Skip to content

A call for consistency: defining. \"Erupting, Active, Dormant, and Extinct\" volcanoes

Ben Kennedy 1, Daniel Charlton2, Luca Caricchi3, Guido Giordano4

  • Affiliations: 1School of the Earth and Environment/Te Kura Aronukurangi,Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha/University of Canterbury, Aotearoa NZ   2 Social & Behavioural Science/Te Pῡtaiao Pāpori me te Whanonga, GNS Science/Te Pu Ao, Aotearoa NZ ^3 ^ School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland  4 Dipartimento di Scienze, Università Roma Tre 

  • Presentation type: Poster

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

  • Poster Board Number: 111

  • Programme No: 7.2.23

  • Theme 7 > Session 2

Abstract

Whether a volcano is considered erupting, active, dormant or extinct, creates different public perceptions of risk. However, these terms do not have clear definitions and they are used differently across contexts. Here, we review the current definitions, and additionally solicit opinions from experts with a goal of a consensus for the volcanological community. We discuss a range of expert opinions collected from online and in person surveys, using quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Our discussion will include the definitions of; 1. an "erupting" volcano and how this is tied to alert level differently between risk management systems, 2. an "active" volcano, which varies between a volcano that has erupted in the Holocene (the last 11,700 years and counting) or a volcano with historical eruptions, 3. a dormant volcano which is a volcano that hasn't erupted in "a long time" but is expected to again, and 4. an  "extinct" volcano that is not expected to erupt again. These definitions cover a large and variable range of time that can cause confusion in scientific and public literature. For example, dormant volcanoes significantly overlap with the current definitions of active, which is further completed by the size of the magmatic system which controls the longer it may be restless before becoming extinct. We will additionally explore how the Volcanic Activity Index (Giordano and Caricchi, 2022), and other expert solutions could address these inconsistencies and provide guidance to re-define active, dormant and extinct volcanoes to facilitate clear communication and decision making.