VOLADA – the first collaborative data base on Volcanic Lakes

By dmitri rouwet1, Veronica Chiarini2

1. INGV-Sezione di Bologna, Italy 2. University of Bologna, Italy

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Abstract

There are more volcanic lakes on Earth than previously thought. The here presented data base is first in its kind and compiles the available information on ~340 volcanic lakes worldwide. It aims to become a complete and interactive tool, in which researchers can add, extract and use data in a dynamic matter. The data base will be available online for members of the VHub "iavceicvl" group, and is controlled and protected by the authors.
The lakes are alphabetically compiled by continent-country, and by coordinates-volcano the lake belongs to. The coordinates are linked to GoogleEarth to easily locate each of the lakes on a map, and pictures will be added where available. So far, 82 lakes were recognized in Europe (30 in the Azores), 52 in Africa (24 in Cameroon), 45 in North America (20 in Mexico), 57 in Central America (25 in Costa Rica), 21 in South America (13 Chile-Argentina), 58 in Asia (21 in Indonesia e.g.), and 29 in Oceania (18 in New Zealand). In a first step, the lakes will be classified following the classification systems by Pasternack and Varekamp (1997) and Varekamp et al. (2000), for their physical (10 sub-classes, from erupting to no-activity lakes) and chemical (rock-dominated or gas-dominated) characteristics, respectively.
The "level of study" is indicated and ranges from "constantly/continuously monitored-well studied-studied-poorly studied-not studied". The number of "poorly studied" and "not studied" lakes is still very high; future research strategies should focus on tackling these lakes. The data of the last eruptions of the lake or related volcano is indicated. Lake basin characteristic parameters will be provided (depth, surface area, volume), together with basic physical-chemical parameters of lake waters (pH, T, Conductivity).
Where available, we aim to add temporal variations of the chemical and eventually isotopic composition of lake waters, based on literature or unpublished data (with permission of the contributor). This last task requires major effort and time, for which we invite all group members to insert data of "their preferred volcanic lake". Outcomes of mass and/or energy budget analyses of lakes can be considered as well. Suggested literature can be added for each lake. The data base will be updated in real-time, when scientific literature and research evolves.
VOLADA will not only be of great help in deterministic approaches and volcano monitoring, but the large amount of data will also permit statistical or probabilistic research approaches, a pretty novel topic in volcanic lake research.

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