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Seismic Characteristics of the Vulcanian Explosions from the 2003–2005 Eruption at Colima Volcano, Mexico

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Abstract

Colima Volcano (19.512°N, 103.617°W, 4000 m.a.s.l.), located on the border between the states of Jalisco and Colima in western Mexico, is the most active volcano in the country. Its activity has taken place through diverse styles of eruption, from very explosive to effusive. In the last decades it has presented frequent vulcanian eruptions with episodes of dome construction–destruction. Four of these cycles occurred from 1990 to 2005, the last one from July 2003 to September 2005. We focus on this last period, for which we analyzed seismic phases and coupled pressure airwaves from high dynamic range seismograms, both in the time and frequency domains, to determine characteristic features, propagation velocities, and origin times for both deep seismic sources and the associated explosions. The results show that the sources of the P-waves associated with the explosions are not located at the summit, but instead at different shallow locations for the different explosions, suggesting the presence of various magmatic pathways within the volcano.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Charlotte Rowe for her fruitful observations and valuable comments that greatly improved the manuscript. We appreciate the constructive reviews from two anonymous Referees.

This research was partially funded by CONACyT-FOMIXJAL projects 2008-04-96567 and 2012-08-189963. The participation of F. Nava was supported by CONACyT project I0007-2010-01-144588.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Sismología y Volcanología de Occidente (SisVOc), Universidad de Guadalajara, Av. Universidad 203, 48280, Puerto Vallarta, Jal, Mexico

    Francisco Javier Núñez-Cornú & Carlos Suárez-Plascencia

  2. Depto. Volcanología, Instituto de Geofísica, UNAM. Cd. Universitaria, Mexico, D.F., Mexico

    Juan Manuel Espíndola

  3. Depto. Sismología, Centro de Investigación Científica y Educación Superior de Ensenada, (CICESE), Cta. Ensenada-Tijuana 3918, 22860, Ensenada, BC, Mexico

    Fidencio Alejandro Nava Pichardo

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  1. Francisco Javier Núñez-Cornú
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  2. Juan Manuel Espíndola
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  3. Fidencio Alejandro Nava Pichardo
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  4. Carlos Suárez-Plascencia
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Correspondence to Francisco Javier Núñez-Cornú.

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Núñez-Cornú, F.J., Espíndola, J.M., Nava Pichardo, F.A. et al. Seismic Characteristics of the Vulcanian Explosions from the 2003–2005 Eruption at Colima Volcano, Mexico. Pure Appl. Geophys. 173, 3513–3524 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-015-1167-x

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