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Infrasound from giant bubbles during explosive submarine eruptions

Nature Geoscience volume 12, pages 952–958 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

Shallow submarine volcanoes pose unique scientific and monitoring challenges. The interaction between water and magma can create violent explosions just below the surface, but the inaccessibility of submerged volcanoes means they are typically not instrumented. This both increases the risk to marine and aviation traffic and leaves the underlying eruption physics poorly understood. Here we use low-frequency sound in the atmosphere (infrasound) to examine the source mechanics of shallow submarine explosions from Bogoslof volcano, Alaska. We show that the infrasound originates from the oscillation and rupture of magmatic gas bubbles that initially formed from submerged vents, but that grew and burst above sea level. We model the low-frequency signals as overpressurized gas bubbles that grow near the water–air interface, which require bubble radii of 50–220 m. Bubbles of this size and larger have been described in explosive subaqueous eruptions for more than a century, but we present a unique geophysical record of this phenomenon. We propose that the dominant role of seawater during the effusion of gas-rich magma into shallow water is to repeatedly produce a gas-tight seal near the vent. This resealing mechanism leads to sequences of violent explosions and the release of large, bubble-forming volumes of gas—activity we describe as hydrovulcanian.

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Fig. 1: Map of Bogoslof volcano and two satellite images of the partially submerged summit and crater during the eruption.
Fig. 2: Infrasound signals from an explosive eruption of Bogoslof on 13 June 2017.
Fig. 3: Results from modelling the Bogoslof infrasound signals as bubble oscillations.
Fig. 4: Schematic cartoon of the bubble cycle and stages of a hydrovulcanian explosion.

Data availability

Observations of volcanic activity were made by AVO and are detailed on its website (www.avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/volcinfo.php?volcname=Bogoslof). The infrasound data analysed in this study are available for download from the IRIS-DMC (http://ds.iris.edu/mda/AV/) or from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank AVO staff members for their contributions to the data presented here and numerous discussions about the Bogoslof activity during and following the eruption. Thanks to O. Lamb, L. Mastin and S. Vergniolle for insightful comments that helped refine the paper. Any use of trade, firm or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. US Geological Survey, Alaska Volcano Observatory, Anchorage, AK, USA

    John J. Lyons, Matthew M. Haney, Aaron G. Wech & Christopher F. Waythomas

  2. Geophysical Institute, Alaska Volcano Observatory, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA

    David Fee

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Contributions

J.J.L., M.M.H., D.F. and A.G.W. initiated the study and guided the investigation. J.J.L. and M.M.H. processed the data and performed the numerical modeling. A.G.W. and J.J.L. produced the map in Fig. 1a and C.F.W. processed the images for Fig. 1b,c. J.J.L. wrote the manuscript with input from all the co-authors.

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Correspondence to John J. Lyons.

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Lyons, J.J., Haney, M.M., Fee, D. et al. Infrasound from giant bubbles during explosive submarine eruptions. Nat. Geosci. 12, 952–958 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0461-0

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