Co-eruptive, endogenous edifice growth, uplift during 4 years of eruption at Sangay Volcano, Ecuador

• Published in: Journal of volcanology and geothermal research 2024-10, Vol.454, p.108147, Article 108147
• Main Authors: Espín Bedón, Pedro Alejandro, Ebmeier, Susanna K., Elliott, John R., Wright, Tim J., Mothes, Patricia, Cayol, Valérie, Maghsoudi, Yasser, Lazecký, Milan, Andrade, Daniel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Co-eruptive uplift; Endogenous growth; Sangay Volcano; Sciences of the Universe
• ISSN: 0377-0273
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2024.108147

We report sustained uplift throughout Volcan Sangay's most recent period of eruption (2019–22), moderated only by transient excursions during some of its largest explosions. Volcan Sangay (Amazonia, Ecuador), has been erupting since 2019, impacting both local communities and distant cities with ash fall and lahars. We analyzed ascending and descending Sentinel-1 radar imagery, constructing a robust network of interferograms spanning this eruptive period to measure relative ground displacements across the volcano. Our time series reveals a consistent uplift pattern (∼68 mm/yr) on the western and northern flanks of the volcano, which we attribute to volume increases in a body of magma located within the volcano's edifice beneath its western flank. This source appears to be vertically extensive, and is best fit by a quadrangular magma pathway, dipping towards the west and increasing in volume by 1.1 × 106 m3 between 2019 and 2022. We additionally identify non-magmatic deformation, including subsidence of fresh deposits and downslope displacement (∼50 mm/year) in the southeastern sector of the volcano. Co-eruptive uplift at Sangay is a rare observation of endogenous growth during an eruption and indicates that stratovolcano edifice stability is sensitive to both magma flux into the edifice and shallow controls on eruption rate. •Sangay uplifted steadily between 2019 and 2022, with major explosions accompanied by transient subsidence.•An area of ∼5 km2 of fresh deposits on the eastern flank is moving downslope at a rate of ∼50 mm/yr.•Co-eruptive uplift 2019–2022 is consistent with volume increase of 1.1 × 106 m3 in a curved pathway through the edifice.•The ratio of estimated intruded volumes to erupted volumes in 2019–2022 was 0.5–10%.