Scientists use 4D scanning to predict behavior of volcanoes

The Outcomes explicate why certain lava tides can cover kilometers in just a few hours, whilst others travel more slowly during an eruption, highlighting the hazard posed by fast-moving flows which often pose the most danger to neutral populaces close to volcanoes.

The research, which is being led by The University of Manchester, is studying the processes which happen during crystallization in basaltic magmas using 4D synchrotron X-ray micro tomography. It is the first time this kind of 4D scanning technology has been used for investigating crystallization during volcanic eruptions and for simulating the behavior of a natural lava flow. The study was recently published in Nature Scientific Reports.

Monitored Crystallization in magmas, a fundamental process that drives eruptions and controls different kinds of volcanic activity. Using this new and novel approach and technology they can, for the first time, watch the crystals grow in 3D in real-time, simulating the behavior of lava flows once a volcano has erupted. The process is similar to scenes recently witnessed at Kilauea in Hawaii.

Rarer minerals existing in the lava means the eruption will speed up, theoretically fetching more powerful and devastating. Our research and this new approach open an entirely new frontier in the study of volcanic processes. To study the rate of crystal growth the team set up a sample from a real eruption in a high temperature cell, before performing X-ray CAT scans whilst controlling the temperature of the magma. This allowed the team to visualize the formation and growth of crystals, and measure how quickly they grew.

By this process and expertise the investigators can gather hundreds of 3D images during a single research. This record is then used in composite, arithmetical replicas to fully describe the behavior of volcanic explosions more realistically.