TRIGGER MECHANISMS FOR LOW-FREQUENCY SEISMIC EVENTS ON MONTSERRAT

Supervisor: Jurgen Neuberg   

Soufriere Hills volcano on the Caribbean Island of Montserrat shows
ongoing volcanic activity since 1996, in a well-established pattern of
dome growth and dome collapse. In the last few years, several
international research projects focused on Montserrat and made
Soufriere Hills volcano one of the most intensely studied volcanoes
wordwide. The Volcano Seismology Group at Leeds is involved in several
international research initiatives on Montserrat funded by NERC, the
European Commission under the MULTIMO project and by the National
Science Foundation in the US.

So-called long-period seismic events (LPs) play a key role in the
understanding of the internal dynamics of the volcanic system. They
show a well-established pattern of swarms always preceding mayor dome
collapses and have therefore a great potential to be used for
forecasting of volcanic hazard. While the seismic wavefield associated with low-frequency events in the conduit and
in the volcanic edifice is well understood, their actual trigger mechanism is still an open question. 

This PhD project will be concerned with the modelling of several such
mechanisms ranging from water - magma interaction to brittle failure of
magma near the glass transition. The project aims to uncover the
interaction of magma and elastic parameters to constrain the physical
models behind cyclic activity and the trigger mechanism of
low-frequency seismic events.

The student will be provided with training in analytical and numerical
modelling techniques, applied to seismic wavefields and pressure
variations in magma-gas mixtures. Volcanic monitoring experience will
be gained on the Caribbean island of Montserrat.  Due to the
multi-national funding and co-operation of this project, the student
will be part of a colourful and multi-disciplinary group of scientist
from the US, the UK and several (other) European countries.


Neuberg, J., 2000, 'Characteristics and causes of shallow seismicity in
andesite volcanoes', Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lon. , 358, 33-1546.

Neuberg, J., Luckett, R., Baptie, B., and K. B. Olson, 2000, Models for
tremor and low-frequency events on Montserrat, J. Vol. Geotherm.
Research, 101, 83-104.

Website of the Volcano Seismology Group at Leeds: 
//earth.leeds.ac.uk/vsgleeds/