Magma Fracking Beneath Active Volcanoes Based on Seismic Data and Hydrothermal Activity Observations

Active volcanoes are associated with microearthquake (MEQ) hypocenters that form plane-oriented cluster distributions. These are faults delineating a magma injection system of dykes and sills. The Frac-Digger program was used to track fracking faults in the Kamchatka active volcanic belt and fore-ar...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alexey Kiryukhin, Evgenia Chernykh, Andrey Polyakov, Alexey Solomatin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-01-01
Series:Geosciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/10/2/52
Description
Summary:Active volcanoes are associated with microearthquake (MEQ) hypocenters that form plane-oriented cluster distributions. These are faults delineating a magma injection system of dykes and sills. The Frac-Digger program was used to track fracking faults in the Kamchatka active volcanic belt and fore-arc region of Russia. In the case of magma laterally injected from volcanoes into adjacent structures, high-temperature hydrothermal systems arise, for example at Mutnovsky and Koryaksky volcanoes. Thermal features adjacent to these active volcanoes respond to magma injection events by degassing CO<sub>2</sub> and by transient temperature changes. Geysers created by CO<sub>2</sub>-gaslift activity in silicic volcanism areas also flag magma and CO<sub>2</sub> recharge and redistributions, for example at the Uzon-Geyserny, Kamchatka, Russia and Yellowstone, USA magma hydrothermal systems. Seismogenic faults in the Kamchatka fore-arc region are indicators of geofluid fracking; those faults can be traced down to 250 km depth, which is within the subduction slab below primary magma sources.
ISSN:2076-3263