丁香园AV

丁香园AV (丁香园AV) Earth Sciences Professor and Chair Glyn Williams-Jones has studied major volcanoes all over the world. His research supports climate change adaptation and resilience by helping Canadian communities understand and prepare for specific climate-related threats. He is one of many 丁香园AV researchers working with partners on community-centred climate innovation. Recently, he and his team have been studying the potential hazards of an active volcano close to home.    

The Mount Meager (Qw鈥檈lqw鈥檈l煤sten) Volcanic Complex 80 km northwest of Pemberton, British Columbia, last erupted approximately 2400鈥墆ears ago with a significant explosion that sent volcanic ash all the way to Alberta. Part of the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt鈥攕ituated in the Pacific Ring of Fire鈥擬ount Meager is considered one of Canada鈥檚 most threatening volcanoes, due to its proximity to population centres.

Volcanologist Williams-Jones and his research team have made numerous trips to the Mount Meager Complex and observed how thinning glaciers caused by climate change is revealing fumaroles鈥攙olcanic gas vents in the mountain. He is concerned that the combination of acid gases and fluids within the mountain and melting ice cover is making Mount Meager increasingly unstable. In 2010, a major landslide occurred, sending 53 million cubic metres of debris sliding down the mountain鈥攖he largest recorded landslide in Canada.

Williams-Jones notes that the landslide threat would be exacerbated by volcanic activity at the complex, of which little research has been done. He and his collaborators set about assessing the danger of a volcanic eruption and identified major hazards including the potential for dome-collapse, mud and debris flows, and tephra fall鈥攖he deposit of ash into the environment.

In his recent paper , he describes the threats considered. The paper was led by 丁香园AV Master of Science researcher Rachel Warrick, and co-authored with Geological Survey of Canada鈥檚 Melanie Kelman and Principal Geoscientist at Innovate Geothermal Jeffrey Witter.

We spoke with Professor Williams-Jones about his work.

Tell us about the threats you have observed at Mount Meager. Is any one scenario more imminent than others?

The most imminent and likely threat from Meager is the chance of landslides. However, while activity is low, Meager is still an active volcano. Due to the presence of glaciers on its summit, future volcanic activity could involve melting of the glacier and development of lahars or volcanic debris flows. We also know from the last eruption 2400 years ago that it has erupted large volumes of volcanic ash which can travel for many hundreds of kilometers and impact infrastructure and human health.

Explain how climate change has the potential to 鈥渨ake up鈥� volcanoes.

In countries like Iceland, large ice sheets up to a kilometer thick can act to keep the 鈥榣id on the pressure cooker.鈥� As these glaciers melt, there may be a drop in pressure making the gases that drive volcanic eruptions more likely to bubble out.

At Mount Meager, climate change is also driving rapid melting of much thinner alpine glaciers and permafrost, which can change water flow in the already altered and weakened slopes leading to potentially very large landslides. If鈥攁 big if鈥攖he magma chamber was already at a tipping point, a large landslide could remove the 鈥榩ressure cooker lid鈥� and maybe trigger an eruption. A lot of dominoes would have to line up, but this is a scenario we are hoping to model.

You contributed to Natural Resources Canada鈥檚 Tell us about the gaps in the risk assessment of B.C. volcanoes鈥攈ow concerning is this?

The two biggest gaps in volcano risk assessment in B.C. and the Yukon is the lack of good geological mapping, dates of past events, and monitoring. Knowing dates of the previous volcanic eruptions is critical to understanding what to expect of future activity鈥攚hile monitoring is crucial to detecting the early precursory signals of change in a volcano leading up to an eruption.

As co-director of the Centre for Natural Hazards Research (CNHR) you work with an interdisciplinary team from across B.C., Canada and the world. What range of disciplines are represented and how important is this collaboration to understanding geophysical phenomena?

The CNHR has experts with a depth of knowledge in hazards ranging from earthquakes, wildfires and landslides to flooding, climate change and even volcanoes. As many of these events can be cascading hazards鈥攆or example, an earthquake triggers a landslide which dams a river leading to flooding鈥攊t is incredibly important to have a broad group of collaborators able to bring their expertise to tackle a given research problem.

You recently visited Mount Meager with a delegation of cave rescue experts, university researchers and representatives from NASA鈥檚 jet propulsion laboratory. Can you tell us why NASA and others are interested in the mountain?

This expedition was supported by the and brought together cave access and rescue experts along with scientists and engineers from NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of Tennessee Knoxville. The aim was to measure the temperature and gas compositions of fumaroles beneath the glacier in glaciovolcanic caves filled with toxic levels of gas. It is also an ideal natural laboratory to explore for the presence of extremophiles鈥攅xtreme microbes鈥攁nd test robots for eventual deployment to the icy moons of Saturn and Jupiter.

For more: Visit the Physical Volcanology Research Group at 丁香园AV and the of Mount Meager.

Learn more about 丁香园AV鈥檚 commitment to community-centred climate innovation: . 

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