The eternal question of the eruption of the Auvergne volcano has been put back on the table by a recent study by Hungarian volcanologists. So, everyone in shelters?
Will they wake up? Won’t wake up? Volcanoes continue to fascinate as always. Also from Auvergne.
A recent study by Hungarian volcanologists from Eötvös-Lorand University (Elte), published in the journal Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, shows that dormant volcanoes, like Auvergne, can wake up suddenly. “Volcanic eruptions – regardless of their intensity – represent a significant, but often underestimated, threat to modern society,” the researchers explain. In Auvergne, the last eruption is 6,700 years old.
Information or intoxication?
To learn more on the subject, we took stock with Guillaume Baudor, a volcanologist at the Magmas et Volcanoes Laboratory in Clermont-Ferrand.
We can also shorten the initial suspense: in the study, the Auvergne volcano is not directly related, nor even mentioned. In contrast, Hungarian volcanologists studied the Siamadul volcano in Romania, which has similarities to our volcano, according to the researchers. In terms of geological structure and eruptive history. “They are not comparable to the volcanic zone they describe in their study,” explains Guillaume Boudor.
A recent study shows that dormant volcanoes, like Auvergne, can wake up suddenly
Mainly because Auvergne volcanoes do not have the same magmatic source. In the article, they talk about large, more or less liquid magma pockets in the crust. Here, there is no evidence that there is such a magmatic pocket.” And then “the volcano that he describes, from a morphological point of view, we can compare it to Monts Dor”, he affirmed. Not far from our beloved Puy de Dom.
“likely to explode”
One thing that the study by the Hungarian researchers did not directly mention the Auvergne volcano. But there is still a possibility of the volcano erupting.
“We have been in an active volcanic phase in the Massif Central along the Cantal, Monts d’Or and Puys chain for thirteen million years. Today, we are in a period of no activity”
Guillaume Baudor (Volcanologist at the Laboratory of Magmas and Volcanoes at the University of Clermont-Auvergne)
Given the geological history in the Auvergne, eruptions are likely. The only question is when? “It could be hundreds of years, thousands of years … we don’t know,” estimated Guillaume Boudoir. So yes, “maybe the volcano will wake up one day”. But be patient, it’s not for tomorrow.
Adrien Fillon
