Bryan Rosenblatt

Volcanoes: Earth’s Largest Horns

During a week-long excursion to Volcán Villarrica in January 2020, we collected infrasound data using a large (N=22) network distributed around the crater. During this time, a wavering of the frequency of Villarrica’s continuous monotonic infrasound was observed between 0.7-1.1 Hz. Since activity was stable, we argue that this frequency fluctuation can be explained through reasonable variations in sound speed. Past studies have found that a rise in the frequency of Villarrica’s monotonic infrasound may be precursory to an eruption. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between a rise in frequency leading towards an eruption or just due to atmospheric conditions. The efforts of this research can be expanded to many other open vent volcanoes, specifically those with active lava lakes. With Villarrica being one of the most popular tourist locations in Chile, as well as having a history of lahar flows, this system has a high potential for hazard.

Bryan Rosenblatt is an aspiring acoustician and musician who is completing a master’s degree in geophysics. He graduated high school in 2015 from The Las Vegas Academy of the Performing Arts with a double major in band and jazz. He then attended Boise State University, where he went on to complete an undergraduate degree in physics with a minor in applied mathematics in 2019. During his undergraduate degree, Bryan held numerous leadership positions in the Marching Band and interned for the music department as a sound engineer. He continued on to graduate school at Boise State where he became a part of Dr. Jeffrey Johnson’s volcano acoustics research team.

As a graduate student, he has climbed and performed field work atop of Stromboli Volcano in Italy, and Volcán Villarrica in Chile. He has also presented his research at the CONVERSE Infrasound Workshop in Fairbanks, Alaska as well as the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall meeting virtually. Bryan is planning to continue on to a doctorate degree after completing his master’s degree.