Seismo Lab Brown Bag Seminar

Volcanic eruptions pose risks to nearby populations, infrastructure, and agriculture. Between 2007–2010, explosive eruptions of Ol Doinyo Lengai in Tanzania's Natron Rift disrupted local life, yet a lack of monitoring limited hazard assessment. To address this limitation, we established the TZVOLCANO network, currently comprising six continuous GNSS stations and two broadband seismometers, to track volcanic deformation and volcano-tectonic interactions. GNSS data, streamed to the NSF Geodetic Facility for the Advancement of Geoscience (GAGE), have been used to investigate magma dynamics via inverse numerical modeling (dMODELS). Velocity inversions (2016–2022) indicate magma reservoir deflation east of the volcano, followed by significant uplift and outward displacement after July 2022, signaling reservoir inflation. A 2016–2023 velocity solution suggests a shallow (~3.5 km) inflating magma source, while GNSS time-series reveal a transient uplift signal (March 2022 – August 2023) linked to deeper (~6 km) magmatic intrusions. These findings enhance our understanding of Ol Doinyo Lengai's dynamic plumbing system, the only active carbonatite volcano on Earth.