Decomposition, location, and persistence of seismic signals recovered from continuous tremor at Erta 'Ale, Ethiopia

Subband decomposition and reconstruction (SDR) provides a quantitative, semi-automated, rapid means of analyzing volcanic tremor, which can recover signals that dominate different parts of the frequency spectrum while preserving polarization and phase. Here, applied to data from a two week experiment at Erta 'Ale in Nov–Dec 2003, we demonstrate that the SDR method can identify signals corresponding to source processes active in several different physical regions of the Erta 'Ale caldera. Different recovered signals suggest that the continuous tremor at Erta 'Ale is a composite of several seismic sources, including conduit resonance, bubble bursting phenomena, and degassing at fumaroles. These signals are seen throughout the 2003 experiment, suggesting that several competing source models of volcanic tremor can produce signals at the same volcanic conduit system simultaneously.

► Applies SDR method to data recorded at Erta 'Ale, Ethiopia, in 2003.
► Locates and classifies several types of recovered signals corresponding to different seismic sources at Erta 'Ale.
► Recovers persistent signals associated with passive degassing, conduit resonance, and gas bubble bursting.
► Finds multiple tremor source mechanisms active simultaneously at the Erta 'Ale lava lake and conduit system.