Two researchers from the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) attached to the research group Geomorphology, Territory and Landscape in Volcanic Regions (GEOVOL), since Friday have been working in La Palma. They are collaborating on various lines of research on the Cumbre Vieja volcano, which has been active since 19th September.
The researchers from the University of Castilla-La Mancha, Rafael Ubaldo Gosálvez Rey and Rafael Becerra Ramírez travelled to La Palma to work on different research initiatives linked to the volcano which erupted on the 19th September. Both scientists belong to the research group Geomorphology, Territory and Landscape in Volcanic Regions (GEOVOL), attached to the Department of Geography and Territorial Ordering at the UCLM, and have now gained wide-ranging experience on the study of these phenomena especially in the Campo de Calatrava region in Ciudad Real (one of the most important recently active volcanic areas in the Iberian Peninsula). Although they have also worked on volcanoes in Italy (Etna and Vesuvius), Cabo Verde and Mexico (Popocatépetl), this is the first time they have had the chance to observe one in action in the twenty-five years of experience the research group has had. In a similar vein, their colleagues Estela Escobar Lahoz (who was unable to fly due to the closure of airspace) and Elena González Cárdenas, are collaborating with them from the group headquarters at the Ciudad Real Faculty of Arts.
The researchers are in La Palma in response to an invitation from the University of La Laguna to work at theVolcanic Institute of the Canary Islands (INVOLCAN), with which GEOVOL has been a scientific collaborator for several years. As professor Gosálvez explains, since Friday they have developed three lines of research: an analysis of the dynamics and the eruption processes; the study of risks; and lastly, geotourism.
As regards the analysis of the eruption, the UCLM researchers are observing the transformations the volcano has made to the morphology of the land. These are forms known as "eruption edifices"" amongst which are the main cone, the outflow or scoria cones, such as that which expelled a lava flow which knocked down the church of Todoque yesterday. Rafael Ubaldo Gosálvez asserts that this information will be highly useful to discover how the edifices in Campo de Calatrava originated because the dynamics and the eruption processes seen with the La Palma volcano is very similar to those which occurred in this area of Castilla-La Mancha.
A second line of research includes an analysis of the risks associated with the lava outflow. That is, how vulnerable the settlements are to a phenomenon of this nature, one which destroys buildings or fundamental infrastructures. Lastly, the UCLM researchers are collaborating with INVOLCAN in an analysis of the tourism potential the volcanic phenomena has during and after the eruption. This, the professor stresses, is a reality that must be taken into account, as during the whole weekend the island received a constant influx of visitors who came to witness this exceptional natural phenomena.
In a similar vein, researchers from the GEOVOL group have supported a team from the Catania National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (Italy) to take measurements with high velocity cameras in order to register the speed of the lava flow. They have also collaborated with INVOLCAN to take measurements with infrared cameras.
The UCLM professor acknowledges that this experience is quite an event professionally speaking but is also something highly personal for someone dedicated to volcanology. "It is truly something unforgettable, he says.
UCLM Communication Office Ciudad Real, 27th of September 2021