3D Image of Sierra Negra Could Help Us Understand Volcanoes

The first 3D image constructed of the system below the Sierra Negra volcano — the largest and most active on the Galápagos Islands — could help scientists more accurately anticipate earthquakes and eruptions and, as a result, minimize the often catastrophic events they can cause.

Before this investigation, which has been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, little was known about the volcanoes on the Galápagos, but the inner-workings of the Sierra Nevada are infinitely clearer now.

A team of researchers buried 15 seismometers — devices that measure motions in the ground — around the Sierra Negra to keep track of the velocity and direction of sound waves generated by earthquakes as they moved beneath the volcano. Using this data they were able to create a 3D image based on how the waves varied as they passed through different types of materials with different temperatures. Read more...