Cascade Mountain
A new investigation “has detached” giant magma reservoirs that are hiding under dormant volcanoes in the waterfall mountain range.
Scientists have been trying to understand, for many years, if magma may persist in the upper crust under volcanoes for long periods or moves to these low regions shortly before an eruption.
The new study, recently in Nature Geosciencesuggests that, at least in the waterfall of the waterfalls, in North America, these magma reservoirs last thousands of years without provoking an eruption.
“Regardless of the frequency of eruptions, we see large magma bodies under many volcanoes. It seems that these magma bodies exist under the volcanoes throughout their lives, and not just during an active state, ”said the investigation leader, Guanning Pangfrom the University of Cornell.
Through the seismic monitoring stations of US Geological Survey in the Cascade mountains, the waves of distant earthquakes were followed As they traveled under Mount St. Helens, Mount Rainier, Pico Lassen and other nearby volcanoes.
As it refers, it was noted a consistent slowdown of the velocity of the earthquake waves-sometimes up to 70%-under volcanic ridges. Waves move more slowly through liquids than through solids, so the findings suggest that large magma reservoirs hide at about 5 to 15 kilometers below the surface of almost all places.
Only Three Sisters and Mount Shasta had no similar patterns – which, according to the team, can be explained by the lack of seismic measurements. Also because soil inflation near Three Sisters in recent years suggests that there is magma to move in the area-they have noticed.
Magma chambers discovered in the current study are not, however, prepared to cause disasters; being only partially melted, without enough net portion to trigger an eruption.
As researchers notice, the waterfall mountains is particularly well monitored. However, there are few indications of what is going on under most volcanoes in the world.
“If we had a better general understanding of the place where magma is, we could do a much better job of guidance and monitoring optimization,” he said Geoffrey Abersfrom the University of Cornell, in the statement, which was part of the new study.
