Characteristics of Deep Long-period Earthquakes at Alaskan Volcanoes
from 2005 to 2017
Abstract
Deep long-period earthquakes (DLPs) are often detected near volcanoes
from the crust down to the upper mantle. Exhibiting coincidence with
some volcanic eruptions, DLPs are recognized as potential precursors to
volcanic activities yet their detection remains challenging. Meanwhile,
their relation to volcanic activities and specific source mechanisms
remains uncertain. In this study, we first classify earthquakes into
volcano-tectonic (VTs) and long-period (LPs) earthquakes at 10 Alaskan
volcanoes by frequency index (FI). The consistent differences in FI
distribution between LPs and VTs across volcanoes suggest it can be
leveraged for automatic classification. Presence of both VTs and DLPs in
some regions suggests frequency content differences mainly arise from
source effect. We then analyze 12 years of continuous waveforms by
template matching and detect 20,979 DLPs. No repeating DLPs are
identified below the depth of 10 km except ~1% of DLPs at
Spurr Volcano, indicating source processes of DLPs at Alaskan volcanoes
are primarily non-repetitive. Detections of mantle DLPs and positive
correlations between DLPs and volume change rate in the magma reservoir
support the involvement of magmatic activities in some DLP sources,
though there is limited correlation in DLP depth distribution with
magmatic water content and kinematic parameters of plate motion. In
addition, only ~12% of DLP bursts occur simultaneously
with VT bursts, suggesting most DLP rate anomalies are not directly
linked to shallow volcanic unrests. Finally, since on average only
~26% of DLP rate anomalies coincide with eruption
episodes, it is still challenging to foretell eruptions uniquely based
on DLP occurrences.