CONTACT: Dr Janine Kavanagh, janine.kavanagh@liverpool.ac.uk
Research Theme
When a volcano shows signs of activity, there is an urgent need to understand the timeline for a potential eruption and how best to communicate the associated risks and hazards to the local communities.
Our multidisciplinary Volcanology team combines earth scientists and geographers who work together when an eruption occurs to constrain how it will evolve and the societal impacts it will have on the surrounding populations.
Our combined expertise includes understanding the physical and chemical signatures of an eruption alongside assessing the vulnerability and resilience of communities affected by volcanism and how this influences policies and practices of disaster risk reduction and mitigation.
Research Team
Professor Silvio de Angelis, Professor of Volcano Seismology and an expert in volcano geophysics, particularly the use of acoustic and seismic data to interpret and model volcanic processes and hazards. His work has been influential in providing theoretical and practical foundations for real-time eruption detection and monitoring systems at volcano observatories worldwide.
Dr Katy Chamberlain, Lecturer in Igneous Petrology specialising in the use of in situ microanalytical techniques to yield insights into magmatic processes and their associated timings at a variety of volcanic scales and compositions.
Dr Janine Kavanagh, Reader in Volcanology and founder of the MAGMA Lab. She specialises in physical processes of magma ascent and volcanic plumbing system development, combining field geology with analogue experiments, numerical modelling and rock fabric analysis.
Dr Heather Sangster is a Senior Lecturer in Geohazards and a social volcanologist focussing on the use of historical and contemporary sources and environmental records to extend our knowledge of past eruptions and their societal impacts. Her works aims to inform planning of responses to future eruptions through the improved interaction between social scientists, civil defence authorities and the local communities.
Facilities and Expertise
Our facilities are state-of-the-art and we have an impressive equipment base for conducting laboratory and field experiments in volcanology:
Our well-equipped analogue modelling laboratory includes the latest instrumentation for fluid dynamics and rheological experiments, and includes customised equipment and setups that have been designed in-house. The Medusa Laser Imaging Facility hosts a state-of-the-art LaVision system for 2D, stereo and tomographic particle image velocimetry (PIV).
We have world-leading electron microscopy facilities for igneous mineralogy, textural analysis and composition constraints. Our experts working in the Scanning Electron Microscopy Shared Research Facility use state-of-the-art microscopes to understand magmatic processes and model timescales of pre-eruptive processes.
We maintain a large pool of geophysical equipment, including 60 3-Component seismometers, 25 broadband seismometers, 4 high-precision tiltmeters, and more than 50 broadband acoustic sensors. We have a fleet of three Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles with thermal infrared capabilities. Additionally, we have extensive computing resources to support real-time seismic data acquisition and processing systems and cluster workstations for complex numerical modelling tasks.
In partnership with: INSIVUMEH- the governmental agency responsible for monitoring of geological hazards in Guatemala
Challenge
How to effectively monitor volcanoes, and issue warnings of volcanic eruptions.
Solution
Liverpool’s work at Santiaguito and other volcanoes highlighted the value and potential of seismic and infrasound data as a powerful diagnostic for volcanic unrest and as a real-time monitoring tool during volcanic crises. Focussed on investigating the mechanisms of infrasound generation and propagation at active volcanoes, our team successfully explored the use of acoustic data for real-time monitoring of eruptive activity. We demonstrated that infrasound holds potential to inform early warning over periods of hours to minutes before the onset of the peak phase of activity at volcanoes.
Impact
Frontier research at the University of Liverpool has informed the implementation of operational volcano monitoring systems in Guatemala by developing techniques and practices that utilise seismic and acoustic data for real-time assessment of volcanic activity. In 2018, the adoption of our new methods by INSIVUMEH changed volcano monitoring practice and influenced decision making for the management of hazard areas near active volcanoes in the country. On 19 November 2018, the timely detection of intensifying activity by the new monitoring systems informed an evacuation, and protected 3,925 people whose lives were under threat by eruptive activity at Volcan de Fuego in Guatemala.