The Leaning Puy de Dôme (Auvergne, France) tilted by shallow intrusions

The iconic Puy de Dôme, a monogenetic lava dome in the Chaîne des Puys (France), was found to have been tilted by approximately 17° to the southwest due to shallow intrusions. This study reveals that the dome's asymmetry, with one side steeper than the other, resulted from further surface-bulging inflation of the Petit Puy de Dôme intrusion after its initial formation. Using mapping and paleomagnetism, researchers determined that this tilting process occurred over several hundred years, involving landslides and a small phreatomagmatic eruption. The findings extend the hazard period for such volcanic activity and suggest similar patterns in other monogenetic and polygenetic systems.

Petronis, M. S., Van Wyk de Vries, B., & Garza, D. (2019). The Leaning Puy de Dôme (Auvergne, France) tilted by shallow intrusions. Volcanica, 2(2), 161–189. https://doi.org/10.30909/vol.02.02.161186