Découverte de coulées pyroclastiques sous-marines dans la zone de l’Iran Central — Mécanisme de mise en place

Study of these submarine pyroclastic flows is important for two reasons:

1. From a regional point of view, submarine pyroclastic flows partially explain the origin of widespread argillized glasses in the Eocene sedimentary series of Central Iran, which have diversely been described by earlier workers as Green Tuffs, Tuffaceous Muds, Green Series.
2. More generally, in contrast to basaltic volcanism, submarine acid volcanism is still very poorly-known. The mechanism here proposed is as follows: starting with a submarine, highly vesiculated lava containing idiomorphic phenocrysts, gas expansion gives rise to a vitroclastic shardy facies, whereas phenocrysts are fragmented. The whole makes up a gravitational flow that is rich in pumice, glassy shards, broken crystals, and gases; it becomes increasingly turbulent and able to tear-up sea-bottom sediments in its down-stream course. This flow evolves into turbidity currents at its distal reaches.