Abstract
Cotopaxi is an active volcano in Ecuador, whose eruptions are characterized by producing destructive primary lahars which represent a major risk for the country. The hazard assessment related to such lahars relies largely on the knowledge of the latest event, which occurred on 26 June 1877, for either scenario definition or simulation calibration. A detailed (1:5000 scale) cartography of the deposits belonging to that eruption has been obtained in the proximal northern drainage of Cotopaxi. The cartography was performed through a combination of geological fieldwork, as well as the analysis and interpretation of high-definition imagery obtained by drone surveys combined with the Structure from Motion technology for image processing. Such imagery included red and green visible bands, and a near-infrared band, which allowed the obtention of NDVI imagery where the primary lahar deposits were identified and cartographed with support of fieldwork data. Both data sources are mutually complementary, and the final cartography would be impossible if any of them were not available. The results obtained represent a significant advance for the level of detail with respect to previous cartographic works. Moreover, they should allow an improved calibration of the new generation of numerical models that simulate lahar flow for hazard assessment at Cotopaxi.
Highlights
Cotopaxi is an ice-capped active volcano located 50 km south of Quito, the capital city of Ecuador (Figure 1)
The results show that the 1877 primary lahar flows in the Eastern plain were possibly the largest of all in the study area and contained abundant specific black bombs
A detailed (1:5000 scale) geological cartography has been performed for the deposits belonging to primary lahars occurred at Cotopaxi volcano on 26 June 1877, as observed in the Sindipamba, Victor Punina, North-Eastern and Eastern plains, which compose the northern proximal drainage
Summary
Cotopaxi is an ice-capped active volcano located 50 km south of Quito, the capital city of Ecuador (Figure 1). It has long been recognized as a highly hazardous volcano, especially for its capacity to produce primary lahars, which are mixtures of water and volcanic debris formed as large portions of the glacier instantaneously melt by contact with pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) during highly explosive eruptions [1,2,3,4,5]. 2022, 14, 631 planning and policymaking, as part of their official mandate to assess volcanic hazard in Ecuador [3,9,10,11,12,13,14,15] Those maps have been partially or totally based on research results
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