Quantitative volcanic susceptibility analysis of Lanzarote and Chinijo Islands based on kernel density estimation via a linear diffusion process
Risk management stakeholders in high-populated volcanic islands should be provided with the latest high-quality volcanic information. We present here the first volcanic susceptibility map of Lanzarote and Chinijo Islands and their submarine flanks based on updated chronostratigraphical and volcano structural data, as well as on the geomorphological analysis of the bathymetric data of the submarine flanks. The role of the structural elements in the volcanic susceptibility analysis has been reviewed: vents have been considered since they indicate where previous eruptions took place; eruptive fissures provide information about the stress field as they are the superficial expression of the dyke conduit; eroded dykes have been discarded since they are single non-feeder dykes intruded in deep parts of Miocene-Pliocene volcanic edifices; main faults have been taken into account only in those cases where they could modified the superficial movement of magma. The application of kernel density estimation via a linear diffusion process for the volcanic susceptibility assessment has been applied successfully to Lanzarote and could be applied to other fissure volcanic fields worldwide since the results provide information about the probable area where an eruption could take place but also about the main direction of the probable volcanic fissures.
The 1730–1736 eruption of Lanzarote, Canary Islands: a long, high-magnitude basaltic fissure eruption
Abstract The eruption that took place in Lanzarote between 1 September 1730 and 16 April 1736 differs from the normal style of the historic (last 500 years) volcanism of the Canary Islands. The duration (2,056 days), extent (200 km2), volume of materials emitted (3–5 km3) and the evolution of magmas from extremely SiO2-undersaturated lavas (melanephelinites) towards olivine tholeiite compositions are quite unique in the historic trend of volcanism in the Archipelago, and, apparently, even in the Earth's historical record of basaltic fissure eruptions. However, no specific work has been undertaken until now to attempt the reconstruction of this eruption. We present here a detailed reconstruction of the eruption, based on field observations and data provided by eye-witness accounts, one of which is a hitherto unpublished manuscript. The “anomalous” nature of this eruption in relation to the historic volcanism of the Canaries—especially the continuation of the eruption after the initial phase was completed (some 3–4 months, the maximum duration of any historic eruption in the Canarian Archipelago)—might be the result of upward movement of the magma generation front to an intermediate depth along a large fracture.
Commentary: Scholarship as a Way of Life—Character and Virtue in the Age of Big Humanities
From the Renaissance to the nineteenth century, most European scholars considered moral cultivation as the primary purpose of the humanities. The humanities were human not just because they concerned the products of the human mind but also because they transformed scholars and students into better human beings. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the rise of Big Humanities questioned this moral purpose. However, Big Humanities also reemphasized the importance of epistemic virtues for scholarship. The language of epistemic virtues helped scholars create new communities of learning and scholarship. Within these communities, the language of virtues established common standards of collaboration and granted scholars a sense of purpose. Many of these scholars also continued to associate epistemic virtues with moral virtues.