The propagation and seismicity of dyke injection, new experimental evidence

Richard R. Bakker, Marco Fazio, Philip M. Benson, Kai-uwe Hess, Donald B. Dingwell

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    229 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    To reach the surface, dykes must overcome the inherent tensile strength of the country rock. As they do they generate swarms of seismic signals, frequently used for forecasting. In this study we pressurize and inject molten acrylic into an encapsulating host rocks of 1) Etna basalt and 2) Comiso limestone; at 30 MPa of confining pressure. Fracture was achieved at 12 MPa for Etna basalt, 7.2 MPa for Comiso limestone. The generation of radial fractures was accompanied by acoustic emissions (AE) at a dominant frequency of 600 kHz. During “magma” movement in the dykes, AE events of approximately 150 kHz dominant frequency were recorded. We interpret our data using AE location and dominant frequency analysis, concluding that the seismicity associated with magma transport in dykes peaks during initial dyke creation but remains significant as long as magma movement continues. These results have important implications for seismic monitoring of active volcanoes.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1876-1883
    Number of pages7
    JournalGeophysical Research Letters
    Volume43
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 4 Mar 2016

    Keywords

    • Volcanic Basement
    • Dyke formation
    • Basalt
    • Limestone
    • Deformation
    • HPT Experiments

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'The propagation and seismicity of dyke injection, new experimental evidence'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this