Field Projects
Oldoinyo Lengai Volcano (Tanzania)
2019: In collaboration with colleagues from the University of Dar es Salaam, Goethe-University set up a first seismic monitoring network of 10 stations around the crater area at altitudes between 1990 and 2885 meters to monitor the eruptive activity of the volcano.
2020: 7 of the stations were recovered in February. The retrieval of the remaining stations was delayed due travel restrictions related to the pandemic.
2021: Two of the missing stations were found and brought back from the volcano in September. Seismic data from these stations will be essential to better constrain the locations of the observed seismic activity within the crater area.
Red squares mark the locations of 7 seismic stations of the SOLOMON network to monitor the seismicity and effusive activity at Oldoinyo Lengai crater.
Hornitos within the crater of the volcano have grown significantly between 2019 and 2021.
Sept. 2019
Sept. 2021
A preliminary analysis of the SOLOMON recordings shows significant earthquake activity located close to the crater rim. An example for the analyis is given in the figures below.
seismic traces
observed (red) and calculated (blue) arrival times
Bayesian earthquake localization (green square)
The data from the SOLOMON experiment are currently being analyzed in more detail. For a related publication see:
Reiss, M. C., Muirhead, J. D., Laizer, A. S., Link, F., Kazimoto, E. O., Ebinger, C. J., Rümpker, G., 2021, The Impact of Complex Volcanic Plumbing on the Nature of Seismicity in the Developing Magmatic Natron Rift, Tanzania, Frontiers in Earth Sciences, 8, 688, https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.609805.