Method for estimating the end of the deflation initiated in 2014 at Sinabung volcano, Indonesia, under the assumption that the magma behaves as a Bingham fluid

Abstract

We herein estimated the end of the ongoing deflation at Sinabung volcano, Indonesia, which began in 2014 under the assumption that the magma is incompressible and behaves as a Bingham fluid. At first, we estimated the temporal volume change of the deformation sources for deflation periods from the end of 2013 until December 2016. The deflation rate is decreasing gradually, and the deflation is expected to cease in the future. Next, we obtained the absolute pressure in the reservoir as a function of time by modeling the magma as an incompressible fluid inside a spherical reservoir with a cylindrical vent and applying the estimated volume change function to the model. We then estimated the yield stress of the Sinabung magma to be 0.1–3 MPa from a previously derived linear relationship between the silica content and yield stress of lava and the measured silica content of Sinabung ashfall from 2010 to 2014, which was reported to be 58–60%. The absolute pressure in the reservoir is expected to fall below the yield stress between August and September 2018, which means that the magma would stop migrating from the reservoir toward the summit under the assumption that it behaves as a Bingham fluid. As a result, the deflation of Sinabung is estimated to end between August and September 2018. In comparison with the 1991–1995 deflation at Unzendake, the total deflation volume of Sinabung is comparable, whereas the duration of the deflation of Sinabung is approximately 1 year longer.