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Analyzing decadal changes of laccolith thermal features at Puyehue-Cordon Caulle, Chile using satellite, field, and drone observations to understand near surface magmatic processes

Andrea Gomez-Patron1, Pablo Becerra2, Pablo Sánchez-Alfaro3, Lauren Michel1, Alonzo Olitt1, Diego Lobos1, Matt Pritchard1, Carolina Muñoz-Saez1, Philipp Ruprecht4

  • Affiliations: 1Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, US; 2Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile; 3Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile; 4Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, US

  • Presentation type: Poster

  • Presentation time: Tuesday 16:30 - 18:30, Room Poster Hall

  • Poster Board Number: 167

  • Programme No: 3.5.26

  • Theme 3 > Session 5

Abstract

The Puyehue-Cordon Caulle (PCC) volcanic complex (Chile) eruption of 2011-2012 formed a laccolith, a shallow horizontal magma intrusion, that caused more than 250 m of ground uplift and subsequent subsidence of 10's of m and changes in surface temperature over time. Understanding the behavior of this laccolith can give insights into subsurface processes and potential hazards such as slope failure. We used medium resolution (90 m/pixel) Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) to create the thermal time series before, during, and after the eruption. We see decreasing surface temperatures on the laccolith for the first two years and then a steady temperature with seasonal variation. We also saw changing spatial patterns across the laccolith. We identified six distinct sections of the laccolith based on higher resolution imagery and found different parts to be cooling at different rates. To correlate these observed changes with shallow subsurface processes, we compared the satellite data with field observations and thermal and optical drome images from 2022 and 2024. We also compare thermal results from DEM differencing which found subsidence in the SE area of the laccolith. Thermal features (visible in satellite and drone images) on the laccolith are slightly offset from large subsidence signals found in DEM differencing. We interpret the thermal changes at the laccolith to be related to fractures and craters in the laccolith exposing hot regions and cooling over time.