Coupled Use of COSPEC and Satellite Measurements to define the Volumetric Balance During Effusive Eruptions at Mt. Etna, Italy

Abstract

Mt. Etna is one of the most studied and extensively monitored volcanoes on earth (Bonaccorso et al., 2004). One of the most frequent hazards are due to the eruption of lava flows, more specifically those flows produced during flank eruptions. These eruptions potentially can produce extensive flows that can inundate densely populated communities of the lower slopes (Guest and Murray, 1979; Behncke et al., 2005). Satellite remote sensing can be used during effusive eruptions to help monitoring the volcano, by determining effusion rates of the flows, aiding in hazard management. The degassing that takes place when magma is rising to the surface can be regularly monitored using ultraviolet spectroscopic methods (e.g. Andres et al., 2001, Sutton et al., 2001). Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) fluxes have been derived from correlation spectrometer (COSPEC) measurements at Mt. Etna (Italy) on a regular basis since 1987 (e.g. Caltabiano et al., 1994; Allard, 1997; Andronico et al., 2005; Burton et al., 2005; Burton et al., in press). Previous studies have compared field-based effusion rates with the measured SO2 fluxes to determine how much of the degassed magma is erupted onto Etna’s flanks in the form of lava flows (Allard, 1997; Harris et al., 2000). However, most of these studies examine bulk volumes erupted over an eruption rather than examining the short-term variations during eruptions. Determining the amount of lava erupted and/or the balance between the amount supplied and the amount erupted remains an unresolved issue. The main objectives of this paper are to examine such short-term variations using satellite-based effusion rates along with regularly measured SO2 fluxes. Using these measurements we determine how and when the volume of supplied magma is balanced by the volume of erupted lava during individual effusive eruptions