Insights into the Magmatic Feeding System of the 2021 Eruption at Cumbre Vieja (La Palma, Canary Islands) Inferred from Gravity Data Modeling

Abstract

This study used spatiotemporal land gravity data to investigate the 2021 eruption that occurred in the Cumbre Vieja volcano (La Palma, Canary Islands). First, we produced a density model by inverting the local gravity field using data collected in July 2005 and July 2021. This model revealed a low-density body beneath the western flank of the volcano that explains a highly fractured and altered structure related to the active hydrothermal system. Then, we retrieved changes in gravity and GNSS vertical displacements from repeated measurements made in a local network before (July 2021) and after (January 2022) the eruption. After correcting the vertical surface displacements, the gravity changes produced by mass variation during the eruptive process were used to build a forward model of the magmatic feeding system consisting of dikes and sills based on an initial model defined by the paths of the earthquake hypocenters preceding the eruption. Our study provides a final model of the magma plumbing system, which establishes a spatiotemporal framework tracing the path of magma ascent from the crust–mantle boundary to the surface from 11–19 September 2021, where the shallowest magma path was strongly influenced by the low-density body identified in the inversion process.

Keywords

• volcano plumbing systems
• geophysical methods
• four-dimensional gravimetry
• inverse and forward model
• La Palma 2021 eruption