火山学研究进展

从火山学和火山动力学，统计研究，火山灾害以及火山活动对全球气候变化的影响回顾了近年火山学研究的主要进展。     

Applied volcanology in geothermal exploration in Iceland

In an active spreading area like Iceland, where the regional geothermal gradient is in the range 50–150°C/km, it is normally not a problem to find high enough temperature with deep drilling, but the difficulties arise with finding permeable layers at depth within the strata. Various volcanological methods can be applied in the search for aquifers and geothermal reservoir rocks. The flow pattern (as deduced from deuterium studies) indicates that the thermal water flows preferentially along high porosity stratiform horizons and dyke swarms from the recharge areas in the highlands to the hot spring areas in the lowlands. The primary porosity of the volcanic strata is dependent on the chemical composition and the mode of eruption of the volcanic units. Both the reservoir rocks and the flow channels forming the geothermal plumbing system are thought to vary from the Tertiary to the Quaternary provinces due to environmental conditions at the eruptive sites.     

Comparative volcanology and petrology of the atlantic island-arcs

Comparisons are made between the Lesser Antilles and the South Sandwich Islands, the recent volcanic island chains at the eastern margins of the Caribbean and Scotia arcs. Although situated in similar geological and structural environments there are differences in the type of volcanic activity which prevails in these two arcs and in the petrography and chemistry of the lavas emitted. There is good evidence that the South Sandwich Islands are in general appreciably younger than the islands of the Lesser Antilles. Basaltic rocks predominate in the South Sandwich Islands whereas andesite is the dominant rock-type of the Lesser Antilles. Many of the lavas of the South Sandwich Islands, including the andesites and dacites are aphyric whereas those of the Lesser Antilles are almost invariably porphyritic. The basalts of the South Sandwich Islands are of tholeiitic type and the series shows more pronounced iron enrichment than does that of the Lesser Antilles. Basalts of the South Sandwich Islands have a lower Fe₂O₃/FeO ratio, contain lower concentrations of K, Sr and Ba and higher Cr, Co and Ni than the basalts of the West Indies. It is thought that the South Sandwich Islands may represent a volcanic island-arc in the early stages of development and the Lesser Antilles a later stage.     

The physical volcanology of the 1600 eruption of Huaynaputina, southern Peru

Volcán Huaynaputina is a group of four vents located at 16°36'S, 70°51'W in southern Peru that produced one of the largest eruptions of historical times when ~11 km³ of magma was erupted during the period 19 February to 6 March 1600. The main eruptive vents are located at 4200 m within an erosion-modified amphitheater of a significantly older stratovolcano. The eruption proceeded in three stages. Stage I was an ~20-h sustained plinian eruption on 19-20 February that produced an extensive dacite pumice fall deposit (magma volume ~2.6 km³). Throughout medial-distal and distal parts of the dispersal area, a fine-grained plinian ashfall unit overlies the pumice fall deposit. This very widespread ash (magma volume ~6.2 km³) has been recognized in Antarctic ice cores. A short period of quiescence allowed local erosion of the uppermost stage-I deposits and was followed by renewed but intermittent explosive activity between 22 and 26 February (stage II). This activity resulted in intercalated pyroclastic flow and pumice fall deposits (~1 km³). The flow deposits are valley confined, whereas associated co-ignimbrite ash fall is found overlying the plinian ash deposit. Following another period of quiescence, vulcanian-type explosions of stage III commenced on 28 February and produced crudely bedded ash, lapilli, and bombs of dense dacite (~1 km³). Activity ceased on 6 March. Compositions erupted are predominantly high-K dacites with a phenocryst assemblage of plagioclase>hornblende>biotite>Fe-Ti oxides-apatite. Major elements are broadly similar in all three stages, but there are a few important differences. Stage-I pumice has less evolved glass compositions (~73% SiO₂), lower crystal contents (17-20%), lower density (1.0-1.3 g/cm³), and phase equilibria suggest higher temperature and volatile contents. Stage-II and stage-III juvenile clasts have more evolved glass (~76% SiO₂) compositions, higher crystal contents (25-35%), higher densities (up to 2.2 g/cm³), and lower temperature and volatile contents. All juvenile clasts show mineralogical evidence for thermal disequilibrium. Inflections on a plot of log thickness vs area^1/2 for the fall deposits suggest that the pumice fall and the plinian ash fall were dispersed under different conditions and may have been derived from different parts of the eruption column system. The ash appears to have been dispersed mainly from the uppermost parts of the umbrella cloud by upper-level winds, whereas the pumice fall may have been derived from the lower parts of the umbrella cloud and vertical part of the eruption column and transported by a lower-altitude wind field. Thickness half distances and clast half distances for the pumice fall deposit suggests a column neutral buoyancy height of 24-32 km and a total column height of 34-46 km. The estimated mass discharge rate for the ~20-h-long stage-I eruption is 2.4᎒⁸ kg/s and the volumetric discharge rate is ~3.6᎒⁵ m³/s. The pumice fall deposit has a dispersal index (Hildreth and Drake 1992) of 4.4, and its index of fragmentation is at least 89%, reflecting the dominant volume of fines produced. Of the 11 km³ total volume of dacite magma erupted in 1600, approximately 85% was evacuated during stage 1. The three main vents range in size from ~70 to ~400 m. Alignment of these vents and a late-stage dyke parallel to the NNW-SSE trend defined by older volcanics suggest that the eruption initiated along a fissure that developed along pre-existing weaknesses. During stage I this fissure evolved into a large flared vent, vent 2, with a diameter of approximately 400 m. This vent was active throughout stage II, at the end of which a dome was emplaced within it. During stage III this dome was eviscerated forming the youngest vent in the group, vent 3. A minor extra-amphitheater vent was produced during the final event of the eruptive sequence. Recharge may have induced magma to rise away from a deep zone of magma generation and storage. Subsequently, vesiculation in the rising magma batch, possibly enhanced by interaction with an ancient hydrothermal system, triggered and fueled the sustained Plinian eruption of stage I. A lower volatile content in the stage-II and stage-III magma led to transitional column behavior and pyroclastic flow generation in stage II. Continued magma uprise led to emplacement of a dome which was subsequently destroyed during stage III. No caldera collapse occurred because no shallow magma chamber developed beneath this volcano.     

Physical volcanology of the submarine Mariana and Volcano Arcs

Narrow-beam maps, selected dredge samplings, and surveys of the Mariana and Volcano Arcs identify 42 submarine volcanos. Observed activity and sample characteristics indicate 22 of these to be active or dormant. Edifices in the Volcano Arc are larger than most of the Mariana Arc edifices, more irregularly shaped with numerous subsidiary cones, and regularly spaced at 50–70 km. Volcanos in the Mariana Arc tend to be simple cones. Sets of individual cones and volcanic ridges are elongate parallel to the trend of the arc or at 110° counterclockwise from that trend, suggesting a strong fault control on the distribution of arc magmas. Volcanos in the Mariana Arc are generally developed west of the frontal arc ridge, on rifted frontal arc crust or new back-arc basin crust. Volcanos in the central Mariana Arc are usually subaerial, large (> 500 km³), and spaced about 50–70 km apart. Those in the northern and southern Marianas are largely submarine, closer together, and generally less than 500 km³ in volume. There is a shoaling of the arc basement around Iwo Jima, accompanied by the appearance of incompatible-element enriched lavas with alkalic affinities. The larger volcanic edifices must reflect either a higher magma supply rate or a greater age for the larger volcanos. If the magma supply (estimated at 10–20 km³/km of arc per million years at 18° N) has been relatively constant along the Mariana Arc, we can infer a possible evolutionary sequence for arc volcanos from small, irregularly spaced edifices to large (over 1000 km³) edifices spaced at 50–70 km. The volcano distribution and basal depths are consistent with the hypothesis of back-arc propagation into the Volcano Arc.     

Fluid dynamics in volcanology (wager prize lecture)

Fluid motions are important in virtually all volcanic processes. Attempts to understand the mechanism of volcanic activity or the origin of magmas generally require knowledge of fluid dynamics. The use of fluid dynamics is illustrated by considering the Reynolds numbers of some volcanic fluid flow systems. The physics of high Reynolds number buoyant plumes is found to be important in situations ranging from the rise of eruption columns in the atmosphere to the replenishment of basaltic magma chambers. Application of theoretical and experimental work on plumes enables eruption rates to be deduced from eruption column heights and new hypotheses on the origin of some magmatic ores to be put forward. The influence of Reynolds number on the behaviour of lava is also discussed with application to the origin of Archaean komatiite lavas. Komatiite lavas are argued to have flowed in a turbulent manner whereas modern basalt lavas nearly always flow by laminar shear. The turbulent character of komatiites seems to provide an explanation for the origin of associated nickel-sulfide mineralization in komaiites by melting and assimilation of sulfide-rich sediment. This hypothesis depends on komatiite flow having had a high Reynolds number.     

On the volcanology of the Gibeon Kimberlite Field, Namibia

Kimberlite volcanism in the Upper Cretaceous Gibeon Kimberlite Field, southern Namibia, consisting of at least 42 diatremes and a number of associated dykes, is closely related to carbonatitic and ultrabasic volcanic and intrusive activity which occurred at the margin of the Field. The volcanology of the diatremes and dykes as well as their structural setting is reported here. Because of the paleohydrogeological setting, and since juvenile kimberlite occurring in dykes, intrusive plugs, and spherical lapilli is devoid of vesicles, a phreatomagmatic eruption mechanism is proposed for the genesis of the kimberlite diatremes. Karoo dolerite, basalt and sediment xenoliths in the diatremes provide evidence for the former extent of Karoo strata at the time of eruption.     

Geology and volcanology of the Edd-Bahar Assoli area (Ethiopia)

The paper presents geological and petrological data on one of the alkaline ranges developed along the borders of the Afar depression (Ethiopia). These alkaline ranges occur in a position transversal to the dominant NNW trend of the spreading zones of northern and central Afar which are characterized by magmas of tholeiitic affinity. The Edd-Bahar Assoli volcanic range consists of broad fields of basic lavas and numerous spatter cones outcropping in the area extending between 13°25′ and 13°75′ lat. N and 41°38′ and 42°15′ long. E. The mineralogical assemblage and the chemical data point to an alkaline nature for this range consisting mainly of alkali olivine basalts and basalts tending to hawaiites, the most evolved terms being largely subordinate. Petrologic differences between the Assab, Edd-Bahar Assoli and Erta Ale ranges are shown. The Edd-Bahar Assoli alkaline volcanism would be related to tectonic patterns trending both from NNW-SSE to N-S and from NE-SW to E-W. The supposed similarity with the transverse structure of the equatorial Atlantic ocean would thus not completely be ascertained in this zone. In Afar, the coexistence of an axial volcanism of tholeiitic affinity with an alkaline volcanism at the margin can better be explained by models based upon the upper mantle temperature distribution in a zone under oceanization.     

Physical volcanology of the 2,050 bp caldera-forming eruption of Okmok volcano, Alaska

In the Aleutian volcanic chain (USA), the 2,050±50 bp collapse of Okmok caldera generated pyroclasts that spread over 1,000 km² on Umnak Island. After expelling up to 0.25 km³ DRE of rhyodacitic Plinian air fall and 0.35 km³ DRE of andesitic phreatomagmatic tephra, the caldera collapsed and produced the 29 km³ DRE Okmok II scoria deposit, which is composed of valley-ponding, poorly sorted, massive facies and over-bank, stratified facies with planar and cross bedding. Geological and sedimentological data suggest that a single density current produced the Okmok II deposits by segregating into a highly concentrated base and an overriding dilute cloud. The dense base deposited massive facies, whereas the dilute cloud sedimented preferentially on hills as stratified deposits. The pyroclastic current spread around Okmok in an axisymmetric fashion, encountering topographic barriers on the southwest, reaching Unalaska Island across an 8-km strait on the east, and reaching the shoreline of Umnak in the other directions. A kinematic model (Burgisser and Bergantz, Earth Planet Sci Lett 202:405–418, 2002) was used to show how decoupling of the pyroclastic current was triggered by both sea entrance and interaction with the topography. In the former case, the dense part of the current and the lithics transported by the dilute cloud went underwater. In the latter case, topographical barriers noticeably decelerated both parts of the decoupled current and favored sedimentation by partial or complete blocking. The resulting unloading of the dilute current drastically reduced the runout distance by triggering an early buoyant lift-off.Editorial responsibility: A.W. Woods     

Social studies of volcanology: knowledge generation and expert advice on active volcanoes

This paper examines the philosophy and evolution of volcanological science in recent years, particularly in relation to the growth of volcanic hazard and risk science. It uses the lens of Science and Technology Studies to examine the ways in which knowledge generation is controlled and directed by social forces, particularly during eruptions, which constitute landmarks in the development of new technologies and models. It also presents data from a survey of volcanologists carried out during late 2008 and early 2009. These data concern the felt purpose of the science according to the volcanologists who participated and their impressions of the most important eruptions in historical time. It demonstrates that volcanologists are motivated both by the academic science environment and by a social concern for managing the impact of volcanic hazards on populations. Also discussed are the eruptions that have most influenced the discipline and the role of scientists in policymaking on active volcanoes. Expertise in volcanology can become the primary driver of public policy very suddenly when a volcano erupts, placing immense pressure on volcanologists. In response, the epistemological foundations of volcanology are on the move, with an increasing volume of research into risk assessment and management. This requires new, integrated methodologies for knowledge collection that transcend scientific disciplinary boundaries.     

The dark side of the universe

Joseph Silk of Oxford University presents his 2006 George Darwin Lecture on the cosmological case for dark matter and dark energy.