Soil Temperature Variations and Heat Flux in the Mount Tlamacas Region in Relation to the Activity of the Popocatepetl Volcano, Mexico | Chapter 3 | Current Research on Geography, Earth Science and Environment Vol. 2

Monitoring of soil gas temperature, meteorological parameters, radon concentration and certain other associated physical characteristics is an important part of volcanology. Radon concentration monitoring and surveys at volcano-tectonic geological structures have been carried out in different active volcanoes all over the world. The current study focuses on analysing temperature variations measured during the radon monitoring (June 2013–May 2014) at the Tlamacas observation site, Popocatépetl. This study highlights anomalous changes in the diurnal behaviour of the temperature measured in the near-surface soil at the Tlamacas monitoring site. In-soil temperature measurements were carried out using portable radon detectors, SARAD Scout Plus. The detectors were equipped with simple sensors for temperature, air humidity, atmospheric pressure, and an accelerometer. Two statistical values, “averaged daily temperature” and “residual temperature”, were used for analysis. Results of the statistical analysis show two essential changes for the temperature characteristics observed during the 2007–2009 (quiet volcano) and 2013–2014 (active volcano) monitoring periods. Under normal conditions, the absolute minimum daily temperature is observed at about 7:40 Local Time (LT) during sunrise for the atmosphere and, with a time delay, at about 8:30 LT for soil measurements. The absolute temperature maximum is observed about 15:30LT for the atmosphere and 16:30LT for in-soil measurements. The dispersion of the residual temperature (24-h running trend of the temperature substituted) is 5.6 times lower for the 2013–2014 period in comparison with the 2007–2009 period. In other words, in 2013–2014, the temperature variability became 5.6times lower than it was in 2007–2009. The study identifies an anomalous temperature behaviour in the soil near Popocatépetl. The observed anomaly is very likely related to the activity of the volcano, because it was never observed during the period of volcanic quiescence. The physical mechanism for the temperature anomaly remains under discussion, but almost certainly, the governing processes are complex in character. Further geophysical investigations and potentially laboratory experiments are necessary to fully understand the phenomenon.

 

Author(s) Details

V. Yutsis
División de Geociencias Aplicadas, Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica, Camino a la presa San José #2055, San Luis Potosí, S.L.P, 78216, México.

 

V. Grimalsky
Centro de Investigación en Ingeniería y Ciencias Aplicadas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México.

 

A. Kotsarenko
Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma del Carmen, Cd. del Carmen, Campeche, México.

R.E. Guevara-Betancourt

División de Geociencias Aplicadas, Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica, Camino a la presa San José #2055, San Luis Potosí, S.L.P, 78216, México.

 

J. Almaguer Rodriguez
Instituto de Geología, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, México.

 

Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/crgese/v2/5847