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The Physics of Granular Natural Flows in Volcanic Environments

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Mathematical and Computational Models of Flows and Waves in Geophysics

Part of the book series: CIMAT Lectures in Mathematical Sciences ((CIMATLMS))

Abstract

Active volcanoes are an incredible source of loose material, pyroclastic fragments that emplace as rain or flow on their slopes, forming m-thick deposits during explosive eruption. In particular, eruptive columns can elevate through the atmosphere for several kilometers, from which ash and pyroclastic fragments can fall, mantling the surrounding area, or can flow as turbulent, hot, pyroclastic flows. A pyroclastic flow mainly consists of a dry, basal, granular avalanche that moves along the volcanic slope, overrunned by a dilute, turbulent mixture of hot gas and fine ash. During heavy rains or abrupt release of water (such a dam failure or glacier outburst), these unconsolidated deposits can be easily eroded and remobilized as lahars, a two-phase mixture of water and granular material. These gravity-driven volcaniclastic flows are usually studied based on their deposits, where gas or water are no longer present, limiting our understanding of particle-particle or fluid-particle interaction. Numerical and analog modeling have been used to study their behavior, as well as the laws governing energy transfer between particles, and between the flow and the substratum. The mobility of a pyroclastic flow is greatly controlled by the current’s mass and height of generation (potential energy), the efficiency of conversion from potential to kinetic energy within the current (i.e. loss of momentum due to frictional processes both within the current and at its edges), and the rate of atmospheric air entrainment. Lahars, in addition to the above-mentioned factors, are still more intricate since the rheology of the fluid phase (water plus fines) can modify the particle interactions, preventing energy dissipation and improving their mobility. In contrast to lahars, where real-time data is frequently collected, pyroclastic flows are rarely studied syn-eruptive due to their high velocities (35 m/s in average) and high temperatures (400 °C on average) making direct data collection extremely challenging, for which only few examples are available in the literature, Real-time data, however, are of paramount importance since they can provide a radiography of the flow behavior and of the mechanisms of emplacement, having crucial implications on hazard assessment. Volcán de Colima is a natural laboratory for studying volcaniclastic gravity flows. Most recent 2004–2005, 2013, and 2015 pyroclastic flows were produced by summit dome collapses; the latest of which represented the last 100 years’ largest eruption. In contrast, lahars develop every year during the rainy season at a minimum 20 event/year rate inside the main ravines draining the volcano’s southern sector. Since 2011, a monitoring network has been installed to get visual and seismic data from lahars, aiming at understanding their behavior and the mechanisms of transport, which depend on sediment content and on the interaction between flow, substratum and channel walls morphology. In 2015, the transit of a pyroclastic flow, never before recorded at an active volcano, was registered by one monitoring station. From these data, it was possible to better describe energy transfer between particles, and between particle and substratum, and to demonstrate that at least 1/3 of the total flow energy dissipates at channel walls. The latest conclusion was revealing since most numerical models used at reproducing gravity flow for hazard assessment, only considered energy dissipation at the substratum, overestimating flow maximum runout. More in detail, the seismic data, coupled with images of the event and field data, enabled discriminating flow sediment content, and implementing a real-time warning system to alert villages settled around main ravines. Our data demonstrate that more work is needed, and that only a multidisciplinary approach can solve yet undiscovered volcaniclastic flow internal behaviors.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Luis Albeto Aguilar, Alejandro de León and Jair García of the Laboratorio Nacional de Visualización Científica Avanzada (UNAM) for their support during TITAN2D computer simulations. GMR would like to thank the Cátedras Conacyt fellowship program for supporting this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cátedras Conacyt – CGEO UNAM, Juriquilla, Querétaro, Mexico

    G. M. Rodríguez-Liñán

  2. Centro de Geociencias, Campus UNAM-Juriquilla, Juriquilla, Querétaro, Mexico

    R. Torres-Orozco, V. H. Márquez & L. Capra

  3. CNR, IRPI, Padova, Italy

    V. Coviello

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  1. G. M. Rodríguez-Liñán
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  2. R. Torres-Orozco
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  3. V. H. Márquez
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Correspondence to L. Capra .

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  1. Institute of Mathematics, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Juriquilla, Querétaro, Mexico

    Gerardo Hernández-Dueñas

  2. Department of Mathematics, CIMAT, Guanajuato, Mexico

    Miguel Angel Moreles

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Rodríguez-Liñán, G.M., Torres-Orozco, R., Márquez, V.H., Capra, L., Coviello, V. (2022). The Physics of Granular Natural Flows in Volcanic Environments. In: Hernández-Dueñas, G., Moreles, M.A. (eds) Mathematical and Computational Models of Flows and Waves in Geophysics. CIMAT Lectures in Mathematical Sciences. Birkhäuser, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12007-7_4

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