Erosion by pyroclastic flows on Lascar Volcano, Chile

 Pyroclastic flows generated in the 19–20 April 1993 eruption of Lascar Volcano, Chile, produced spectacular erosion features. Scree and talus were stripped from the channels and steep slopes on the flanks of the volcano. Exposed bedrock and boulders suffered severe abrasion, producing smoothed surfaces on coarse breccias and striations and percussion marks on bedrock and large boulders. Erosional furrows developed with wavelengths of 0.5–2 m and depths of 0.1–0.3 m. Furrows commonly nucleated downstream of large boulders or blocks, which are striated on the upstream side, and thereby produced crag-and-tail structures. Erosive features were produced where flows accelerated through topographic restrictions or where they moved over steep slopes. The pyroclastic flows are inferred to have segregated during movement into lithic-rich and pumice-rich parts. Lithic-rich deposits occur on slopes up to 14°, whereas pumice-rich deposits occur only on slopes less than 4°, and mainly at the margins and distal parts of the 1993 fan. The lithic-rich deposits contain large (up to 1 m) lithic clasts eroded from the substrate and transported from the vent, whereas pumice-rich deposits contain only small (typically <2 cm) lithic clasts. These observations suggest that lithic clasts segregated to the base of the flows and were responsible for much of the erosive phenomena. The erosive features, distribution of lithic clasts and deposit morphology indicate that the 1993 flows were highly concentrated avalanches dominated by particle interactions. In some places the flows slid over the bedrock causing abrasion and long striations which imply that large blocks were locked in fixed positions for periods of about 1 s. However, shorter striae at different angles, impact marks, segregation of the deposits into pumice- and lithic-rich parts, and mixing of bedrock-derived lithic clasts throughout the deposits indicate that clasts often had some freedom of movement and that jostling of particles allowed internal mixing and density segregation to occur within the flows. Received: 15 July 1996 / Accepted: 15 January 1997     

The 1984 to 1996 cyclic activity of Lascar Volcano, northern Chile: cycles of dome growth, dome subsidence, degassing and explosive eruptions

 Lascar Volcano (5592 m; 23°22'S, 67°44'W) entered a new period of vigorous activity in 1984, culminating in a major explosive eruption in April 1993. Activity since 1984 has been characterised by cyclic behaviour with recognition of four cycles up to the end of 1993. In each cycle a lava dome is extruded in the active crater, accompanied by vigorous degassing through high-temperature, high-velocity fumaroles distributed on and around the dome. The fumaroles are the source of a sustained steam plume above the volcano. The dome then subsides back into the conduit. During the subsidence phase the velocity and gas output of the fumaroles decrease, and the cycle is completed by violent explosive activity. Subsidence of both the dome and the crater floor is accommodated by movement on concentric, cylindrical or inward-dipping conical fractures. The observations are consistent with a model in which gas loss from the dome is progressively inhibited during a cycle and gas pressure increases within and below the lava dome, triggering a large explosive eruption. Factors that can lead to a decrease in gas loss include a decrease in magma permeability by foam collapse, reduction in permeability due to precipitation of hydrothermal minerals in the pores and fractures within the dome and in country rock surrounding the conduit, and closure of open fractures during subsidence of the dome and crater floor. Dome subsidence may be a consequence of reduction in magma porosity (foam collapse) as degassing occurs and pressurisation develops as the permeability of the dome and conduit system decreases. Superimposed upon this activity are small explosive events of shallow origin. These we interpret as subsidence events on the concentric fractures leading to short-term pressure increases just below the crater floor. Received: 12 December 1996 / Accepted: 6 May 1997     

Thermal monitoring of Lascar Volcano, Chile, using infrared data from the along-track scanning radiometer: a 1992–1995 time series

 Lascar Volcano (22°22'S, 67°44'W) is the most active volcano of the central Andes of northern Chile. Activity since 1984 has been characterised by periods of lava dome growth and decay within the active crater, punctuated by explosive eruptions. We present herein a technique for monitoring the high-temperature activity within the active crater using frequent measurements of emitted shortwave infrared (SWIR) radiation made by the spaceborne along-track scanning radiometer (ATSR). The ATSR is an instrument of low spatial resolution (pixels 1 km across) that shares certain characteristics with the MODIS instrument, planned for use as a volcano monitoring tool in the NASA EOS Volcanology Project. We present a comprehensive time series of over 60 cloud- and plume-free nighttime ATSR observations for 1992–1995, a period during which Lascar experienced its largest historical eruption. Variations in short wavelength infrared flux relate directly to changes in high-temperature surfaces within the active crater. From these data, interpretations can be made that supplement published field reports and that can document the presence and status of the lava dome during periods where direct, ground-based, observations are lacking. Our data agree with less frequent information collected from sensors with high spatial resolution, such as the Landsat thematic mapper (Oppenheimer et al. 1993) and are consistent with field observations and models that relate subsidence of the dome to subsequent explosive eruptions (Matthews et al., 1997). Most obviously, Lascar's major April 1993 eruption follows a period in which the magnitude of emitted shortwave infrared radiation fell by 90%. At this time subsidence of the 1991–1992 lava dome was reported by field observers and this subsidence is believed to have impeded the escape of hot volatiles and ultimately triggered the eruption (Smithsonian Institution 1993a). Extrapolating beyond the period for which field observations of the summit are available, our data show that the vulcanian eruption of 20 July 1995 occurred after a period of gradual increase in short wavelength infrared flux throughout 1994 and a more rapid flux decline during 1995. We attribute this additional, otherwise undocumented, cycle of increasing and decreasing SWIR radiance as most likely representing variations in degassing through fumaroles contained within the summit crater. Alternatively, it may reflect a cycle of dome growth and decay. The explosive eruption of 17 December 1993 appears to have followed a similar, but shorter, variation in SWIR flux, and we conclude that large explosive eruptions are more likely when the 1.6-μm signal has fallen from a high to a low level. The ATSR instrument offers low-cost data at high temporal resolution. Despite the low spatial detail of the measurements, ATSR-type instruments can provide data that relate directly to the status of Lascar's lava dome and other high-temperature surfaces. We suggest that such data can therefore assist with predictions of eruptive behaviour, deduced from application of physical models of lava dome development at this and similar volcanoes. Received: 1 October 1996 / Accepted: 13 January 1997     

Genesis of magmas producing pumice flow and fall deposits of towada caldera,Japan

Towada caldera, lying near the northern end of Honsyu, Japan was constructed by eruptions of lavas and pyroclastic materials in three separate periods. At the ends of the first and second periods, great amounts of pumice were erupted in the form of pumice flow and fall respectively. Each pumice cruption was followed by collapse of the center of the cones resulting in double calderas. The lavas of these three periods and the pumice of the first and second periods were chemically analysed. The result was plotted in several different types of variation diagrams. The points for the lavas and pumice lie generally on smooth curves, indicating that the magmas which caused the pumice cruptions belong to the same general differentiation series as do the lavas. If SiO₂/FeO+Fe₂O, is plotted against sodification index (MgO x 100/MgO+FeO+Fe₂O, +Na₂O+K₂O), points for the lavas lie on a straight line, whereas those for the pumice lie on another straight line branching from the former at some point in the middle stage of differentiation. The rate of increase of this ratio in the pumice is greater than in the lavas, implying that less SiO₂ and more iron were subtracted from the magmas producing the pumice than from those producing the lavas. This was probably caused by crystallization of a greater amount of magnetite in the former magmas possibly due to higher oxygen partial pressure which may be in turn related to higher water content. It is not necessary to postulate melting of the crust in order to generate magmas of the pumice eruptions of the central type.     

Young pumice deposits on Nisyros,Greece

The island of Nisyros (Aegean Sea) consists of a silicic volcanic sequence upon a base of mafic-andesitic hyaloclastites, lava flows, and breccias. We distinguish two young silicic eruptive cycles each consisting of an explosive phase followed by effusions, and an older silicic complex with major pyroclastic deposits. The caldera that formed after the last plinian eruption is partially filled with dacitic domes. Each of the two youngest plinian pumice falls has an approximate DRE volume of 2–3 km³ and calculated eruption column heights of about 15–20 km. The youngest pumice unit is a fall-surge-flow-surge sequence. Laterally transitional fall and surge facies, as well as distinct polymodal grainsize distributions in the basal fall layer, indicate coeval deposition from a maintained plume and surges. Planar-bedded pumice units on top of the fall layer were deposited from high-energy, dry-steam propelled surges and grade laterally into cross-bedded, finegrained surge deposits. The change from a fall-to a surge/flow-dominated depositional regime coincided with a trend from low-temperature argillitic lithics to high-temperature, epidote-and diopside-bearing lithic clasts, indicating the break-up of a high-temperature geothermal reservoir after the plinian phase. The transition from a maintained plume to a surge/ash flow depositional regime occurred most likely during break-up of the high-temperature geothermal reservoir during chaotic caldera collapse. The upper surge units were possibly erupted through the newly formed ringfracture.     

The 16 September 1986 eruption of Lascar volcano,north Chile: Satellite investigations

Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images acquired in 1984 and 1985 revealed a pronounced thermal anomaly on Lascar volcano, north Chile. Subsequent images showed that the anomaly was persistent but variable and that after a significant eruption on 16 September 1986 it was weaker and divided into several sources. TM studies and other observations of Lascar indicate that the persistent thermal anomaly may be due to high-temperature fumaroles within the summit crater. GOES weather satellite images and field investigations confirm that the 16 September event was a short-lived, Vulcanian-type eruption, which produced an ash column that reached 15 km altitude. The ash cloud can be tracked on GEOS images to about 400 km downwind and covered an area > 112 000 km². Transport occurred in the upper troposphere at speeds up to 180 km/h. Ash fall from the plume was well sorted and moderately fine grained (Md 200 µm). Formation and fallout of ash as aggregates was unimportant in the deposition of the ash layer. Although small, the Lascar 16 September eruption is significant because few historic eruptions have been recorded in the central Andes. Little would have been known of the eruption in the absence of remote-sensed data.     

The magmatic- and hydrothermal-dominated fumarolic system at the Active Crater of Lascar volcano,northern Chile

Low-to-high temperature fumaroles discharging from the Active Crater of Lascar volcano (northern Chile) have been collected in November 2002, May 2005 and October 2006 for chemical and isotopic analysis to provide the first geochemical survey on the magmatic-hydrothermal system of this active volcano. Chemical and isotopic gas composition shows direct addition of high-temperature fluids from magmatic degassing, mainly testified by the very high contents of SO₂, HCl and HF (up to 87,800, 29,500 and 2,900 μmol/mol) and the high R/Ra values (up to 7.29). Contributions from a hydrothermal source, mainly in gas discharges of the Active Crater rim, has also been detected. Significant variations in fluid chemistry, mainly consisting of a general decrease of magmatic-related compounds, i.e. SO₂, have affected the fumarolic system during the period of observation, indicating an increase of the influence of the hydrothermal system surrounding the ascending deep fluids. The chemical composition of Active Crater fumaroles has been used to build up a geochemical model describing the main processes that regulate the fluid circulation system of Lascar volcano to be utilized in volcanic surveillance.     

Field observations and surface characteristics of pristine block-and-ash flow deposits from the 2006 eruption of Merapi Volcano,Java, Indonesia

A series of pristine block-and-ash flow deposits from the May–June 2006 eruption of Merapi represent an exceptional record of small-volume pyroclastic flows generated by gravitational lava-dome collapses over a period of about two months. The deposits form nine overlapping lobes reaching ~ 7 km from the summit in the Gendol River valley on the volcano's southern flank, which were produced by successive flows generated during and after the major dome-collapse event on June 14. Both, single pulse (post-June 14 events) and multiple-pulse pyroclastic flows generated by sustained dome collapses on June 14 are recognised and three types of deposits, spread over an area of 4.7 km², are distinguished, totalling 13.3 × 10⁶ m³: (1) valley-confined basal avalanche deposits (11.7 × 10⁶ m³) in the Gendol River valley, (2) overbank pyroclastic-flow and associated surge deposits (1.4 × 10⁶ m³), where parts of the basal avalanche spread laterally onto interfluves and were subsequently channeled into the surrounding river valleys and (3) dilute ash-cloud surge deposits (0.2 × 10⁶ m³) along valley margins. Variations in the distribution, surface morphology and lithology of the deposits are related to the source materials involved in individual pyroclastic-flow-forming events and varying modes of transport and deposition of the different flows. Inferred flow velocities of the largest block-and-ash flows generated on June 14 vary from 43.8–13.5 m/s for the basal avalanche and from 62.6–24.2 m/s for the ash-cloud surge. The minimum temperatures range from 400 °C for the basal avalanche to 165 °C for the overlying ash cloud. Due to the potential of being re-channeled into adjacent river valleys and flowing laterally away from the main river channel, the overbank pyroclastic flows are considered the most hazardous part of the block-and-ash flow system. The conditions that lead to their development during flow transport and deposition must be taken into account when assessing future pyroclastic flow hazards at Merapi and similar volcanoes elsewhere.     

Sequence and eruptive style of the 1783 eruption of Asama Volcano, central Japan: a case study of an andesitic explosive eruption generating fountain-fed lava flow, pumice fall, scoria flow and forming a cone

The 3-month long eruption of Asama volcano in 1783 produced andesitic pumice falls, pyroclastic flows, lava flows, and constructed a cone. It is divided into six episodes on the basis of waxing and waning inferred from records made during the eruption. Episodes 1 to 4 were intermittent Vulcanian or Plinian eruptions, which generated several pumice fall deposits. The frequency and intensity of the eruption increased dramatically in episode 5, which started on 2 August, and culminated in a final phase that began on the night of 4 August, lasting for 15 h. This climactic phase is further divided into two subphases. The first subphase is characterized by generation of a pumice fall, whereas the second one is characterized by abundant pyroclastic flows. Stratigraphic relationships suggest that rapid growth of a cone and the generation of lava flows occurred simultaneously with the generation of both pumice falls and pyroclastic flows. The volumes of the ejecta during the first and second subphases are 0.21 km³ (DRE) and 0.27 km³ (DRE), respectively. The proportions of the different eruptive products are lava: cone: pumice fall=84:11:5 in the first subphase and lava: cone: pyroclastic flow=42:2:56 in the second subphase. The lava flows in this eruption consist of three flow units (L1, L2, and L3) and they characteristically possess abundant broken phenocrysts, and show extensive "welding" texture. These features, as well as ghost pyroclastic textures on the surface, indicate that the lava was a fountain-fed clastogenic lava. A high discharge rate for the lava flow (up to 10⁶ kg/s) may also suggest that the lava was initially explosively ejected from the conduit. The petrology of the juvenile materials indicates binary mixing of an andesitic magma and a crystal-rich dacitic magma. The mixing ratio changed with time; the dacitic component is dominant in the pyroclasts of the first subphase of the climactic phase, while the proportion of the andesitic component increases in the pyroclasts of the second subphase. The compositions of the lava flows vary from one flow unit to another; L1 and L3 have almost identical compositions to those of pyroclasts of the first and second subphases, respectively, while L2 has an intermediate composition, suggesting that the pyroclasts of the first and second subphases were the source of the lava flows, and were partly homogenized during flow. The complex features of this eruption can be explained by rapid deposition of coarse pyroclasts near the vent and the subsequent flowage of clastogenic lavas which were accompanied by a high eruption plume generating pumice falls and/or pyroclastic flows.Editorial responsibility: T. Druitt     

Lava flow hazard at Nyiragongo Volcano,DRC

Mt. Nyiragongo is one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world for the risk associated with the propagation of lava flows. In 2002 several vents opened along a huge system of fractures, pouring out lava which reached and destroyed a considerable part of Goma, a town of about 500,000 inhabitants on the shore of Lake Kivu. In a companion paper (Favalli et al. in Bull Volcanol, this issue, 2008) we employed numerical simulations of probable lava flow paths to evaluate the lava flow hazard on the flanks of the volcano, including the neighbouring towns of Goma (DRC) and Gisenyi (Rwanda). In this paper we use numerical simulations to investigate the possibility of significantly reducing the lava flow hazard in the city through the construction of protective barriers. These barriers are added to the DEM of the area as additional morphological elements, and their effect is evaluated by repeating numerical simulations with and without the presence of barriers. A parametric study on barrier location, size, shape and orientation led to the identification of barriers which maximize protection while minimizing their impact. This study shows that the highest hazard area corresponding to eastern Goma, which was largely destroyed by lava flows in 2002, cannot be effectively protected from future lava flows towards Lake Kivu and should be abandoned. On the contrary, the rest of the town can be sheltered from lava flows by means of two barriers that deviate or contain the lava within the East Goma sector. A proposal for the future development of the town is formulated, whereby “new” Goma is completely safe from the arrival of lava flows originating from vents outside its boundaries. The proposal minimizes the risk of further destruction in town due to future lava flows.     

Co-ignimbrite ash-fall deposits of the 1991 eruptions of Fugen-dake, Unzen Volcano, Japan

Fugen-dake, the main peak of Unzen Volcano, began a new eruption sequence on November 17, 1990. On May 20, 1991, a new lava dome appeared near the eastern edge of the Fugen-dake summit. Small-scale, 10⁴–10⁶ m³ in volume, Merapi-type block and ash flows were frequently generated from the growing lava dome during May–June, 1991. These pyroclastic flows were accompanied by co-ignimbrite ash plumes that deposited ash-fall deposits downwind of the volcano. Three examples of co-ignimbrite ash-fall deposits from Unzen pyroclastic flows are described. The volume of fall deposits was estimated to be about 30% by volume of the collapsed portions of the dome that formed pyroclastic flows. This proportion is smaller than that described for other larger co-ignimbrite ash-fall deposits from other volcanoes. Grain size distributions of the Unzen co-ignimbrite ash-fall deposits are bi-modal or tri-modal. Most ashes are finer than 4 phi and two modes were observed at around 4–7 phi and 9 phi. They are composed mainly of groundmass fragments. Fractions of another mode at around 2 phi are rich in crystals derived from dome lava. Some of the fine ash component fell as accretionary lapilli from the co-ignimbrite ash cloud indicating either moisture or electrostatic aggregation. We believe that the co-ignimbrite ash of Unzen block and ash flows were formed by the mechanical fracturing of the cooling lava blocks as they collapsed and moved down the slope. These ashes were entrained into the convective plumes generated off the tops of the moving flows.     

Stratigraphic framework of Holocene volcaniclastic deposits, Akutan Volcano, east-central Aleutian Islands, Alaska

 Akutan Volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian arc, but until recently little was known about its history and eruptive character. Following a brief but sustained period of intense seismic activity in March 1996, the Alaska Volcano Observatory began investigating the geology of the volcano and evaluating potential volcanic hazards that could affect residents of Akutan Island. During these studies new information was obtained about the Holocene eruptive history of the volcano on the basis of stratigraphic studies of volcaniclastic deposits and radiocarbon dating of associated buried soils and peat. A black, scoria-bearing, lapilli tephra, informally named the "Akutan tephra," is up to 2 m thick and is found over most of the island, primarily east of the volcano summit. Six radiocarbon ages on the humic fraction of soil A-horizons beneath the tephra indicate that the Akutan tephra was erupted approximately 1611 years B.P. At several locations the Akutan tephra is within a conformable stratigraphic sequence of pyroclastic-flow and lahar deposits that are all part of the same eruptive sequence. The thickness, widespread distribution, and conformable stratigraphic association with overlying pyroclastic-flow and lahar deposits indicate that the Akutan tephra likely records a major eruption of Akutan Volcano that may have formed the present summit caldera. Noncohesive lahar and pyroclastic-flow deposits that predate the Akutan tephra occur in the major valleys that head on the volcano and are evidence for six to eight earlier Holocene eruptions. These eruptions were strombolian to subplinian events that generated limited amounts of tephra and small pyroclastic flows that extended only a few kilometers from the vent. The pyroclastic flows melted snow and ice on the volcano flanks and formed lahars that traveled several kilometers down broad, formerly glaciated valleys, reaching the coast as thin, watery, hyperconcentrated flows or water floods. Slightly cohesive lahars in Hot Springs valley and Long valley could have formed from minor flank collapses of hydrothermally altered volcanic bedrock. These lahars may be unrelated to eruptive activity. Received: 31 August 1998 / Accepted: 30 January 1999     

Dynamics of lava flow fronts, Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

Arenal Volcano has effused basaltic andesite lava flows nearly continuously since September, 1968. The two different kinds of material in flows, lava and lava debris, have different rheologic properties and dynamic behavior. Flow morphology depends on the relationship between the amount and distribution of the lava and the debris, and to a lesser extent the ground morphology.Two main units characterize the flows: the channel zone and the frontal zone. The channel zone consists of two different units, the levées and the channel proper. A velocity profile in the channel shows a maximum value at the plug where the rate of shear is zero, and a velocity gradient increasing outward until, at the levées, the velocity becomes zero. Cooling produces a marked temperature gradient in the flow, leading to the formation of debris by brittle fracture when a critical value of shear rate to viscosity is reached. When the lava supply ceases, much of this debris and part of the lava is left behind after the flow nucleus drains out, forming a collapsed channel.Processes at the frontal zone include levée formation, debris formation, the change in shape of the front, and the choice of the flow path. These processes are controlled primarily by the rheological properties of the lava.Frontal zone dynamics can be understood by fixing the flow front as the point of reference. The lava flows through the channel into the front where it flows out into the levées, thereby increasing the length of the channel and permitting the front to advance. The front shows a relationship of critical height to the yield strength (τ₀) surface tension, and slope; its continued movement is activated by the pressure of the advancing lava in the channel behind. For an ideal flow (isothermal, homogeneous, and isotropic) the ratio of the section of channel proper to the section of levées is calculated and the distance the front will have moved at any time t_x can be determined once the amount of lava available to the front is known. Assuming that the velocity function of the front {G(t)} during the collapsing stage is proportional to the entrance pressure of the lava at the channel-front boundary, an exponential decrease of velocity through time is predicted, which shows good agreement with actual frontal velocity measurements taken on two flows. Local variations in slope have a secondary effect on frontal velocities.Under conditions of constant volume the frontal zone can be considered as a machine that consumes energy brought in by the lava to perform work (front advancement). While the front will use its potential energy to run the process, the velocity at which it occurs is controlled by the activation energy that enters the system as the kinetic energy of the lava flowing into the front. A relation for the energy contribution due to frontal acceleration is also derived. Finally the entrance pressure, that permits the front to deform, is calculated. Its small value confirms that the lava behaves very much like a Bingham plastic.     

Submarine flank eruption preceding caldera subsidence during the 2000 eruption of Miyakejima Volcano, Japan

During the early part of a seismic swarm preceding eruption and caldera formation at Miyakejima Volcano, discoloured sea surfaces were observed 1.5 km off the western coast of Miyakejima on 27 June 2000. A later survey of the area using a multi-beam side scan sonar and a remotely operated small submarine revealed four craters of 20–30 m diameter aligned east-west in a 100×10–30 m area on the seafloor, with hot water at 140°C being released from one of the centres. Each crater consists of submarine spatter overlain in part by scoria lapilli. Dredged spatter from the craters was fresh, and there was no evidence of activity of marine organisms on the spatter surface, indicating that the discoloured sea surface resulted from magmatic eruption on the seafloor. This eruption occurred when a westward-propagating seismic swarm, initiated beneath Miyakejimas summit, passed through the area. Finding new magma on the seafloor demonstrates that this seismic swarm was associated with intruding magma, moving outward from beneath Miyakejima. Submarine spatter shows flattened shapes with a brittle crust formed by cooling in water, and its composition is aphyric andesite of 54 wt% SiO₂. The spatter is similar in whole rock and mineral composition to spatter erupted in 1983. However, the wide range of Cl in melt inclusions in plagioclase of the 27 June submarine spatter shows that it is not simply a remnant of the 1983 magma, which has only high Cl melt inclusions in plagioclase. The mixed character of melt inclusions suggests involvement of a magma with low Cl melt inclusions. The magma erupted explosively on 18 August from Miyakejimas summit, considered as the second juvenile magma in this eruption, contains low Cl melt inclusions in plagioclase. Based on these observations and the eruption sequence, we present the following model: (1) A shallow magma chamber was filled with a remnant of 1983 magma that had evolved to a composition of 54–55 wt% SiO₂. (2) Injection of the 18 August magma into this chamber generated a mixed magma having a wide range of Cl in melt inclusions contained plagioclase. The magma mixing might have occurred shortly before the submarine eruption and could have been a trigger for the initiation of the removal of magma from the chamber as an extensive dyke, which eventually led to caldera subsidence.Editorial responsibility: S Nakada, T Druitt     

Longitudinal structure of pyroclastic-flow deposits,revealed by GPR survey,at Merapi Volcano,Java, Indonesia

In 2006 Merapi volcano, Indonesia, erupted for a few months, producing several block-and-ash flows reaching a maximum distance of 7.5 km from the main vent. During the eruption, we conducted a survey on those flow deposits in the Gendol Valley at Kaliadem village, about 4.5 km from the Merapi submit, using a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). The upper deposit was studied in its distal reaches, whereas the one below was studied in its medial reaches. The field study was carried out with a commercial RAMAC® GPR coupled with 100 MHz antennas, and the data treatment conducted with Reflex™ software. From this survey, we determined both deposits' local (1) thickness – reaching a maximum of 15 m – and (2) internal architecture. This last one is governed by long reflecting horizons extending over 20 to 30 m that delimit layers showing progradation patterns in their distal reaches. Within these layers we could also observe an internal architecture of still unknown origin. The layers are interpreted as the result of the flow pulses that progressively deposited downstream-ward by progradation. However the interpretation of those GPR profiles is a bit hazardous, because of the absence of outcrops, and we can only proceed by analogy with other studies. Nevertheless, despite numerous limitations, GPR is a helpful tool to understand pyroclastic deposits' structure when no visual observations are available.     

Reappraisal of the 1982 eruptions of El Chichón Volcano, Chiapas, Mexico: new data from proximal deposits

 Additional data from proximal areas enable a reconstruction of the stratigraphy and the eruptive chronology of phases III and IV of the 1982 eruption of El Chichón Volcano. Phase III began on 4 April at 0135 GMT with a powerful hydromagmatic explosion that generated radially fast-moving (∼100 ms^–1) pyroclastic clouds that produced a surge deposit (S1). Due to the sudden reduction in the confining pressure the process continued by tapping of magma from a deeper source, causing a new explosion. The ejected juvenile material mixed with large amounts of fragmented dome and wall rock, which were dispersed laterally in several pulses as lithic-rich block-and-ash flow (F1). Partial evacuation of juvenile material from the magmatic system prompted the entrance of external water to generate a series of hydromagmatic explosions that dispersed moisture-rich surge clouds and small-volume block-and-ash flows (IU) up to distances of 3 km from the crater. The eruption continued by further decompression of the magmatic system, with the ensuing emission of smaller amounts of gas-rich magma which, with the strong erosion of the volcanic conduit, formed a lithic-rich Plinian column that deposited fallout layer B. Associated with the widening of the vent, an increase in the effective density of the uprising column took place, causing its collapse. Block-and-ash flows arising from the column collapse traveled along valleys as a dense laminar flow (F2). In some places, flow regime changes due to topographic obstacles promoted transformation into a turbulent surge (S2) which attained minimum velocities of approximately 77 ms^–1 near the volcano. The process continued with the formation of a new column on 4 April at 1135 GMT (phase IV) that emplaced fall deposit C and was followed by hydromagmatic explosions which produced pyroclastic surges (S3). Received: 13 May 1996 / Accepted: 12 November 1996     

Origin and stratigraphy of phreatomagmatic deposits at the Pleistocene Sinker Butte Volcano, Western Snake River Plain, Idaho

Sinker Butte is the erosional remnant of a very large basaltic tuff cone of middle Pleistocene age located at the southern edge of the western Snake River Plain. Phreatomagmatic tephras are exposed in complete sections up to 100 m thick in the walls of the Snake River Canyon, creating an unusual opportunity to study the deposits produced by this volcano through its entire sequence of explosive eruptions. The main objectives of the study were to determine the overall evolution of the Sinker Butte volcano while focusing particularly on the tephras produced by its phreatomagmatic eruptions. Toward this end, twenty-three detailed stratigraphic sections ranging from 20 to 100 m thick were examined and measured in canyon walls exposing tephras deposited around 180° of the circumference of the volcano.Three main rock units are recognized in canyon walls at Sinker Butte: a lower sequence composed of numerous thin basaltic lava flows, an intermediate sequence of phreatomagmatic tephras, and a capping sequence of welded basaltic spatter and more lava flows. We subdivide the phreatomagmatic deposits into two main parts, a series of reworked, mostly subaqueously deposited tephras and a more voluminous sequence of overlying subaerial surge and fall deposits. Most of the reworked deposits are gray in color and exhibit features such as channel scour and fill, planar-stratification, high and low angle cross-stratification, trough cross-stratification, and Bouma-turbidite sequences consistent with their being deposited in shallow standing water or in braided streams. The overlying subaerial deposits are commonly brown or orange in color due to palagonitization. They display a wide variety of bedding types and sedimentary structures consistent with deposition by base surges, wet to dry pyroclastic fall events, and water saturated debris flows.Proximal sections through the subaerial tephras exhibit large regressive cross-strata, planar bedding, and bomb sags suggesting deposition by wet base surges and tephra fallout. Medial and distal deposits consist of a thick sequence of well-bedded tephras; however, the cross-stratified base-surge deposits are thinner and interbedded within the fallout deposits. The average wavelength and amplitude of the cross strata continue to decrease with distance from the vent. These bedded surge and fall deposits grade upward into dominantly fall deposits containing 75–95% juvenile vesiculated clasts and localized layers of welded spatter, indicating a greatly reduced water-melt ratio. Overlying these “dryer” deposits are massive tuff breccias that were probably deposited as water saturated debris flows (lahars). The first appearance of rounded river gravels in these massive tuff breccias indicates downward coring of the diatreme and entrainment of country rock from lower in the stratigraphic section. The “wetter” nature of these deposits suggests a renewed source of external water. The massive deposits grade upward into wet fallout tephras and the phreatomagmatic sequence ends with a dry scoria fall deposit overlain by welded spatter and lava flows.Field observations and two new ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar incremental heating dates suggest the succession of lavas and tephra deposits exposed in this part of the Snake River canyon may all have been erupted from a closely related complex of vents at Sinker Butte. We propose that initial eruptions of lava flows built a small shield edifice that dammed or disrupted the flow of the ancestral Snake River. The shift from effusive to explosive eruptions occurred when the surface water or rising ground water gained access to the vent. As the river cut a new channel around the lava dam, water levels dropped and the volcano returned to an effusive style of eruption.     

Characteristics,extent and origin of hydrothermal alteration at Mount Rainier Volcano,Cascades Arc,USA: Implications for debris-flow hazards and mineral deposits

Hydrothermal alteration at Mount Rainier waxed and waned over the 500,000-year episodic growth of the edifice. Hydrothermal minerals and their stable-isotope compositions in samples collected from outcrop and as clasts from Holocene debris-flow deposits identify three distinct hypogene argillic/advanced argillic hydrothermal environments: magmatic-hydrothermal, steam-heated, and magmatic steam (fumarolic), with minor superimposed supergene alteration. The 3.8 km³ Osceola Mudflow (5600 y BP) and coeval phreatomagmatic F tephra contain the highest temperature and most deeply formed hydrothermal minerals. Relatively deeply formed magmatic-hydrothermal alteration minerals and associations in clasts include quartz (residual silica), quartz–alunite, quartz–topaz, quartz–pyrophyllite, quartz–dickite/kaolinite, and quartz–illite (all with pyrite). Clasts of smectite–pyrite and steam-heated opal–alunite–kaolinite are also common in the Osceola Mudflow. In contrast, the Paradise lahar, formed by collapse of the summit or near-summit of the edifice at about the same time, contains only smectite–pyrite and near-surface steam-heated and fumarolic alteration minerals. Younger debris-flow deposits on the west side of the volcano (Round Pass and distal Electron Mudflows) contain only low-temperature smectite–pyrite assemblages, whereas the proximal Electron Mudflow and a < 100 y BP rock avalanche on Tahoma Glacier also contain magmatic-hydrothermal alteration minerals that are exposed in the avalanche headwall of Sunset Amphitheater, reflecting progressive incision into deeper near-conduit alteration products that formed at higher temperatures.     

A comparison of SO<Subscript>2</Subscript> retrieval techniques using mini-UV spectrometers and ASTER imagery at Lascar volcano,Chile

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is a useful tool for detecting low quantities of sulfur dioxide at passively degassing volcanoes such as Lascar volcano, Chile. Two mini-UV spectrometers (MUSes) were used to make transects of Lascar volcano’s sulfur dioxide plume on December 7, 2004, during a coordinated overpass of ASTER. SO₂ burdens were retrieved using the thermal infrared channels of the acquired ASTER image. This allowed for a direct comparison between the two methods in order to validate the ASTER SO₂ retrieval. The results were extremely encouraging with ASTER deriving SO₂ fluxes within the range of fluxes obtained by the MUSe.