Seismic investigation of the Fogo magmatic plumbing system, Cape Verde, using multi-array techniques (FoMaPS)

• Applicant: Dr. Ingo Wölbern
• Subject Area: Geophysics
• Term: from 2016 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 320572620

Volcanic eruptions are regularly observed on the island of Fogo, Cape Verde, with an average re-occurrence interval of ca. 20 years. However, the structure and extent of the related volcanic plumbing system are not well understood. Previous studies have investigated earthquakes related to magmatic migration processes connected with the Fogo volcano using conventional network configurations. Seismicity has been reported to occur mainly southwest of the island of Brava while a more recent study reports on activity focussed between Brava and Fogo. Multi-array seismology has the potential to significantly reduce the localization errors of seismic events, in particular for those outside a station network, and to lower the detection threshold. This allows to increase the amount of detected events. The subject of this proposal is a study of the local volcano-related seismicity applying multi-array methods which is a unique task amongst the research activities in German universities. The scientific aims are (a) to precisely map local events to constrain the structure of and the dynamic processes within the volcanic plumbing system, (b) to image the magma source region below the Fogo volcano using reflected and backscattered waves, and (c) to localize volcanic tremor events.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Georg Rümpker