Infrasonic waves and volcanic tremor at Stromboli

Abstract

The origin of the volcanic tremor is still under debate. Many theories have been proposed in the last years, but none has yet been completely accepted. In 1993, highly sensitive pressure sensors (2.175 Pa/Volt) used to monitor the explosive activity have revealed unexpected correlation between small spike-shaped pressure signals (1-2 Pa) and volcanic tremor. These pressure pulses repeat regularly in time with a recurrent period of ca. 1s. Video camera images allowed us to correlate the pressure pulses with small gas bursts occurring at one of the active vents. The striking correlation (0.971) between infrasonic and seismic energy fluctuations is particularly meaningful in the frequency domain. Infrasonic and seismic signals share the same spectral content (3Hz) for every station within a range of 700 m around the craters. Correlations in time and frequency domain remained unaltered during the 1994 field experiments. Moreover, during 1994, the increased degassing activity has been followed by an increase in pressure release (7-8 Pa) and by a shift towards higher frequencies (8Hz) both in the infrasonic and seismic records. Infrasonic waves and volcanic tremor show similar energy fluctuations and frequency contents, appearing therefore produced by the same dynamical process. On this basis we claim the volcanic tremor at Stromboli originates by continuous outbursting of small gas bubbles in the upper part of the magmatic column.