Mineralized and unmineralized calderas in Spain; Part II, evolution of the Rodalquilar caldera complex and associated gold-alunite deposits

The Rodalquilar caldera complex is located in the western part of the Cabo de Gata volcanic field in southeastern Spain and is the first documented example of epithermal gold-alunite mineralization within a caldera in Europe. The Rodalquilar caldera is an oval collapse structure having a maximum diameter of 8 km and formed at 11 Ma from eruption of the Cinto ash-flow tuff. The oval Lomilla caldera, with a diameter of 2 km, is nested within the central resurgent dome of the older Rodalquilar caldera. The Lomilla caldera resulted from the eruption of the Lazaras ash-flow tuff which was ponded within the moat of the Rodalquilar caldera. The last phase of volcanic activity in the caldera complex was the emplacement of hornblende andesite flows and intrusions. This magmatic event resulted in structural doming of the caldera, opening of fractures and faults, and provided the heat source for the large hydrothermal systems which deposited quartz-alunite type gold deposits and base metal vein systems. The gold-alunite deposits are enclosed in areas of intense acid sulfate alteration and localized in ring and radial faults and fractures present in the east wall of the Lomilla caldera. Like other acid-sulfate type deposits, the Rodalquilar gold-alunite deposits are closely related in time and space to porphyritic, intermediate composition magma emplaced along caldera structures but unrelated to the caldera forming magmatic system.     

Petrology of a Subduction-related Caldera and Post-Collisional,Extension-related Volcanic Cones from the Early Cambrian and Middle Ordovician (?) of the Camaquã Basin,Southern Brazil

The region studied, located in southern Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, 25 km to the northeast of Lavras do Sul, records two volcanic events. The first is the eruption of pyroclastic material and localized flows of alkali-basalt, trachyandesite and andesite composition, corresponding to the early Cambrian Hilário Formation. This event in the region, through tectonic reactivation and explosive expulsion of a large amount of material from the magmatic reservoir chamber, which later faulted and collapsed, has generated an elliptical caldera of 7.2 km × 3.0 km. The rocks in the caldera have derived from partial melting of a spinel lherzolitic or garnet lherzolitic mantle, in a typically orogenic, calc-alkaline environment. They were generated during the final phase of subduction of the Adamastor plate beneath the Rio de la Plata plate in the early Cambrian. The second event occurred in a post-collisional tectonic setting in the Middle Ordovician?, when alkaline magma was emplaced through deep fractures, generating four cones within the collapsed caldera. The rocks in the cones bear the geochemical signature of a more evolved magma when compared to the rocks in the caldera, having been formed through low fusion rates of a garnet-depleted source in the upper mantle. It represents the last phase of the Pan-African-Brasiliano Orogeny, which occurred right after the collision of the Rio de La Plata and Kalahari continental plates, in a retroarc setting.     

新疆西天山大型铁矿床石炭纪控矿火山机构及成矿模式

新疆西天山阿吾拉勒成矿带发育一系列大型海相火山岩型铁矿床,是我国十大重要金属矿产资源接替基地之一,备受关注。该成矿带石炭纪火山活动强烈,前人已经识别出该成矿带东段的区域艾肯达坂破火山口,且查岗诺尔、智博、敦德、备战等大型铁矿床均赋存于下石炭统大哈拉军山组火山岩中,其形成受火山机构控制。然而,迄今为止,这些矿床尚未确立具体的火山机构,矿床与矿区发育的火山机构关系有待查明;此外,与查岗诺尔、智博、备战等矿床包含单一的铁元素不同,敦德矿床具有Fe-Zn-Au元素组合,其原因尚不清楚。在前人研究基础上,通过野外地质剖面观察和测量,结合室内研究和遥感解译工作,我们认为阿吾拉勒成矿带东段的4个大型铁矿床均独自发育石炭纪与成矿有关的火山机构,且不同矿床,其火山机构的特点及其演化各不相同。其中,查岗诺尔矿区发育圆形破火山口,面积约为10km2,矿床位于破火山口北缘,矿体赋存于破火山口环状断裂系中;智博矿区发育椭圆形破火山口,面积约为15km2,矿床位于破火山口西南部,矿体赋存于经多次塌陷的破火山口环状断裂系中;敦德矿区发育椭圆形破火山口,面积约为6km2,矿床位于破火山口的中部,矿体赋存于火山通道及其附近的环状和放射状断裂系中;备战矿区发育椭圆形火山口,面积约为4km2,矿床位于火山口北缘,矿体赋存于环状断裂系中。可见,只有敦德矿床的矿体赋存于火山通道断裂系中,其余矿床的矿体均赋存于火山机构环状断裂系中;高渗透性的火山机构断裂系为成矿流体迁移和金属沉淀提供了有利的空间,是铁矿体形成的关键控矿因素和赋矿部位。此外,这些铁矿床的成矿年龄(319～304Ma)滞后于容矿火山岩的年龄(328～319Ma),矿体与围岩界线多为渐变关系;成矿作用以热液作用为主,其中,敦德矿区发育单一的热液成矿作用,具有Fe-Zn-Au元素组合,其它矿床成矿作用复杂,包括热液成矿作用、沉积成矿作用和可能的岩浆熔体成矿作用,仅发育有Fe元素。基于此,可将阿吾拉勒成矿带东段的海相火山岩型铁矿床进一步划分为两个亚类,即火山通道型铁多金属矿床(敦德)和火山边缘型铁矿床(查岗诺尔、智博、备战);成矿模式包括火山通道相热液富集铁多金属成矿模式和火山边缘相沉积-热液富集铁成矿模式。     

Ben Nevis—remnant of a lost volcanic landscape

The summit region of Ben Nevis, Britain's highest mountain, consists of late Silurian to Early Devonian age volcanic rocks originally interpreted as a thick sequence (> 600 m) of andesite lavas and agglomerates that were down‐faulted during caldera subsidence. New digital field mapping of the Ben Nevis area, including both the steep north and south faces of the mountain, has revealed that the volcanic rocks consist largely of volcaniclastic debris flows, and extensive block and ash flow deposits with minor air‐fall tuff units. There is no evidence of any andesite lava flows or a volcanic vent. The volcanic detritus was derived from a volcanic centre situated to the NW of Ben Nevis, perhaps several tens of kilometres away. The rocks forming the summit region of the mountain have been re‐interpreted as a large roof pendant or keel of the former late Silurian to Early Devonian volcanic land surface that once covered much of the SW Highlands of Scotland.     

Evolution of the middle Proterozoic Chandabooka Caldera,Gawler range acid volcano‐plutonic province,South Australia

Volcanism associated with the middle Proterozoic Gawler Range acid volcano‐plutonic province was initiated in the Kokatha area by the construction on Archaean basement of a large stratovolcano composed mainly of tholeiitic basalt and potassic basaltic‐andesite erupted possibly from a mantle‐derived ultramafic diapir.

Crustal melting above the diapir generated acid magma, rich in silica and potassium, which rose by major block‐stoping to form a subvolcanic magma chamber. Leakage from this chamber during the premonitory caldera phase gave rise to small explosive and effusive eruptions around an incipient ring‐fracture zone. In the caldera phase, the eruption of voluminous rhyodacite to dacite ignimbrite from the subvolcanic magma chamber resulted in collapse of the roof partway through the eruption to form the Chandabooka caldera, 15 x 10 km across: the ignimbrite comprises a thick compound cooling unit, the Chandabooka Dacite, of which both the caldera and outflow facies are preserved. Resurgent doming and subsequent uplift of the caldera block by 1 km followed in the post‐caldera phase, accompanied by minor acidic volcanism. Flat‐roofed stocks of the primitive S‐type Hiltaba Granite and a major dyke swarm intruded the volcanic pile to complete the volcano‐plutonic episode.     

福建浦城叶家山破火山群构造特征及其形成机制探讨

近年来的最新调研成果表明，叶家山破火山群由７个破火山和１个层状火山（喷发中心）所组成，各火山机构相互叠置，与卫星ＴＭ遥感影象解译成果相吻合。火山作用经历了６个阶段的火山喷发，周围发育有环状、放射状断裂和岩脉、岩墙，是省内较为典型的破火山群机构，是寻找火山岩非金属矿的有利部位。火山活动的构造环境为拉张环境，物质来源于地壳。     

Volcanic evolution of the back-arc Pleistocene Payun Matru volcanic field (Argentina)

For the first time, about 30 volcanic formations of the back-arc Payun Matru volcanic field (Payun Matru volcanic field, Argentina, 36°S, 69°W) have been sampled for K–Ar geochronology and geochemistry in order to reconstruct the eruptive history of this key province in the Andean back-arc. The Payun Matru volcanic field has been built since final Pleistocene until present with ages ranging from 280 ± 5 to 7 ± 1 ka. Erupted lavas belong to calc-alkaline series, with characteristics of both arc and intraplate magmas. From previous studies, three main units are distinguished: (1) a basaltic field (Los Volcanes), which covers a large surface of the Payun Matru volcanic field, composed of strombolian cones and associated lava flows emitted from 300 ka to Holocene times, (2) the stratovolcano Payun, with intermediate compositions, built around 265 ka, and (3) the shield volcano Payun Matru s.s. characterized by trachytic compositions and a large summit caldera. The earlier stages of the Payun Matru volcano are not dated, but we constrain the major explosive event, related to the eruption of a widespread ignimbrite and to the formation of the caldera, between 168 ± 4 ka (internal wall of caldera) and 82 ± 1 ka (flow within the caldera). Based on the geochemical similarities of the ignimbrite and the upper lava flow of the pre-caldera cone, we suggest that the age of this event is most probably at the older end of this interval. Numerical modeling using a GIS program has been used to reconstruct the morphological evolution for Payun Matru volcano before and after the caldera collapse. The ancient edifice could be modeled as a flattened cone, 2300 m high, with a volume of about 240 km³. The ignimbrite eruption associated with the Payun Matru caldera formation could be related to the regional tectonic environment, which is characterized by multiple Plio-Pleistocene extensional stages during the last 5 Myr. The evolution of the Nazca plate subduction from a flat slab to a normal dip induced an input of fluid mobile elements and asthenosphere plume-like mantle source beneath the Patagonian lithosphere, which yields the observed intraplate signature. We also interpret this geodynamic evolution as the influence of extensive processes in the upper crust leading to caldera-forming eruptions as observed throughout this province.     

The Granada ignimbrite: A compound pyroclastic unit and its relationship with Upper Miocene caldera volcanism in the northern Puna

The Granada ignimbrite, an Upper Miocene volcanic unit from the northern Puna, previously has been interpreted as an extensive ignimbrite (>2300 km²) associated with eruptions from the Vilama caldera (trap-door event). On the basis of new data, we revise its correlation and redefine the unit as a compound, high aspect ratio ignimbrite, erupted at approximately 9.8 Ma. Calculated volumes (100 km³) are only moderate in comparison with other large volume (>1000 km³) ignimbrites that erupted approximately 2–6 m.y. later in the region (e.g. Vilama, Panizos, Atana). Six new volcanic units are recognized from sequences previously correlated with Granada (only one sourced from the same center). Consequently, the area ascribed to the Granada ignimbrite is substantially reduced (630 km²), and links to the Vilama caldera are not supported. Transport directions suggest the volcanic source for the Granada ignimbrite corresponds to vents buried under younger (7.9–5 Ma) volcanic rocks of the Abra Granada volcanic complex. Episodes of caldera collapse at some stage of eruption are likely, though their nature and timing cannot be defined from available data. The eruption of the Granada ignimbrite marks the onset of a phase of large volume (caldera-sourced) volcanism in the northern Puna.     

U-Pb (SIMS SHRIMP-II) age of volcanic rocks from the Tulukuev caldera (Streltsov Uranium-Ore Cluster,Eastern Transbaikalia)

The precision dating (U-Pb local by zircons, SHRIMP-II) of volcanic rocks in the unique uranium-bearing structure of Transbaikalia is performed for the first time. The basic conclusions are as follows. The volcanic activity in the Tulukuev caldera covers the period of not less than 30–35 mln years, within the period from (not later than) 162 to 128 mln years. Two stages of caldera evolution are established: the early (trachydacite-basalt) stage up to 154 mln years and the late (trachybasalt-rhyolite) stage from 142 to 128 mln years, with a 10 mln year break, which caused the deep erosion of the lower layer. Three phases of rhyolite magmatism are substantiated. The first one, 142 mln years, is the ejection of ignimbrites (microfelsitic rhyolites); the second one, 137–135 mln years, is the outflow of lavas of sanidine-morion rhyolites and subvolcanic and ring dyke intrusions. The third phase, 128 mln years, is connected with the occurrence of cesium-bearing perlites in the southwestern part of the caldera. The age of the granite-porphyries of the Krasnokamensk stock almost coincides with the precision data of the age of the uranium ores [4]. It is found that zircons from the granite-porphyries within the ore field of the Argunsk deposit have an anomalously high content of uranium. This fact can additionally testify to the time-and-spatial closeness of magmatism and processes of ore formation.     

Large landslides triggered by caldera collapse events in Tenerife,Canary Islands

Landsliding is a significant process on volcanic edifices, with individual events exceeding several cubic kilometres in volume. The causes of such mass movements and their relationship with volcanic activity are still poorly understood. Landslide events are an important factor in the evolution of volcanic islands such as Tenerife, where vertical and lateral collapses have occurred repeatedly. Subaerial and submarine processes related to landslide events strongly influence the morphology of the island. On Tenerife there are three very big valleys, Güimar, La Orotava and Icod, that have been created by large landslide events with ages ranging from Upper Pliocene to Middle Pleistocene. The landslides affect the northern flanks of the island and the slopes of a large central volcanic edifice, the Las Canadas volcano, which is truncated by the Las Canadas caldera, a multicyclic collapse depression, formed between 1.02 and 0.17 Ma. We have focused our studies on the potential for caldera collapse events to trigger large scale landslides. The available geological and morphological information has been incorporated into numerical models, which simulate the destabilising effects of a caldera collapse episode. The results of the numerical modelling indicate that processes associated with caldera collapse events can overcome the stabilising forces on the volcano flank and trigger landslides. We propose that caldera collapse events may have triggered large landslides on the slopes of the Las Canadas volcano.     

Evolution of the early devonian bindook volcanic complex,wollondilly basin,eastern lachlan fold belt

The Early Devonian Bindook Volcanic Complex consists of a thick silicic volcanic and associated sedimentary succession filling the extensional Wollondilly Basin in the northeastern Lachlan Fold Belt. The basal part of the succession (Tangerang Formation) is exposed in the central and southeastern Wollondilly Basin where it unconformably overlies Ordovician rocks or conformably overlies the Late Silurian to Early Devonian Bungonia Limestone. Six volcanic members, including three new members, are now recognised in the Tangerang Formation and three major facies have been delineated in the associated sedimentary sequence. The oldest part of the sequence near Windellama consists of a quartz turbidite facies deposited at moderate water depths together with the shallow‐marine shelf Windellama Limestone and Brooklyn Conglomerate Members deposited close to the eastern margin of the basin. Farther north the shelf facies consists of marine shale and sandstone which become progressively more tuffaceous northwards towards Marulan. The Devils Pulpit Member (new unit) is a shallow‐marine volcaniclastic unit marking the first major volcanic eruptions in the region. The overlying shallow‐marine sedimentary facies is tuffaceous in the north, contains a central Ordovician‐derived quartzose (?deltaic) facies and a predominantly mixed facies farther south. The initial volcanism occurred in an undefined area north of Marulan. A period of non‐marine exposure, erosion and later deposition of quartzose rocks marked a considerable break in volcanic activity. Volcanism recommenced with the widespread emplacement of the Kerillon Tuff Member (new unit), a thick, non‐welded rhyolitic ignimbrite followed by dacitic welded ignimbrite and air‐fall tuff produced by a large magnitude eruption leading to caldera collapse in the central part of the Bindook Volcanic Complex, together with an additional small eruptive centre near Lumley Park. The overlying Kerrawarra Dacite Member (new unit) is lava‐like in character but it also has the dimensions of an ignimbrite and covers a large part of the central Bindook Volcanic Complex. The Carne Dacite Member is interpreted as a series of subvolcanic intrusions including laccoliths, cryptodomes and sills. The Tangerang Formation is overlain by the extensive crystal‐rich Joaramin Ignimbrite (new unit) that was erupted from an undefined centre in the central or northern Bindook Volcanic Complex. The volcanic units at Wombeyan and the Kowmung Volcaniclastics in the northwestern part of the complex are probably lateral time‐equivalents of the Tangerang Formation and Joaramin Ignimbrite. All three successions pre‐date the major subaerial volcanic plateau‐forming eruptions represented by the Barrallier Ignimbrite (new unit). The latter post‐dated folding and an extensive erosional phase, and unconformably overlies many of the older units in the Bindook Volcanic Complex. This ignimbrite was probably erupted from a large caldera in the northern part of the complex and probably represents surface expressions of part of the intruding Marulan Batholith. The final volcanic episode is represented by the volcanic units at Yerranderie which formed around a crater at the northern end of the exposed Bindook Volcanic Complex.     

西秦岭台乌龙一带晚三叠世华日组火山机构及演化

西秦岭地区的构造演化是许多地质学家普遍关注的问题。三叠纪以来西秦岭发生了复杂的俯冲碰撞造山作用,这一时期发育的火山岩,便是这一地质事件的重要记录。本文选取西秦岭甘青交界处台乌龙一带华日组火山岩为研究对象,运用"火山旋回—火山构造—火山地层—岩性岩相"的火山岩区填图方法,在华日组火山岩中识别出喷溢相、爆发相、侵出相、喷发—沉积相、火山通道相和次火山岩相等6个岩相;台乌龙层状火山机构、色日欠破火山机构等11个火山机构;两个组合样式(台乌龙—年支北串珠式组合、下毛娘北—色日欠镶嵌式组合);划分出1个火山喷发旋回,3个亚旋回。较合理地建立起地层层序、岩相相序和演化模式。华日组火山岩的出现标志着西秦岭地区在晚三叠世已进入陆相演化阶段。     

Mineral and chemical variations within an ash-flow sheet from Aso caldera,Southwestern Japan

Although products of individual volcanic eruptions, especially voluminous ash-flow eruptions, have been considered among the best available samples of natural magmas, detailed petrographic and chemical study indicates that bulk compositions of unaltered Pleistocene ash-flow tuffs from Aso caldera, Japan, deviate significantly from original magmatic compositions.The last major ash-flow sheet from Aso caldera is as much as 150 meters thick and shows a general vertical compositional change from phenocryst-poor rhyodacite upward into phenocryst-rich trachyandesite; this change apparently reflects in inverse order a compositionally zoned magma chamber in which more silicic magma overlay more mafic magma. Details of these magmatic variations were obscured, however, by: (1) mixing of compositionally distinct batches of magma during upwelling in the vent, as indicated by layering and other heterogeneities within single pumice lumps; (2) mixing of particulate fragments—pumice lumps, ash, and phenocrysts—of varied compositions during emplacement, with the result that separate pumice lenses from a single small outcrop may have a compositional range nearly as great as the bulk-rook variation of the entire sheet; (3) density sorting of phenocrysts and ash during eruption and emplacement, resulting in systematic modal variations with distance from the caldera; (4) addition of xenocrysts, resulting in significant contamination and modification of proportions of crystals in the tuffs; and (5) ground-water leaching of glassy fractions during hydration after cooling.Similar complexities characterize ash-flow tuffs under study in southwestern Nevada and in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado, and probably are widespread in other ash-flow fields as well. Caution and careful planning are required in study of the magmatic chemistry and phenocryst mineralogy of these rocks.Publication authorized by the Director, U. S. Geological Survey.     

华南东部中新生代火山岩型铀矿成矿规律,勘查模式及找矿远景

中新生代时期，华南东部地壳经历了挤压－松驰拉张－局部裂解的演化过程。相应地发育３期火山活动，构成初火山族回、主火山旋回和破火山旋回。破火山使回出现双峰式岩套，标志着已进入胚胎型裂谷演化阶段。火山岩型铀矿具有破火山族回成矿、破火山旋回活动带控矿、二次迭加富集特性，可称其为破火山系列新不整合脉型铀矿。划分为体型、层型和脉型３种形态类型和相应的勘查模式。华南东部破火山系列新不整合脉型铀矿具有巨大的找矿潜力，在花岗岩基底上发育的破火山旋回构造－岩浆杂岩区，是今后寻找大型铀矿的有利靶区。     

Hydrothermal sedimentation in the caldera of Santorini, Hellenic Volcanic Arc

Sediments in the caldera of Santorini are receiving a hydrothermal input of iron and manganese from presently active hydrothermal vents off the Kameni Islands, and are enriched in these elements in their surface layer. However, greater Fe-Mn enrichments occur in discrete layers at depth in the cores separated from the surface by Fe-Mn poor sediments, suggesting that a past hydrothermal event may have been more intense than the present one. The buried Fe-Mn enriched layers occur above a turbidite thought to have resulted from sediment slumping due to a major volcanic eruption and earthquake in 1650, and are thought to have formed consequent on the activation of faults related to the magma chamber by the eruption facilitating seawater-rock interaction processes and the formation of metal-rich hydrothermal solutions.     

Origin and evolution of Lord Howe Island,Southwest Pacific Ocean

Lord Howe Island is the eroded remnant of a large shield volcano. Tholeiitic lavas of the North Ridge Basalt comprise the main shield building phase and were erupted about 6.9 Ma ago. The Boat Harbour Breccia probably formed within the throat of the volcano and, together with the North Ridge Basalt, is intruded by numerous basaltic dykes, which grade into a cone sheet complex near the main vent. Large scale collapse of the summit area of the volcano produced a caldera which was filled rapidly by lavas of the Mount Lidgbird Basalt some 6.4 Ma ago, bringing to a close the volcanic history of Lord Howe Island. The shield volcano thus was built during a short interval in the late Miocene.

Palaeomagnetic data show that the North Ridge Basalt and the Mount Lidgbird Basalt were erupted during periods when the geomagnetic field had normal polarity, and that their formation was separated by at least one interval of reversed polarity when the dykes and cone sheets were emplaced. The directions of magnetisation for the lavas and intrusives are such that, palaeomagnetically, no movement of Lord Howe Island is detected since its formation.

Lord Howe Island is the subaerial part of a large seamount which lies at the southern end of a northerly‐trending line of volcanic seamounts extending for more than 1000 km. The Lord Howe seamount chain probably was produced by movement of the Australian lithospheric plate over a magma source or hot spot located below the plate within the upper mantle. Other data suggest that the Australian plate is moving N at about 6 cm/a and from this it is predicted that the seamount underlying Nova Bank, at the northern end of the chain, was constructed by volcanic activity about 23 Ma ago. Similarly, if volcanism were to occur now in the Lord Howe seamount chain we predict that its location would be about 400 km S of Lord Howe Island.     

A calderas field at the Marifil Formation, new volcanogenic interpretation, Norpatagonian Massif, Argentina

Major volcanogenic structures within the Marifil Formation allowed to determine the location of a claderas field that spreads along 400 kilometers. This field has at least three large calderas with diameters near to 100 kilometers, recognizable by regional distribution of associated dikes and rhyolite lava flows present at the caldera border that separates a monotonous ignimbritic plateau from a depressed (150 meters) inner volcanic collapsed caldera. The Marifil ignimbritic plateau cover more than 50,000 square kilometers with thicknesses that reach 800 meters. Associated with these plateau ignimbrites there is an important fluorite mineralization.     

天姆尖破火山机构——潜在的富大铀矿找矿远景区

本文通过对天姆尖地区地质、遥感、重磁、地化等资料的综合分析和野外地质调查，初步查明了天姆尖破火山机构的成生及展布特征，识别出该区大面积分布的碎斑熔岩体系。认为该火山盆地经历了热隆起和破火山机构形成两个演化阶段，该区存在大型隐伏富铀花岗岩体；区内岩浆在垂向演化过程中，铀表现为下部富集而上部贫化带出的特点，大量成矿物质随岩浆热液向上进入破火山机构中成矿。此外，查明了该区以北东向断裂为主导的北东－北西向菱格状基底构造格局，强调了基底断裂对本区岩浆活动、火山盆地形成和铀成矿的控制作用。在对天姆尖地区铀成矿地质条件进行综合分析的基础上，指出该破火山机构具有形成富大铀矿床所必备的“源、运、聚、保”等各项条件和有利的多元成矿信息显示，是寻找富大铀矿床极为有利的远景区。     

A volcano under China's Great Wall

Cone sheets are rare in China but are found in the Houshihushan sub‐volcanic Ring Complex (HRC) near the town of Shanhaiguan, Hebei Province. The HRC rises above a narrow coastal plain as the Houshihushan mountain massif (Fig. 1 ) in a scenic region about 400 km ENE of Beijing by the Bohai Gulf, where the Great Wall reaches the sea. It has a discontinuous outer ring‐dyke of porphyritic quartz syenite, separated from an inner stock of alkaline granite by a discontinuous screen of pyroclastic rocks down‐faulted to the present erosion level by caldera subsidence. The pyroclastic rocks, which have similar petrographic and geochemical characteristics to intrusive rocks of the ring‐dyke, cone‐sheets and central stock, were erupted from the same volcano and subsequently foundered during caldera subsidence.     

Geochemistry,dispersal, volumes and chronology of Holocene silicic tephra layers from the Katla volcanic system,Iceland

At least 12 silicic tephra layers (SILK tephras) erupted between ca. 6600 and ca. 1675 yr BP from the Katla volcanic system, have been identified in southern Iceland. In addition to providing significant new knowledge on the Holocene volcanism of the Katla system which typically produces basaltic tephra, the SILK tephras form distinct and precise isochronous marker horizons in a climatically sensitive location close to both the atmospheric and marine polar fronts. With one exception the SILK tephras have a narrow compositional range, with SiO₂ between 63 and 67%. Geochemically they are indistinguishable from ocean transported pumice found on beaches in the North Atlantic region, although they differ significantly from the silicic component of the North Atlantic Ash Zone One (NAAZO). Volumes of airborne SILK tephra range from 0.05 to 0.3 km³. We present new isopach maps of the six largest layers and demonstrate that they originate within the Katla caldera. The apparently stable magma system conditions that produced the SILK tephras may have been established as a consequence of the eruption of the silicic component of NAAZO (ca. 10.3 ka) and disrupted by another large‐scale event, the tenth century ad Eldgjá eruption (ca. 1 ka). Despite the current long repose, silicic activity of this type may occur again in the future, presenting hitherto unknown hazards. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.