New Scientist
Image: Giles Douglas
The sound of ocean waves lapping on the beach could prove handy for more than just helping people sleep: they may help predict when a volcano is about to wake up.
When some land volcanoes are preparing to erupt, telltale changes on the surface can reveal a build-up of magma, but if the magma chamber is at depth there may be little sign of a pending eruption, says Florent Brenguier at the University of Grenoble in France.
Now Brenguier’s team has found a way to monitor such inscrutable volcanoes. When ocean waves break, they send low-frequency shock waves over great distances through the Earth’s crust. The team found that these shock waves slow down if they pass through the magma chamber of a volcano that is experiencing pre-eruption rumbles. Placing about 20 sensors around a volcano could give a detailed picture of any changes at depth, says Brenguier. Read more on newscientist.com…
