Pushing the Volcanic Explosivity Index to its limit and beyond: Constraints from exceptionally weak explosive eruptions at Kīlauea in 2008

Geology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 627-630 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.F. Houghton ◽  
D.A. Swanson ◽  
J. Rausch ◽  
R.J. Carey ◽  
S.A. Fagents ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Donald A. Swanson ◽  
◽  
Sebastien Biass ◽  
Michael O. Garcia
Keyword(s):  

1997 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga A. Braitseva ◽  
Vera V. Ponomareva ◽  
Leopold D. Sulerzhitsky ◽  
Ivan V. Melekestsev ◽  
John Bailey

Detailed tephrochronological studies in Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, permitted documentation of 24 Holocene key-marker tephra layers related to the largest explosive eruptions from 11 volcanic centers. Each layer was traced for tens to hundreds of kilometers away from the source volcano; its stratigraphic position, area of dispersal, age, characteristic features of grain-size distribution, and chemical and mineral composition confirmed its identification. The most important marker tephra horizons covering a large part of the peninsula are (from north to south; ages given in14C yr B.P.) SH2(≈1000 yr B.P.) and SH3(≈1400 yr B.P.) from Shiveluch volcano; KZ (≈7500 yr B.P.) from Kizimen volcano; KRM (≈7900 yr B.P.) from Karymsky caldera; KHG (≈7000 yr B.P.) from Khangar volcano; AV1(≈3500 yr B.P.), AV2(≈4000 yr B.P.), AV4(≈5500 yr B.P.), and AV5(≈5600 yr B.P.) from Avachinsky volcano; OP (≈1500 yr B.P.) from the Baraniy Amfiteatr crater at Opala volcano; KHD (≈2800 yr B.P.) from the “maar” at Khodutka volcano; KS1(≈1800 yr B.P.) and KS2(≈6000 yr B.P.) from the Ksudach calderas; KSht3(A.D. 1907) from Shtyubel cone in Ksudach volcanic massif; and KO (≈7700 yr B.P.) from the Kuril Lake-Iliinsky caldera. Tephra layers SH5(≈2600 yr B.P.) from Shiveluch volcano, AV3(≈4500 yr B.P.) from Avachinsky volcano, OPtr(≈4600 yr B.P.) from Opala volcano, KS3(≈6100 yr B.P.) and KS4(≈8800 yr B.P.) from Ksudach calderas, KSht1(≈1100 yr B.P.) from Shtyubel cone, and ZLT (≈4600 yr B.P.) from Iliinsky volcano cover smaller areas and have local stratigraphic value, as do the ash layers from the historically recorded eruptions of Shiveluch (SH1964) and Bezymianny (B1956) volcanoes. The dated tephra layers provide a record of the most voluminous explosive events in Kamchatka during the Holocene and form a tephrochronological timescale for dating and correlating various deposits.


2021 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
L. R. Monnereau ◽  
B. S. Ellis ◽  
D. Szymanowski ◽  
O. Bachmann ◽  
M. Guillong

AbstractDense, glassy pyroclasts found in products of explosive eruptions are commonly employed to investigate volcanic conduit processes through measurement of their volatile inventories. This approach rests upon the tacit assumption that the obsidian clasts are juvenile, that is, genetically related to the erupting magma. Pyroclastic deposits within the Yellowstone-Snake River Plain province almost without exception contain dense, glassy clasts, previously interpreted as hyaloclastite, while other lithologies, including crystallised rhyolite, are extremely rare. We investigate the origin of these dense, glassy clasts from a coupled geochemical and textural perspective combining literature data and case studies from Cougar Point Tuff XIII, Wolverine Creek Tuff, and Mesa Falls Tuff spanning 10 My of silicic volcanism. These results indicate that the trace elemental compositions of the dense glasses mostly overlap with the vesiculated component of each deposit, while being distinct from nearby units, thus indicating that dense glasses are juvenile. Textural complexity of the dense clasts varies across our examples. Cougar Point Tuff XIII contains a remarkable diversity of clast appearances with the same glass composition including obsidian-within-obsidian clasts. Mesa Falls Tuff contains clasts with the same glass compositions but with stark variations in phenocryst content (0 to 45%). Cumulatively, our results support a model where most dense, glassy clasts reflect conduit material that passed through multiple cycles of fracturing and sintering with concurrent mixing of glass and various crystal components. This is in contrast to previous interpretations of these clasts as entrained hyaloclastite and relaxes the requirement for water-magma interaction within the eruptive centres of the Yellowstone-Snake River Plain province.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (21) ◽  
pp. eabf0604
Author(s):  
Allen J. Schaen ◽  
Blair Schoene ◽  
Josef Dufek ◽  
Brad S. Singer ◽  
Michael P. Eddy ◽  
...  

Rhyolitic melt that fuels explosive eruptions often originates in the upper crust via extraction from crystal-rich sources, implying an evolutionary link between volcanism and residual plutonism. However, the time scales over which these systems evolve are mainly understood through erupted deposits, limiting confirmation of this connection. Exhumed plutons that preserve a record of high-silica melt segregation provide a critical subvolcanic perspective on rhyolite generation, permitting comparison between time scales of long-term assembly and transient melt extraction events. Here, U-Pb zircon petrochronology and 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology constrain silicic melt segregation and residual cumulate formation in a ~7 to 6 Ma, shallow (3 to 7 km depth) Andean pluton. Thermo-petrological simulations linked to a zircon saturation model map spatiotemporal melt flux distributions. Our findings suggest that ~50 km3 of rhyolitic melt was extracted in ~130 ka, transient pluton assembly that indicates the thermal viability of advanced magma differentiation in the upper crust.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 4343-4367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Carboni ◽  
Roy G. Grainger ◽  
Tamsin A. Mather ◽  
David M. Pyle ◽  
Gareth E. Thomas ◽  
...  

Abstract. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is an important atmospheric constituent that plays a crucial role in many atmospheric processes. Volcanic eruptions are a significant source of atmospheric SO2 and its effects and lifetime depend on the SO2 injection altitude. The Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on the METOP satellite can be used to study volcanic emission of SO2 using high-spectral resolution measurements from 1000 to 1200 and from 1300 to 1410 cm−1 (the 7.3 and 8.7 µm SO2 bands) returning both SO2 amount and altitude data. The scheme described in Carboni et al. (2012) has been applied to measure volcanic SO2 amount and altitude for 14 explosive eruptions from 2008 to 2012. The work includes a comparison with the following independent measurements: (i) the SO2 column amounts from the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull plumes have been compared with Brewer ground measurements over Europe; (ii) the SO2 plumes heights, for the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull and 2011 Grimsvötn eruptions, have been compared with CALIPSO backscatter profiles. The results of the comparisons show that IASI SO2 measurements are not affected by underlying cloud and are consistent (within the retrieved errors) with the other measurements. The series of analysed eruptions (2008 to 2012) show that the biggest emitter of volcanic SO2 was Nabro, followed by Kasatochi and Grímsvötn. Our observations also show a tendency for volcanic SO2 to reach the level of the tropopause during many of the moderately explosive eruptions observed. For the eruptions observed, this tendency was independent of the maximum amount of SO2 (e.g. 0.2 Tg for Dalafilla compared with 1.6 Tg for Nabro) and of the volcanic explosive index (between 3 and 5).


1991 ◽  
Vol 128 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. S. Gilbert

AbstractVolcanic activity, the result of crustal differentiation during the Hercynian orogeny, generated eight explosive eruptions in the Vilancós region of the Spanish Pyrenees. The volcanic products comprise the Erill Castell Volcanic Formation of Stephanian age, which crops out as a 20 km long, WNW-trending strip < 2 km wide dipping steeply to the south.The Vilancós region represents a small fragment of an originally extensive regional terrain of silicic centres.The explosive eruptions mainly generated strongly peraluminous and phenocrystal garnet-bearing subaerial ignimbrite facies. Proximal intra-formational breccias represent a substantial volume of the preserved erupted product and one phreatoplinian deposit is exposed. Mass-flow deposits are common, and small-volume basalt, andesite and rhyolite lava flows, minor tuffs and palaesols also occur.Electron microprobe data show that each garnet-bearing member of the Vilancós region has a distinct garnet composition. This is used as geochemical fingerprinting tool to aid mapping and correlation between proximal intra-formational breccias and ignimbrite of the same eruption. Within one debris-flow deposit (the Vilancós Breccia Member) at least three garnet populations occur. Two of these are derived from pyroclastic members within the mapped region, the other comes from an unexposed rhyolite lava source.


1989 ◽  
Vol 203 ◽  
pp. 251-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guido Buresti ◽  
Claudio Casarosa

The equations of the steady, adiabatic, one-dimensional flow of an equilibrium mixture of a perfect gas and incompressible particles, in constant-area ducts with friction, are derived taking into account the effects of gravity and of the finite volume of the particles. As is the case for a pure gas, the mixture is shown to be subject to the phenomenon of choking, and the possibility of an adiabatic heating of the mixture in a subsonic expansion is also theoretically predicted for certain flow inlet conditions. The model may be used to approximately describe the conditions existing in portions of volcanic conduits during the Plinian phases of explosive eruptions. Some results of the numerical integration of the equations for a typical application of this type are briefly discussed, thus showing the potential of the model for carrying out rapid analyses of the influence of the main geometrical and flow parameters describing the problem. A non-volcanological application is also analysed to illustrate the possibility of the adiabatic heating of the mixture.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Ponomareva ◽  
Maxim Portnyagin ◽  
Siwan M. Davies
Keyword(s):  

1980 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan N. Federman ◽  
Steven N. Carey

AbstractFive widespread tephra layers are found in late Quaternary sediments (0–130,000 yr B.P.) of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. These layers have been correlated among abyssal cores and to their respective terrestrial sources by electron-probe microanalysis of glass and pumice shards. Major element variations are sufficient to discriminate unambiguously between the five major layers. Oxygen isotope stratigraphy in one of the cores studied was used to data four of the five layers. Two of the widespread layers are derived from explosive eruptions of the Santorini volcanic complex: the Minoan Ash (3370 yr B.P.) and the Acrotiri Ignimbrite (18,000 yr B.P.). An additional layer, found in one core only, is most likely correlated to the Middle Pumice Series of Santorini (approximately 100,000 yr B.P.). Two layers are correlated to deposits on the islands of Yali and Kos and date to 31,000 and 120,000 yr B.P., respectively. One layer originated from the Neapolitan area of Italy 38,000 yr B.P.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document