Earthquakes, volcanoes, and rectified diffusion

Abstract

Rectified diffusion is a mechanism by which a strain wave can rapidly pump volatiles into a bubble and therefore increase the pressure in a closed system. The dynamic strain of either distant regional tectonic earthquakes or local volcanic tremor can be translated to static strain inside a magma chamber via this process. We formulate a theory appropriate to the conditions of a magma chamber and calculate the increased pressure using realistic physical parameters. For a basaltic system initially at 130 MPa pressure, the excess pressure from rectified diffusion is between 0.4 and 4 MPa for a regional M≥8 earthquake. The pressure from rectified diffusion is often significantly above the static stress caused by deformation for documented cases of triggered eruptions and thus presents a more viable mechanism for triggering. Prolonged tremor can have a similar effect since the total pressure added increases linearly with the duration of the excitation.