Joanna Hamlyn
Postgraduate Student
Telephone number:
+44(0) 113 34
35634
Email address: ee10j2h@leeds.ac.uk
Room: 8.153m
Research Interests
Nabro volcano, situated on the Eritrean-Ethiopian border, erupted on the 12th June 2011. This event is the first for ~10 000yrs, and as the only eruption on record, it highlights the potential of caldera systems to erupt without warning. It has also provided more data for the remote region of Afar in which it is located. The PhD project will sysnthesize seismic data and satellite observations of deformation, inorder to increase the current understanding of magma storage and transport mechanisms, as well as the eruptive processes in extensional tectonic settings. An array of 6 seismometers were placed on the flanks of Nabro between the 22nd and 28th August. There is also a regional array seismometer located to the north-west of the volcano, operational since late June. Initial analysis of this data involves earthquake locating and moment tensor inversions. Any low frequency events will be studied and linked to deep magma movement, with migration algorithms tracking magma movement. Geodetic InSAR studies will be completed using acquistions from TerraSAR-X, Envisat and COSMO-SkyMed satelites. Images acquired will reveal any syn-eruptive ground displacements, significant dyke or sill emplacements and evaluate of changes in magma volume within the chamber. Inconjunction with the seismicity data, the magmatic plumbing system, rates of magma flow and relationships with regional extensional stresses can be investigated comprehensively.
Project details
Project title
Mechanisms and implications of the 2011 eruption of Nabro volcano, Eritrea
Supervisors
Dr Tim Wright and Professor Jurgen Neuberg; Ext: Keir
Start date
1st October 2011