Is there any direct evidence for the existance of magma chambers?
Burga
Hi Burga,
How direct do you want? If you mean has anyone ever drilled directly into
a magma chamber then the answer is no. However, there are many less
direct ways to determine whether or not a magma chamber is present.
There are thousands of small earthquakes at Kilauea, however, there is a
zone under the summit where there are almost none. This is indirect
evidence that this zone is filled with molten rock (magma) which cannot
fracture. Additionally, we see the summit of Kilauea and other volcanoes
rise prior to eruptions and then fall during eruptions. That is pretty
good evidence that there is some sort of magma storage zone beneath the
volcano that fills and inflates prior to eruptions then empties and
deflates during the eruptions.
Sincerely,
Scott Rowland
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