A volcano that has been dormant for over 250,000 years may not be as dead as it appears.
Under the tall peak of Uturunk in the province of Surlipes in Bolivia, scientists slowly head upwards underground, making them realize what is happening in the underground magma chamber.
“When people see a volcano, they’re like, ‘Oh, if it’s going to erupt, we’re not interested in it.” But in reality, the volcano that appears to be dead on the surface is not dead underneath it.” Geophysicist Matthew Pritchard says At Cornell University.
“There are still processes going on, and the utruncu process is particularly interesting as it tells us about liquids and gases that may become reservoirs of minerals that could be useful for the technology, or are still moving today.”
The utruncu is a kind of zombie volcano. It is considered dormant because its last eruption dated 15 million years ago…but still, it shows signs of life.
Over the past decades, it has been recorded by purring with seismic activity and exhaling gas feathers rather than particularly reassuring activity from the volcano.
All this activity transforms the landscape around Uturunk into what scientists describe as sombrero-like shapes, with volcanic peaks in the center, and surrounding land sinking to low elevations.
Signs of activity from a large volcano guarantee the investigation to a warrant. Humans, especially those living nearby, need to know if they are at risk from the impending explosive eruption. So, an international team of scientists used a variety of techniques to figure out what was going on under the Uturuncu and see if they needed to worry.
The short version is good news. There’s nothing to worry about. Uturuncu may not be completely dead, but it won’t blow the stack off anytime soon.
Researchers mapped the plumbing system beneath the volcano using data from over 1,700 earthquakes in the surrounding area. This works like magnetic resonance imaging or X-ray imaging.
After an earthquake, the sound waves that bounce back the earth change depending on the composition of the material they move, allowing scientists to map different regions of solid minerals, hollow chambers, and liquids.
They combined this with previous geophysical imaging data and petrochemical analysis to perform rock physics modeling to reconstruct the activities occurring under the ground.
Their results show a shallow hydrothermal system beneath the volcano, with the warm water moving upward towards the surface. Beneath the crater is a reservoir with gas accumulation, pushing the surface up at a speed of about 1 cm (0.4 inches) a year.
This is information that will help scientists track deposits of minerals, such as copper, and study how they form.
“The idea is that the liquid flows through a melted rock, and then picks up some minerals along the way, then bring them out somewhere to deposit them.” Pritchard explains.
“I’m not too worried about this particular volcano erupting over the next few years, but I can see the process of this event in real time. Obviously, there are underground activities that may be economically useful at some point.”
The study also shows how combining multiple datasets and methods reveal hidden activities in seemingly inert volcanic systems, better assess the threat levels pose, and how they can last for years.
“Our analysis demonstrates the potential to integrate petrophysical and geophysical data in solving the structure of magmatic water temperature systems in volcanic crusts, which is important for volcanic risk assessments.” Researchers write in their papers.
“As shown in this study at Uturuncu volcano, interdisciplinary research is needed to better understand the underlying causes of volcanic anxiety and magmatic movements and the physics of the magmatic process.”
This study is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
