Chicken or egg? The link between earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in New Zealand’s Taupo Volcanic Zone
2007 - 2010
Funder: Marsden Fund, Royal Society of New Zealand
Contact: Pilar Villamor
Since Charles Darwin observed the eruption of four volcanoes following the great M8.5 earthquake in Chile in 1835, it has been suspected that fault rupture (which generates earthquakes) and volcanoes can act to trigger each other (fault-volcano interaction).
Now, other similar observations are pushing the scientific community to believe that the association is based on changes in the state of stress (pressure) around the volcano due to the energy released by rupture of the fault, and vice versa. However, changes in stress due to earthquakes or eruptions are small compared to the stress required to initiate volcanic eruption or fault rupture, and thus it is not clear what the critical physical processes are that lead to this interaction.
In New Zealand’s Taupo Volcanic Zone, we are investigating, using numerical modelling calibrated against a rich geological dataset, the conditions under which fault rupture could trigger a volcanic eruption, and vice versa. The Taupo Volcanic Zone is an excellent location for this study because volcanic eruptions are large and varied in character, and major faults occur in close proximity to the volcanoes.
We expect the results to contribute internationally to understanding on how faults and volcanoes interact.
Associate Investigators:
- Dr. Rafael Benites. GNS Science
- Dr. Ian A. Nairn. Independent Researcher
- Dr. Kelvin R. Berryman. GNS Science