Scientists at the University of Miami in the United States found that excessive and prolonged rains, which are becoming more frequent as the result of climate change, can trigger the eruption of volcanoes. To this conclusion they came, studying the causes of the activity of the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii. Article with study results that reveal a new threat due to extreme precipitation, published in the journal Nature.
Experts analyzed the results of ground and satellite observations of precipitation and estimated the pressure at a depth of 1-3 kilometers beneath Kilauea over time. It turned out that growing pressure reached its peak half a century before the devastating eruption. Just before the eruption there was a strong downpour, and the increase in the level of the liquid in cracks and porous rocks contributed to the destruction of rocks and the movement of magma. This corresponds to the observation that in wet and rainy, the activity of the Kilauea enhanced.
This is the first evidence of the influence of rainfall on the underlying mechanisms of volcanic activity. Before that it was known that precipitation can cause emissions of steam and minor earthquakes. Because of the growth pressure in the underlying rocks may occur eruptions in other places around the world, the researchers conclude.
On may 3, 2018 there has been an unprecedented eruption of Kilauea on the Big island, which on the densely populated East coast was destroyed several hundred homes.
