Patterns in open vent, strombolian behavior at Fuego volcano, Guatemala, 2005–2007

Abstract

Fuego volcano, Guatemala is a high (3,800 m) composite volcano that erupts gas-rich, high-Al basalt, often explosively. It spends many years in an essentially open vent condition, but this activity has not been extensively observed or recorded until now. The volcano towers above a region with several tens of thousands of people, so that patterns in its activity might have hazard mitigation applications. We conducted 2 years of continuous observations at Fuego (2005Fuego ( -2007 during which time the activity consisted of minor explosions, persistent degassing, paroxysmal eruptions, and lava flows. Radiant heat output from MODIS correlates well with observed changes in eruptive behavior, particularly during abrupt changes from passive lava effusion to paroxysmal eruptions. A short-period seismometer and two low-frequency microphones installed during the final 6 months of the study period recorded persistent volcanic tremor (1-3 Hz) and a variety of explosive eruptions. The remarkable correlation between seismic tremor, thermal output, and daily observational data defines a pattern of repeating eruptive behavior: 1) passive lava effusion and subordinate strombolian explosions, followed by 2) paroxysmal eruptions that produced sustained eruptive columns, long, rapidly emplaced lava flows, and block and ash flows, and finally 3) periods of discrete degassing explosions with no lava effusion. This study demonstrates the utility of lowcost observations and ground-based and satellite-based remote sensing for identifying changes in volcanic activity in remote regions of underdeveloped countries.

Lava effusion — A slow fuse for paroxysms at Stromboli volcano?

“…They may be more widespread than realised, however. For instance, paroxysms of comparable magnitude to Stromboli's have been observed at Fuego in Guatemala (Lyons et al, 2010) and Vesuvius in 1944 (Hazlett et al, 1991), where paroxysms consistently followed the onset of effusive eruptions.…”

Joint analysis of infrasound and seismic signals by cross wavelet transform: detection of Mt. Etna explosive activity

“…Arrowsmith et al, 2010). In particular, strombolian activity produces excess pressures recorded within a few kilometers of a vent, such as at Stromboli (Ripepe and Marchetti, 2002), Pacaya (Dalton et al, 2010), Fuego (Lyons et al, 2010), Tungurahua (Fee et al, 2010) and Mt. Etna (Cannata et al, 2009).…”

Volcanic ash fall events identified using principal component analysis of a high-resolution speleothem trace element dataset

“…Volcán de Fuego in Guatemala began a period of increased activity in May 1999 with a VEI 2 244 eruption (Lyons et al, 2009). This eruption produced a small but detectable increase in aerosol levels 245 and is subsequently followed by a spike in PC1 scores.…”