Sometimes, getting things right is a matter of getting a fresh perspective.

In the case of volcanoes, scientists have brought drones to the summit of Mount Merapi in Indonesia in order to get a better look at the new lava dome. The dome has been forming since 2018 but had begun collapsing, and the scientists wanted to find out just how and why it was collapsing. This volcano is Indonesia’s most active one, which means understanding it is very important to the health and well-being of the local population.

Using a drone, the team captured over a thousand high-resolution images from about 500 meters above the lava dome. They had already been using this method and with the additional time, they were able to see what was going on with this newer dome. Mind you, it’s not easy to get usable images at the top of an active volcano, as coauthor Valentin Troll explains: Gas emissions or clouds can obscure the view into the crater and onto the dome at times.

From an entire decade’s worth of data, researchers discovered that there was a horseshoe-shaped fracture system that had formed in 2012 and was buried by lava in 2018. That fracture zone weakened the new dome, which then collapsed in 2019. Additionally, the fracture system is allowing hydrothermal alteration of the minerals to occur, which is further weakening the rock. Their results were published in the journal Scientific Reports.

And now they know what to keep an eye on in the future – from drones in the sky.

More Information

Drones Discover Hidden Weaknesses of Collapsing Volcanoes (Eos)

“Hidden mechanical weaknesses within lava domes provided by buried high-porosity hydrothermal alteration zones,” Herlan Darmawan et al., 2022 February 25, Scientific Reports