Volcanoes erupt, explode, and blow their tops, but more often they just pop. Greg Waite, an associate professor at Michigan Technological University, studies these small, repetitive events in order to better understand and predict larger, less frequent eruptions. Waite is funded by a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award and monitors two open-vent volcanoes in Guatemala, about 20 miles south of Guatemala City.
“We are interested in the processes occurring within the magma conduit prior to and during eruptions," Waite says. “The seismic, infrasound, and ground tilt data we collect at Fuego allow us to model the rapidly changing conditions in the minutes leading up to an eruption. What we learn from these small, frequent explosions can be translated to larger, more hazardous events."
Fuego has been especially active in 2015, with 6 episodes of sustained activity. As of this morning, October 1st, the volcano is feeding two lava flows and erupting with strombolian type explosions that are relatively mild, but generate shock waves, and throw rock and ash into the air. Check out the web cam on the volcano here: http://ovfuego-norte.geo.mtu.edu/
“Fuego is a fantastic natural laboratory because it erupts so frequently - dozens of times each day- and these eruptions are relatively small," Waite says. "Which means we can collect a lot of data from relatively close distance."
You can reach Greg Waite at [email protected] or 906-487-3554.
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