Redaccion
Researchers from the Applied Petrology group at the University of Alicante (UA) are part of an international team studying the Poás volcano, one of the most active in Costa Rica, as part of the international project ‘Anticipating Volcanic Eruptions in Real-Time’ (Avert) in collaboration with the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (Ovsicori) to «better understand its mechanisms.»
David Benavente García, professor of Petrology and Geochemistry, and Noé García Martínez, predoctoral researcher, have worked for a week, from March 10 to 14, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, JPL-NASA, and Università Roma Tre to measure the flow of gases and heat in the volcano, quantify its emissions to the atmosphere, and evaluate the activation state of the volcanic system.
Additionally, they conducted a «thorough field study» in the Botos lagoon, a lake located in an inactive crater one kilometer from the active one, to analyze the connection between both hydrothermal systems, as specified by the UA in a statement.
According to the academic institution, the data collected during this field campaign will help «better understand» the mechanisms that control the transport of gases and heat through soils and rocks, «a key factor in identifying possible precursors to volcanic eruptions and thus being able to anticipate them.»
The research is part of the project ‘Mechanisms generating low-temperature thermal anomalies in active volcanoes: application to the Canary Islands,’ funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities and led by the UA team. Once analyzed, the results will be made public and accessible through the Avert platform.
«A WIDE VARIETY OF PHENOMENA»
Located in the Central Volcanic Range, Poás is an accessible stratovolcano that exhibits a «wide variety of phenomena,» such as a persistent gas plume, fumaroles, seismic activity, and deformations.
The researchers report that during this campaign, the volcano showed «intense activity» that influenced their work and made the use of safety equipment essential, such as helmets and masks with special filters for acidic gases.
«Field research included seismic, geodetic, visible/IR, geomagnetic, and geochemical studies,» explains David Benavente, who also highlighted the use of drones for data collection in high-risk areas, «allowing information to be obtained from completely inaccessible points.»
The UA researchers describe how reaching the volcano’s crater required traversing a route of approximately two kilometers through the jungle: «The journey was very physically demanding, but the beauty of the place, the color changes, and the sounds of the jungle made it a unique and almost magical experience.»
«We not only gained valuable knowledge about the volcano’s dynamics but also unforgettable personal experiences and the feeling of having formed a genuine scientific community,» the professionals recount, while explaining how «the research team was composed of scientists from universities and research centers in eight countries.»
«We knew we would be sharing space with researchers of high international prestige, but what surprised and pleased us the most was the human quality of the group,» they concluded.
