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

黄石热液系统拥有地球上最多的间歇泉。这些自然奇观每年吸引数以百万计的游客。尽管有超过150年的科学调查历史，但关于间歇泉的基本问题仍然存在：创造间歇泉需要什么结构？为什么有些间歇泉会定期喷发，而其他间歇泉则不会？是什么控制着喷发特征，如喷发量、喷发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的跨学科数据来解决这些问题，其中包括老忠实喷泉和汽船喷泉。利用通过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，并将在喷发周期的每个阶段推断内部的热状态。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。通过这项研究，该项目将支持本科生和研究生教育，科学成果将通过国家公园管理局和美国地质调查局黄石火山天文台的教育和推广平台传播。间歇泉是间歇性喷发蒸汽和液态水混合物的泉水。它们为了解热液系统中的质量和能量传输提供了一个窗口。为了了解间歇泉是如何存在和喷发的，研究人员将使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、间歇山间歇泉和世界上最高的间歇泉汽船。他们将使用密集的临时地震阵列和新的基于干涉测量的阵列分析来跟踪地下热液颤动的迁移，从而跟踪喷发前、喷发中和喷发后不断变化的热力学条件。类似的分析将用于描绘间歇泉的管道系统和更深的地质结构，使间歇泉得以存在，并确定这些结构随时间的变化。将使用实验室模型和现场压力和温度测量来解释地震观测结果，并发展对间歇泉现象和信号的普遍理解。地震数据和模型的组合将被用于预测喷发，包括它们的时间。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.