Development of unconfined historic lava flow fields in Tenerife: implications for the mitigation of risk from a future eruption

Historic and recent (last 2,000?years) eruptions on the active volcanic island of Tenerife have been predominantly effusive, indicating that this is the most probable type of activity to be expected in the near future. In the past, lava flow invasion caused major damage on the island, and as the population and infrastructure have increased dramatically since the last eruption, lava flows are the most important short-term volcanic risk on Tenerife. Hence, an understanding of lava flow behaviour is vital to manage risks from lava flows and minimise future losses on the island. This paper focuses on the lava flows from the historic eruptions in Tenerife, providing new data on the volumes emitted, advance rates and the timing of the emplacement of flows. The studies show three main stages in the development of unconfined flow fields: the first stage, corresponding to the fast advance of the initial fronts during the first 24?C36?h of eruption (reaching calculated velocities of up to 1.1?m/s); the second stage, in which fronts stagnate; and a third stage, in which secondary lava flows develop from breakouts 4?C7?days after the initial eruption and farther extend the flow field (velocities of up to 0.02?m/s have been calculated for this stage). The breakouts identified originated at sites both proximal and distal to the vent and, in both cases, caused damage through lengthening and widening the original flow field. Hence, the probability of damage from lavas to land and property is highest during stages 1 and 3, and this should be accounted for when planning the response to a future effusive eruption. Tenerife??s lava flows display a similar behaviour to that of lava flows on volcanoes characterised by basaltic effusive activity (such as Etna or Kilauea), indicating the possibility of applying forecasting models developed at those frequently active volcanoes to Tenerife.     

Geothermometry of Kilauea Iki lava lake,Hawaii

Data on the variation of temperature with time and in space are essential to a complete understanding of the crystallization history of basaltic magma in Kilauea Iki lava lake. Methods used to determine temperatures in the lake have included direct, downhole thermocouple measurements and Fe-Ti oxide geothermometry. In addition, the temperature variations of MgO and CaO contents of glasses, as determined in melting experiments on appropriate Kilauean samples, have been calibrated for use as purely empirical geothermometers and are directly applicable to interstitial glasses in olivine-bearing core from Kilauea Iki. The uncertainty in inferred quenching temperatures is ±8–10° C. Comparison of the three methods shows that (1) oxide and glass geothermometry give results that are consistent with each other and consistent with the petrography and relative position of samples, (2) downhole thermo-couple measurements are low in all but the earliest, shallowest holes because the deeper holes never completely recover to predrilling temperatures, (3) glass geothermometry provides the greatest detail on temperature profiles in the partially molten zone, much of which is otherwise inaccessible, and (4) all three methods are necessary to construct a complete temperature profile for any given drill hole. Application of glass-based geothermometry to partially molten drill core recovered in 1975–1981 reveals in great detail the variation of temperature, in both time and space, within the partially molten zone of Kilauea Iki lava lake. The geothermometers developed here are also potentially applicable to glassy samples from other Kilauea lava lakes and to rapidly quenched lava samples from eruptions of Kilauea and Mauna Loa.     

Effects of eruption history and cooling rate on lava dome growth

To better understand the factors controlling the shapes of lava domes, laboratory simulations, measurements from active and prehistoric flows and dimensional analysis were used to explore how effusion history and cooling rate affect the final geometry of a dome. Fifty experiments were conducted in which a fixed volume of polyethylene glycol wax was injected into a tank of cold sucrose solution, either as one continuous event or as a series of shorter pulses separated by repose periods. When the wax cooling rates exceeded a critical minimum value, the dome aspect ratios (height/diameter) increased steadily with erupted volume over the course of a single experiment and the rate at which height increased with volume depended linearly on the time-averaged effusion rate. Thus the average effusion rate could be estimated from observations of how the dome shape changed with time. Our experimental results and dimensional analyses were compared with several groups of natural lava flows: the recently emplaced Mount St Helens and Soufrière domes, which had been carefully monitored while active; three sets of prehistoric rhyolite domes that varied in eruptive style and shape; and two sets of Holocene domes with similar shapes, but different compositions. Geometric measurements suggest that dome morphology can be directly correlated with effusion rate for domes of similar composition from the same locality, and that shape alone can be related to a dimensionless number comparing effusion rate and cooling rate. Extrapolation to the venusian pancake domes suggests that they formed from relatively viscous lavas extruded either episodically or at average effusion rates low enough to allow solidified surface crust to exert a dominating influence on the final morphology.     

Construction dynamics of a lava channel

We use a kinematic GPS and laser range finder survey of a 200 m-long section of the Muliwai a Pele lava channel (Mauna Ulu, Kilauea) to examine the construction processes and flow dynamics responsible for the channel–levee structure. The levees comprise three packages. The basal package comprises an 80–150 m wide ′a′a flow in which a ∼2 m deep and ∼11 m wide channel became centred. This is capped by a second package of thin (<45 cm thick) sheets of pahoehoe extending no more than 50 m from the channel. The upper-most package comprises localised ′a′a overflows. The channel itself contains two blockages located 130 m apart and composed of levee chunks veneered with overflow lava. The channel was emplaced over 50 h, spanning 30 May–2 June, 1974, with the flow front arriving at our section (4.4 km from the vent) 8 h after the eruption began. The basal ′a′a flow thickness yields effusion rates of 35 m³ s⁻¹ for the opening phase, with the initial flow advancing across the mapped section at ∼10 m/min. Short-lived overflows of fluid pahoehoe then built the levee cap, increasing the apparent channel depth to 4.8 m. There were at least six pulses at 90–420 m³ s⁻¹, causing overflow of limited extent lasting no more than 5 min. Brim-full flow conditions were thus extremely short-lived. During a dominant period of below-bank flow, flow depth was ∼2 m with an effusion rate of ∼35 m³ s⁻¹, consistent with the mean output rate (obtained from the total flow bulk volume) of 23–54 m³ s⁻¹. During pulses, levee chunks were plucked and floated down channel to form blockages. In a final low effusion rate phase, lava ponded behind the lower blockage to form a syn-channel pond that fed ′a′a overflow. After the end of the eruption the roofed-over pond continued to drain through the lower blockage, causing the roof to founder. Drainage emplaced inflated flows on the channel floor below the lower blockage for a further ∼10 h. The complex processes involved in levee–channel construction of this short-lived case show that care must be taken when using channel dimensions to infer flow dynamics. In our case, the full channel depth is not exposed. Instead the channel floor morphology reflects late stage pond filling and drainage rather than true channel-contained flow. Components of the compound levee relate to different flow regimes operating at different times during the eruption and associated with different effusion rates, flow dynamics and time scales. For example, although high effusion rate, brim-full flow was maintained for a small fraction of the channel lifetime, it emplaced a pile of pahoehoe overflow units that account for 60% of the total levee height. We show how time-varying volume flux is an important parameter in controlling channel construction dynamics. Because the complex history of lava delivery to a channel system is recorded by the final channel morphology, time-varying flow dynamics can be determined from the channel morphology. Developing methods for quantifying detailed flux histories for effusive events from the evidence in outcrop is therefore highly valuable. We here achieve this by using high-resolution spatial data for a channel system at Kilauea. This study not only indicates those physical and dynamic characteristics that are typical for basaltic lava flows on Hawaiian volcanoes, but also a methodology that can be widely applied to effusive basaltic eruptions.     

Sensitivity of the dynamics of volcanic eruption columns to their shape

This paper presents a one-dimensional steady-state model to investigate the sensitivity of the dynamics of sustained eruption columns to radius variations with height due to thermal expansion of the entrained air, and decreases in atmospheric pressure with height. In contrast to a number of previous models using an equation known as the entrainment assumption, the new model is based on similarity arguments to derive an equation set equivalent to the model proposed by Woods [Bull Volcanol 50:169–193, 1988]. This approach allows investigation of the effect of gas compressibility on the entrainment rate of ambient air, which has been little examined for a system in which a decrease in pressure significantly affects the density stratification of a compressible fluid. The new model provides results that include two end members: one in which the volume change within the eruption columns affects only the radial expansion without changing the vertical motion, and the other is the converse. The Woods [Bull Volcanol 50:169–193, 1988] model can be regarded as being between those two end members. The range of uncertainty arises because the extremely high temperature of discharged materials from a volcanic vent, and the exceptional terminal height of the eruption columns, allow significant expansion of the gas component in the eruption columns, making them behave differently from common turbulent plumes. This study indicates that the maximum height of the eruption columns is affected considerably by this uncertainty, particularly when the eruption columns extend above a height of 10 km, at which the pressure is about one-fourth the pressure at the ground surface. Column collapse may also be suppressed in wider parameter ranges than previously estimated. However, the uncertainty can be reduced by measuring column radii through a vertical profile during actual volcanic eruptions. Accordingly, this paper suggests that appropriate observation of eruption column shapes is essential for improving our understanding of the dynamics of eruption columns.     

Magma dynamics, crystallization, and chemical differentiation of the 1959 Kilauea Iki lava lake, Hawaii, revisited

Using constraints from an extensive database of geological and geochemical observations along with results from fluid mechanical studies of convection in magma chambers, we identify the main physical processes at work during the solidification of the 1959 Kilauea Iki lava lakes. In turn, we investigate their quantitative influence on the crystallization and chemical differentiation of the magma, and on the development of the internal structure of the lava lake. In contrast to previous studies, vigorous stirring in the magma, driven predominately by the descent of dense crystal-laden thermal plumes from the roof solidification front and the ascent of buoyant compositional plumes due to the in situ growth of olivine crystals at the floor, is predicted to have been an inevitable consequence of very strong cooling at the roof and floor. The flow is expected to have caused extensive but imperfect mixing over most of the cooling history of the magma, producing minor compositional stratification at the roof and thermal stratification at the floor. The efficient stirring of the large roof cooling is expected to have resulted in significant internal nucleation of olivine crystals, which ultimately settled to the floor. Additional forcing due to either crystal sedimentation or the ascent of gas bubbles is not expected to have increased significantly the amount of mixing. In addition to convection in the magma, circulation driven by the convection of buoyant interstitial melt in highly permeable crystal-melt mushes forming the roof and the floor of the lava lake is envisaged to have produced a net upward flow of evolved magma from the floor during solidification. In the floor zone, mush convection may have caused the formation of axisymmetric chimneys through which evolved magma drained from deep within the floor into the overlying magma and potentially the roof. We hypothesize that the highly evolved, pipe-like ‘vertical olivine-rich bodies’ (VORBs) [Bull. Volcanol. 43 (1980) 675] observed in the floor zone, of the lake are fossil chimneys. In the roof zone, buoyant residual liquid both produced at the roof solidification front and gained from the floor as a result of incomplete convective mixing is envisaged to have percolated or ‘leaked‘ into the overlying highly-permeable cumulate, displacing less buoyant interstitial melt downward. The results from Rayleigh fractionation-type models formulated using boundary conditions based on a quantitative understanding of the convection in the magma indicate that most of the incompatible element variation over the height of the lake can be explained as a consequence of a combination of crystal settling and the extensive but imperfect convective mixing of buoyant residual liquid released from the floor solidification front. The remaining chemical variation is understood in terms of the additional influences of mush convection in the roof and floor on the vertical distribution of incompatible elements. Although cooling was concentrated at the roof of the lake, the floor zone is found to be thicker than the roof zone, implying that it grew more quickly. The large growth rate of the floor is explained as a consequence of a combination of the substantial sedimentation of olivine crystals and more rapid in situ crystallization due to both a higher liquidus temperature and enhanced cooling resulting from imperfect thermal and chemical mixing.     

Erta'ale lava lake: heat and gas transfer to the atmosphere

Data on uncontaminated samples of volcanic gases can be counted on the fingers of one hand, yet estimation of total volcanic gas flow cannot be made without such data. In this paper the flux of gas from the lava lake to the atmosphere is calculated by a heat budget based on the excess heat loss caused by combustion of H₂ and CO and by the mass rate of loss of other gases on the basis of their ratios to H₂ and CO in the unoxidized gas samples. The estimated rates of loss of H₂O, CO₂, SO₂ and HCl are consistent with the rate of loss of heat if this heat is generated by crystallization and if the initial magma contains concentrations of gas appropriate for submarine basalt from oceanic ridges. The moderate activity of permanent degassing from the two active lava ponds studied gives a lower flux than that of other volcanoes.     

Variations in lava composition during the March 1981 eruption of mount etna and the implications of a compositional comparison with earlier historic eruptions

The March 1981 eruption of Mount Etna occurred on the northern slopes of the volcano in an area previously inactive for more than 400 a. A radial fissure system extending 7.5 km and producing 20±2×10⁶ m³ of basic hawaiite lava, opened at 2600 m a.s.l. on 17th March and migrated downslope to 1125 m a.s.l. where activity ceased on 23rd March. Gravity evidence points to the draining of a radial storage-dyke, located between sea-level and +1 km a.s.l. Whole-rock chemistry and petrography suggests that the magma in the dyke was a hybrid supporting crystal and compositional gradients developed as a result of progressively greater mixing of residual 1979 basic hawaiite magma with fresh basic hawaiite magma during permissive filling of the dyke around September 1980. These mixing gradients caused the eruption to display a significant contrast in the concentrations of Al₂O₃, Sr, CaO, MgO and Fe₂O₃ (total) between early, high-altitude and later, low-altitude products. The fresh magma which entered the high-level system around September 1980 ascended rapidly from a deep storage region at 16–24 km depth. On a FMA plot, the composition range of the 1981 lava lies at the end of a temporal variation trend defined by the composition of successive flank eruptions back to 1971 and appears to be repeated by successive eruptions between 1923 and 1949. This suggest that the chemistry of historic lavas may, in a general way, reflect the evolution path of magma in the deep storage region despite masking of detail by high-level processes such as mixing. These temporal trends may, if real, reflect successive batches of freshly generated magma from the mantle source region entering into and subsequently differentiating within the deep storage region. Paper presented to the Symp. on Formation and Evolution of Magma Chambers: Physical and Chemical Processes, 18th IUGGIAVCEI Gen. Assembly, Hamburg, F.R.G., August 1983.     

Mt. Niragongo: renewed activity of the lava lake

On the 21st of June, 1982, Mt. Niragongo ended a period of dormancy that had begun on January 11, 1977, and fresh lava began to flow into the 800-m-deep crater. On October 3, a huge lava lake, wider and deeper than any previously observed (500 m across and close to 400 m deep) rose to within 440 m of the crater rim. The observed activity consisted of a large, central upwelling fountain of very fluid lava from which concentric lava waves expanded radially; numerous small, relatively viscous lava flows creeped over the surrounding thin solidified crust, that covered about 95% of the lake area. These observed features seem to characterize the upper part of a large convective system. The persistence of such an extraordinarily large steady-state lava lake may be due to the equally exceptional fluidity of the magma rising at the intersection of four different tectonic trends of fractures in the subvolcanic basement.     

The 1999 and 2000 eruptions of Mount Cameroon: eruption behaviour and petrochemistry of lava

Mount Cameroon (4,095 m high and with a volume of ~1,200 km³) is one of the most active volcanoes in Africa, having erupted seven times in the last 100 years. This stratovolcano of basanite and hawaiite lavas has an elliptical shape, with over a hundred cones around its flanks and summit region aligned parallel to its NE--SW-trending long axis. The 1999 (28 March–22 April) eruption was restricted to two sites: ~2,650 m (site 1) and ~1,500 m (site 2). Similarly, in the eruption in 2000 (28 May–19 June), activity occurred at two sites: ~4,095 m (site 1) and ~3,300 m (site 2). During both eruptions, the higher vents were more explosive, with strombolian activity, while the lower vents were more effusive. Accordingly, most of the lava (~8×10⁷ m³ in 1999 and ~6×10⁶ m³ in 2000) was emitted from the lower sites. The 1999–2000 lavas are predominantly basanites with low Ni (5–79 ppm), Cr (40–161 ppm) and mg numbers (34–40). Olivine (Fo_77–85, phenocrysts and Fo_68–72, microlites), clinopyroxene (Wo₄₇En₄₁Fs₁₀ to Wo₅₁En₃₄Fs₁₅), plagioclase (An_49–67) and titanomagnetite are the principal phenocryst and groundmass phases. The lavas contain xenocrysts of olivine and clinopyroxene, which are interpreted as fragments of intrusive rocks disrupted by magma ascent. Major and trace element characteristics point to early fractionation of olivine. The clinopyroxenes (Al₂O₃ 1.36–7.83 wt%) have high Al^iv/Al^vi ratios (1.3–1.8) and are rich in TiO₂, characteristics typical of low pressure clinopyroxenes. Geochemical differences between the 1999–2000 lavas and those from previous eruptions, such as higher Nb/Zr of the former, suggest that different eruptions discharged magmas that evolved differently in space and time. Geophysical and petrological data indicate that these fractionated magmas originated just below the geophysical Moho (at 20–22 km) in the lithospheric mantle. During ascent, the magmas disrupted intrusions and earlier magma pockets. The main ascent path is below the summit, where newly arrived magma degasses. Degassed magma simultaneously intrudes the flank rift zones where most lava is extruded.An erratum to this article can be found at     

The 1983 Etna eruption: Event chronology and morphological evolution of the lava flow

The event chronology of the 1983 Etna eruption is summarized, and the development of a compound lava field at different time intervals during the eruption is described as observed from aerial photographs.The morphological evolution of the lava fronts has been compared with effusion rate and principal modifications occurring in the main channel, and it has been inferred that the development of the lava flow units is related to the formation of lava tunnels and particularly of lava channels. The total volume of lava emitted has been estimated to be 100±20×10⁶ m³ according to two different methods. Finally, the comparison with previous historical eruptive activity shows a good correlation to other quiet eruptions.     

Formation of clastogenic lava flows during fissure eruption and scoria cone collapse: the 1986 eruption of Izu-Oshima Volcano, eastern Japan

The 1986 eruption of B fissure at Izu-Oshima Volcano, Japan, produced, among other products, one andesite and two basaltic andesite lava flows. Locally the three flows resemble vent-effused holocrystalline blocky or aa lava; however, remnant clast outlines can be identified at most localities, indicating that the flows were spatter fed or clastogenic. The basaltic andesite flows are interpreted to have formed by two main processes: (a) reconstitution of fountain-generated spatter around vent areas by syn-depositional agglutination and coalescence, followed by extensional non-particulate flow, and (b) syn-eruptive collapse of a rapidly built spatter and scoria cone by rotational slip and extensional sliding. These processes produced two morphologically distinct lobes in both flows by: (a) earlier non-particulate flow of agglutinate and coalesced spatter, which formed a thin lobe of rubbly aa lava (ca. 5 m thick) with characteristic open extension cracks revealing a homogeneous, holocrystalline interior, and (b) later scoria-cone collapse, which created a larger lobe of irregular thickness (<20 m) made of large detached blocks of scoria cone interpreted to have been rafted along on a flow of coalesced spatter. The source regions of these lava flows are characterized by horseshoe-shaped scarps (<30 m high), with meso-blocks (ca. 30 m in diameter) of bedded scoria at the base. One lava flow has a secondary lateral collapse zone with lower (ca. 7 m) scarps. Backward-tilted meso-blocks are interpreted to be the product of rotational slip, and forward-tilted blocks the result of simple toppling. Squeeze-ups of coalesced spatter along the leading edge of the meso-blocks indicate that coalescence occurred in the basal part of the scoria cone. This low-viscosity, coalesced spatter acted as a lubricating layer along which basal failure of the scoria cone occurred. Rotational sliding gave way to extensional translational sliding as the slide mass spread out onto the present caldera floor. Squeeze-ups concentrated at the distal margin indicate that the extensional regime changed to one of compression, probably as a result of cooling of the flow front. Sliding material piled up behind the slowing flow front, and coalesced spatter was squeezed up from the interior of the flow through fractures and between rafted blocks. The andesite flow, although morphologically similar to the other two flows, has a slightly different chemical composition which corresponds to the earliest stage of the eruption. It is a much smaller lava flow emitted from the base of the scoria cone 2 days after the eruption had ceased. This lava is interpreted to have been formed by post-depositional coalescence of spatter under the influence of the in-situ cooling rate and load pressure of the deposit. Extrusion occurred through the lower part of the scoria cone, and subsequent non-particulate flow of coalesced material produced a blocky and aa lava flow. The mechanisms of formation of the lava flows described may be more common during explosive eruptions of mafic magma than previously envisaged. Received: 30 May 1997 / Accepted: 19 May 1998     

Seismic structure and seismicity of the cooling lava lake of Kilauea Iki, Hawaii

The use of multiple methods is indispensable for the determination of the seismic properties of a complex body such as a partially solidified lava lake. The combined results from various active and passive experiments conducted on Kilauea Iki in March 1976 suggest a rather thin (less than 10 m) zone of residual melt, the lateral extent of which is delineated by a sharp drop in the activity of seismic events occurring within the crust of the lake. The heavily fractured crust is characterized by P velocities ranging from 0.8 to 2.2 km/s and the P velocity could be even lower in the melt possibly because of the presence of gas bubbles. The present seismicity of the lake is compatible with the formation of tensile cracks caused by contraction due to cooling.     

The fluid dynamics and thermodynamics of eruption columns

A new model for Plinian eruption columns is derived from first principles and investigated numerically. The dynamics particular to the momentum-driven basal gas-thrust region and the upper buoyancy-driven convective region are treated separately. The thermal interactions in the column are modelled by the steady-flow-energy equation. The main results of the present paper are that: (1) the basal gas-thrust region model predicts a very rapid initial expansion of the material on leaving the vent; (2) the gas-thrust region height decreases with initial temperature, inital gas content of the erupted material and initial velocity, but increases with vent radius; (3) the total column height increases with initial temperature, initial velocity and vent radius, but decreases with initial gas content; (4) column collapse occurs for initial velocities of the order of 100 m/s; the precise value increases as the initial gas content in the erupted material decreases; (5) for large vent radii or low initial gas content of the erupted material, the velocity in the column can increase with height once in the buoyancy-driven region instead of decaying to zero monotonically; (6) the interaction of the potential energy with the enthalpy is found to be the dominant thermal interaction in the upper part of the column. Previous models of eruption columns involve inconsistencies and simplifications; these are shown to lead to significant differences in the results in comparison to the present model.     

The dimensions and dynamics of volcanic eruption columns

Eruption columns can be divided into three regimes of physical behaviour. The basal gas thrust region is characterized by large velocities and decelerations and is dominated by momentum. This region is typically a few hundred metres in height and passes upwards into a much higher convective region where buoyancy is dominant. The top of the convective region is defined by the level of neutral density (heightH _B ) where the column has a bulk density equal to the surrounding atmosphere. Above this level the column continues to ascend to a heightH _T due to its momentum. The column spreads horizontally and radially outwards between heightH _T andH _B to form an umbrella cloud. Numerical calculations are presented on the shape of eruption columns and on the relationships between the heightH _B and the mass discharge rate of magma, magma temperature and atmospheric temperature gradients. Spreading rate of the column margins increases with height principally due to the decrease in the atmospheric pressure. The relationship between column height and mass discharge rate shows good agreement with observations. The temperature inversion above the tropopause is found to only have a small influence on column height and, eruptions with large discharge rates can inject material to substantially greater heights than the inversion level. Approximate calculations on the variation of convective velocities with height are consistent with field data and indicate that columns typically ascend at velocities from a few tens to over 200 m/s. In very large columns (greater than 30 km) the calculated convective velocities approach the speed of sound in air, suggesting that compressibility effects may become important in giant columns. Radial velocities in the umbrella region where the column is forced laterally into the atmosphere can be substantial and exceed 55 m/s in the case of the May 18th Mount St. Helens eruption. Calculations on motions in this region imply that it plays a major role in the transport of coarse pyroclastic fragments.     

Earthen barriers to control lava flows in the 2001 eruption of Mt. Etna

Preceded by four days of intense seismicity and marked ground deformation, a new eruption of Mt. Etna started on 17 July and lasted until 9 August 2001. It produced lava emission and strombolian and phreatomagmatic activity from four different main vents located on a complex fracture system extending from the southeast summit cone for about 4.5 km southwards, from 3000 to 2100 m elevation (a.s.l.). The lava emitted from the lowest vent cut up an important road on the volcano and destroyed other rural roads and a few isolated country houses. Its front descended southwards to about 4 km distance from the villages of Nicolosi and Belpasso. A plan of intervention, including diversion and retaining barriers and possibly lava flow interruption, was prepared but not activated because the flow front stopped as a consequence of a decrease in the effusion rate. Extensive interventions were carried out in order to protect some important tourist facilities of the Sapienza and Mts. Silvestri zones (1900 m elevation) from being destroyed by the lava emitted from vents located at 2700 m and 2550 m elevation. Thirteen earthen barriers (with a maximum length of 370 m, height of 10–12 m, base width of 15 m and volume of 25 000 m³) were built to divert the lava flow away from the facilities towards a path implying considerably less damage. Most of the barriers were oriented diagonally (110–135°) to the direction of the flow. They were made of loose material excavated nearby and worked very nicely, resisting the thrust of the lava without any difficulty. After the interventions carried out on Mt. Etna in 1983 and in 1991–1992, those of 2001 confirm that earthen barriers can be very effective in controlling lava flows.     

Complex changes in eruption dynamics during the 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius

The 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius included 8 eruption units (EU1–8) and several complex transitions in eruptive style. This study focuses on two important transitions: (1) the abrupt change from white to gray pumice during the Plinian phase of the eruption (EU2 to EU3) and (2) the shift from sustained Plinian activity to the onset of caldera collapse (EU3 to EU4). Quantification of the textural features within individual pumice clasts reveals important changes in both the vesicles and groundmass crystals across each transition boundary. Clasts from the white Plinian fall deposit (EU2) present a simple story of decompression-driven crystallization followed by continuous bubble nucleation, growth and coalescence in the eruptive conduit. In contrast, pumices from the overlying gray Plinian fall deposit (EU3) are heterogeneous and show a wide range in both bubble and crystal textures. Extensive bubble growth, coalescence, and the onset of bubble collapse in pumices at the base of EU3 suggest that the early EU3 magma experienced protracted vesiculation that began during eruption of the EU2 phase and was modified by the physical effects of syn-eruptive mingling-mixing. Pumice clasts from higher in EU3 show higher bubble and crystal number densities and less evidence of bubble collapse, textural features that are interpreted to reflect more thorough mixing of two magmas by this stage of the eruption, with consequent increases in both vesiculation and crystallization. Pumice clasts from a short-lived, high column at the onset of caldera collapse (EU4) continue the trend of increasing crystallization (enhanced by mixing) but, unexpectedly, the melt in these clasts is more vesicular than in EU3 and, in the extreme, can be classified as reticulite. We suggest that the high melt vesicularity of EU4 reflects strong decompression following the partial collapse of the magma chamber.Editorial responsibility: D.B. Dingwell     

Acoustic source characterization of impulsive Strombolian eruptions from the Mount Erebus lava lake

We invert for acoustic source volume outflux and momentum imparted to the atmosphere using an infrasonic network distributed about the erupting lava lake at Mount Erebus, Ross Island, Antarctica. By modeling these relatively simple eruptions as monopole point sources we estimate explosively ejected gas volumes that range from 1,000 m³ to 24,000 m³ for 312 lava lake eruptions recorded between January 6 and April 13, 2006. Though these volumes are compatible with bubble volumes at rupture (as estimated from explosion video records), departures from isotropic radiation are evident in the recorded acoustic wavefield for many eruptions. A point-source acoustic dipole component with arbitrary axis orientation and strength provides precise fit to the recorded infrasound. This dipole source axis, corresponding to the axis of inferred short-duration material jetting, varies significantly between events. Physical interpretation of dipole orientation as being indicative of eruptive directivity is corroborated by directional emissions of ejecta observed in Erebus eruption video footage. Although three azimuthally distributed stations are insufficient to fully characterize the eruptive acoustic source we speculate that a monopole with a minor amount of oriented dipole radiation may reasonably model the primary features of the recorded infrasound for these eruptions.     

Multi-instrument remote and in situ observations of the Erebus Volcano (Antarctica) lava lake in 2005: A comparison with the Pele lava lake on the jovian moon Io

The stable, persistent, active lava lake at Erebus volcano (Ross Island, Antarctica) provides an excellent thermal target for analysis of spacecraft observations, and for testing new technology. In the austral summer of 2005 visible and infrared observations of the Erebus lava lake were obtained with sensors on three space vehicles Terra (ASTER, MODIS), Aqua (MODIS) and EO-1 (Hyperion, ALI). Contemporaneous ground-based observations were obtained with hand-held infrared cameras. This allowed a quantitative comparison of the thermal data obtained from different instruments, and of the analytical techniques used to analyze the data, both with and without the constraints imposed by ground-truth. From the thermal camera data, in December 2005 the main Erebus lava lake (Ray Lake) had an area of ≈ 820 m². Surface colour temperatures ranged from 575 K to 1090 K, with a broad peak in the distribution from 730 K to 850 K. Total heat loss was estimated at 23.5 MW. The flux density was ≈ 29 kW m^− 2. Mass flux was estimated at 64 to 93 kg s^− 1. The best correlation between thermal emission and emitting area was obtained with ASTER, which has the best combination of spatial resolution and wavelength coverage, especially in the thermal infrared. The high surface temperature of the lava lake means that Hyperion data are for the most part saturated. Uncertainties, introduced by the need to remove incident sunlight cause the thermal emission from the Hyperion data to be a factor of about two greater than that measured by hand-held thermal camera. MODIS also over-estimated thermal output from the lava lake by the same factor of two because it was detecting reflected sunlight from the rest of the pixel area. The measurement of the detailed temperature distribution on the surface of an active terrestrial lava lake will allow testing of thermal emission models used to interpret remote-sensing data of volcanism on Io, where no such ground-truth exists. Although the Erebus lava lake is four orders of magnitude smaller than the lava lake at Pele on Io, the shape of the integrated thermal emission spectra are similar. Thermal emission from this style of effusive volcanism appears to be invariant. Excess thermal emission in most Pele spectra (compared to Erebus) at short wavelengths (< 3 μm) is most likely due to disruption of the surface on the lava lake by escaping volatiles.