Progressive cooling of the hyaloclastite ridge at Gjálp, Iceland, 1996–2005

In the subglacial eruption at Gjálp in October 1996 a 6 km long and 500 m high subglacial hyaloclastite ridge was formed while large volumes of ice were melted by extremely fast heat transfer from magma to ice. Repeated surveying of ice surface geometry, measurement of inflow of ice, and a full Stokes 2-D ice flow model have been combined to estimate the heat output from Gjálp for the period 1996–2005. The very high heat output of order 10⁶ MW during the eruption was followed by rapid decline, dropping to  2500 MW by mid 1997. It remained similar until mid 1999 but declined to 700 MW in 1999–2001. Since 2001 heat output has been insignificant, probably of order 10 MW. The total heat carried with the 1.2 × 10¹² kg of basaltic andesite erupted (0.45 km³ DRE) is estimated to have been 1.5 × 10¹⁸ J. About two thirds of the thermal energy released from the 0.7 km³ edifice in Gjálp occurred during the 13-day long eruption, 20% was released from end of eruption until mid 1997, a further 10% in 1997–2001, and from mid 2001 to present, only a small fraction remained. The post-eruption heat output history can be reconciled with the gradual release of 5 × 10¹⁷ J thermal energy remaining in the Gjálp ridge after the eruption, assuming single phase liquid convection in the cooling edifice. The average temperature of the edifice is found to have been approximately 240 °C at the end of the eruption, dropping to  110 °C after 9 months and reaching  40 °C in 2001. Although an initial period of several months of very high permeability is possible, the most probable value of the permeability from 1997 onwards is of order 10^− 12 m². This is consistent with consolidated/palagonitized hyaloclastite but incompatible with unconsolidated tephra. This may indicate that palagonitization had advanced sufficiently in the first 1–2 years to form a consolidated hyaloclastite ridge, resistant to erosion. No ice flow traversing the Gjálp ridge has been observed, suggesting that it has effectively been shielded from glacial erosion in its first 10 years of existence.     

An explosive–intrusive subglacial rhyolite eruption at Dalakvísl,Torfajökull,Iceland

This paper describes unusual rhyolitic deposits at Dalakvísl, Torfajökull, Iceland that were emplaced during a Quaternary subglacial eruption. Despite its small volume (<0.2 km³), the eruption mechanisms were highly variable and involved both explosive and intrusive phases. The explosive phase involved vesiculation-driven magma fragmentation at the glacier base and generated a pumiceous pyroclastic deposit containing deformed sheets of dense obsidian. Textures suggest that the obsidian was generated by the collapse of partly fragmented foam that was intruding the deposit and water contents indicate quenching at elevated pressures. In contrast, the intrusive phase of the eruption generated vesicle-poor quench hyaloclastites associated with a variety of peperitic lava bodies. The presence of juvenile-rich fluvio-lacustrine sediments is the first documented evidence that meltwater may pond close to the vent during subglacial rhyolite eruptions if the bedrock topography is favourable. In order to explain the variable eruption mechanisms, a conceptual model is presented in which the transition from an explosive to an intrusive eruption was controlled by the space available for fragmentation within the subglacial cavity melted above the vent. When the cavity became completely filled by volcanic deposits, the vent became blocked and rising magma was forced to intrude through poorly consolidated debris. This led to arrested fragmentation and welding of foam domains to form vesicle-poor obsidian lava; the transition to an intrusive eruption has taken place. Although this vent-blocking mechanism is particularly relevant to subglacial eruptions, it may also apply to subaerial rhyolitic eruptions, where patterns of explosive and effusive activity cannot be explained by shallow degassing processes alone. Meanwhile, the variable style of a small-volume subglacial rhyolite eruption further highlights the complex processes that mediate volcano-ice interactions.     

Evolution of an englacial volcanic ridge: Pillow Ridge tindar, Mount Edziza volcanic complex, NCVP, British Columbia, Canada

Glaciovolcanic deposits are critical for documenting the presence and thickness of terrestrial ice-sheets, and for testing hypotheses about inferred terrestrial ice volumes based on the marine record. Deposits formed by the coincidence of volcanism and ice at the Mount Edziza volcanic complex (MEVC) in northern British Columbia, Canada, preserve an important record for documenting local and possibly regional ice dynamics. Pillow Ridge, located at the northwestern end of the MEVC, formed by ice-confined, fissure-fed eruptions. It comprises predominantly pillow lavas and volcanic breccias of alkaline basalt composition, with subordinate finer-grained volcaniclastic deposits and dykes. The ridge is presently  4 km long,  1000 m in maximum width, and  600 m high. Fifteen syn- and post-eruptive lithofacies are recognized in excellent exposures along the glacially dissected western side of the ridge. We recognize five lithofacies associations: (1) poorly sorted tuff breccia and dykes, (2) proximal pillow lava, dykes and tuff breccia, (3) distal pillow lava, poorly sorted conglomerate and well-sorted volcanic sandstone, (4) interbedded tuff, lapilli tuff, and tuff breccia units, and (5) heterolithic volcanogenic conglomerate and sandstone. Given the abundance of pillow lavas and the lack of surrounding topographic barriers capable of impounding water, we agree with Souther [Souther, J.G., 1992. The late Cenozoic Mount Edziza volcanic complex. Geol. Soc. Can. Mem., vol. 420. 320 pp] that the bulk of the edifice formed while confined by ice, but have found evidence for a more complex and variable eruption history than that which he proposed. Preliminary estimates of water-ice depths derived from FTIR analyses of H₂O give ranges of 300 to 680 m assuming 0 ppm CO₂, and 857 to 1297 m assuming 25 ppm CO₂. Variations in depth estimates among samples may indicate that water/ice depths changed during the evolution of the ridge, which is consistent with our interpretations for the origins of different lithofacies associations. Given that the age of the units are likely to be ca. 0.9 Ma [Souther, J.G., 1992. The late Cenozoic Mount Edziza volcanic complex. Geol. Soc. Can. Mem., vol. 420. 320 pp], Pillow Ridge may be the best documentation of a regional high stand of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS) in the middle Pleistocene, and an excellent example of the lithofacies and stratigraphic complexities produced by variations in water levels during a prolonged glaciovolcanic eruption.     

Hydrothermal activity on the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge: Tectonically- and volcanically-controlled venting at 4–5°S

We report results from an investigation of the geologic processes controlling hydrothermal activity along the previously-unstudied southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge (3–7°S). Our study employed the NOC (UK) deep-tow sidescan sonar instrument, TOBI, in concert with the WHOI (USA) autonomous underwater vehicle, ABE, to collect information concerning hydrothermal plume distributions in the water column co-registered with geologic investigations of the underlying seafloor. Two areas of high-temperature hydrothermal venting were identified. The first was situated in a non-transform discontinuity (NTD) between two adjacent second-order ridge-segments near 4°02′S, distant from any neovolcanic activity. This geologic setting is very similar to that of the ultramafic-hosted and tectonically-controlled Rainbow vent-site on the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The second site was located at 4°48′S at the axial-summit centre of a second-order ridge-segment. There, high-temperature venting is hosted in an  18 km² area of young lava flows which in some cases are observed to have flowed over and engulfed pre-existing chemosynthetic vent-fauna. In both appearance and extent, these lava flows are directly reminiscent of those emplaced in Winter 2005−06 at the East Pacific Rise, 9°50′N and reference to global seismic catalogues reveals that a swarm of large (M 4.6−5.6) seismic events was centred on the 5°S segment over a  24 h period in late June 2002, perhaps indicating the precise timing of this volcanic eruptive episode. Temperature measurements at one of the vents found directly adjacent to the fresh lava flows at 5°S MAR (Turtle Pits) have subsequently revealed vent-fluids that are actively phase separating under conditions very close to the Critical Point for seawater, at  3000 m depth and 407 °C: the hottest vent-fluids yet reported from anywhere along the global ridge crest.     

A comparison of Miocene and Archean rhyolite hyaloclastites: Evidence for a hot and fluid rhyolite lava

In this paper, we compare the geology and petrography of Miocene and Archean submarine rhyolite hyaloclastites. The hyaloclastites are sparsely (10% or less) plagioclase- (± quartz and pyroxene-) phyric. The hyaloclastites consist of a feeder dyke from which branch lava lobes and irregularly shaped lava pods. The lava bodies consist of a holocrystalline core with microlitic texture, grading outward into a flow-layered rim zone and, finally, into obsidian. The proportion of plagioclase and pyroxene microlites decreases outward. Some layers of the rim zone may be pumiceous (vesicularity up to 50%, vesicle size 1 mm or less), but most of the lava has less than 5% vesicles one or a few cm long. The obsidian shows perlitic fracture patterns. The lava bodies grade through an in-situ breccia into a hyaloclastite composed of angular obsidian granules and, in many cases, of fragments of lava lobes.Evidence for alteration at high temperature is as follows: in the Archean rhyolite hyaloclastites, plagioclase microlites are overgrown by quartz-albite spherulites. Furthermore, parts of the Miocene and Archean hyaloclastite have been cemented and granules have been marginally replaced by quartz and albite. Hyaloclastite cemented at high temperature locally shows columnar joints. At low temperatures, obsidian has been hydrated and/or has been replaced by clay minerals, zeolites, chlorite or prehnite. “Chess-board” albite and fibroradial prehnite in Archean hyaloclastite is possibly a pseudomorph after zeolites.The sparsely porphyritic nature of the lava and the absence of microlites from the quenched glass suggests that the thyolite hyaloclastites extruded at high (near liquidus) temperature. Furthermore pumice is present only locally, in the flow-layered rim zone and in fragments derived from that zone. These features suggest that vesiculation was inhibited by the weight of the water column. High temperature and possibly the volatile (H₂O) content explain the relatively low viscosity and shear strength of the lava, and resulted in the flow morphology particular to this type of hyaloclastic rhyolite flows.     

Collision of the Ganges–Brahmaputra Delta with the Burma Arc: Implications for earthquake hazard

We take a fresh look at the topography, structure and seismicity of the Ganges–Brahmaputra Delta (GBD)–Burma Arc collision zone in order to reevaluate the nature of the accretionary prism and its seismic potential. The GBD, the world's largest delta, has been built from sediments eroded from the Himalayan collision. These sediments prograded the continental margin of the Indian subcontinent by  400 km, forming a huge sediment pile that is now entering the Burma Arc subduction zone. Subduction of oceanic lithosphere with > 20 km sediment thickness is fueling the growth of an active accretionary prism exposed on land. The prism starts at an apex south of the GBD shelf edge at  18°N and widens northwards to form a broad triangle that may be up to 300 km wide at its northern limit. The front of the prism is blind, buried by the GBD sediments. Thus, the deformation front extends 100 km west of the surface fold belt beneath the Comilla Tract, which is uplifted by 3–4 m relative to the delta. This accretionary prism has the lowest surface slope of any active subduction zone. The gradient of the prism is only  0.1°, rising to  0.5° in the forearc region to the east. This low slope is consistent with the high level of overpressure found in the subsurface, and indicates a very weak detachment. Since its onset, the collision of the GBD and Burma Arc has expanded westward at  2 cm/yr, and propagated southwards at  5 cm/yr. Seismic hazard in the GBD is largely unknown. Intermediate-size earthquakes are associated with surface ruptures and fold growth in the external part of the prism. However, the possibility of large subduction ruptures has not been accounted for, and may be higher than generally believed. Although sediment-clogged systems are thought to not be able to sustain the stresses and strain-weakening behavior required for great earthquakes, some of the largest known earthquakes have occurred in heavily-sedimented subduction zones. A large earthquake in 1762 ruptured  250 km of the southern part of the GBD, suggesting large earthquakes are possible there. A large, but poorly documented earthquake in 1548 damaged population centers at the northern and southern ends of the onshore prism, and is the only known candidate for a rupture of the plate boundary along the subaerial part of the GBD–Burma Arc collision zone.     

Structures and facies associated with the flow of subaerial basaltic lava into a deep freshwater lake: The Sulphur Creek lava flow, North Cascades, Washington

The ca. 8800 ¹⁴C yrs BP Sulphur Creek lava flowed eastward 12 km from the Schriebers Meadow cinder cone into the Baker River valley, on the southeast flank of Mount Baker volcano. The compositionally-zoned basaltic to basaltic andesite lava entered, crossed and partially filled the 2-km-wide and > 100-m-deep early Holocene remnant of Glacial Lake Baker. The valley is now submerged beneath a reservoir, but seasonal drawdown permits study of the distal entrant lava. As a lava volume that may have been as much as 180 × 10⁶ m³ entered the lake, the flow invaded the lacustrine sequence and extended to the opposite (east) side of the drowned Baker River valley. The volume and mobility of the lava can be attributed to a high flux rate, a prolonged eruption, or both. Basalt exposed below the former level of the remnant glacial lake is glassy or microcrystalline and sparsely vesicular, with pervasive hackly or blocky fractures. Together with pseudopillow fractures, these features reflect fracturing normal to penetrative thermal fronts and quenching by water. A fine-grained hyaloclastite facies was probably formed during quench fragmentation or isolated magma-water explosions. Although the structures closely resemble those developed in lava-ice contact environments, establishing the depositional environment for lava exhibiting similar intense fracturing should be confirmed by geologic evidence rather than by internal structure alone. The lava also invaded the lacustrine sequence, forming varieties of peperite, including sills that are conformable within the invaded strata and resemble volcaniclastic breccias. The peperite is generally fragmental and clast- or matrix-supported; fine-grained and rounded fluidal margins occur locally. The lava formed a thickened subaqueous plug that, as the lake drained in the mid-Holocene, was exposed to erosion. The Baker River then cut a 52-m-deep gorge through the shattered, highly erodible basalt.     

Subglacial to emergent basaltic volcanism at Hlöðufell, south-west Iceland: A history of ice-confinement

Hlöðufell is a familiar 1186 m high landmark, located about 80 km northeast of Reykjavík, and 9 km south of the Langkjökull ice-cap in south-west Iceland. This is the first detailed study of this well-exposed and easily accessible subglacial to emergent basaltic volcano. Eight coherent and eleven volcaniclastic lithofacies are described and interpreted, and its evolution subdivided into four growth stages (I–IV) on the basis of facies architecture. Vents for stages I, II, and IV lie along the same fissure zone, which trends parallel to the dominant NNE–SSW volcano-tectonic axis of the Western Volcanic Zone in this part of Iceland, but the stage III vent lies to the north, and is probably responsible for the present N–S elongation of the volcano. The basal stage (I) is dominated by subglacially erupted lava mounds and ridges, which are of 240 m maximum thickness, were fed from short fissures and locally display lava tubes. Some of the stage I lavas preserve laterally extensive flat to bulbous, steep, glassy surfaces that are interpreted to have formed by direct contact with surrounding ice, and are termed ice-contact lava confinement surfaces. These surfaces preserve several distinctive structures, such as lava shelves, pillows that have one flat surface and mini-pillow (< 10 cm across) breakouts, which are interpreted to have formed by the interplay of lava chilling and confinement against ice, ice melting and ice fracture. The ice-contact lava confinement surfaces are also associated with zones of distinctive open cavities in the lavas that range from about 1 m to several metres across. The cavities are interpreted as having arisen by lava engulfing blocks of ice, that had become trapped in a narrow zone of meltwater between the lava and the surrounding ice, and are termed ice-block meltout cavities. The same areas of the lavas also display included and sometimes clearly rotated blocks of massive to planar to cross-stratified hyaloclastite lapilli tuffs and tuff–breccias, termed hyaloclastite inclusions, which are interpreted as engulfed blocks of hyaloclastite/pillow breccia carapace and talus, or their equivalents reworked by meltwater. Some of the stage I lavas are mantled at the southern end of the mountain by up to 35 m thickness of well-bedded vitric lapilli tuffs (stage II), of phreatomagmatic origin, which were erupted from a now dissected cone, preserved in this area. The tephra was deposited dominantly by subaqueous sediment gravity flows (density currents) in an ice-bound lake (or less likely a sub-ice water vault), and was also transported to the south by sub-ice meltwater traction currents. This cone is onlapped by a subaerial pahoehoe lava-fed delta sequence, formed during stage III, and which was most likely fed from a now buried vent(s), located somewhere in the north-central part of the mountain. A 150 m rise in lake level submerged the capping lavas, and was associated with progradation of a new pahoehoe lava-fed delta sequence, produced during stage IV, and which was fed from the present summit cone vent. The water level rise and onset of stage IV eruptions were not associated with any obviously exposed phreatomagmatic deposits, but they are most likely buried beneath stage IV delta deposits. Stage IV lava-fed deltas display steep benches, which do not appear to be due to syn- or post-depositional mass wasting, but were probably generated during later erosion by ice. The possibility that they are due to shorter progradation distances than the underlying stage III deltas, due to ice-confinement or lower volumes of supplied lava is also considered.     

A multidisciplinary effort to assign realistic source parameters to models of volcanic ash-cloud transport and dispersion during eruptions

During volcanic eruptions, volcanic ash transport and dispersion models (VATDs) are used to forecast the location and movement of ash clouds over hours to days in order to define hazards to aircraft and to communities downwind. Those models use input parameters, called “eruption source parameters”, such as plume height H, mass eruption rate Ṁ, duration D, and the mass fraction m₆₃ of erupted debris finer than about 4 or 63 μm, which can remain in the cloud for many hours or days. Observational constraints on the value of such parameters are frequently unavailable in the first minutes or hours after an eruption is detected. Moreover, observed plume height may change during an eruption, requiring rapid assignment of new parameters. This paper reports on a group effort to improve the accuracy of source parameters used by VATDs in the early hours of an eruption. We do so by first compiling a list of eruptions for which these parameters are well constrained, and then using these data to review and update previously studied parameter relationships. We find that the existing scatter in plots of H versus Ṁ yields an uncertainty within the 50% confidence interval of plus or minus a factor of four in eruption rate for a given plume height. This scatter is not clearly attributable to biases in measurement techniques or to well-recognized processes such as elutriation from pyroclastic flows. Sparse data on total grain-size distribution suggest that the mass fraction of fine debris m₆₃ could vary by nearly two orders of magnitude between small basaltic eruptions ( 0.01) and large silicic ones (> 0.5). We classify eleven eruption types; four types each for different sizes of silicic and mafic eruptions; submarine eruptions; “brief” or Vulcanian eruptions; and eruptions that generate co-ignimbrite or co-pyroclastic flow plumes. For each eruption type we assign source parameters. We then assign a characteristic eruption type to each of the world's  1500 Holocene volcanoes. These eruption types and associated parameters can be used for ash-cloud modeling in the event of an eruption, when no observational constraints on these parameters are available.     

Combined unspiked K–Ar and 40Ar/39Ar dating applied to the dating of 80–260 ka old Icelandic sub-glacial rhyolites

We have used two techniques (i.e. K–Ar and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar) on Icelandic obsidian samples to produce and more specially to estimate the quality and accuracy of the ages that can be obtained. Following a meticulous protocol, we were able to date six rhyolitic eruptions with an accuracy 7 to 40 times better than those obtained previously. Among these six rhyolites are the first published K–Ar and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of Krafla.The combined K–Ar and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar approach produces not only highly precise but also accurate ages. Such high precision makes it possible to produce accurate reconstructions of ice thickness at a given location and time, to test whether there was a possible link between deglaciation and rhyolitic volcanism onset in Iceland, and to explore other possible applications of the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating method to paleo-environmental and paleo-climatic reconstruction at Iceland's latitude.Then, we investigate, by combining geochemistry (i.e. determination of major and trace element composition) and geochronology (i.e. dating of rhyolitic eruptions via K–Ar and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating) for a number of Icelandic rhyolitic volcanoes whose activity could be recorded in North Atlantic sedimentary cores as well as in Arctic ice. The aim of this approach is to provide new independent anchors and correlations between climate records. Of the six dated eruptions, we propose that one is record in North Atlantic sediments, the Loðmundur eruption that constitutes one of the Kerlingarfjöll tuyas, which we date at 189.9 ± 1.1 ka and assume to be the source of the tephra recognized in core MD04-2822 at a depth of 3630–3631 cm.     

Persistent activity and violent strombolian eruptions at Vesuvius between 1631 and 1944

During the period 1631–1944, Vesuvius was in persistent activity with alternating mild strombolian explosions, quiet effusive eruptions, and violent strombolian eruptions. The major difference between the predominant style of activity and the violent strombolian stages is the effusion rate. The lava effusion rate during major eruptions was in the range 20–100 m³/s, higher than during mild activity and quiet effusion (0.1–1 m³/s). The products erupted during the mild activity and major paroxysms have different degree of crystallization. Highly porphyritic lava flows are slowly erupted during years-long period of mild activity. This activity is fed by a magma accumulating at shallow depth within the volcanic edifice. Conversely, during the major paroxysms, a fast lava flow precedes the eruption of a volatile-rich, crystal-poor magma. We show that the more energetic eruptions are fed by episodic, multiple arrival of discrete batches of magma rising faster and not degassing during the ascent. The rapidly ascending magma pushes up the liquid residing in the shallow reservoir and eventually reaches the surface with its full complement of volatiles, producing kilometer-high lava fountains. Rapid drainage of the shallow reservoir occasionally caused small caldera collapses. The major eruptions act to unplug the upper part of the feeding system, erupting the cooling and crystallizing magma. This pattern of activity lasted for 313 y, but with a progressive decrease in the number of more energetic eruptions. As a consequence, a cooling plug blocked the volcano until it eventually prevented the eruption of new magma. The yearly probability of having at least one violent strombolian eruption has decreased from 0.12 to 0.10 from 1944 to 2007, but episodic seismic crises since 1979 may be indicative of new episodic intrusions of magma batches.     

Variations in the geomagnetic dipole moment during the Holocene and the past 50 kyr

All absolute paleointensity data published in peer-reviewed journals were recently compiled in the GEOMAGIA50 database. Based on the information in GEOMAGIA50, we reconstruct variations in the geomagnetic dipole moment over the past 50  kyr, with a focus on the Holocene period. A running-window approach is used to determine the axial dipole moment that provides the optimal least-squares fit to the paleointensity data, whereas associated error estimates are constrained using a bootstrap procedure. We subsequently compare the reconstruction from this study with previous reconstructions of the geomagnetic dipole moment, including those based on cosmogenic radionuclides (¹⁰Be and ¹⁴C). This comparison generally lends support to the axial dipole moments obtained in this study. Our reconstruction shows that the evolution of the dipole moment was highly dynamic, and the recently observed rates of change (5% per century) do not appear unique. We observe no apparent link between the occurrence of archeomagnetic jerks and changes in the geomagnetic dipole moment, suggesting that archeomagnetic jerks most likely represent drastic changes in the orientation of the geomagnetic dipole axis or periods characterized by large secular variation of the non-dipole field. This study also shows that the Holocene geomagnetic dipole moment was high compared to that of the preceding  40  kyr, and that  4 · 10²²  Am² appears to represent a critical threshold below which geomagnetic excursions and reversals occur.     

Pre-eruptive and syn-eruptive conditions in the Black Butte, California dacite: Insight into crystallization kinetics in a silicic magma system

A series of experiments and petrographic analyses have been run to determine the pre-eruption phase equilibria and ascent dynamics of dacitic lavas composing Black Butte, a dome complex on the flank of Mount Shasta, California. Major and trace element analyses indicate that the Black Butte magma shared a common parent with contemporaneously erupted magmas at the Shasta summit. The Black Butte lava phenocryst phase assemblage (20 v.%) consists of amphibole, plagioclase (core An_77.5), and Fe–Ti oxides in a fine-grained (< 0.5 mm) groundmass of plagioclase, pyroxene, Fe–Ti oxides, amphibole, and cristobalite. The phenocryst assemblage and crystal compositions are reproduced experimentally between 890 °C and 910 °C, ≥ 300 MPa, X_H2O = 1, and oxygen fugacity = NNO + 1. This study has quantified the extent of three crystallization processes occurring in the Black Butte dacite that can be used to discern ascent processes. Magma ascent rate was quantified using the widths of amphibole breakdown rims in natural samples, using an experimental calibration of rim development in a similar magma at relevant conditions. The majority of rims are 34 ± 10 μm thick, suggesting a time-integrated magma ascent rate of 0.004–0.006 m/s among all four dome lobes. This is comparable to values for effusive samples from the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption and slightly faster than those estimated at Montserrat. A gap between the compositions of plagioclase phenocryst cores and microlites suggests that while phenocryst growth was continuous throughout ascent, microlite formation did not occur until significantly into ascent. The duration of crystallization is estimated using the magma reservoir depth and ascent rate, as determined from phase equilibria and amphibole rim widths, respectively. Textural analysis of the natural plagioclase crystals yields maximum growth rates of plagioclase phenocryst rims and groundmass microlites of 8.7 × 10^− 8 and 2.5 × 10^− 8 mm/s, respectively. These rates are comparable to values determined from time-sequenced samples of dacite erupted effusively from Mount St. Helens during 1980 and indicate that syneruptive crystallization processes were important during the Black Butte eruptive cycle.     

Seasonal variability in mesopause region temperatures over Fort Collins, CO (41°N, 105°W) based on lidar observations, 1990 through 2007

Nearly 900 nocturnal temperature profiles (85–105 km) from the Colorado State University Na lidar at Fort Collins, CO (40.59N, 105.14W) from 1990 to 2007. After the removal of an episodic warming attributable to Mt. Pinatubo eruption, the time series is analyzed as the sum of the climatological mean, annual and semiannual oscillation, solar cycle effect and trends along with possible annual/semiannual modulation of the latter two. The direct seasonal variation is consistent with the concept of the two-level mesopause. The trends in summer and winter are comparable 90–96 km at −0.15±0.1 K/year. The summer trend turns positive above 96 km. The winter trend is negative with minimum of −0.3 K/year at 100 km but positive at 104 km. The negative trend values are a factor of five smaller than an earlier analysis of the early part of this data due to removal of an episodic event.     

Modelling the lava dome extruded at Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat, August 2005–May 2006: Part II: Rockfall activity and talus deformation

During many lava dome-forming eruptions, persistent rockfalls and the concurrent development of a substantial talus apron around the foot of the dome are important aspects of the observed activity. An improved understanding of internal dome structure, including the shape and internal boundaries of the talus apron, is critical for determining when a lava dome is poised for a major collapse and how this collapse might ensue. We consider a period of lava dome growth at the Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat, from August 2005 to May 2006, during which a  100 × 10⁶ m³ lava dome developed that culminated in a major dome-collapse event on 20 May 2006. We use an axi-symmetrical Finite Element Method model to simulate the growth and evolution of the lava dome, including the development of the talus apron. We first test the generic behaviour of this continuum model, which has core lava and carapace/talus components. Our model describes the generation rate of talus, including its spatial and temporal variation, as well as its post-generation deformation, which is important for an improved understanding of the internal configuration and structure of the dome. We then use our model to simulate the 2005 to 2006 Soufrière Hills dome growth using measured dome volumes and extrusion rates to drive the model and generate the evolving configuration of the dome core and carapace/talus domains. The evolution of the model is compared with the observed rockfall seismicity using event counts and seismic energy parameters, which are used here as a measure of rockfall intensity and hence a first-order proxy for volumes. The range of model-derived volume increments of talus aggraded to the talus slope per recorded rockfall event, approximately 3 × 10³–13 × 10³ m³ per rockfall, is high with respect to estimates based on observed events. From this, it is inferred that some of the volumetric growth of the talus apron (perhaps up to 60–70%) might have occurred in the form of aseismic deformation of the talus, forced by an internal, laterally spreading core. Talus apron growth by this mechanism has not previously been identified, and this suggests that the core, hosting hot gas-rich lava, could have a greater lateral extent than previously considered.     

The 1996 eruption at Gjálp,Vatnajökull ice cap,Iceland: efficiency of heat transfer,ice deformation and subglacial water pressure

The 13-day-long Gjálp eruption within the Vatnajökull ice cap in October 1996 provided important data on ice–volcano interaction in a thick temperate glacier. The eruption produced 0.8 km³ of mainly volcanic glass with a basaltic icelandite composition (equivalent to 0.45 km³ of magma). Ice thickness above the 6-km-long volcanic fissure was initially 550–750 m. The eruption was mainly subglacial forming a 150–500 m high ridge; only 2–4% of the volcanic material was erupted subaerially. Monitoring of the formation of ice cauldrons above the vents provided data on ice melting, heat flux and indirectly on eruption rate. The heat flux was 5–6×10⁵ W m^-2 in the first 4 days. This high heat flux can only be explained by fragmentation of magma into volcanic glass. The pattern of ice melting during and after the eruption indicates that the efficiency of instantaneous heat exchange between magma and ice at the eruption site was 50–60%. If this is characteristic for magma fragmentation in subglacial eruptions, volcanic material and meltwater will in most cases take up more space than the ice melted in the eruption. Water accumulation would therefore cause buildup of basal water pressure and lead to rapid release of the meltwater. Continuous drainage of meltwater is therefore the most likely scenario in subglacial eruptions under temperate glaciers. Deformation and fracturing of ice played a significant role in the eruption and modified the subglacial water pressure. It is found that water pressure at a vent under a subsiding cauldron is substantially less than it would be during static loading by the overlying ice, since the load is partly compensated for by shear forces in the rapidly deforming ice. In addition to intensive crevassing due to subsidence at Gjálp, a long and straight crevasse formed over the southernmost part of the volcanic fissure on the first day of the eruption. It is suggested that the feeder dyke may have overshot the bedrock–ice interface, caused high deformation rates and fractured the ice up to the surface. The crevasse later modified the flow of meltwater, explaining surface flow of water past the highest part of the edifice. The dominance of magma fragmentation in the Gjálp eruption suggests that initial ice thickness greater than 600–700 m is required if effusive eruption of pillow lava is to be the main style of activity, at least in similar eruptions of high initial magma discharge.Editorial responsibility: J. Donnelly-Nolan     

Frequent eruptions of Mount Rainier over the last ∼2,600 years

Field, geochronologic, and geochemical evidence from proximal fine-grained tephras, and from limited exposures of Holocene lava flows and a small pyroclastic flow document ten–12 eruptions of Mount Rainier over the last 2,600 years, contrasting with previously published evidence for only 11–12 eruptions of the volcano for all of the Holocene. Except for the pumiceous subplinian C event of 2,200 cal year BP, the late-Holocene eruptions were weakly explosive, involving lava effusions and at least two block-and-ash pyroclastic flows. Eruptions were clustered from ∼2,600 to ∼2,200 cal year BP, an interval referred to as the Summerland eruptive period that includes the youngest lava effusion from the volcano. Thin, fine-grained tephras are the only known primary volcanic products from eruptions near 1,500 and 1,000 cal year BP, but these and earlier eruptions were penecontemporaneous with far-traveled lahars, probably created from newly erupted materials melting snow and glacial ice. The most recent magmatic eruption of Mount Rainier, documented geochemically, was the 1,000 cal year BP event. Products from a proposed eruption of Mount Rainier between AD 1820 and 1854 (X tephra of Mullineaux (US Geol Surv Bull 1326:1–83, 1974)) are redeposited C tephra, probably transported onto young moraines by snow avalanches, and do not record a nineteenth century eruption. We found no conclusive evidence for an eruption associated with the clay-rich Electron Mudflow of ∼500 cal year BP, and though rare, non-eruptive collapse of unstable edifice flanks remains as a potential hazard from Mount Rainier. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. T. W. Sisson and J. W. Vallance contributed equally to this study.