252
IRUS Total
Downloads
  Altmetric

30 years in the life of an active submarine volcano: A time-lapse bathymetry study of the Kick-‘em-Jenny Volcano, Lesser Antilles

File Description SizeFormat 
2017GC007270.pdfPublished version4.57 MBAdobe PDFView/Open
Title: 30 years in the life of an active submarine volcano: A time-lapse bathymetry study of the Kick-‘em-Jenny Volcano, Lesser Antilles
Authors: Allen, RW
Berry, C
Henstock, T
Collier, JS
Dondin, FJ-Y
Rietbrock, A
Latchman, JL
Robertson, REA
Item Type: Journal Article
Abstract: Effective monitoring is an essential part of identifying and mitigating volcanic hazards. In the submarine environment this is more difficult than onshore because observations are typically limited to land-based seismic networks and infrequent shipboard surveys. Since the first recorded eruption in 1939, the Kick-‘em-Jenny (KeJ) volcano, located 8km off northern Grenada, has been the source of 13 episodes of T-phase signals. These distinctive seismic signals, often coincident with heightened body-wave seismicity, are interpreted as extrusive eruptions. They have occurred with a recurrence interval of around a decade, yet direct confirmation of volcanism has been rare. By conducting new bathymetric surveys in 2016 and 2017 and reprocessing 4 legacy datasets spanning 30 years we present a clearer picture of the development of KeJ through time. Processed grids with a cell size of 5m and vertical precision on the order of 1-4m allow us to correlate T-phase episodes with morphological changes at the volcano's edifice. In the time-period of observation 7.09x106 m3 of material has been added through constructive volcanism – yet 5 times this amount has been lost through landslides. Limited recent magma production suggests that KeJ may be susceptible to larger eruptions with longer repeat times than have occurred during the study interval, behavior more similar to sub-aerial volcanism in the arc than previously thought. T-phase signals at KeJ have a varied origin and are unlikely to be solely the result of extrusive submarine eruptions. Our results confirm the value of repeat swath bathymetry surveys in assessing submarine volcanic hazards.
Issue Date: 1-Mar-2018
Date of Acceptance: 3-Feb-2018
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/57046
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2017GC007270
ISSN: 1525-2027
Publisher: American Geophysical Union
Start Page: 715
End Page: 731
Journal / Book Title: G3: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
Volume: 19
Issue: 3
Copyright Statement: © 2018. The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Sponsor/Funder: Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Funder's Grant Number: NE/K010743/1
Keywords: 04 Earth Sciences
02 Physical Sciences
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Publication Status: Published
Open Access location: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017GC007270/pdf
Online Publication Date: 2018-02-09
Appears in Collections:Earth Science and Engineering
Faculty of Engineering