Permeability development in vesiculating magmas: implications for fragmentation

 Fragmentation, or the "coming apart" of magma during a plinian eruption, remains one of the least understood processes in volcanology, although assumptions about the timing and mechanisms of fragmentation are key parameters in all existing eruption models. Despite evidence to the contrary, most models assume that fragmentation occurs at a critical vesicularity (volume percent vesicles) of 75–83%. We propose instead that the degree to which magma is fragmented is determined by factors controlling bubble coalescence: magma viscosity, temperature, bubble size distribution, bubble shapes, and time. Bubble coalescence in vesiculating magmas creates permeability which serves to connect the dispersed gas phase. When sufficiently developed, permeability allows subsequent exsolved and expanded gas to escape, thus preserving a sufficiently interconnected region of vesicular magma as a pumice clast, rather than fully fragmenting it to ash. For this reason pumice is likely to preserve information about (a) how permeability develops and (b) the critical permeability needed to insure clast preservation. We present measurements and calculations that constrain the conditions (vesicularity, bubble size distribution, time, pressure difference, viscosity) necessary for adequate permeability to develop. We suggest that magma fragments explosively to ash when and where, in a heterogeneously vesiculating magma, these conditions are not met. Both the development of permeability by bubble wall thinning and rupture and the loss of gas through a permeable network of bubbles require time, consistent with the observation that degree of fragmentation (i.e., amount of ash) increases with increasing eruption rate. Received: 5 July 1995 / Accepted: 27 December 1995     

Modeling discrete gas bubble formation and mobilization during subsurface heating of contaminated zones

During thermal remediation the increase in subsurface temperature can lead to bubble formation and mobilization. In order to investigate the effect of gas formation on resulting aqueous concentrations, a 2D finite difference flow and mass transport model was developed which incorporates a macroscopic invasion percolation (MIP) model to simulate bubble expansion and movement. The model was used to simulate three soil scenarios with different permeabilities and entry pressures at various operating temperatures and groundwater velocities. It was observed that discrete bubble formation occurred in all three soils, upward mobility being limited by lower temperatures and higher entry pressures. Bubble mobilization resulted in a different aqueous mass distribution than if no discrete gas formation was modeled, especially at higher temperatures. This was a result of bubbles moving upwards to cooler areas, then collapsing, and contaminating previously clean zones. The cooling effect also led to possible non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) formation which was not predicted using a model without discrete bubble formation.     

Characterization of the proteinaceous matter in marine aerosols

Marine aerosols play a dominant role in the transfer of oceanic material to the atmosphere. Most marine aerosol originates when air bubbles burst at the sea surface ejecting material from the sea surface microlayer and bubble surface layers into the air. Concentrations of chemical compounds in these surface layers often differ from their concentrations in bulk water. We examined the enrichment of aerosols with proteinaceous matter and attempted to characterize the physical nature and sources of this matter. We measured concentrations of dissolved free (DFAA), dissolved combined (DCAA), and particulate (PAA) amino acids, transparent stainable particles (TSP), and bacteria and virus-like particles as carriers of protein, in natural and simulated aerosols. We also evaluated D/L ratios certain amino acids in all amino acid fractions.DFAA and DCAA enriched the aerosols we sampled by 1.2–20 times compared to bulk seawater; PAA enrichment was usually higher (up to 50-fold). Aerosols contained particles typical of seawater, e.g., microorganisms, organic debris, inorganic particles with adsorbed organic matter, but also a large number of semitransparent gel-like particles, which all contained amino acids. Some of these particles were probably scavenged from bulk water, but new particles produced as bubbles burst at the surface comprised at least 10% of total proteinaceous matter in the aerosol. D/L ratios of certain amino acid suggested that the particles were most likely made from dissolved polymers secreted by phytoplankton that were concentrated on bubble surfaces and in the microlayer. Examination with Alcian Blue (a dye that targets carbohydrates) and Coomassie Blue (a dye that targets proteins) showed that most TSP in the aerosols contained both proteins and polysaccharides. Microorganisms enriched the aerosols by up to two orders of magnitude, but contributed less than 4% to the total protein pool.     

Modeling of rising methane bubbles during production leaks from the gas hydrate sites of India

Natural gas hydrates is considered as a strategic unconventional clean hydrocarbon resource in the energy sector. Understanding the behavior of the rising methane gas bubbles during production leaks from the deep marine gas hydrate reservoirs well head is essential for environmental impact studies and to design environmental monitoring systems. Numerical model for quantitatively characterizing the vertical dissolution pattern of the wellhead released methane gas bubbles is analyzed for three potential gas hydrate locations in India. Simulation results indicate that the methane bubbles with diameter of 10?mm can transport methane gas till 650, 800, and 750?m from the seabed in the Krishna–Godavari(KG), Mahanadi and Andaman basins respectively. Results brought out that potential well head damage during methane hydrate production at 1050?m water depth could release up to 28?m³ of methane gas, in which 50% of the molar mass shall get dissolved within 40?m of water column from the seafloor.     

陕西华县毕家乡井群宏观异常的化学成因

2005年3~10月,陕西省关中东部华县毕家乡东林场农业灌溉用井群体出现强烈的翻花、冒泡、响声现象,个别井水色浑浊。其历时之长,范围之广,在陕西省内近30年来少见。我们从中国地震局监测预报司编著的《地震前兆异常落实工作指南》的主导思想出发,对华县井水宏观异常现象进行了较为深入的现场取样调查、测量与分析,从化学成因的角度对这一宏观异常现象进行分析解释,所得结果得到了跨断层水准测量结果的佐证。认为该次井水的宏观气体异常作为当地地震短临前兆的依据不充分。最后给出了分析处理井水宏观气体异常现象的一些建议。     

Development and evolution of water vapor vesicles during fast thermal breakdown of muscovite

At 1,175°C-1 bar, muscovite in natural granite powders is completely transformed after 5 min. Due to the overlapping of several processes such as dehydroxylation, mineralogical transformations, collapse and sintering of transformed lamellae, a few parts per thousand of H₂O vapor are trapped, generating bubbles in muscovite pseudomorphs. For short durations (5–40 min), the crystallographic properties of the precursor muscovite control the geometry of the bubbles that may be compared to thick disks with a rounded shape in basal sections and an elongated shape in lateral section, parallel to the former cleavage planes of muscovite. With longer durations the bubbles change from thick disks to spheres, which can be explained by the release of constraints perpendicular to basal planes upon growth of the high temperature Si–Al oxides. With time, the number of bubbles decreases while the bubble size and the porosity of the pseudomorphs increase. Bubble behavior was analyzed in terms of ripening, shape transformations and coalescence.     

地球等离子体片中磁泡对地面磁场的扰动

观测到的爆发流（Busty Bulk Flows,简称为BBFs）有很多主要特征都可以用磁泡图像描述 . 磁泡模型认为电离层中绝大部分电势降落都发生在磁泡中,据此可以估算它周围的霍尔电 流及其在地面引起的地磁扰动. 将本文结果与SMA（Scandinavian Magnetometer Array）雷 达阵列观测的BBFs的特征进行比较之后,发现二者符合得很好. 这表明BBFs与磁泡在引起地 面磁场扰动上的表征是一样的,暗示BBFs很可能就是磁泡.     

Small-scale modelling of the physiochemical impacts of CO2 leaked from sub-seabed reservoirs or pipelines within the North Sea and surrounding waters

A two-fluid, small scale numerical ocean model was developed to simulate plume dynamics and increases in water acidity due to leakages of CO₂ from potential sub-seabed reservoirs erupting, or pipeline breaching into the North Sea. The location of a leak of such magnitude is unpredictable; therefore, multiple scenarios are modelled with the physiochemical impact measured in terms of the movement and dissolution of the leaked CO₂. A correlation for the drag coefficient of bubbles/droplets free rising in seawater is presented and a sub-model to predict the initial bubble/droplet size forming on the seafloor is proposed. With the case studies investigated, the leaked bubbles/droplets fully dissolve before reaching the water surface, where the solution will be dispersed into the larger scale ocean waters. The tools developed can be extended to various locations to model the sudden eruption, which is vital in determining the fate of the CO₂ within the local waters.     

Abrupt transitions during sustained explosive eruptions: examples from the 1912 eruption of Novarupta, Alaska

Plinian/ignimbrite activity stopped briefly and abruptly 16 and 45 h after commencement of the 1912 Novarupta eruption defining three episodes of explosive volcanism before finally giving way after 60 h to effusion of lava domes. We focus here on the processes leading to the termination of the second and third of these three episodes. Early erupted pumice from both episodes show a very similar range in bulk vesicularity, but the modal values markedly decrease and the vesicularity range widens toward the end of Episode III. Clasts erupted at the end of each episode represent textural extremes; at the end of Episode II, clasts have very thin glass walls and a predominance of large bubbles, whereas at the end of Episode III, clasts have thick interstices and more small bubbles. Quantitatively, all clasts have very similar vesicle size distributions which show a division in the bubble population at 30 μm vesicle diameter and cumulative number densities ranging from 10⁷–10⁹ cm^–3. Patterns seen in histograms of volume fraction and the trends in the vesicle size data can be explained by coalescence signatures superimposed on an interval of prolonged nucleation and free growth of bubbles. Compared to experimental data for bubble growth in silicic melts, the high 1912 number densities suggest homogeneous nucleation was a significant if not dominant mechanism of bubble nucleation in the dacitic magma. The most distinct clast populations occurred toward the end of Plinian activity preceding effusive dome growth. Distributions skewed toward small sizes, thick walls, and teardrop vesicle shapes are indicative of bubble wall collapse marking maturation of the melt and onset of processes of outgassing. The data suggest that the superficially similar pauses in the 1912 eruption which marked the ends of episodes II and III had very different causes. Through Episode III, the trend in vesicle size data reflects a progressive shift in the degassing process from rapid magma ascent and coupled gas exsolution to slower ascent with partial open-system outgassing as a precursor to effusive dome growth. No such trend is visible in the Episode II clast assemblages; we suggest that external changes involving failure of the conduit/vent walls are more likely to have effected the break in explosive activity at 45 h.     

Sea-to-air flux of contaminants via bubbles bursting. An experimental approach for tributyltin

Although seawater concentration of tributyltin (TBT) should decrease when the direct inputs from ship hulls will cease after the incoming world ban of organotin-based antifouling paints in 2003 or later, the TBT environmental issue will still be present for decades as contaminated sediments in shallow waters will be acting as a long-lasting reservoir for TBT and its degradation products. The lost of TBT to the atmosphere by volatilization has already been proposed as a part of its molecular motion through the aquatic environment but most recent calculated values of water-to-air rate of exchange of TBT (from 20 to 510 nmol m⁻² year⁻¹) do not take into account the potential contribution of aerosols ejection to the atmosphere upon bubbles bursting, an important process for pollutants transport in the marine environment. In this work, an experimental approach to measure the seawater-to-air flux of TBT mediated by bubbles bursting is described, and the influence of phytoplankton cells and dissolved organic matter from exudates and culture weathering on flux rates was assessed. The results demonstrate that TBT can be transferred from water to air via the ejection of droplets from bubbles bursting and that cell density strongly affected the transfer. Under a bubbling regime, the water-to-air flux (pmol TBT cm⁻² min⁻¹ level) is estimated up to 1000-fold the flux measured for the molecular diffusion and volatilization under static quiescent conditions. The surface microlayer acted as a transient boundary between the water column and the atmosphere where the dynamic of TBT accumulation has the same trend as the dynamic of TBT ejection. This physical transfer mechanism might be of high significance in nearshore environments, harbors, and shallow channels where clouds of bubbles generated in the wake of large ships play an important role for the atmosphere/seawater chemical exchanges.