Numerical simulations of flood basalt lava flows: Roles of parameters on lava flow morphologies

Hideaki Miyamoto; Sho Sasaki

doi:10.1029/98jb00438

TERRESTRIAL ANALOGS TO PLANETARY VOLCANISM: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ORIGINS OF FLOOD BASALT LAVA FLOWS ON MARS

10.1130/abs/2018am-316932 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Christopher W. Hamilton ◽

Keyword(s):

Flood Basalt ◽

Lava Flows ◽

Basalt Lava ◽

Planetary Volcanism

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Rock magnetic evidence of inflation of a flood basalt lava flow

Bulletin of Volcanology ◽

10.1007/s00445-002-0203-8 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 64 (5) ◽

pp. 289-302 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Edgardo Cañón-Tapia ◽

Robert Coe

Keyword(s):

Lava Flow ◽

Flood Basalt ◽

Basalt Lava

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Vesicle distribution in basalt lava flow units in the Mesozoic rift basins of northeast China and its application in gas reservoir prediction

Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences ◽

10.1139/cjes-2015-0004 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 53 (1) ◽

pp. 59-70 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Jian Yi ◽

Pujun Wang ◽

Youfeng Gao ◽

Ruishi Yao ◽

Ranlei Zhao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lava Flow ◽

Linear Function ◽

Northeast China ◽

Lava Flows ◽

Rift Basins ◽

Basalt Lava ◽

Distribution Models ◽

Gas Reservoir ◽

Flow Units ◽

Geological Models

The Mesozoic rift basins of northeast China are characterized by a significant proportion of basalt due to the progressive emplacement of basalt lava flows. The objective of this study was to construct vesicle distribution models of the basalt lava flow units, including conceptual geological models and thickness models, to understand the architecture of the basalt and the gas reservoir distribution. The conceptual geological models were constructed based on the characteristics of outcropping basalt lava flows, with supplemental seismic data used to extrapolate the lateral extents of large-scale basalt lava flows. The thickness models were constructed using data on the thicknesses of basalt lava flow units and vesicle zones. These data were obtained from 27 units in outcrop and 204 units interpreted from well logs in the basin. The conceptual geological models revealed that the shapes of the basalt lava flow units change from braided to tabular with increasing thickness and that their inner structures can be divided into three vesicle zones: the top vesicle zone, the massive core zone, and the base vesicle zone. The thickness models revealed that trends in the thickness of the top vesicle zone relative to the thickness of the basalt lava flow unit can be expressed using a piecewise function that can be separated into a linear function and a logarithmic function. Similarly, trends in the thickness of the massive core zone and the base vesicle zone relative to the basalt lava flow unit thickness can be expressed by a piecewise linear function. Vesicle distribution models provide an effective means of determining the proportion and distribution of vesicle zones in basalt with limited borehole data. We also constructed a reservoir model based on our vesicle distribution models, and this model revealed that suitable petroleum reservoirs are primarily located in the thinner braided lava flows.

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Thickness Characteristics of Pāhoehoe Lavas in the Deccan Province, Western Ghats, India, and in Continental Flood Basalt Provinces Elsewhere

Frontiers in Earth Science ◽

10.3389/feart.2020.630604 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Stephen Self ◽

Tushar Mittal ◽

Anne Elizabeth Jay

Keyword(s):

Columbia River ◽

Flood Basalt ◽

Flow Fields ◽

Lava Flows ◽

Basalt Lava ◽

Continental Flood Basalt ◽

Quantitative Basis ◽

Simple Flows ◽

Lava Morphology ◽

Central Atlantic

Constraining the eruption rates of flood basalt lava flows remains a significant challenge despite decades of work. One potential observable proxy for eruption rates is flood basalt lava-flow lobe thicknesses, a topic that we tackle here quantitatively. In this study, we provide the first global compilation of pāhoehoe lava-lobe thicknesses from various continental flood basalt provinces (∼ 3,800 measurements) to compare characteristic thicknesses within and between provinces. We refer to thin lobes (∼ ≤5 m), characteristic of “compound” lavas, as hummocky pāhoehoe lava flows or flow-fields. Conversely, we term thicker lobes, characteristic of “simple” flows, as coming from sheet-lobe-dominated flows. Data from the Deccan Traps and Columbia River flood-basalt provinces are archetypal since they have the most consistent datasets as well as established chemo- and litho-stratigraphies. Examining Deccan lobe thicknesses, we find that previously suggested (and disputed) distinct temporal and regional distributions of hummocky pāhoehoe and sheet-lobe-dominated flow fields are not strongly supported by the data and that each geochemically defined formation displays both lobe types in varying amounts. Thin flow-lobes do not appear to indicate proximity to source. The modal lobe thickness of Deccan formations with abundant “thin” lava-lobes is 8 m, while the mode for sheet-lobe-dominated formations is only 17 m. Sheet-lobes up to 75–80 m are rare in the Deccan and Columbia River Provinces, and ones >100 m are exceptional globally. For other flood basalt provinces, modal thickness plots show a prevalence toward similar lobe thicknesses to Deccan, with many provinces having some or most lobes in the 5–8 m modal range. However, median values are generally thicker, in the 8–12 m range, suggesting that sheet-lobes dominate. By contrast, lobes from non-flood basalt flow-fields (e.g., Hawai’i, Snake River Plain) show distinctly thinner modes, sub-5 m. Our results provide a quantitative basis to ascertain variations in gross lava morphology and, perhaps, this will in future be related to emplacement dynamics of different flood basalt provinces, or parts thereof. We can also systematically distinguish outlier lobes (or regions) from typical lobes in a province, e.g., North American Central Atlantic Magmatic Province lava-lobes are anomalously thick and are closely related to feeder-intrusions, thus enabling a better understanding of conditions required to produce large-volume, thick, flood basalt lava-lobes and flows.

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