic magmas move during the propagation of an eruptive fissure, which furnishes fundamental elements for the modeling of superficial intrusive processes. Our results are also useful for hazard assessment related to the development of flank eruptions, potentially the most hazardous type of eruption from basaltic volcanoes in densely urbanized areas.

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Lava flow hazards at Mount Etna: constraints imposed by eruptive history and numerical simulations

Cited by 81 publications

References 37 publications

Hazard mitigation and crisis management during major flank eruptions at Etna volcano: reporting on real experience

Hazard mitigation and crisis management during major flank eruptions at Etna volcano: reporting on real experience

Enhanced volcanic hot-spot detection using MODIS IR data: results from the MIROVA system

Dynamic feeder dyke systems in basaltic volcanoes: the exceptional example of the 1809 Etna eruption (Italy)

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