Volcanic Eruptions Detected With Muons

[Wao nahele kane]

I found it interesting how one scientist's lemons might be another scientist's lemonade.

But rather than argue about the recipe for lemonade, I'd hoped there might be more discussion about the use of muography on Mauna Loa.  If anyone on Punaweb knows more. Seems like it could be an important application to put into place on Big Island, considering when Mauna Loa erupts some people will only have hours to evacuate. 

And if lava heads towards Hilo, the underground detection of magma showing whether lava tubes are full, slowing, emptying, could help assess emergency procedures for Hilo and East Hawaii.

Don't you think??

HOTPE,
Sorry about staining and stomping on your post.

About your idea, yes, a great idea. Unfortunately at this juncture and as you pointed out, natural-occuring/cosmic-ray muons aren't ideal sources for detecting activity within a volcano as low in elevation as Kilauea. Although it may be possible with sensors submerged in the ocean, likely very expensive and always at the mercy of the variable muon population. That is likely the Achilles heel for muon tomography for detection systems as you've cited, reliability of muons is limited to the cosmic ray conditions at any given time.

Anyhow, muon tomography is pretty much limited to using natural-occuring muons at this time. Some within the physics community are working on more practical muon sources, such as the creation of muon beams using lasers, etc. Particle accelorator created muons are even more useless with respect to practical applications for geologist, so laser-induced muons is the technology that needs to advance further for applications such as a Kilauea or Mauna Loa, real time, eruption detection system.

There are other potential techniques for producing muons but that's a complex topic. I'd imagine in another 20 years, there will be practical muon generation sources that emerge for a broader use of applications. 


Unfortunately, unlike x-rays that were discovered by accident back in 1895 by Wilhelm Roentgen during cathode electrical experiments, via artificial sourcing (Discovery of x-rays in their naturally occuring conditons happened later). Muons were discovered within in their natural occuring conditions first... So finding and creating practical artificial sources is the challenge here.