Muon tomography of the Soufrière of Guadeloupe (Lesser Antilles): Comparison with other geophysical imaging methods and assessment of volcanic risks

International audienceDensity tomography of rock with muons of cosmic origin measures the attenuation of the flux of particles crossing the object of interest to derive its opacity, i.e. the quantity of matter encountered by the particles along their trajectories. Recent progress in micro-electronics and particle detectors make field measurement possible and muon density tomography is gaining a growing interest (e.g. Tanaka et al., 2010; Gibert et al., 2010). We have constructed field telescopes based on the detectors of the OPERA experiment devoted to study neutrino oscillation (Lesparre et al., 2011a). Each telescope may be equipped with a variable number of detection matrices with 256 pixels. The spatial resolution is adaptable and is typically of about 20 meters (Lesparre et al., 2010). The telescopes are portable autonomous devices able to operate in harsh field conditions encountered on tropical volcanoes. The total power consumption is less than 40W, and an Ethernet link allows data downloading and remote control of the electronic devices and on-board computers. Larger high-resolution telescopes are under construction. The instruments have been successfully tested on the Etna and Soufrière of Guadeloupe volcanoes were a telescope is operating continuously since Summer 2010. Muon radiographies of the Soufrière lava dome reveal its very heterogeneous density structure produced by an intense hydrothermal circulation of acid fluids which alters its mechanical integrity leading to a high risk level of destabilisation. Small-size features are visible on the images and provide precious informations on the structure of the upper hydrothermal systems. Joined interpretation with other geophysical data available on the Soufrière - seismic tomography, electrical resistivity tomography, gravity data - is presented and discussed. Density muon tomography of the internal structure of volcanoes like the Soufrière brings important informations for the hazard evaluation an is particularly adapted to brought constraints on flank destabilization and hydrothermal circulation models. Tanaka et al., Three dimensional computational axial tomography scan of a volcano with cosmic ray muon radiography, J. Geophys. Res., 115, B12332, doi:10.1029/2010JB007677, 2010. Gibert et al., Muon Tomography: Plans for Observations in the Lesser Antilles, Earth Planets and Space, Vol. 52, 153-165, doi: 10.5047/eps.2009.07.003, 2010. Lesparre et al., Geophysical muon imaging: feasibility and limits, Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 183, 1348-1361, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2010.04790.x, 2010. Lesparre et al., Design and Operation of a Field Telescope for Cosmic Ray Geophysical Tomography, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, to appear, 2011a. Lesparre et al., Bayesian Dual Inversion of Experimental Telescope Acceptance and Integrated Flux for Geophysical Muon Tomography, Geophysical Journal International, to appear, 2011b