ClimeErupt: Impact of climate change on monogenetic eruptions

One of the key challenges in volcanology is to understand the factors that increase the explosiveness of eruptions. The presence of groundwater is one of them, because it can drastically increase volcanic explosivity and generate phreatomagmatic eruptions. These types of eruptions occur when rising magma interacts with aquifers, producing sudden and violent activity, which makes forecasting particularly difficult.

The impacts of explosive volcanism on global climate have been intensively investigated and well documented. Large volcanic eruptions are known to modulate downwelling solar radiation by injecting sulphur, gases, and fine ash into the stratosphere, thus cooling Earth’s surface in the short term. However, the opposite relationship of how climate change can affect volcanic activity is still largely unknown.

Climate change intensifies the frequency of dry periods combined with warming trends. This global situation strongly alters the groundwater table, and consequently, volcanic activity can be modified. The ClimeErupt project aims to study how future phreatomagmatic eruptions could be affected by local aquifer variations caused by global warming trends, presenting new risks for climate-related volcanic hazards.

This ComFuturo project proposes the development of a new tool for forecasting phreatomagmatic eruptions under the effects of climate change through the quantification and modelling of magmatic and hydrogeological parameters. This tool will contribute to the reduction and mitigation of the risk of these types of eruptions by using quantitative models and volcanic activity forecasts. In addition, it represents a step forward in the social understanding of the effects of global warming, focusing on variations in groundwater resources and their impact on eruptions.

Fundación General CSIC (FGCSIC) is a private non-profit organisation created by a joint initiative of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and its founding patrons. With broad experience in promoting public-private collaboration programmes in research and innovation, in 2014 FGCSIC launched the ComFuturo programme, an alliance with the CSIC and leading private entities to attract the best young research and entrepreneurial talent. The ComFuturo Programme is supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) COFUND of the European Commission. The MSCA are the European Union’s flagship funding programme for doctoral education and postdoctoral training of researchers. They fund excellent research and innovation and equip researchers with new knowledge and skills, through mobility across borders and exposure to different sectors and disciplines.
The MSCA promote excellence and set standards for high-quality researcher education and training in line with the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the recruitment of researchers.