Volcanic lake dynamics and related hazards

Abstract

Abstract The presence of water in volcano craters implies a higher susceptibility to specific, potentially hazardous volcanic events, such as phreatic and phreatomagmatic eruptions, lahars, and limnic gas bursts. The driving process behind these hazards is magmatic degassing, inhibited to be released freely into the atmosphere due to a variable degree of the physical and chemical decelerating capacity of the lake itself (e.g., selective scrubbing of gases, condensation of vapor, CO2 storage due to hydrostatic loading, and bubble absorption along with gas rise). This review chapter (1) presents new ideas on hazardous events related to volcanic lakes, (2) shows how volcanic lakes are perceived by the local populations and cultures (risk perception), (3) revises and proposes mitigation strategies, (4) provides tips on how to ideally interpret precursory signals of such events in a suited, multidisciplinary monitoring setup, and (5) can become a road map for future volcanic lake research, by posing unanswered questions and proposing working hypotheses.