Collaborative Research: Subsurface plumbing, tremor migration, and eruption cycle of Yellowstone Geysers

黄石热液系统拥有地球上数量最多的间歇泉。这些自然奇观每年吸引数百万游客。尽管科学研究的历史跨越了150多年，但关于间歇泉的基本问题仍然存在：形成间歇泉需要什么样的结构？为什么有些间歇泉有规律地喷发，而有些则没有？是什么控制着喷发的特征，比如喷发的体积、喷发的间隔和间歇泉喷发的高度？火山喷发能被准确预测吗？该项目旨在通过收集和分析黄石公园几个标志性间歇泉（包括Old Faithful和Steamboat）的跨学科数据来解决这些问题。利用密集地震阵列观测到的自然激发的地面振动，将对地下管道结构进行成像，并在喷发周期的每个阶段推断其内部的热状态。通过模拟天然间歇泉，将建立实验室间歇泉模型，以研究管道几何形状和其他因素如何引起喷发特征。通过研究，该项目将支持本科生和研究生教育，科学发现将通过国家公园管理局和美国地质调查局黄石火山观测站的教育和推广平台传播。间歇泉是间歇性喷出蒸汽和液态水混合物的泉水。它们为热液系统中质量和能量的传输提供了一个窗口。为了了解间歇泉存在和喷发的方式和原因，研究人员将采用多学科方法研究黄石国家公园的标志性间歇泉，特别是老忠实泉、间歇泉山的间歇泉和世界上最高的间歇泉蒸汽船。他们将使用密集的临时地震阵列和新型的基于干涉测量的阵列分析来跟踪地下热液地震的迁移，从而跟踪火山喷发之前、期间和之后不断变化的热力学条件。类似的分析将用于间歇泉的管道系统和使间歇泉存在的深层地质结构的成像，并确定这些结构随时间的变化。实验室模型和现场压力和温度测量将用于解释地震观测和发展间歇泉现象和信号的一般理解。地震数据和模型的结合将用于预测火山喷发，包括喷发的时间。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Yellowstone hydrothermal system hosts the largest number of geysers on Earth. These natural wonders attract millions of visitors each year. Despite a history of scientific investigation spanning over 150 years, fundamental questions about geysers remain: What structures are required to create geysers? Why do some geysers erupt regularly and others do not? What controls eruption characteristics such as the volume erupted, the interval between eruptions, and the height to which geysers erupt? Can eruptions be accurately predicted? This project aims to address these questions by collecting and analyzing interdisciplinary data from few iconic geysers in Yellowstone, including Old Faithful and Steamboat. Using naturally excited ground vibration observed across dense seismic arrays, the subsurface plumbing structure will be imaged and the thermal state within will be inferred during each stage of the eruption cycle. By mimicking the natural geysers, laboratory geyser models will be built to examine how plumbing geometry and other factors give rise to eruption characteristics. Through the research, the project will support undergraduate and graduate education and the scientific findings will be disseminated through the education and outreach platforms of National Park Service and USGS Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.Geysers are springs that intermittently erupt mixtures of steam and liquid water. They provide a window into the transport of mass and energy in hydrothermal systems. To understand how and why geysers exist and erupt the investigators will use a multidisciplinary approach to study the iconic geysers of Yellowstone National Park, in particular, Old Faithful, the geysers of Geyser Hill, and the world’s tallest geyser, Steamboat. They will use dense temporary seismic arrays and novel interferometry-based array analyses to track subsurface hydrothermal tremor migration and hence the evolving thermodynamic conditions before, during, and after eruption. Similar analyses will be used to image the plumbing system of geysers and deeper geological structures that enable geysers to exist and identify changes in those structures over time. Laboratory models and in situ pressure and temperature measurements will be used to interpret seismic observations and develop a generalized understanding of geysering phenomena and signals. Together, a combination of seismic data and models will be used to forecast eruptions, including their timing.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.