Subsidence in the Parícutin lava field: Causes and implications for interpretation of deformation fields at volcanoes

Assessment of volcanic hazards includes interpretation of ground deformation signal, which, at polygenetic volcanoes often results from the superposition of deformation due to pressure changes in the magmatic system and due to surficial processes such as cooling of emplaced lava. The deformation signal associated with emplaced lava is sometimes considered negligible if fields are decades old, but if the lava thickness is great, deformation may still be occurring, possibly leading to misinterpretation of the observed deformation. Here I evaluate the 2007-2011 ground motion of the 1943-1952 lava field of the Parícutin monogenetic cinder cone, Mexico. Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) time series reveal patchy subsidence restricted to the lava field and following linear rates up to 5.5 cm/year. There is a clear correlation between subsidence rates and topography suggesting a causal relationship with deposits or lava thickness. I estimate these thicknesses in the subsiding areas using pre- and post-eruption topographic maps and show that they reach up to 200 m. A numerical model for lava flow cooling was developed considering radiation and convection from the surface, conductive transfer inside the flow and to the ground, and vesiculation and latent heat generation at the top and bottom of the flow. The model shows that compaction induced by cooling of the thick deposits emplaced ~ 60 years ago explains the observed subsidence when conductive transfer to the ground is considered. These results demonstrate that thick deposits can keep deforming significantly even decades after their emplacement, emphasizing the importance of considering cooling processes when interpreting deformation fields at polygenetic volcanoes producing massive lava fields.