The 1998-1999 eruption of Volcán de Colima, Mexico: an application of Maeda’s viscoelastic model

Abstract

A modified version of Maeda’s viscoelastic model of mass ejection is applied to the 1998-1999 eruptive period of Volcán de Colima, Mexico. The model fits reasonably well the observed volume and volume rate of the eruption, assuming a magma chamber with a volume 30 km3 and radius of 1.93 km centered at about 1.7 km below sea level (∼ 5.6 km below the summit crater). These figures are roughly in agreement with gravimetric data. The process of mass emission at Colima Volcano during the studied period, consisted of slow emission of lava for 2 months. This behavior is attributed to the viscoelastic rheology of the medium around the volcanic conduit and the input to the magma chamber.