Inside the Active Volcano On Montserrat

Roland Piquepaille writes "An international team of researchers has begun collecting imaging data on the Soufriere Hills Volcano in Montserrat, which has been erupting regularly since 1995. They're using the equivalent of a CAT scan to understand its internal structure and how and when it erupts. The experiment is dubbed SEA-CALIPSO and 'will use air guns and a string of sensors off the back of a research ship combined with sensors on land to try to image the magma chamber.' Early results are surprising. Quoting one of the leading scientists: 'The interesting thing is that much more magma is erupting than appears represented by the subsiding bowl. ... The magma volume in Montserrat eruptions is much larger than anyone would estimate from the surface deformation, because of the elastic storage of magma in what is effectively a huge magma sponge.'"

Comments

Montserrat Volcano Observatory

[foobarb]

http://www.mvo.ms/ Pictures and info about the volcano, official site.

Re:Montserrat Volcano Observatory

[SomeNoob]

Direct link to Flickr set http://www.flickr.com/photos/mvo/

Live comments from an on-site reporter

[this great guy]

Reporter: The magma volume in Montserrat eruptions is much larger than anyone would estimate and... oh! look at that burst of lava ! I have never seen anyth- OMG I FEEL THE EARTH RUMBLIN-
Studio anchor: ... Charles ? Do you hear me ? *turning to his co-anchor* Is he still with us ?

Note to those guys...Contact NERV.

[DeusExCalamus]

Better find an EVA unit complete with the D-Type armor, just in case there's an Angel lurking in the depths. :)

Is it just me or....

[zappepcs]

Does anyone else wish we could call the Enterprise back Earthside to do geologic surveys of this planet?

Space travel is a good goal, but if you consider all the things that Star Trek presented as part of space travel, I'd be impressed if we started inventing them now to study THIS planet. Perhaps if we understood volcanoes better, we'd understand more about climate control for the planet and THAT would be a worthy goal. It's always good to hear there is money still for such research. Gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Been there..

[MoellerPlesset2]

It's a beautiful place, beautiful volcano too. Odd fact of the kind they tell tourists: It once erupted and killed everyone except a guy who was in jail in an underground cell.

Re:Been there..

[poetmatt]

Explosive diarrhea is not the same as an erupting magma flow.

Re:Been there..

[Nil000]

This particular incident was the 1902 eruption of St. Pelee on Martinique which killed 30,000 people in Saint-Pierre. What killed everyone in this case was not CO2 but a Nuee Ardente or pyroclastic flow. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Pierre,_Martinique There was a survivor who was in the town jail. There used to be some items from the town in the Natural History museum in London, including half molten glasses and bottles.

No, that was Martinique

[dtmos]

Either you or the tour guide were very much mistaken. The famous story about the guy in the underground jail cell refers to the May 8, 1902 eruption of Mt. Pelée on Martinique, a different volcano on a different island.

Re:No, that was Martinique

[gomiam]

And he wasn't the only survivor, just the publicized one.

misleading title and analogy

[i*i 1]

The use of the CAT scan analogy is rather poor for several reasons. This study uses a typical ground and sea based seismic survey. There is a new move in the earth sciences to actually use portable MRIs (like this one [magritek - terranova]) to obtain images of the earth, so when I initially skimmed the article, I saw the CAT scan reference so many times that I thought they might be trying something similar.
While seismology and cat scans share the basic purpose of remotely sensing the insides of an object and cat scans would be familiar to many readers, the analogy should have only been used once, in the body of the article. NOT in the title. A "CAT scan" DID NOT reveal "inner workings of volcano island." A seismic survey did.

Montserrat in this "The Police" video

[Sam_In_The_Hills]

The Police recorded their album "Ghost in the Machine" in a Montserrat studio.
This video for "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" was shot there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5W2Vr6HU7s

Re:Since a volcano is just a pressure cooker...

[lysergic.acid]

i'm not a volcanologist, but this seems like it could be done by:

1. using seismic surveys and land-based surface measurements to determine when the volcano approaching its eruptive phase and only work when there is minimal activity.
2. use ground penetrating sonar or seismic survey data, locate the exact position of the magma chamber(s).
3. drill towards the magma chamber at an angle so that you're not working directly above the volcanic system.
4. use unmanned or remotely-operated drilling machines for the last mile of the tunnel.

i mean, we have the technology to operate machinery remotely using video feeds and radio communication. and wasn't there a recent story about some deep sea drilling operation hitting a pocket of magma on accident? i know in 2005 a geothermal drilling site in Hawaii also came upon a magma chamber on accident. seems like if they could tunnel into a magma chamber on accident without problem, then they can certain do so safely with prior planning.

the tunnel at Puna site was 1.5 miles deep, which is about half as deep as the ceiling of Montserrat's magma chamber; add to that another ~41% if you're tunneling in at a 45 degree angle, and it'll take quite a bit longer, but it's still feasible. i think the bigger probably might be keeping the magma flowing rather than cooling down and clogging the channel, but perhaps this won't be a problem for an active volcanic system.