Some regularity in the process of re-awakening of andesite and dacite volcanoes: specific features of the 1982 El Chichón volcano,México reactivation

El Chichón volcano is an andesite stratovolcano in southern México. It erupted in March 1982, after about 550 years of quiescence. The 1982 eruption of El Chichón has not been followed by the growth of a lava dome within the newly formed crater. This is rather anomalous since the construction of a new dome after the destruction of an old one is a common process during the eruptions at andesite and dacite volcanoes. To discuss this anomalous aspect of the El Chichón eruption, some regularity in the process of re-awakening of dormant (here defined as a period of quiescence of more than 100 years) andesite and dacite volcanoes are studied based on the seismic activity recorded at the volcanoes Bezymianny, Mount St. Helens, El Chichón, Unzen, Pinatubo and Soufrière Hills. Three stages were identified in the re-awakening activity of these volcanoes: (1) preliminary seismic activity, leading up to the first phreatic explosion; (2) activity between the first and the largest explosions; (3) post-explosion dome-building process. The eruptions were divided into two groups: low-VEI (Volcanic Explosivity Index) and the long duration stage-1 events (Unzen, 1991 and Soufrière Hills volcano, 1995) and high-VEI and the short duration stage-1 events (Bezymianny, 1956; Mount St. Helens, 1980; El Chichón, 1982 and Pinatubo, 1992). The comparative analysis of the seismo-eruptive activity of two eruptions of the second group, the 1980 of Mt. St. Helens and the 1982 of El Chichón, produced an explanation the absence of new dome building during the 1982 eruption of El Chichón volcano. It may be explained in terms of the unusually rapid emission of gas and water from the magmatic and hydrothermal system beneath the volcano during a relatively short sequence of large explosions that could have sharply increased the viscosity of the magma making impossible its exit to the surface.     

Hydrochemical dynamics of the “lake–spring” system in the crater of El Chichón volcano (Chiapas,Mexico)

El Chichón volcano (Chiapas, Mexico) erupted violently in March–April 1982, breaching through the former volcano–hydrothermal system. Since then, the 1982 crater has hosted a shallow (1–3.3 m, acidic (pH ∼ 2.2) and warm (∼ 30 °C) crater lake with a strongly varying chemistry (Cl/SO₄ = 0–79 molar ratio). The changes in crater lake chemistry and volume are not systematically related to the seasonal variation of rainfall, but rather to the activity of near-neutral geyser-like springs in the crater (Soap Pool). These Soap Pool springs are the only sources of Cl for the lake. Their geyser-like behaviour with a long-term (months to years) periodicity is due to a specific geometry of the shallow boiling aquifer beneath the lake, which is the remnant of the 1983 Cl-rich (24,000 mg/l) crater lake water. The Soap Pool springs decreased in Cl content over time. The zero-time extrapolation (1982, year of the eruption) approaches the Cl content in the initial crater lake, meanwhile the extrapolation towards the future indicates a zero-Cl content by 2009 ± 1. This particular situation offers the opportunity to calculate mass balance and Cl budget to quantify the lake–spring system in the El Chichón crater. These calculations show that the water balance without the input of SP springs is negative, implying that the lake should disappear during the dry season. The isotopic composition of lake waters (δD and δ¹⁸O) coincide with this crater lake-SP dynamics, reflecting evaporation processes and mixing with SP geyser and meteoric water. Future dome growth, not observed yet in the post-1982 El Chichón crater, may be anticipated by changes in lake chemistry and dynamics.     

On the origin of El Chichón volcano and subduction of Tehuantepec Ridge: A geodynamical perspective

The origin of El Chichón volcano is poorly understood, and we attempt in this study to demonstrate that the Tehuantepec Ridge (TR), a major tectonic discontinuity on the Cocos plate, plays a key role in determining the location of the volcano by enhancing the slab dehydration budget beneath it. Using marine magnetic anomalies we show that the upper mantle beneath TR undergoes strong serpentinization, carrying significant amounts of water into subduction. Another key aspect of the magnetic anomaly over southern Mexico is a long-wavelength (∼ 150 km) high amplitude (∼ 500 nT) magnetic anomaly located between the trench and the coast. Using a 2D joint magnetic-gravity forward model, constrained by the subduction P–T structure, slab geometry and seismicity, we find a highly magnetic and low-density source located at 40–80 km depth that we interpret as a partially serpentinized mantle wedge formed by fluids expelled from the subducting Cocos plate. Using phase diagrams for sediments, basalt and peridotite, and the thermal structure of the subduction zone beneath El Chichón we find that ∼ 40% of sediments and basalt dehydrate at depths corresponding with the location of the serpentinized mantle wedge, whereas the serpentinized root beneath TR strongly dehydrates (∼90%) at depths of 180-200 km comparable with the slab depths beneath El Chichón (200-220 km). We conclude that this strong deserpentinization pulse of mantle lithosphere beneath TR at great depths is responsible for the unusual location, singularity and, probably, the geochemically distinct signature (adakitic-like) of El Chichón volcano.     

Hazard map of El Chichón volcano,Chiapas, México: Constraints posed by eruptive history and computer simulations

El Chichón volcano consists of a 2-km wide Somma crater compound cone 0.2 Ma old with peripheral domes with a central crater reactivated several times during the Holocene. The most recent eruption at El Chichón occurred from March 28 to April 4, 1982, resulting in the worst volcanic disaster during historical times in Mexico, killing more than 2000 people and destroying nine towns and small communities. The volcanic hazard map of El Chichón is based on detailed field work that documented twelve eruptions during the last 8000 years, and computer simulations. To validate the results, computer simulations were first performed over pre-1982 topography mimicking the extent of the actual deposits produced and afterwards run over post-1982 topography. These eruptions have produced pyroclastic fall, surge, flow and lahar deposits. Pyroclastic flows have different volumes and Heim coefficients varying from 0.2 (pumice flows), to 0.15 (block-and-ash flows) and 0.10 (ash flows). Simulations using FLOW3D and TITAN2D indicate that pumice flows and block-and-ash flows can fill the moat area and follow main ravines up to distances of ca. 3 km from the crater, with no effect on populations around the volcano. On the other hand, more mobile ash flows related to column-collapse events can reach up to 4 km from the vent, but will always follow the same paths and still not affect surrounding populations. The energy-cone model was used to simulate the outflow of pyroclastic surges based on the 1982 event (H/L = 0.1 and 0.2), and shows that surges may reach some towns around the volcano.     

Long term AVHRR observations of surface radiative flux from El Chichón crater lake (1996–2006)

It has been shown that due to the small surface of crater lakes, temperature surveillance is a problem using meteorological satellites. This is particularly true for El Chichón surface lake because it's about one tenth of an AVHRR pixel at nadir. In order to guarantee at least one unmixed pixel in AVHRR data, it is necessary to use only AVHRR data from NOAA satellite passes as close as possible to the nadir for the period 1996–2006, therefore AVHRR data of El Chichón's crater lake were only used it they were cloudless and had scan angles close to nadir. The analysis of the time series data shows that lake surface temperature had annual maximum values (> 35 °C) during 1996 and 1997 then surface temperature decay with a negative exponential trend reaching a steady state of about 30 °C in the last years (2004–2006). A seasonal temperature variation between the dry (December to May) and the wet (June to November) seasons is also observed. Differences between nocturnal and midday temperatures indicate the influence of lake energy emission (including reflectance) at midday under a strong short-wave solar radiation. Water surface radiative flux under these conditions reaches an average of 77.8 W m^− 2 and a maximum of 187.1 W m^− 2. Whereas nocturnal heat output from El Chichón crater lake has an average surface radiative flux of 20.4 W m^− 2 and a maximum of 74.3 W m^− 2.     

Estimating thermal inflow to El Chichón crater lake using the energy-budget,chemical and isotope balance approaches

El Chichón crater lake appeared immediately after the 1982 catastrophic eruption in a newly formed, 1-km wide, explosive crater. During the first 2 years after the eruption the lake transformed from hot and ultra-acidic caused by dissolution of magmatic gases, to a warm and less acidic lake due to a rapid “magmatic-to-hydrothermal transition” — input of hydrothermal fluids and oxidation of H₂S to sulfate. Chemical composition of the lake water and other thermal fluids discharging in the crater, stable isotope composition (δD and δ¹⁸O) of lake water, gas condensates and thermal waters collected in 1995–2006 were used for the mass-balance calculations (Cl, SO₄ and isotopic composition) of the thermal flux from the crater floor. The calculated fluxes of thermal fluid by different mass-balance approaches become of the same order of magnitude as those derived from the energy-budget model if values of 1.9 and 2 mmol/mol are taken for the catchment coefficient and the average H₂S concentration in the hydrothermal vapors, respectively. The total heat power from the crater is estimated to be between 35 and 60 MW and the CO₂ flux is not higher than 150 t/day or ~ 200 gm^− 2 day^− 1.     

TOMS measurement of the sulfur dioxide emitted during the 1985 Nevado del Ruiz eruptions

The eruptions of Nevado del Ruiz in 1985 were unusually rich in sulfur dioxide. These eruptions were observed with the Nimbus 7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) which can quantitatively map volcanic sulfur dioxide plumes on a global scale. A small eruption, originally believed to be of phreatic origin, took place on September 11, 1985. However, substantial amounts of sulfur dioxide from this eruption were detected with TOMS on the following day. The total mass of SO₂, approximately 9 ± 3 × 10⁴ metric tons, was deposited in two clouds, one in the upper troposphere, the other possibly at 15 km near the stratosphere.The devastating November 13 eruptions were first observed with TOMS at 1150 EST on November 14. Large amounts of sulfur dioxide were found in an arc extending 1100 km from south of Ruiz northeastward to the Gulf of Venezuela and as an isolated cloud centered at 7°N on the Colombia-Venezuela border. On November 15 the plume extended over 2700 km from the Pacific Ocean off the Colombia coast to Barbados, while the isolated mass was located over the Brazil-Guyana border, approximately 1600 km due east of the volcano. Based on wind data from Panama, most of the sulfur dioxide was located at 10–16 km in the troposphere and a small amount was quite likely deposited in the stratosphere at an altitude above 24 km.The total mass of sulfur dioxide in the eruption clouds was approximately 6.6 ± 1.9 × 10⁵ metric tons on November 14. When combined with quiescent sulfur dioxide emissions during this period, the ratio of sulfur dioxide to erupted magma from Ruiz was an order of magnitude greater than in the 1982 eruption of El Chichon or the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.     

Anhydrite in the 1989–1990 lavas and xenoliths from Redoubt Volcano,Alaska

The eruption of Redoubt Volcano in Alaska produced a moderate sulfur emission (estimated at 1 × 10 tons SO₂), but relatively small volume of lava (0.11 km ) with pre-eruption estimates of 840–950 °C and fO₂1.5 to 2.0 log units above NNO (Swanson, S.E., Nye, C.J., Miller, T.P., Avery, V.F., 1994. Magma mixing in the 1989–1990 eruption of Redoubt Volcano: Part II. Evidence from mineral and glass chemistry. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 62, 453–468). Petrologic estimates of sulfur production (Sigurdsson, H., Devine, J.D.,Davis, A.N., 1985. The petrologic estimation of volcanic degassing. Jokull 35, 1–8) from this eruption (Gerlach, T., Westrich, H.R., Casadevall, T.J., Finnegan, D.L., 1994. Vapor Saturation and accumulation in magmas of the 1989–1990 eruption of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 62, 317–337) are considerably less than the measured sulfur emission, leading workers to propose the existence of a pre-eruption vapor phase to explain the “excess” sulfur.     

Major and trace element geochemistry of neutral and acidic thermal springs at El Chichón volcano,Mexico: Implications for monitoring of the volcanic activity

Four groups of thermal springs with temperatures from 50 to 80 °C are located on the S–SW–W slopes of El Chichón volcano, a composite dome-tephra edifice, which exploded in 1982 with a 1 km wide, 160 m deep crater left. Very dynamic thermal activity inside the crater (variations in chemistry and migration of pools and fumaroles, drastic changes in the crater lake volume and chemistry) contrasts with the stable behavior of the flank hot springs during the time of observations (1974–2005). All known groups of hot springs are located on the contact of the basement and volcanic edifice, and only on the W–SW–S slopes of the volcano at almost same elevations 600–650 m asl and less than 3 km of direct distance from the crater. Three groups of near-neutral (pH ≈ 6) springs at SW–S slopes have the total thermal water outflow rate higher than 300 l/s and are similar in composition. The fourth and farthest group on the western slope discharges acidic (pH ≈ 2) saline (10 g/kg of Cl) water with a much lower outflow rate (< 10 l/s).     

Deposition temperature of some PDC deposits from the 1982 eruption of El Chichón volcano (Chiapas,Mexico) inferred from rock-magnetic data

Thermal remanent magnetization (TRM) analyses were carried out on lithic fragments from two different typologies of pyroclastic density current (PDC) deposits of the 1982 eruption of El Chichón volcano, in order to estimate their equilibrium temperature (T_dep) after deposition. The estimated T_dep range is 360–400 °C, which overlaps the direct measurements of temperature carried out four days after the eruption on the PDC deposits. This overlap demonstrates the reliability of the TRM method to estimate the T_dep of pyroclastic deposits and to approximate their depositional temperature. These results also constraint the time needed for reaching thermal equilibrium within four days for the studied PDC deposits, in agreement with predictions of theoretical models.     

Pre-1991 sulfur transfer between mafic injections and dacite magma in the Mt. Pinatubo reservoir

Before the 1991–1992 activity, a large andesite lava dome belonging to the penultimate Pinatubo eruptive period (Buag ∼ 500 BP) formed the volcano summit. Buag porphyritic andesite contains abundant amphibole-bearing microgranular enclaves of basaltic–andesite composition. Buag enclaves have lower K₂O and incompatible trace element (LREE, U, Th) contents than mafic pulses injected in the Pinatubo reservoir during the 1991–1992 eruptive cycle. This study shows that Buag andesite formed by mingling of a hot, water-poor and reduced mafic magma with cold, hydrous and oxidized dacite. Depending on their size, enclaves experienced variable re-equilibration during mixing/mingling. Re-equilibration resulted in hydration, oxidation and transfer of mobile elements (LILE, Cu) from the dacite to the mafic melts and prompted massive amphibole crystallization. In Buag enclaves, S-bearing phases (sulfides, apatite) and melt inclusions in amphibole and plagioclase record the evolution of sulfur partition among melt, crystal and fluid phases during magma cooling and oxidation. At high temperature, sulfur is partitioned between andesitic melt and sulfides (Ni-pyrrhotite). Magma cooling, oxidation and hydration resulted in exsolution of a S–Cl–H₂O vapor phase at the S-solubility minimum near the sulfide–sulfate redox boundary. Primary magmatic sulfide (pyrrhotite) and xenocrystic sulfide grains (pyrite), recycled together with olivines and pyroxenes from old mafic intrusives, were replaced by Cu-rich phases (chalcopyrite, cubanite) and, partially, by Ba–Sr sulfate. Sulfides degassed and transformed into residual spongy magnetite in response to fS₂ drop during final magma ascent and decompression. Our research suggests that a complete evaluation of the sulfur budget at Pinatubo must take into account the en route S assimilation from the country rocks. Moreover, this study shows that the efficiency of sulfur transfer between mafic recharges and injected magmas is controlled by the extent and rate of mingling, hydrous flushing and melt oxidation. Vigorous mixing/mingling and transformation of the magmatic recharge into a spray of small enclaves is required in order to efficiently strip their primary S-content that otherwise remains locked in the sulfides. Hydrous flushing increases the magma oxidation state of the recharges and modifies their primary volatile concentrations that cannot be recovered by the study of late-formed mineral phases and melt inclusions. Conversely, S stored in both late-formed Cu-rich sulfides and interstitial rhyolitic melt represents the pre-eruptive sulfur budget immediately available for release from mafic enclaves during their decompression.     

Permeability and pore-connectivity variation of pumices from a single pyroclastic flow eruption: Implications for partial fragmentation

The relationship between permeability and vesicularity in volcanic rocks has been used to infer the degassing behavior of hydrous magma. Recent data on natural samples from various eruptions show a wide variation, fitting a power–law relationship of the percolation models with low (< 30%) critical vesicularity (Ф_C). In this study, we present data on permeability and pore-connectivity of juvenile rhyolitic pumice clasts in a pyroclastic flow around Onikobe volcano, NE Japan, and investigate their relationship with vesicularity developed in a single eruption event. The permeability of the pumices having a relatively low abundance of microlites and microphenocrysts shows a trend increasing by 4 orders of magnitude (from 10^− 13.8 to 10^− 10.1 m²) in a high and narrow vesicularity range (from 72 to 80%). This trend intersects at a high angle with the fit to the permeability–vesicularity data in the previous studies that has a low Ф_C, and is located on the extension of the trend for the products of isotropic decompression experiments. The two-dimensional (2D) connectivities of pores for the pumices were also measured from thin sections. From the point of view of percolation theory, connectivity provides information about the probability of percolation. They showed a steep increase from ca. 0 to 0.7 in an almost similar vesicularity range, as compared to their permeabilities. We attribute the increase in 2D connectivity to the increasing amount of ruptured bubble walls, which might have provided less-tortuous paths through larger apertures for gas flow. This, in turn, would cause an effective increase in the permeability. Aggregates of bubble-wall-shaped glass shards were found in the pumices, and their amount and degree of welding are higher in the pumices that have a higher abundance of microlites and microphenocrysts. These pumices have relatively high permeability and 2D connectivity at low vesicularity, which is accounted for by the existence of large irregularly shaped pores. These textural characteristics suggest that a series of partial fragmentation processes, including local rupturing of bubble walls and subsequent foam-collapse with permeable gas flow, might have occurred before the ultimate bulk fragmentation, thus resulting in the increase in permeability. We suggest that the 2D connectivity of pores is a useful parameter to quantify the degree of fragmentation of bubble walls and has the potential for use to assess their permeability.     

A prehistoric lahar-dammed lake and eruption of Mount Pinatubo described in a Philippine aborigine legend

The prehistoric eruptions of Mount Pinatubo have followed a cycle: centuries of repose terminated by a caldera-forming eruption with large pyroclastic flows; a post-eruption aftermath of rain-triggered lahars in surrounding drainages and dome-building that fills the caldera; and then another long quiescent period. During and after the eruptions lahars descending along volcano channels may block tributaries from watersheds beyond Pinatubo, generating natural lakes. Since the 1991 eruption, the Mapanuepe River valley in the southwestern sector of the volcano has been the site of a large lahar-dammed lake. Geologic evidence indicates that similar lakes have occupied this site at least twice before. An Ayta legend collected decades before Mount Pinatubo was recognized as a volcano describes what is probably the younger of these lakes, and the caldera-forming eruption that destroyed it.     

The magmatic feeding system of El Reventador volcano (Sub-Andean zone,Ecuador) constrained by texture,mineralogy and thermobarometry of the 2002 erupted products

After a 26 years long quiescence El Reventador, an active volcano of the rear-arc zone of Ecuador, entered a new eruptive cycle which lasted from 3 November to mid December 2002. The initial sub-Plinian activity (VEI 4 with andesite pyroclastic falls and flows) shifted on 6 and 21 November to an effusive stage characterized by the emission of two lava flows (andesite to low-silica andesite Lava-1 and basaltic andesite Lava-2) containing abundant gabbro cumulates. The erupted products are medium to high-K calc-alkaline and were investigated with respect to major element oxides, mineral chemistry, texture and thermobarometry. Inferred pre-eruptive magmatic processes are dominated by the intrusion of a high-T mafic magma (possibly up to 1165 ± 15 °C) into an andesite reservoir, acting as magma mixing and trigger for the eruption. Before this refilling, the andesite magma chamber was characterized by water content of 5.3 ± 1.0%, high oxygen fugacity (> NNO + 2) and temperatures, in the upper and lower part of the reservoir, of 850 and 952 ± 65 °C respectively. Accurate amphibole-based barometry constrains the magma chamber depth between 8.2 and 11.3 km (± 2.2 km). The 6 October 2002 seismic swarm (hypocenters from 10 to 11 km) preceding El Reventador eruption, supports the intrusion of magmas at these depths. The widespread occurrence of disequilibrium features in most of the andesites (e.g. complex mineral zoning and phase overgrowths) indicates that convective self-mixing have been operating together with fractional crystallization (inferred from the cognate gabbro cumulates) before the injection of the basic magma which then gave rise to basaltic andesite and low-silica andesite hybrid layers. Magma mixing in the shallow chamber is inferred from the anomalous SiO₂–Al₂O₃ whole-rock pattern and strong olivine disequilibria. Both lavas show three types of amphibole breakdown rims mainly due to heating (mixing processes) and/or relatively slow syn-eruptive ascent rate (decompression) of the magmas. The lack of any disequilibrium textures in the pumices of the 3 November fall deposit suggest that pre-eruptive mixing did not occur in the roof zone of the chamber. A model of the subvolcanic feeding system of El Reventador, consistent with the intrusion of a low-Al₂O₃ crystal-rich basic magma into an already self-mixed andesite shallow reservoir, is here proposed. It is also inferred that before entering the shallow chamber the “basaltic” magma underwent a polybaric crystallization at deeper crustal levels.     

El Chichon: The genesis of volcanic sulfur dioxide monitoring from space

The 1982 eruption of El Chichon inspired a new technique for monitoring volcanic clouds. Data from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument on the Nimbus-7 satellite were used to measure sulfur dioxide in addition to ozone. For the first time precise data on the sulfur dioxide mass in even the largest explosive eruption plumes could be determined. The plumes could be tracked globally as they are carried by winds. Magmatic eruptions could be discriminated from phreatic eruptions. The data from El Chichon are reanalyzed in this paper using the latest version of the TOMS instrument calibration (V8). They show the shearing of the eruption cloud into a globe-circling band while still anchored over Mexico in three weeks. The measured sulfur dioxide mass in the initial March 28 eruption was 1.6 Tg; the April 3 eruption produced 0.3 Tg more, and the April 4 eruptions added 5.6 Tg, for a cumulative total of 7.5 Tg, in substantial agreement with estimates from prior data versions. TOMS Aerosol Index (absorbing aerosol) data show rapid fallout of dense ash east and south of the volcano in agreement with Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) ash cloud positions.     

Mechanism of explosive eruption revealed by geophysical observations at the Sakurajima,Suwanosejima and Semeru volcanoes

A common sequence of phenomena associated with volcanic explosions is extracted based on seismic and ground deformation observations at 3 active volcanoes in Japan and Indonesia. Macroscopic inflation-related ground deformations are detected prior to individual explosions, while deflations are observed during eruptions. Precursory inflation occurs 5 min to several hours before eruption at the Sakurajima volcano, but just 1–2 min at Suwanosejima and 3–30 min at the Semeru volcano. The sequence commences with minor contraction, which is detected by extensometers 1.5 min before eruption at Sakurajima, as a dilatant first motion of the explosion earthquakes 0.2–0.3 s before surface explosions at Suwanosejima, and as downward tilt 4–5 s prior to eruption at the Semeru volcano. The sequence is detected for explosive eruptions with > 0.1 μrad tilt change at Sakurajima, 90% at Suwanosejima and 75% at Semeru volcanoes. It is inferred that the minor contraction is caused by a volume and pressure decrease due to the release of gas from a pocket at the top of the conduit as the gas pressure exceeds the strength of the confining plug. The subsequent violent expansion may be triggered by sudden outgassing of the water-saturated magma induced by the decrease in confining pressure.     

Eruptive history and tectonic setting of Medicine Lake Volcano,a large rear-arc volcano in the southern Cascades

Medicine Lake Volcano (MLV), located in the southern Cascades ∼ 55 km east-northeast of contemporaneous Mount Shasta, has been found by exploratory geothermal drilling to have a surprisingly silicic core mantled by mafic lavas. This unexpected result is very different from the long-held view derived from previous mapping of exposed geology that MLV is a dominantly basaltic shield volcano. Detailed mapping shows that < 6% of the ∼ 2000 km² of mapped MLV lavas on this southern Cascade Range shield-shaped edifice are rhyolitic and dacitic, but drill holes on the edifice penetrated more than 30% silicic lava. Argon dating yields ages in the range ∼ 475 to 300 ka for early rhyolites. Dates on the stratigraphically lowest mafic lavas at MLV fall into this time frame as well, indicating that volcanism at MLV began about half a million years ago. Mafic compositions apparently did not dominate until ∼ 300 ka. Rhyolite eruptions were scarce post-300 ka until late Holocene time. However, a dacite episode at ∼ 200 to ∼ 180 ka included the volcano's only ash-flow tuff, which was erupted from within the summit caldera. At ∼ 100 ka, compositionally distinctive high-Na andesite and minor dacite built most of the present caldera rim. Eruption of these lavas was followed soon after by several large basalt flows, such that the combined area covered by eruptions between 100 ka and postglacial time amounts to nearly two-thirds of the volcano's area. Postglacial eruptive activity was strongly episodic and also covered a disproportionate amount of area. The volcano has erupted 9 times in the past 5200 years, one of the highest rates of late Holocene eruptive activity in the Cascades. Estimated volume of MLV is ∼ 600 km³, giving an overall effusion rate of ∼ 1.2 km³ per thousand years, although the rate for the past 100 kyr may be only half that. During much of the volcano's history, both dry HAOT (high-alumina olivine tholeiite) and hydrous calcalkaline basalts erupted together in close temporal and spatial proximity. Petrologic studies indicate that the HAOT magmas were derived by dry melting of spinel peridotite mantle near the crust mantle boundary. Subduction-derived H₂O-rich fluids played an important role in the generation of calcalkaline magmas. Petrology, geochemistry and proximity indicate that MLV is part of the Cascades magmatic arc and not a Basin and Range volcano, although Basin and Range extension impinges on the volcano and strongly influences its eruptive style. MLV may be analogous to Mount Adams in southern Washington, but not, as sometimes proposed, to the older distributed back-arc Simcoe Mountains volcanic field.     

The AD 1362 Öræfajökull eruption,S.E. Iceland: Physical volcanology and volatile release

The explosive rhyolitic eruption of Öræfajökull volcano, Iceland, in AD 1362 is described and interpreted based on the sequence of pyroclastic fall and flow deposits at 10 proximal locations around the south side of the volcano. Öræfajökull is an ice-clad stratovolcano in south central Iceland which has an ice-filled caldera (4–5 km diameter) of uncertain origin. The main phase of the eruption took place over a few days in June and proceeded in three main phases that produced widely dispersed fallout deposits and a pyroclastic flow deposit. An initial phase of phreatomagmatic eruptive activity produced a volumetrically minor, coarse ash fall deposit (unit A) with a bi-lobate dispersal. This was followed by a second phreatomagmatic, possibly phreatoplinian, phase that deposited more fine ash beds (unit B), dispersed to the SSE. Phases A and B were followed by an intense, climactic Plinian phase that lasted ∼ 8–12 h and produced unit C, a coarse-lapilli, pumice-clast-dominated fall deposit in the proximal region. At the end of Plinian activity, pyroclastic flows formed a poorly-sorted deposit, unit D, presently of very limited thickness and exposed distribution. Much of Eastern Iceland is covered with a very fine distal ash layer, dispersed to the NE. This was probably deposited from an umbrella cloud and is the distal representation of the Plinian fallout. A total bulk fall deposit volume of ∼ 2.3 km³ is calculated (∼ 1.2 km³ DRE). Pyroclastic flow deposit volumes have been crudely estimated to be < 0.1 km³. Maximum clast size data interpreted by 1-D models suggests an eruption column ∼ 30 km high and mass discharge rates of ∼ 10⁸ kg s^− 1. Ash fall may have taken place from heights around 15 km, above the local tropopause (∼ 10 km), with coarser clasts dispersed below that under a different wind regime. Analyses of glass inclusions and matrix glasses suggest that the syn-eruptive SO₂ release was only ∼ 1 Mt. This result is supported by published Greenland ice-core acidity peak data that also suggest very minor sulphate deposition and thus SO₂ release. The small sulphur release reflects the low sulphur solubility in the 1362 rhyolitic melt. The low tropopause over Iceland and the 30-km-high eruption column certainly led to stratospheric injection of gas and ash but little sulphate aerosol was generated. Moreover, pre-eruptive and degassed halogen concentrations (Cl, F) indicate that these volatiles were not efficiently released during the eruption. Besides the local pyroclastic flow (and related lahar) hazard, the impact of the Öræfajökull 1362 eruption was perhaps restricted to widespread ash fall across Eastern Iceland and parts of northern Europe.     

Degassing patterns of Tungurahua volcano (Ecuador) during the 1999–2006 eruptive period,inferred from remote spectroscopic measurements of SO2 emissions

This paper presents the results of 7 years (Aug. 1999–Oct. 2006) of SO₂ gas measurements during the ongoing eruption of Tungurahua volcano, Ecuador. From 2004 onwards, the operation of scanning spectrometers has furnished high temporal resolution measurements of SO₂ flux, enabling this dataset to be correlated with other datasets, including seismicity. The emission rate of SO₂ during this period ranges from less than 100 to 35,000 tonnes/day (t d^− 1) with a mean daily emission rate of 1458 t d^− 1 and a standard deviation of ± 2026 t d^− 1. Average daily emissions during inferred explosive phases are about 1.75 times greater than during passive degassing intervals. The total amount of sulfur emitted since 1999 is estimated as at least 1.91 Mt, mostly injected into the troposphere and carried westwards from the volcano. Our observations suggest that the rate of passive degassing at Tungurahua requires SO₂ exsolution of an andesitic magma volume that is two orders of magnitude larger than expected for the amount of erupted magma. Two possible, and not mutually exclusive, mechanisms are considered here to explain this excess degassing: gas flow through a permeable stagnant-magma-filled conduit and gas escape from convective magma overturning in the conduit. We have found that real-time gas monitoring contributes significantly to better eruption forecasting at Tungurahua, because it has provided improved understanding of underlying physical mechanisms of magma ascent and eruption.     

Quantifying volcanic ash fall hazard to electricity infrastructure

Quantifying the potential ash fall hazards from re-awakening volcanoes is a topic of great interest. While methods for calculating the probability of eruptions, and for numerical simulation of tephra dispersal and fallout exist, event records at most volcanoes that re-awaken sporadically on decadal to millennial cycles are inadequate to develop rigorous forecasts of occurrence, much less eruptive volume. Here we demonstrate a method by which eruption records from radiocarbon-dated sediment cores can be used to derive forecasting models for ash fall impacts on electrical infrastructure. Our method is illustrated by an example from the Taranaki region of New Zealand. Radiocarbon dates, expressed as years before present (B.P.), are used to define an age-depth model, classifying eruption ages (with associated errors) for a circa 1500–10 500 year B.P. record at Mt. Taranaki (New Zealand). In addition, data describing the youngest 1500 years of eruption activity is obtained from directly dated proximal deposits. Absence of trend and apparent independence in eruption intervals is consistent with a renewal model using a mix of Weibulls distributions, which was used to generate probabilistic forecasts of eruption recurrence. After establishing that interval length and tephra thickness were independent in the record, a thickness–volume relationship (from [Rhoades, D.A., Dowrick, D.J., Wilson, C.J.N., 2002. Volcanic hazard in New Zealand: Scaling and attenuation relations for tephra fall deposits from Taupo volcano. Nat. Hazards, 26:147–174]) was inverted to provide a frequency–volume relationship for eruptions. Monte Carlo simulation of the thickness–volume relationship was then used to produce probable ash fall thicknesses at any chosen site. Several critical electrical infrastructure sites in the Taranaki Region were analysed. This region, being the only gas and condensate-producing area in New Zealand, is of national economic importance, with activities in and around the area depending on uninterrupted power supplies. Forecasts of critical ash thicknesses (1 mm wet and 2 mm dry) that may cause short-circuiting, surges or power shutdowns in substations show that the annual probabilities of serious impact are between ~ 0.5% and 27% over a 50 year period. It was also found that while large eruptions with high ash plumes tend to affect “expected” areas in relation to prevailing winds, the direction impacts of small ash falls are far less predictable. In the Taranaki case study, areas out of normal downwind directions, but close to the volcano, have probabilities of impact for critical thicknesses of 1–2 mm of around half to 60% of those in downwind directions and therefore should not be overlooked in hazard analysis. Through this method we are able to definitively show that the potential ash fall hazard to electrical infrastructure in this area is low in comparison to other natural threats, and provide a quantitative measure for use in risk analysis and budget prioritisation for hazard mitigation measures.