团队评估火山以帮助预测爆发

[NAIROBI] A team of scientists have begun assessing little-known火山在东非裂谷，了解他们对居住在该地区的人们构成的威胁。

The research, which started in Ethiopia this week (1 September), entails identifying signs of current volcanic activity and assessing records of past eruptions to identify the current state of the volcanoes and possibilities of forecast in the region, says Kathryn Whaler, a professor of地球科学at UK-based University of Edinburgh, one of the institutions involved in the project.

由位于埃塞俄比亚亚的斯亚贝巴大学的科学家组成的多学科团队以及英国埃塞俄比亚和同事的地质调查局，包括爱丁堡大学和布里斯托大学，将收集摇滚样本，这些样本将进行日期和分析。

“裂谷是进入和离开该国的货物的主要卡车运输路线，因此几乎所有的进出口都会受到影响。”

爱丁堡大学凯瑟琳·沃勒

根据沃勒（Whaler）的说法，它们将主要取决于地球物理方法来预测岩浆的当前分布，这是火山引起的热液体材料。

They will then combine the outcome with other techniques such as statistics to characterise future hazards, which will then provide forecasts on when and where the next eruptions might occur.

According to a release from the University of Edinburgh, in 2011, Nabro volcano — without any warning from earlier studies that assumed it was dormant — erupted on the boarder of Ethiopia and Eritrea, killing 32 people and displacing more than 5,000 inhabitants.

Whaler says although there are more than 100 volcanoes in the region, no records can be found on when they last exploded. Most of the volcanoes, according to Whaler, lack detectors that would indicate signs of an impending volcanic activity, noting that an eruption could greatly affect the economic activities in the region.

“The rift valley is the main trucking route for goods entering and leaving the country, so practically all imports and exports would be affected,” Whealer explains. “The flower industry is concentrated in the [area] and countries such as Netherlands that depend on these products will be affected too.”

The five-year project, which is known as RiftVolc, is being funded by the UK-based Naturalbeplay足球体育的微博该新闻稿称，研究委员会的成本为370万英镑（几乎为610万美元），并补充说，这些发现将与该地区的政策制定者和居住在该地区的人们共享。

Edward Wamuyu, a Kenya-based geological consultant, tellsscidev.net考虑到裂谷中有关火山活动的少数报道，该项目是值得的原因。

“The research [will enable a] better understanding of the characteristic trends of the [volcanic] eruptions,” he says.

Wamuyu adds that the researchers should establish risk management procedures that can be implemented in case there is a volcanic eruption in the future.

本文是由Scidev.net的撒哈拉以南非洲桌制作的。