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Shaded relief map of Yellowstone National Park (outlined in solid black line) with seismicity in 2017 (open circles), roads (yellow lines), boundary of caldera that formed 631,000 years ago (dashed line), gravity stations occupied in 2017 (red circles), resurgent domes (labeled green ellipses), and continuous GNSS stations utilized in this study (labeled white triangles). Dashed gray box shows area depicted in Figure 5.
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Microgravity time series at active volcanoes can provide an indication of mass change related to subsurface magmatic processes, but uncertainty is often introduced by hydrologic variations and other noise sources that cannot easily be isolated. We empirically assessed seasonality and noise by conducting four surveys over the course of May–October 2...
Citations
... del Maule (Chile) have been processed in their entirety using the gTOOLS software. (Calahorrano-Di Patre et al., 2017;Poland and de Zeeuw-van Dalfsen, 2019;Trevino et al., 2021). Although designed for volcano observatories, the software can be readily employed in any field that monitors sub-surface mass flow. ...
gTOOLS is an open-source software for the processing of relative gravity data. gTOOLS is available in MATLAB and as a compiled executable to be run under the free MATLAB Runtime Compiler. The software has been designed for time-lapse (temporal) gravity monitoring. Although programmed to read the Scintrex CG-5 and CG-6 gravimeters output data files, it can be easily modified to read data files from other gravimeters. The software binds together single-task processing modules within a very simple user interface that is based on one text file Gravity processing involves three modules: (1) gravimeter calibration; (2) automatic processing of gravity data to find adjusted gravity differences; and (3) post processing of results. Each module is optional and runs independently from the others. Data processing includes (a) averaging out the measurements noise, and correction for solid Earth tides, and ocean loading, and residual instrumental drift, and (b) calculate the residual instrumental drift and gravity differences between the base station and monitoring sites, and their uncertainties, by a weighted least square analysis of the gravity data. The software allows the automatic processing of a gravity campaign spanning multiple days in a single run. The software is tested on gravity data from 2015 eruption at Cotopaxi volcano, Ecuador.
... Micro-gravity data were only measured during 2007-2012 (Farrell, 2014), and then since 2017 (Poland & Zeeuw-van Dalfsen, 2019). The 2007-2012 data did not show clear gravity changes but as the data did not include high quality elevation measurements for each gravity station, it did not provide insights on any particular geological process (Poland & Zeeuw-van Dalfsen, 2019). ...
... Micro-gravity data were only measured during 2007-2012 (Farrell, 2014), and then since 2017 (Poland & Zeeuw-van Dalfsen, 2019). The 2007-2012 data did not show clear gravity changes but as the data did not include high quality elevation measurements for each gravity station, it did not provide insights on any particular geological process (Poland & Zeeuw-van Dalfsen, 2019). Therefore the gravity data cannot be directly compared with the InSAR and GPS observations during 2004-2009. ...
The 2004–2009 caldera uplift is the largest instrumentally recorded episode of unrest at Yellowstone caldera. We use GPS and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) time series spanning 2004–2015, with a focus in the aforementioned event to understand the mechanisms of unrest. InSAR data recorded ∼25 and ∼20 cm of uplift at the Sour Creek (SCD) and Mallard Lake (MLD) resurgent domes during 2004–2009, and ∼8 cm of subsidence at the Norris Geyser Basin (NGB) during 2004–2008. The SCD/MLD uplift was followed by subsidence across the caldera floor with a maximum at MLD of ∼1.5–2.5 cm/yr, and no deformation at NGB. The best‐fit source models for the 2004–2009 period are two horizontal sills at depths of ∼8.7 and 10.6 km for the caldera source and NGB, respectively, with volume changes of 0.354 and −0.121 km³, and an overpressure of ∼0.1 MPa. The InSAR and GPS time series record exponentially increasing followed by exponentially decreasing uplift between 2004 and 2009, which is indicative of magma injection into the caldera reservoir, with no need for other mechanisms of unrest. However, magma extraction from NGB to the caldera is unable to explain the subsidence coeval with the caldera uplift. Models of magma injection can also explain other episodes of caldera uplift like that in 2014–2015. Distributed sill opening models show that magma is stored across the caldera source with no clear boundary between MLD and SCD. Since the magma overpressure is orders of magnitude below the tensile strength of the encasing rock, historical episodes of unrest like these are very unlikely to trigger an eruption.
... The most common source of non-magmatic gravity change is variation in groundwater levels over time-a factor that can be assessed via data from water wells (e.g., Battaglia et al., 1999) or models of groundwater recharge due to precipitation (e.g., Battaglia et al., 2006). A thorough accounting of "nuisance" sources is needed before any gravity change can be interpreted as due to subsurface magmatic activity (e.g., Poland and de Zeeuw-van Dalfsen, 2019). ...
Since the beginning of the 20th century, volcano geodesy has evolved from time- and personnel-intensive methods for collecting discrete measurements to automated and/or remote tools that provide data with exceptional spatiotemporal resolution. By acknowledging and overcoming limitations related to data collection and interpretation, geodesy becomes a powerful tool for forecasting the onset and tracking the evolution of volcanic eruptions. In addition, geodetic data can be used for novel applications, such as mapping surface and topographic change due to the emplacement of volcanic deposits, detecting volcanic plumes, and constraining the properties of magmatic systems. These collective capabilities provide critical support for understanding magmatic processes at erupting volcanoes, while also offering important baseline data in advance of potential volcanic unrest. Future developments in volcano geodesy will involve not just new technology, but also advanced modeling and automated analysis methods that will provide a new understanding of the volcanic activity.
Results from nine microgravity campaigns from Kı̄lauea, Hawaiʻi, spanning most of the volcano's 2008–2018 summit eruption, indicate persistent mass accumulation at shallow levels. A weighted least squares approach is used to recover microgravity results from a network of benchmarks around Kı̄lauea's summit, eliminate instrumental drift, and restore suspected data tares. A total mass of 1.9 × 10¹¹ kg was determined from these microgravity campaigns to have accumulated below Kı̄lauea Caldera during 2009–2015 at an estimated depth of 1.3 km below sea level. Only a fraction of this mass is reflected in surface deformation, and this is consistent with previously reported discrepancies between subsurface mass accumulation and observed surface deformation. The discrepancy, amongst other independent evidence from gas emissions, seismicity, and continuous gravimetry, indicate densification of magma in the reservoirs below the volcano summit. This densification may have been driven by degassing through the summit vent. It is hypothesized that during the final years of the summit eruption, magma densification resulted in a buildup of pressure in the reservoirs that may have contributed to the lower East Rift Zone outbreak of 2018. The observed mass accumulation beneath Kı̄lauea could not have been detected through other techniques and illustrates the importance of microgravity measurements in volcano monitoring.
Long Valley Caldera has been restless since at least 1978. Prominent symptoms of this unrest include earthquake swarms and tumescence (inflation) centered on the resurgent dome. Over the years, interpretations of physical processes underlying this unrest have varied considerably. Results from a collection of geophysical studies infer the presence and/or active intrusion of magma in the crust. Geologic evidence, however, does not support recent magmatic activity in the caldera, leading to an interpretation that the caldera volcanic system is moribund, and the current unrest is a result of second boiling (aqueous fluids released during crystallization of the rhyolitic magma that produced the Bishop Tuff). Here, we examine the collective constraints provided by geophysical studies over the past four decades. Although the current geophysical evidence does not conclusively discriminate between unrest driven by recent crustal magmatic intrusion versus second boiling, it does provide evidence that a large volume of partial melt persists within the mid- and lower crust. This implies that the Long Valley Caldera system as a whole is long-lived, and the magma reservoir remains at least partially molten. In the shallow crust, the possibility of small pockets of magma remains. In aggregate, the data suggest commonality with other large, long-lived silicic caldera systems, such as Yellowstone and Campi Flegrei. Although the possibility of eruption within Long Valley Caldera remains unlikely, the geophysical evidence argues that Long Valley has an active magmatic system at depth and we must retain the possibility of eruptive hazards.
We conducted gravity surveys of the summit area of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaiʻi, in November 2018 and March 2019, with the goal of determining whether there was any mass change at depth following the volcano's May–August 2018 caldera collapse. Surface deformation between the two surveys was minimal, but we measured a gravity increase (maximum 44 μGal) centered on the caldera that can be modeled as mass accumulation in a region ~1 km beneath the surface. We interpret this mass increase to be mostly magma accumulation in void space that was created during the summit collapse. Caldera uplift was evident by April 2019, indicating that the magma volume had reached a point where pressurization could be sustained. Modeled gravity change suggests a maximum magma storage rate at Kīlauea's summit during November 2018 to March 2019 that is much less than the pre‐2018 magma supply rate to the volcano.
