Plenary & Special sessions

There have been a number of impactful eruptions since early 2020, including Fagradalsfjall (Iceland), La Soufrière (St Vincent), Nyiragongo (Democratic Republic of Congo), La Palma (Spain), and others. This session is dedicated to providing an overview and preliminary results of recent eruptions , with a focus on hazards, impacts, and consequences.

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PS2 > Special session on recent eruptions : crisis management

Conveners

Stefano Branca

Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Etneo

Angela Doherty

Auckland Emergency Management

angela.doherty@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Stacey Edwards

Seismic Research Center, The University of the West Indies

Stacey.Edwards@sta.uwi.edu

Michelle Forbes

National Emergency Management Organisation of St. Vincent & the Grenadines

michelleforbes@gov.vc

Erouscilla Joseph

Seismic Research Center, The University of the West Indies

Erouscilla.Joseph@sta.uwi.edu

There have been a number of impactful eruptions since early 2020, including Fagradalsfjall (Iceland), La Soufrière (St Vincent), Nyiragongo (Democratic Republic of Congo), La Palma (Spain), and others. This session is dedicated on the crisis management of these eruptions, including resident and tourist considerations, communications, crisis management in the time of covid-19, and interagency cooperation.

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PS3 > Special session on covid-19 and volcanoes : lessons and adaptation

Conveners

Jorge Romero Moyano

University of Manchester

jorge.romero@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk

Carol Stewart

Massey University

c.stewart1@massey.ac.nz

Since late 2019, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; “covid-19”) had resulted in a severe global disruption, affecting all parts of the world and impacting nearly every aspect of life. This session is focused on both lessons learned from covid-19 response strategies that can be applied to volcanology, and how volcanic eruption pre-crisis planning and response, and volcanology more broadly has adapted in the time of covid-19. We particularly welcome contributions that focus on communication, crisis management, and interagency cooperation.

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PS4 > Special session on lessons from social sciences and related disciplines

Conveners (to be confirmed)

This broad special session welcomes contributions that brings together and demonstrates the value of social sciences and related disciplines to volcanology (e.g. anthropology, economics, geography, political science, communication, psychology and sociology). We welcome contributions that are able to share lessons and learnings from research in these disciplines.

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SS1 > Bronze Age Cities and the Volcano of Thera

Conveners

Jan Driessen

Université Catholique de Louvain

jan.driessen@uclouvain.be

Irene Nikolakopoulou

Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, Crete, Greece

irene_nikolak@yahoo.com

The cataclysmic eruption of the Thera volcano in the mid-second millennium BC had a tremendous effect on Bronze Age communities of the prehistoric Aegean. The evidence for widespread dispersal of volcanic material, destructions inflicted by earthquakes and/or tsunamis, combined with the elimination of the settlement at Akrotiri, a key harbour in maritime trade networks, suggests that the impact on the lives of people in Crete and the islands was significant in many aspects. Although the theory for the demise of Minoan civilization as a direct outcome of the eruption is now considered unlikely, data from environmental, geophysical and archaeological research paint a picture of severe turmoil at the time following the eruption. Experts from the above mentioned fields are invited to the workshop to present new evidence and synthetic approaches to the following topics of interest:

Physical evidence for the impact of the eruption (dispersal of volcanic material, destructions linked to seismic events and tsunamis, contamination of natural resources)
Patterns of environmental and societal crisis management strategies (cleaning/rebuilding/rehabilitating activities, alternative strategies to ensure viability of the Cretan Bronze Age palatial system, e.g. storage and agricultural practices)
Indicators for social, psychological and ideological uncertainty and instability in the aftermath of the eruption
The nature of the Late Bronze IA to Late Bronze IB transition in Aegean Bronze Age communities

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SS2 > Impact of volcanic activity crises in places of tourist interest: Stromboli, Vulcano, White Island, Cumbre Vieja and other case studies

Conveners

Elisabetta Del Bello

Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Italy

elisabetta.delbello@ingv.it

Federico Di Traglia

National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics - OGS, Borgo Grotta Gidante 42/C, 34010 Sgonico, Italy

ditragliafederico@gmail.com

Daniele Andronico

Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Italy

daniele.andronico@ingv.it

Piergiorgio Scarlato

Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Italy

piergiorgio.scarlato@ingv.it

Luca D'Auria

Instituto Volcanológico de Canarias
Instituto Tecnológico y de Energias Renovables
Spain

ldauria@iter.es

Though there are thousands of volcanoes on the planet, some of the most active and dangerous ones are located in highly populated and touristic places, like volcanic islands. The combination of splendid scenery, outdoor activities in the mountains, and relaxing stays by the sea, attract thousands of tourists.

The volcanic phenomena are highly variable. Some are persistently erupting magma and gas, with impulsive or sustained explosions that can continue uninterrupted for long periods without significant breaks. Sometimes however, this usually mildly-explosive style can shift into a more violent one, leading to destructive, powerful phenomena such as intense tephra and ballistic fallouts, sustained lava fountaining, pyroclastic and lava flows, tsunami and fires, as in the cases of Fuego (Guatemala) in 2018, Kilauea (Hawaii, USA) in 2018, Krakatoa (Indonesia) in 2018 and Stromboli (Italy) in 2019. In other cases the volcanic activity can remain quiescent for years/decades, and then suddenly resume, unexpectedly surprising the inhabitants, as in the most recent case of Cumbre Vieja (La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain) in 2021.

Other volcanoes are characterised by a steady state, long-term hydrothermal activity. However, a sudden phreatic crisis can interrupt that condition, and phreatic explosions, which may or may not be associated with magmatic phases, can generate projectiles ejection and the development of PDCs, as those of Te Maari (Tongariro, New Zealand) in 2012, Ontake (Japan) in 2014, and Whakāri / White demonstrated Island (New Zealand) in 2016. At the time of writing this session, Vulcano (Aeolian Islands, Italy) is showing signals of volcanic unrest, opening the assessment of different eruptive scenarios.

This wide range of phenomena largely affect the safety and the economy of the involved islands, mostly based on the tourism industry. At the same time volcanic activity represents by itself a tourist attraction both on the short and long terms.

In this session, we welcome a wide range of contributions focusing on scientific aspects of the most recent examples of eruptive crisis (like, e.g., eruptive dynamics, volcano modelling, and volcanic hazard) using a variety of direct and remote sensing tools, also including the use of social media as a source of scientific data. In addition, we strongly encourage submissions on the management of impact and risk mitigation of those recent eruptive crises and on the exploitation of the natural resources linked to volcanism.

This session has the sponsorship and support of the IAVCEI Commission on Explosive Volcanism.

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SS3 > First steps in planning for the health response in a future eruption or period of volcanic unrest in Greece

Conveners

Emmanouil Pikoulis

Department of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

mpikoul@med.uoa.gr

Claire J. Horwell

Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom

claire.horwell@durham.ac.uk

Paraskevi Nomikou

Department of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

evinom@geol.uoa.gr

Peter J. Baxter

Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

pjb21@medschl.cam.ac.uk

William Mueller

Institute of Occupational Medicine, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Will.Mueller@iom-world.org

Greece has a number of volcanoes which are displaying signs of unrest. The substantial degassing following the Nisyros seismic crisis of 1997 and the Santorini volcanic unrest of 2011-12 alerted Greece to the possibility of a major eruption within our lifetimes. Volcanic emissions, either passive or during an eruption, may cause distress and potential harm to exposed communities. This workshop proposal invites Greek governmental and non-governmental health agencies, civil protection and related practitioners such as those responsible for environmental monitoring (e.g., air and water quality) to come together with international experts to discuss the potential health impacts, how the health of exposed communities would be monitored and to discuss potential actions to protect communities that could be taken in the event of negative health consequences being measured or suspected.The workshop is sponsored by the International Volcanic Health Hazard Network which works with governments to prepare for eruptions and provides public information for use during the responses. IVHHN has recently produced two standardized epidemiological protocols (http://www.ivhhn.org/guidelines#epidemiological), the first being for rapid deployment at eruption onset and the second being for follow up if health impacts are measured. These protocols will be presented and their potential for implementation discussed,along with other emergency management and civil/public health protection practices.

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