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Scientific and public responses to the ongoing volcanic crisis at Popocatépetl Volcano, Mexico: Importance of an effective hazards-warning system

Volcanic eruptions and other potentially hazardous natural phenomena occur independently of any human actions. However, such phenomena can cause disasters when a society fails to foresee the hazardous manifestations and adopt adequate measures to reduce its vulnerability. One of the causes of such a failure is the lack of a consistent perception of the changing hazards posed by an ongoing eruption
Authors
Servando De la Cruz-Reyna, Robert I. Tilling

The dams come down: Unchaining U.S. Rivers

No abstract available.
Authors
J. O'Connor, Jon J. Major, G. Grant

Eruption dynamics at Mount St. Helens imaged from broadband seismic waveforms: Interaction of the shallow magmatic and hydrothermal systems

The current eruption at Mount St. Helens is characterized by dome building and shallow, repetitive, long-period (LP) earthquakes. Waveform cross-correlation reveals remarkable similarity for a majority of the earthquakes over periods of several weeks. Stacked spectra of these events display multiple peaks between 0.5 and 2 Hz that are common to most stations. Lower-amplitude very-long-period (VLP)
Authors
G.P. Waite, B. A. Chouet, P.B. Dawson

Broadband seismic measurements of degassing activity associated with lava effusion at Popocatépetl Volcano, Mexico

From November 1999 through July 2000, a broadband seismic experiment was carried out at Popocatépetl Volcano to record seismic activity over a wide period range (0.04–100 s). We present an overview of the seismicity recorded during this experiment and discuss results of analyses of long-period (LP) and very-long-period (VLP) seismic signals recorded at stations nearest to the crater over a four-mo
Authors
Alejandra Arciniega-Ceballos, Bernard A. Chouet, Phillip Dawson, Guenter Asch

Effects of scoria-cone eruptions upon nearby human communities

Scoria-cone eruptions are typically low in volume and explosivity compared with eruptions from stratovolcanoes, but they can affect local populations profoundly. Scoria-cone eruption effects vary dramatically due to eruption style, tephra blanket extent, climate, types of land use, the culture and complexity of the affected group, and resulting governmental action. A comparison of a historic erupt
Authors
M.H. Ort, M.D. Elson, K.C. Anderson, W. A. Duffield, J.A. Hooten, D. E. Champion, G. Waring

Effects of topography and crustal heterogeneities on the source estimation of LP event at Kilauea volcano

The main goal of this study is to improve the modelling of the source mechanism associated with the generation of long period (LP) signals in volcanic areas. Our intent is to evaluate the effects that detailed structural features of the volcanic models play in the generation of LP signal and the consequent retrieval of LP source characteristics. In particular, effects associated with the presence
Authors
S. Cesca, J. Battaglia, T. Dahm, E. Tessmer, S. Heimann, Paul G. Okubo

The Breccia Museo formation, Campi Flegrei, southern Italy: Geochronology, chemostratigraphy and relationship with the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption

The Breccia Museo is one of the most debated volcanic formations of the Campi Flegrei volcanic district. The deposit, made up of six distinctive stratigraphic units, has been interpreted by some as the proximal facies of the major caldera-forming Campanian Ignimbrite eruption, and by others as the product of several, more recent, independent and localized events. New geochemical and chemostratigra
Authors
L. Fedele, C. Scarpati, M. Lanphere, L. Melluso, V. Morra, A. Perrotta, G. Ricci

Mantle structure beneath the western edge of the Colorado Plateau

Teleseismic traveltime data are inverted for mantle Vp and Vs variations beneath a 1400 km long line of broadband seismometers extending from eastern New Mexico to western Utah. The model spans 600 km beneath the moho with resolution of ~50 km. Inversions show a sharp, large-magnitude velocity contrast across the Colorado Plateau-Great Basin transition extending ~200 km below the crust. Also image
Authors
C.R. Sine, D. Wilson, W. Gao, S.P. Grand, R. Aster, J. Ni, W. S. Baldridge

Swarms of similar long-period earthquakes in the mantle beneath Mauna Loa Volcano

We present analyses of two swarms of long-period (LP) earthquakes at > 30 km depth that accompanied the geodetically observed 2002–2005 Mauna Loa intrusion. The first LP earthquake swarm in 2002 consisted of 31 events that were precursory and preceded the start of Mauna Loa inflation; the second LP swarm of two thousand events occurred from 2004–2005. The rate of LP earthquakes slowed significantl
Authors
Paul G. Okubo, C.J. Wolfe

Recent extreme avalanches: Triggered by climate change?

On 25 September 2008, seismo meters operated by the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) registered strong ground shaking. On the basis of previous experience with such large seismic signals, AVO personnel were able to rapidly identify the seismic event as an avalanche. Two days later, an AVO overflight of Iliamna volcano, near Alaska's Cook Inlet, confirmed that a massive chunk of glacial ice and roc
Authors
C. Huggel, J. Caplan-Auerbach, Rick Wessels

Carbon dioxide of Pu`u`O`o volcanic plume at Kilauea retrieved by AVIRIS hyperspectral data

A remote sensing approach permits for the first time the derivation of a map of the carbon dioxide concentration in a volcanic plume. The airborne imaging remote sensing overcomes the typical difficulties associated with the ground measurements and permits rapid and large views of the volcanic processes together with the measurements of volatile components exolving from craters. Hyperspectral imag
Authors
C. Spinetti, V. Carrere, M. Fabrizia Buongiorno, A. J. Sutton, T. Elias

Using amphibole phenocrysts to track vapor transfer during magma crystallization and transport: An example from Mount St. Helens, Washington

In order to evaluate and further constrain models for volatile movement and vapor enrichment of magma stored at shallow levels, amphibole phenocrysts from 2004–2005 Mount St. Helens dacite were analyzed for major and selected trace elements (Li, Cu, Zn, Mn, and REE) and Li isotopes. Several recent studies have examined fluid-mobile trace element abundances in phencryst phases and melt inclusions a
Authors
M.C. Rowe, A.J.R. Kent, C.R. Thornber