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On the fate of pumice rafts formed during the 2012 Havre submarine eruption

Jutzeler, M.; Marsh, R.; Carey, R.J.; White, J.D.L.; Talling, P.J.; Karlstrom, L.

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Authors

M. Jutzeler

R. Marsh

R.J. Carey

J.D.L. White

L. Karlstrom



Abstract

Pumice rafts are floating mobile accumulations of low-density pumice clasts generated by silicic volcanic eruptions. Pumice in rafts can drift for years, become waterlogged and sink, or become stranded on shorelines. Here we show that the pumice raft formed by the impressive, deep submarine eruption of the Havre caldera volcano (Southwest Pacific) in July 2012 can be mapped by satellite imagery augmented by sailing crew observations. Far from coastal interference, the eruption produced a single >400 km2 raft in 1 day, thus initiating a gigantic, high-precision, natural experiment relevant to both modern and prehistoric oceanic surface dispersal dynamics. Observed raft dispersal can be accurately reproduced by simulating drift and dispersal patterns using currents from an eddy-resolving ocean model hindcast. For future eruptions that produce potentially hazardous pumice rafts, our technique allows real-time forecasts of dispersal routes, in addition to inference of ash/pumice deposit distribution in the deep ocean.

Citation

Jutzeler, M., Marsh, R., Carey, R., White, J., Talling, P., & Karlstrom, L. (2014). On the fate of pumice rafts formed during the 2012 Havre submarine eruption. Nature Communications, 5, Article 3660. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4660

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 14, 2014
Online Publication Date Apr 22, 2014
Publication Date Apr 22, 2014
Deposit Date Oct 24, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Nature Communications
Publisher Nature Research
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 5
Article Number 3660
DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4660

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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Copyright Statement
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/





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