Lecture 5

Volcanoes
-Pragya
A volcano is a rupture or opening in the crust of any planet through which hot lava, volcanic ash, gases erupt mostly from a magma
chamber beneath the surface. Volcanoes may be active, dormant or extinct and are most often found where tectonic plates either
converge or diverge, and most are found underwater like in the mid-Atlantic ridge. There are 1500 potentially active volcanoes in the
world especially on the Pacific Ring of Fire. Out of these 1500 active volcanoes, 111 are in Japan and 50 of them are always
monitored as on an average, a total of 15 volcanic events including eruptions occur every year in Japan. There are only 2 active
volcanoes in India – Barren Island and Baratang Island Mud volcano.
Tectonic earthquakes may trigger volcanic activity. Iceland, one of the most geographically active
regions of the world, on 10th November 2023, declared a state of emergency after it was rocked
by a series of 800 powerful earthquakes in a span of 14 hours. Accumulation of magma at a
depth of 5km underground beneath the town of Grindavik in Fagradalsfjall area was observed.
This site was dormant for 8 centuries until eruptions in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Dormant volcanoes
like Mt Fuji, Japan and Narcondam Island, India have not erupted for a very long time but may
erupt in the future and hence are monitored. People in the area have been asked to evacuate
the town.
Damages due to volcanic eruption: When gases like water vapor, carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide etc. inside a volcano's magma
chamber expand, they violently push molten rock (magma) up and out of the volcano. This magma cools and solidifies into volcanic
rock and glass fragments and gives out volcanic ash. Since volcanic ash consists of tiny fragments (2 mm or less) of rock, minerals,
sand and tephra, it does not dissolve in water and when mixed with solidified lava fragments, creates an ash cloud which can be
easily carried by the wind. This reduces the visibility drastically and poses a threat to human’s respiratory system and other
ecosystems. These deposits are thicker closer to the eruption area and maybe upto 10 cm in far areas. When mixed with rain, acid
rain falls and causes damage to buildings, vehicles, fields etc. Additionally, a pyroclastic flow can also be there in an explosive
eruption which is so fast (speed more than 100 kmph) that it causes mudslides and may lead to severe damage to infrastructure and
can completely disrupt the basic facilities like power, water, transportation etc.
However, “new islands” are also created due to volcanic eruptions, mostly submarine eruptions. As
per the latest reports, an unnamed undersea volcano near southern coast of Iwo Jima erupted and
lead to the formation of anew island 328 feet in diameter and 66 feet above the sea. These types of
new islands generally vanish after volcanic activity stops. Similar islands have been formed off Japan
in 1904, 1914 and 1986 but later vanished.
Prediction and Monitoring: In Japan, JMA has deployed seismographs and other instruments in the
vicinity of 50 active volcanoes. Regular patrolling is done by the teams to observe volcanic anomalies. Japan has 4 volcanic
observation and warning centres to detect, observe and analyze unusual volcanic phenomena. JMA issues volcanic warnings and
volcanic forecasts for areas of expected volcanic disasters (to identify potentially affected areas) and less active volcanoes
respectively. JMA has also deployed aerial tremor observation to detect the vibrations in air due to earthquakes. Distant observation
by surveillance cameras which transmits images even at night time are used by JMA to monitor volcanic activity. Crustal deformation
is measured using inclinometer which measures the inclination of a mountain body due to intrusion of magma under volcanic body
and using GNSS. Synthetic aperture radar(SAR) monitors the crustal deformation by interferometric SAR time series analysis. It
reveals the minute movements (size and range) of the earth’s surface. The change in distance is represented by the phase difference
of the radio waves, which are assigned colors according to the phase. Therefore, fluctuations in the earth's surface are represented
by striped images (SAR interferometric images), and the variation is greater in the center of the stripes. Further, thermal activity is
observed by measuring the ground surface temperature around the crater using infrared thermal imaging device. Helicopters and
aircrafts are used to observe the inside of the crater and geothermal areas from the sky using infrared thermal imaging equipment.
The survey of volcanic gases and the ejected material is done. In India, thermal anomalies in Barren Island were taken from the
Suomi NPP/VIIRS sensor data, MODVOLC thermal alerts and MIROVA thermal anomaly data before the eruption in 2022.
Warning and Evacuation: JMA has a robust forecast and warning system in case of an
impending volcanic eruption. Japan has in place comprehensive measures against volcanic
eruptions which comprise of hard measures and soft measure. Hard measures include
installation of volcanic facilities to minimize damage caused due to volcanic mudflows and
debris flows. For this, flowing embankments and idle sand areas and silt type
embankment and floor solidification has been done. Because of the time shortage after
the eruption, preventive evacuation is extremely important. For this, alert system is
important. Alert messages are sent via radio, TV, mobiles etc to the people. Further,
sediment disaster prediction area map based on a simulation of a landslide disaster
caused by the eruption has been made. Surveillance camers are used to conduct emergency surveys. People are advised by JMA, in
case of such an event, to stay indoors for atleast two weeks till the ash settles down.

Lecture 5

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Volcanoes

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