FIRE

Assisting the instrumental observation of the eruption

This project answers a request of collaboration from Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia e Geofisica (INMG­CV) to assist the instrumental observation of the eruption at Fogo, in the Cape Verde archipelago, one of the most active oceanic island volcanoes in the world. It has erupted approximately every 20 years since the island was discovered in the 15th century.

The most recent eruption of Fogo volcano started on November 23rd, 2014, and a few days later the Collaboratorium for Geosciences (C4G), a consortium included in the National Strategic Research Infrastructure Roadmap, received that a request, which was readily accepted, and FCT exceptionally funded a mission to Fogo to collect geological, seismic, geodetic, and geochemical data.

Hazard assessment – These rich datasets offer a unique opportunity to improve volcanic hazard assessment in the island and recommend on risk mitigation strategies.

Transversal themes –The project’s activities converge into the following 3 transversal themes: ­ i) volcanic structure (Past), ii) eruption dynamics (Present) and iii) strategies for risk mitigation (Future).

Variety of techniques – In order to achieve the proposed goals, the researcher’s team rely on a variety of techniques spanning the fields of physical volcanology, geological mapping, remote sensing, seismology, space­geodesy & gravimetry, igneous petrology & geochemistry, geochronology, palaeomagnetism, and numerical modeling. These techniques will be combined in coordinated and complementary ways, and will feed into the development of strategies for risk assessment and mitigation, in partnership with the competent authorities.

Holistic understanding – Besides contributing to hazard assessment, the anticipated results will also contribute to a holistic understanding of the Fogo volcano and of ocean island volcanoes in general.

Notably, improved knowledge of the Fogo system will allow insight into the trigger mechanisms behind volcanic extreme events (low probability, high impact): In pre­historical times, Fogo generated several highlyexplosive (plinian) eruptions, and it was also the site of a catastrophic flank collapse that triggered a devastating giant tsunami (~73 kyrs ago).

Catalyser of integration – This project counts with a large team of Portuguese scientists, many of whom have a distinguished track record of work on Fogo and other volcanic systems. The project is the first joint scientific venture of the C4G community, serving as catalyser of integration between scientists and research groups within C4G, and between C4G and its strategic partners. In addition, the team includes scientists from Cape­verdean institutions, aiming at an effective bilateral knowledge transfer.

Project Members

 Rui Fernandes (Principal Investigator, PI)

João Fonseca

Stéphanie Dumont

Ana MG Ferreira

Ana Paula Falcão

Andrea Morelli

António Brum da Silveira

Bento Caldeira

Bruno Faria

Carla Mora

  Carla Candeias

Carlos Corela

Casimiro Pio

Catherine Dominique Meriaux

Celeste Gomes

Célia dos Anjos Alves

Daniel Pipa Soares de Oliveira

Daniele Perissin

Dina Vales-Roque

E.A. Ferreira Silva

Eleonore Stutzmann

Fernando Coelho Lopes

Fernando Raposo Carrilho

Gonçalo Vieira

Guilherme Madureira

Hugo Gonçalves

João Catalão

João Cardoso

João Silva Mata

João Palm

JoséMadeira

JoséFernando Borges

Lídia Quental

Línia Martins

Lourenço Costa Bandeira

Luis Manuel Matias

Machiel Simon Bos

Maria Silva

Maria Graça Silveira

Maria Rio

Teresa Barata

Mário de Andrade Moreira

Martin Schimmel

Mourad Bezzeghoud

Nuno Cortez Dias

Ávila, P. F –

Paulo Carvalho

Pedro Gabriel Almeida

Pedro Ferreira

Pedro Silva

Pedro Pina

Pierre Arroucau

Ricardo dos Santos Ramalho

Rita Caldeira

Rui M. L. Ferreira

Heleno da Silva SIN

Sofia Martins

Susana Custódio

Teresa Nunes

T.P. Silva

Funded by

FCT

Website

fire.segal.ubi.pt