Journal article
The coupled magmatic and hydrothermal systems of the restless Aluto caldera, Ethiopia
- Abstract:
- Seismicity can be used to better understand interactions between magma bodies, hydrothermal systems and their host rocks—key factors influencing volcanic unrest. Here, we use earthquake data to image, for the first time, the seismic velocity structure beneath Aluto, a deforming volcano in the Main Ethiopian Rift. Traveltime tomography is used to jointly relocate seismicity and image 3D P- and S-wave velocity structures and the ratio between them (VP/VS). At depths of 4–9 km, the seismicity maps the top of a large low velocity zone with high VP/VS, which we interpret as a more ductile and melt-bearing region. A shallow (<3 km) hydrothermal system exhibits low seismic velocities and very low VP/VS (∼1.40), consistent with the presence of gases exsolved from a deeper melt-rich mush body. The Artu Jawe fault and fracture system provides the migration pathway that connects the deeper mush body with the shallow hydrothermal system. Together, these observations demonstrate that the interaction between magmatic and hydrothermal systems, driven by the exchange of fluids, is responsible for the restless behavior of Aluto.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
Actions
Access Document
- Files:
-
-
(Preview, Version of record, 4.9MB, Terms of use)
-
- Publisher copy:
- 10.3389/feart.2020.579699
Authors
- Publisher:
- Frontiers Media
- Journal:
- Frontiers in Earth Science More from this journal
- Volume:
- 8
- Article number:
- 579699
- Publication date:
- 2020-10-14
- Acceptance date:
- 2020-09-02
- DOI:
- EISSN:
-
2296-6463
- Language:
-
English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
-
1136631
- Local pid:
-
pubs:1136631
- Deposit date:
-
2020-10-09
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Wilks, M et al.
- Copyright date:
- 2020
- Rights statement:
- © 2020 Wilks, Rawlinson, Kendall, Nowacki, Biggs, Ayele and Wookey. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
If you are the owner of this record, you can report an update to it here: Report update to this record