Correlating hydrothermal system dynamics and eruptive activity – A case-study of Piton de la Fournaise volcano, La Réunion

Abstract

Piton de la Fournaise volcano, La Réunion Island, is a basaltic shield volcano, which underwent an intense cycle of eruptive activity between 1998 and 2008. Self-potential and other geophysical investigations of the volcano have shown the existence of a well-established hydrothermal system within the summit cone. The present study investigates the relationship between changes in the hydrothermal system and eruptive activity at the summit cone of Piton de la Fournaise. Here, we consider the depth of the hydrothermal activity section to be the area where the hydrothermal flow is the most intense along its path. Ten complete-loop self-potential surveys have been analyzed through multi-scale wavelet tomography (MWT) to characterize depth variations of the hydrothermal system between 1993 and 2008. Our MWT models strongly support the existence of six main hydrothermal flow pathways associated with the main edifice structure. Each of these pathways is part of the main hydrothermal system and is connected to the main hydrothermal reservoir at depth. In both 2006 and 2008, around Dolomieu crater, based on our results, the hydrothermal activity sections are located between 2300 and 2500 m a.s.l., which correlate well with the elevation of the observed fumarole belt within the post-2007-collapse crater wall. Our results show that the depths of the local hydrothermal activity sections change substantially over the investigated period. Vertical displacement of the main potential generation area, associated with these hydrothermal activity sections, is observed on the order of several hundred meters at the transition between the period of quiescence (1993–1997) and the resumption of eruptive activity in 1998 and 2007, respectively. From 1999 to March 2008, the hydrothermal system was consistently located at relatively shallow depths. By quantitatively determining the vertical displacement of hydrothermal fluids over 16 years, we identify a significant link between hydrothermal system and magmatic activity. Hydrothermal system depth below the surface is an indicator of the activity level (pressurization/depressurization of the volcano) within the shallow magmatic systems. Thus, when used in conjunction with long term volcano monitoring, this approach can contribute substantially to detection of the precursory signals of changes in volcanic activity.