Bristol researchers to survey volcanic activity

05/01/2012

A team of researchers from Bristol University has been awarded nearly €3.5 million from the European Commission to carry out advanced geodetic surveys on volcanic activity in Europe and Latin America.

The team of scientists aims to establish a deeper and more accurate understanding of volcanic unrest, and try to enhance human abilities to predict activity and eruptions and the consequences of it.

The project will be known as 'Volcanic unrest in Europe and Latin America: Phenomenology, eruption precursors, hazard forecast and risk mitigation - or VUELCO - and will be coordinated by Bristol University's Dr Jo Gottsmann from the School of Earth Sciences.

The scientists, who will include participants from Europe and Latin America, will use advanced, precision surveying equipment to study geophysical, geochemical and geodetic fingerprints of episodes at volcanoes in Italy, Spain, the West Indies, Mexico and Ecuador.

Dr Gottsmann said that current knowledge volcanic activity and the causes behind it is inadequate to deal with modern volcanic crises, and the project aims to remedy that.

"VUELCO will improve our understanding of the processes which trigger volcanic unrest and enhance our ability to forecast the outcome of such unrest in the presence of scientific uncertainty," she explained. "The project will also improve early-warning and management of evolving volcanic crises and increase our preparedness to cope with the consequences and potentially adverse outcomes of volcanic unrest."