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Shallow axial magma chamber at the slow-spreading Erta Ale Ridge

Nature Geoscience volume 5, pages 284–288 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

The existence of elongated, shallow magma chambers beneath the axes of fast-spreading mid-ocean ridges is well established1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. Yet, at slow-spreading ridges such shallow and elongated magma chambers are much less evident9,10. Simple thermal models8 therefore predict that spreading velocity and magma supply may provide the main controls on magma-chamber depth and morphology. Here we use interferometric synthetic aperture radar data to investigate the dynamics of the magma chamber beneath the slow-spreading Erta Ale segment of the Ethiopian Rift. We show that an eruption from Alu–Dalafilla in November 2008 was sourced from a shallow, 1 km deep, elongated magma chamber that is divided into two segments. The eruption was probably triggered by a small influx of magma into the northern segment. Both segments of the magma chamber fed the main eruption through a connecting dyke and both segments have been refilling rapidly since the eruption ended. Our results support the presence of independent sources of magma supply to segmented chambers located along the axes of spreading centres11. However, the existence of a shallow, elongated axial chamber at Erta Ale indicates that spreading rate and magma supply may not be the only controls on magma-chamber characteristics.

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Figure 1: Location of the Erta Ale volcanic segment.
Figure 2: Co-eruptive InSAR data and models.
Figure 3: Time-evolving cumulative volume changes.

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Acknowledgements

Our work is supported by Natural Environment Research Council grants NE/D008611/1, NE/D01039X/1 and NE/E007414/1, National Science Foundation grants EAR-0635789 and EAR-0613651 and a Royal Society University Research Fellowship to T.J.W. We are grateful to D. Keir for the help in analysing the seismicity. SAR data copyright ESA from CAT 1 3435. Part of this research was performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. ALOS PALSAR data were provided by Alaska Satellite Facility and the ownership belongs to METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK

    Carolina Pagli, Tim J. Wright & Johnson R. Cann

  2. Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA

    Cynthia J. Ebinger

  3. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109, USA

    Sang-Ho Yun

  4. Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EN, UK

    Talfan Barnie

  5. Institute of Geophysics, Space Science and Astronomy, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Atalay Ayele

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  1. Carolina Pagli
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Contributions

C.P. processed and modelled the InSAR data, drafted the manuscript and prepared the figures. T.J.W. provided guidance for the modelling and in drafting the paper. He also provided the scripts of the non-uniform contraction/opening models and the Monte-Carlo simulation of correlated noise. C.J.E. did the seismic analysis and interpretation. S-H.Y. processed the ALOS interferogram. J.R.C. provided guidance in drafting the paper, in particular writing the abstract. T.B. analysed the ASTER, OMI and MODIS satellite images and he provided the thermal image of the lava flow in Fig. 1c. A.A. helped to write the paper. All authors contributed to developing the conclusions and implications in the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Carolina Pagli.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Pagli, C., Wright, T., Ebinger, C. et al. Shallow axial magma chamber at the slow-spreading Erta Ale Ridge. Nature Geosci 5, 284–288 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1414

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