Textures, water content and degassing of silicic andesites from recent plinian and dome-forming eruptions at Mount Pelée volcano (Martinique, Lesser Antilles arc)

Previous petrological and phase-equilibrium experimental studies on recent silicic andesites from Mount Pelée volcano have evidenced comparable pre-eruptive conditions for plinian and dome-forming (pelean herein) eruptions, implying that differences in eruptive style must be primarily controlled by differences in degassing behaviour of the Mount Pelée magmas during eruption. To further investigate the degassing conditions of plinian and pelean magmas of Mount Pelée, we study here the most recent Mount Pelée's products (P1 at 650 years B.P., 1902, and 1929 eruptions, which cover a range of plinian and pelean lithologies) for bulk-rock vesicularities, glass water contents (glass inclusions in phenocrysts and matrix glasses) and microtextures. Water contents of glass inclusions are scattered in the plinian pumices but on average compare with the experimentally-deduced pre-eruptive melt water content (i.e., 5.3–6.3 wt.%), whereas they are much lower in the dominant pelean lithologies (crystalline, poorly vesicular lithics and dome samples). This indicates that the glass inclusions of the pelean products have undergone strong leakage and do not represent pre-eruptive water contents. The water content of the pyroclast matrix glasses are thought to closely represent the residual water content in the melt at the time of fragmentation. Determination of the water contents of both the pre-eruptive melt and matrix glasses allows the estimation of the amount of water exsolved upon syn-eruptive degassing. We find the amount of water exsolved during the eruptive process to be higher in the pelean products than in the plinian ones, typically 90–100 and 65–70% of the initial water content, respectively. The vesicularities calculated from the amount of exsolved water compare with the measured vesicularities for the plinian pumices, consistent with a closed-system, near-equilibrium degassing up to fragmentation. By contrast, the low residual water contents, low groundmass vesicularities and extensive groundmass crystallization of the pelean products are direct evidence of open-system degassing. Microtextural features, including silica-bearing and silica-free voids in the pelean lithologies may represent a two-stage vesiculation.     

Transport and sedimentation dynamics of transitional explosive eruption columns: The example of the 800 BP Quilotoa plinian eruption (Ecuador)

Impact of large-scale explosive eruptions largely depends on the dynamics of transport, dispersal and deposition of ash by the convective system. In fully convective eruptive columns, ejected gases and particles emitted at the vent are vertically injected into the atmosphere by a narrow, buoyant column and then dispersed by atmosphere dynamics on a regional scale. In fully collapsing explosive eruptions, ash partly generated by secondary fragmentation is carried and dispersed by broad co-ignimbrite columns ascending above pyroclastic currents. In this paper, we investigate the transport and dispersion dynamics of ash and lapillis during a transitional plinian eruption in which both plinian and co-ignimbrite columns coexisted and interacted. The 800 BP eruptive cycle of Quilotoa volcano (Ecuador) produced a well-exposed tephra sequence. Our study shows that the sequence was accumulated by a variety of eruptive dynamics, ranging from early small phreatic explosions, to sustained magmatic plinian eruptions, to late phreatomagmatic explosive pulses. The eruptive style of the main 800 BP plinian eruption (U1) progressively evolved from an early fully convective column (plinian fall bed), to a late fully collapsing fountain (dense density currents) passing through an intermediate transitional eruptive phase (fall + syn-plinian dilute density currents). In the transitional U1 regime, height of the convective plinian column and volume and runout of the contemporaneous pyroclastic density currents generated by partial collapses were inversely correlated. The convective system originated from merging of co-plinian and co-surge contributions. This hybrid column dispersed a bimodal lapilli and ash-fall bed whose grain size markedly differs from that of classic fall deposits accumulated by fully convective plinian columns. Sedimentological analysis suggests that ash dispersion during transitional eruptions is affected by early aggregation of dry particle clusters.     

Non-volatile vs volatile behaviours of halogens during the AD 79 plinian eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, Italy

Pre-eruptive conditions and degassing processes of the AD 79 plinian eruption of Mt. Vesuvius are constrained by systematic F and Cl measurements in melt inclusions and matrix glass of pumice clasts from a complete sequence of the pumice-fallout deposits. The entire ‘white pumice’ (WP) magma and the upper part of the ‘grey pumice’ (GP) magma were saturated relative to sub-critical fluids (a Cl-rich H₂O vapour phase and a brine), with a Cl melt content buffered at ~ 5300 ppm, and a mean H₂O content of ~ 5%. The majority of the GP magma was not fluid-saturated. From these results it can be estimated that the WP magma chamber had a low vertical extent (< 500 m) and was located at a depth of ~ 7.5 km while the GP magma reservoir was located just beneath the WP one, but its vertical extent cannot be constrained. This is approximately two times deeper than previous estimates. H₂O degassing during the WP eruption followed a typical closed-system evolution, whereas GP clasts followed a more complex degassing path. Contrary to H₂O, Cl was not efficiently degassed during the plinian phase of the eruption.

This study shows that F and Cl behave as incompatible elements in fluid-undersaturated phonolitic melts. H₂O saturation is necessary for a significant partitioning of Cl into the fluid phase. However, Cl cannot be extracted in significant quantity from phonolitic melts during rapid H₂O degassing, e.g. during plinian eruptions, due to kinetics effects. Halogen contents are better preserved in volcanic glass (melt inclusions or matrix glass) than H₂O, therefore the combined analysis of both volatile species is required for reliable determination of pre-eruptive conditions and syn-eruptive degassing processes in magmas stored at shallow depths.     

Late Pleistocene to Holocene eruptive activity of Pico de Orizaba,Eastern Mexico

The Late Pleistocene to Holocene eruptive history of Pico de Orizaba can be divided into 11 eurptive episodes. Each eruptive episode lasted several hundred years, the longest recorded being about 1000 years (the Xilomich episode). Intervals of dormancy range from millenia during the late Pleistocene to about 500 years, the shortest interval recorded in the Holocene. This difference could reflect either changes in the volcano's activity or that the older stratigraphic record is less complete than the younger. Eruptive mechanisms during the late Pleistocene were characterized by dome extrusions, lava flows and ash-and-scoria-flow generating eruptive columns. However, in Holocene time plinian activity became increasingly important. The increase in dacitic plinian eruptions over time is related to increased volumes of dacitic magma beneath Pico de Orizaba. We suggest that the magma reservoir under Pico de Orizaba is stratified. The last eruptive episode, which lasted from about 690 years bp until ad 1687, was initiated by a dacitic plinian eruption and was followed by effusive lava-forming eruptions. For the last 5,000 years the activity of the volcano has been gradually evolving towards such a trend, underlining the increasing importance of dacitic magma and stratification of the magma reservoir. Independent observations of Pico de Orizaba's glacier early this century indicate that some increase in volcanic activity occurred between 1906 and 1947, and that it was probably fumarolic.     

The 1631 Vesuvius eruption. A reconstruction based on historical and stratigraphical data

The eruption of 1631 A.D. was the most violent and destructive event in the recent history of Vesuvius. More than fifty primary documents, written in either Italian or Latin, were critically examined, with preference given to the authors who eyewitnessed volcanic phenomena. The eruption started at 7 a.m. on December 16 with the formation of an eruptive column and was followed by block and lapilli fallout east and northeast of the volcano until 6 p.m. of the same day. At 10 a.m. on December 17, several nuées ardentes were observed to issue from the central crater, rapidly descending the flanks of the cone and devastating the villages at the foot of Vesuvius. In the night between the 16th and 17th and on the afternoon of the 17th, extensive lahars and floods, resulting from rainstorms, struck the radial valleys of the volcano as well as the plain north and northeast.Deposits of the eruption were identified in about 70 localities on top of an ubiquitous paleosol formed during a long preeruptive volcanic quiescence. The main tephra unit consists of a plinian fallout composed of moderately vesicular dark green lapilli, crystals and lithics. Isopachs of the fallout are elongated eastwards and permit a conservative volume calculation of 0.07 km³. The peak mass flux deduced from clast dispersal models is estimated in the range 3–6 × 10⁷ kg/s, corresponding to a column height of 17–21 km. East of the volcano the plinian fallout is overlain by ash-rich low-grade ignimbrite, surges, phreatomagmatic ashes and mud flows. Ash flows occur in paleovalleys around the cone of Vesuvius but are lacking on the Somma side, suggesting that pyroclastic flows had not enough energy to overpass the caldera wall of Mt. Somma. Deposits are generally unconsolidated, massive with virtually no ground layer and occasionally bearing sparse rests of charred vegetation. Past interpretations of the products emitted on the morning of December 17 as lava flows are inconsistent with both field observations and historical data. Features of the final phreatomagmatic ashes are suggestive of alternating episodes of wet ash fallout and rainfalls. Lahars interfingered with primary ash fallout confirm episodes of massive remobilization of loose tephra by heavy rainfalls during the final stage of the eruption.Chemical analyses of scoria clasts suggest tapping of magma from a compositionally zoned reservoir. Leucite-bearing, tephritic-phonolite (SiO₂ 51.17%) erupted in the early plinian phase was in fact followed by darker and slightly more mafic magma richer in crystals (SiO₂ 49.36%). During the nuées ardentes phase the composition returned to that of the early phase of the eruption.The reconstruction of the 1631 eruptive scenario supplies new perspectives on the hazards related to plinian eruptions of Vesuvius.     

The Avellino plinian eruption of Somma-Vesuvius (3760 y.B.P.): the progressive evolution from magmatic to hydromagmatic style

A detailed stratigraphic analysis of the Avellino plinian deposit of the Somma-Vesuvius volcano shows a complicated eruptive sequence controlled by a combination of magmatic and hydromagmatic processes. The role of external water on the eruptive dynamics was most relevant in the very early phase of the eruption when the groundwater explosively interacted with a rising, gas-exolving magma body creating the first conduit. This phase generated pyroclastic surge and phreatoplinian deposits followed by a rapidly increasing discharge of a gas-rich, pure magmatic phase which erupted as the most violent plinian episode. This continuing plinian phase tapped the magma chamber, generating about 2.9 km³ of reverse-graded fallout pumice, more differentiated at the base and more primitive at the top (white and gray pumice). A giant, plinian column, rapidly grew up reaching a maximum height of 36 km.The progressive magma evacuation at a maximum discharge rate of 10⁸ kg/s that accompanied a decrease of magmatic volatile content in the lower primitive magma allowed external water to enter the magma chamber, resulting in a drastic change in the eruptive style and deposit type. Early wet hydromagmatic events were followed by dry ones and only a few, subordinated magmatic phases. A thick, impressive sequence of pyroclastic surge bedsets of over 430 km² in area with a total volume of about 1 km³ is the visible result of this hydromagmatic phase.     

Explosive activity and eruption scenarios at Somma-Vesuvius (Italy): Towards a new classification scheme

A new proposal for the classification of Somma-Vesuvius (SV) explosive activity is presented, based on a critical revision of a large set of published and unpublished stratigraphic, compositional, and physical volcanology data on the products of the past 20,000 years of activity. The new database is used to discuss the general behaviour of the volcano in terms of frequency, magnitude and intensity of the events, as well as of the length of the repose time which preceded each eruption. Several different types of eruption are recognized, each characterised by specific physical eruptive parameters: plinian, subplinian (further subdivided in subplinian I and subplinian II), violent strombolian, ash emission events. For each eruption type, a complex scenario is described, with phases of different style, duration, magnitude and intensity occurring during the course of the eruption itself. The name given to each eruption type is derived from the style of the most representative part of the eruption (in terms of duration or volume).     

Changes in eruptive style during the A.D. 1538 Monte Nuovo eruption (Phlegrean Fields, Italy): the role of syn-eruptive crystallization

The Monte Nuovo eruption is the most recent event that occurred at Phlegrean Fields (Italy) and lasted from 29 September to 6 October 1538. It was characterized by 2 days of quasi-sustained phreatomagmatic activity generating pumice-bearing pyroclastic density currents and forming a 130-m-high tuff cone (Lower Member deposits). The activity resumed after a pause of 2 days with two discrete Vulcanian explosions that emplaced radially distributed, scoria-bearing pyroclastic flows (Upper Member deposits). The juvenile products of Lower and Upper Members are, respectively, phenocryst-poor, light-coloured pumice and dark scoria fragments with K-phonolitic bulk compositions, identical in terms of both major and trace elements. Groundmass is formed by variable proportions of K-feldspar and glass, along with minor sodalite and Fe-Ti oxide present in the most crystallized samples. Investigations of groundmass compositions and textures were performed to assess the mechanisms of magma ascent, degassing and fragmentation along the conduit and implications for the eruptive dynamics. In pumice of the Lower Member groundmass crystal content increases from 13 to 28 vol% from the base to the top of the sequence. Products of the Upper Member consist of clasts with a groundmass crystal content between 30 and 40 vol% and of totally crystallized fragments. Crystal size distributions of groundmass feldspars shift from a single population at the base of the Lower Member to a double population in the remaining part of the sequence. The average size of both populations regularly increases from the Lower to the Upper Member. Crystal number density increases by two orders of magnitude from the Lower to the Upper Member, suggesting that nucleation dominated during the second phase of the eruption. The overall morphological, compositional and textural data suggest that the juvenile components of the Monte Nuovo eruption are likely to record variations of the magma properties within the conduit. The different textures of pumice clasts from the Lower Member possibly reflect horizontal gradients of the physical properties (P, T) of the ascending magma column, while scoriae from the second phase are thought to result from the disruption of a slowly rising plug crystallizing in response to degassing. In particular, crystal size distribution data point to syn-eruptive degassing-induced crystallization as responsible for the transition in eruptive style from the first to the second phase of the eruption. This mechanism not only has been proved to profoundly affect the dynamics of dome-forming calc-alkaline eruptions, but may also have a strong influence in driving the eruption dynamics of alkaline magmas of intermediate to evolved compositions.Editorial responsibility: J. Donnelly-Nolan     

Variations in column height and magma discharge during the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens

Peak eruption column heights for the B1, B2, B3 and B4 units of the May 18, 1980 fall deposit from Mount St. Helens have been determined from pumice and lithic clast sizes and models of tephra dispersal. Column heights determined from the fall deposit agree well with those determined by radar measurements. B1 and B2 units were derived from plinian activity between 0900 and about 1215 hrs. B3 was formed by fallout of tephra from plumes that rose off pyroclastic flows from about 1215 to 1630 hrs. A brief return to plinian activity between 1630 and 1715 hrs was marked by a maximum in column height (19 km) during deposition of B4.Variations in magma discharge during the eruption have been reconstructed from modelling of column height during plinian discharge and mass-balance calculations based on the volume of pyroclastic flows and coignimbrite ash. Peak magma discharge occurred during the period 1215–1630 hrs, when pyroclastic flows were generated by collapse of low fountains through the crater breach. Pyroclastic flow deposits and the widely dispersed co-ignimbrite ash account for 77% of the total erupted mass, with only 23% derived from plinian discharge.A shift in eruptive style at noon on May 18 may have been associated with increase in magma discharge and the eruption of silicic andesite mingled with the dominant mafic dacite. Increasing abundance of the silicic andesite during the period of highest magma discharge is consistent with the draw-up and tapping of deeper levels in the magma reservoir, as predicted by theoretical models of magma withdrawal. Return to plinian activity late in the afternoon, when magma discharge decreased, is consistent with theoretical predictions of eruption column behavior. The dominant generation of pyroclastic flows during the May 18 eruption can be attributed to the low bulk volatile content of the magma and the increasing magma discharge that resulted in the transition from a stable, convective eruption column to a collapsing one.     

Storage and interaction of compositionally heterogeneous magmas from the 1986 eruption of Augustine Volcano, Alaska

Compositional heterogeneity (56–64 wt% SiO₂ whole-rock) in samples of tephra and lava from the 1986 eruption of Augustine Volcano, Alaska, raises questions about the physical nature of magma storage and interaction beneath this young and frequently active volcano. To determine conditions of magma storage and evolutionary histories of compositionally distinct magmas, we investigate physical and chemical characteristics of andesitic and dacitic magmas feeding the 1986 eruption. We calculate equilibrium temperatures and oxygen fugacities from Fe-Ti oxide compositions and find a continuous range in temperature from 877 to 947°C and high oxygen fugacities (ΔNNO=1–2) for all magmas. Melt inclusions in pyroxene phenocrysts analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and electron probe microanalysis are dacitic to rhyolitic and have water contents ranging from <1 to ∼7 wt%. Matrix glass compositions are rhyolitic and remarkably similar (∼75.9–76.6 wt% SiO₂) in all samples. All samples have ∼25% phenocrysts, but lower-silica samples have much higher microlite contents than higher-silica samples. Continuous ranges in temperature and whole-rock composition, as well as linear trends in Harker diagrams and disequilibrium mineral textures, indicate that the 1986 magmas are the product of mixing between dacitic magma and a hotter, more mafic magma. The dacitic endmember is probably residual magma from the previous (1976) eruption of Augustine, and we interpret the mafic endmember to have been intruded from depth. Mixing appears to have continued as magmas ascended towards the vent. We suggest that the physical structure of the magma storage system beneath Augustine contributed to the sustained compositional heterogeneity of this eruption, which is best explained by magma storage and interaction in a vertically extensive system of interconnected dikes rather than a single coherent magma chamber and/or conduit. The typically short repose period (∼10 years) between Augustine's recent eruptive pulses may also inhibit homogenization, as short repose periods and chemically heterogeneous magmas are observed at several volcanoes in the Cook Inlet region of Alaska.     

petrological and geochemical characteristics of quarternary volcanic rocks in haixing area,eastern north china

Field investigation and lab analysis on samples were carried out for Quaternary volcanoes, including Xiaoshan volcano, Dashan volcano and Bianzhuang hidden volcano, in Haixing area, east of North China. Results show that Xiaoshan volcano with the eruptive material of volcanic scoria, crystal fragments and volcanic ash is a maar volcano, the eruptive pattern is pheatomagmatic eruption, and the influence scope is near the crater. Dashan volcano exploded in the early stage, and then the magma intruded, forming the volcanic neck. The eruption strength and scale are limited, and the eruptive materials are scoria, volcanic agglomerate and dense lava neck. The volcanic rocks in Bianzhuang are porosity and dense volcanic rocks and volcanic breccia, reflecting the pattern of weak explosive eruption and lava flow, and the K-Ar age dating on volcanic rocks indicates that the eruption happened in early Pleistocene. Xiaoshan volcanic scoria and Bianzhuang hidden volcanic rocks are mainly basaltic, Dashan volcanic rocks with lower SiO₂ content are nephelinite in composition. Their oxide contents have no linear relationship, indicating that there is no magma evolution relationship between these magmas from the three places. Three volcanic rocks all have enrichment of light rare earth. The Bianzhuang volcanic rocks are rich in large ion lithophile elements, and have no high field strength elements Zr and Hf, Ti losses. The volcanic materials from Xiaoshan and Dashan are intensively rich in Th, U, Nb and Ta, and significantly poor in K and Ti. Although the magmas from these three places in Haixing area may all come from asthenosphere, the volcanic materials have different petrological and geochemical features, and relatively independent volcanic structures, therefore, they experienced different magma processes.     

The Sarikavak Tephra, Galatea, north central Turkey: a case study of a Miocene complex plinian eruption deposit

The Sarikavak Tephra from the central Galatean Volcanic Province (Turkey) represents the deposit of a complex multiple phase plinian eruption of Miocene age. The eruptive sequence is subdivided into the Lower-, Middle-, and Upper Sarikavak Tephra (LSKT, MSKT, USKT) which differ in type of deposits, lithology and eruptive mechanisms.The Lower Sarikavak Tephra is characterised by pumice fall deposits with minor interbedded fine-grained ash beds in the lower LSKT-A. Deposits are well stratified and enriched in lithic fragments up to >50 wt% in some layers. The upper LSKT-B is mainly reversely graded pumice fall with minor amounts of lithics. It represents the main plinian phase of the eruption. The LSKT-A and B units are separated from each other by a fine-grained ash fall deposit. The Middle Sarikavak Tephra is predominantly composed of cross-bedded ash-and-pumice surge deposits with minor pumice fall deposits in the lower MSKT-A and major pyroclastic flow deposits in the upper MSKT-B unit. The Upper Sarikavak Tephra shows subaerial laminated surge deposits in USKT-A and subaqueous tephra beds in USKT-B.Isopach maps of the LSKT pumice fall deposits as well as the fine ash at the LSKT-A/B boundary indicate NNE–SSW extending depositional fans with the source area in the western part of the Ovaçik caldera. The MSKT pyroclastic flow and surge deposits form a SW-extending main lobe related to paleotopography where the deposits are thickest.Internal bedding and lithic distribution of the LSKT-A result from intermittent activity due to significant vent wall instabilities. Reductions in eruption power from (partial) plugging of the vent produced fine ash deposits in near-vent locations and subsequent explosive expulsion of wall rock debris was responsible for the high lithic contents of the lapilli fall deposits. A period of vent closure promoted fine ash fall deposition at the end of LSKT-A. The subsequent main plinian phase of the LSKT-B evolved from stable vent conditions after some initial gravitational column collapses during the early ascent of the re-established eruption plume. The ash-and-pumice surges of the MSKT-A are interpreted as deposits from phreatomagmatic activity prior to the main pyroclastic flow formation of the MSKT-B.     

Plinian eruptions and their products

Plinian eruptions are amongst the most powerful of explosive volcanic events, and the extensive pumice deposits which they produce have an exceptionally wide dispersal because of the great eruptive plume height. Historical data on 12 plinian eruptions, and available quantitative data on the deposits of these and 37 other plinian eruptions are collated in this review to characterise further the plinian eruptive style and its products and to establish the known limits of their variation. The deposit volumes have been recomputed according to a standard procedure to provide a better basis for comparison, and they vary over 4 orders of magnitude to reach a maximum of about 100 km³. Almost all volcanic magma compositions apart from the most mafic are represented among the juvenile products; rhyolitic and dacitic deposits account for 80% of the total volume and basaltic ones less than 1%. Compositional zoning is very common. Plinian eruptions are of open vent type and produce deposits which tend to be homogeneous in grain size and constitution through their thickness. Considerable departures from homogeneity often however exist. Finer grained beds which often interrupt the continuity can be produced by a number of different mechanisms, the features of which are summarised. In a significant proportion of plinian deposits the finer beds are the deposits of intraplinian pyroclastic flows, or are related to such flows; pyroclastic flows such as may be attributable to column collapse thus do not form exclusively at the end of the plinian phase. The most recent work indicates that major phreatoplinian eruptions dominated by the copious inflow of water into the vent can produce deposits quite as widely dispersed and as voluminous as the biggest plinian eruptions, and it appears that the characteristics of the grain size populations of the two types tend to converge in the most powerful eruptions.     

A common feeding system of the NE and S rifts as revealed by the bilateral 2002/2003 eruptive event at Mt. Etna (Sicily, Italy)

Mount Etna volcano is often characterized by bilateral eruptive events, involving both the south (S) and the north east (NE) rifts. The last event occurred in 2002?C2003 from October 27 to January 28. A detailed, stratigraphically time-controlled sampling of lavas and tephra of the southern eruptive fissure was performed in order to (1) track the petrological features of products during the eruption and (2) integrate the results with those previously obtained on the NE rift. Whole-rock composition and textural observations were implemented by major and minor element analyses of plagioclases in lavas and tephra from both sides of the volcano. Fractionation models constrained by mass balance (major and trace elements) and Rayleigh calculations suggest that magmas are linked by the same liquid line of descent by fractionating 9.11?% of a mineral assemblage of Cpx (52.69?%), Plg (21.41), and Ol (7.46?%). These new data allowed us to identify at least two feeding episodes through the southern fissure and infer that high-K₂O porphyritic magmas, emitted on both the S and NE rifts, derives by fractionation from the same parent magma. However, lavas and tephra from the southern flank were slightly more primitive. Textural and petrological study of plagioclase moreover indicates that chemical?Cphysical conditions in the deep feeding system were similar for magmas erupting from both rifts as suggested by the presence of dissolved rounded cores in both lavas. Magmas evolved differently on the S and the NE rifts only at shallow levels. Comparison with published seismotectonic data supports the idea that the main magma feeding the eruption on October 27 ascended along the same pathway at depth and was intercepted by the fracture system of the S and NE rifts at shallow depth, between 6 and 3?km b.s.l.     

The plinian fallout associated with Quilotoa's 800 yr BP eruption,Ecuadorian Andes

Large volcanic eruptions at dacitic or rhyolitic volcanoes often generate exceptional volumes of fine ash that mantles an area up to a million km². These eruptions are characterized by extreme fragmentation of the magma and hence extraordinary dispersal of ash and are categorized as plinian, ultraplinian, or phreatoplinian events. Large-volume co-ignimbrites or co-plinian ashes are often produced by such eruptions. High fragmentation indices of > 90% are attributed to the violent eruption of silicic magma, especially if augmented by fuel-coolant reactions produced when abundant external water interacts with the magma. The present study documents a case where the fine ash (≤ 1 mm diameter) fall deposit related to the plinian phase of the eruption comprises the overwhelming bulk – about 87 wt.% of the eruptive products. This is another example demonstrating the predominance of a widespread, fine-grained, co-plinian ash which follows the initial coarser lapilli fall. Historical eruptions at two other Andean volcanoes Quizapu, (Chile) and Huaynaputina, (Peru), and at Santa Maria, (Guatemala) and Novarupta, (Alaska) produced similar ash fall sequences.     

The A.D. 79 eruption as a future explosive scenario in the Vesuvian area: evaluation of associated risk

 Due to the lack of an effective policy of planning and prevention, over the past decades the area around Mt. Vesuvio has undergone a steady increase in population and uncontrolled housing development. Consequently, it has become one of the most hazardous volcanic areas in the world. In order to mitigate the damage that the impact of an explosive event would cause in the area, the Department of Civil Defense has worked out an Emergency Management Plan using the A.D. 1631 subplinian eruption as the most probable short-term event. However, from 25 000 years B.P. to present, the activity of the Somma-Vesuvio volcano has shown a sequence of eight eruptive cycles, which always began with a strong plinian eruption. In this paper we utilize the A.D. 79 eruption as an example of a potential large explosive eruption that might occur again at Vesuvio. A detailed tephrostratigraphic analysis of the eruption products was processed by a multivariate statistical analysis. This analysis proved useful for identifying marker layers in the sequences, thus allowing the recognition of some major phases of synchronous deposition and hence the definition of the chronological and spatial evolution of the eruption. By combining this reconstruction with land-use maps, a scenario is proposed with time intervals in the eruptive sequence similar to those reported in Pliny's letter. Thus, it was calculated that, after 7 h from the start of the eruption, a total area of approximately 300 km² would be covered with the eruption products. In the following 11 h, a total area of approximately 500 km² would be involved. The third and last phase of deposition would not cause significant variation in the total area involved, but it would bring about an increase in the thickness of the pyroclastic deposits in the perivolcanic area. Received: 30 November 1996 / Accepted: 29 May 1997     

Gas analyses from the Pu'u O'o eruption in 1985, Kilauea volcano,Hawaii

Volcanic gas samples were collected from July to November 1985 from a lava pond in the main eruptive conduit of Pu'u O'o from a 2-week-long fissure eruption and from a minor flank eruption of Pu'u O'o. The molecular composition of these gases is consistent with thermodynamic equilibrium at a temperature slightly less than measured lava temperatures. Comparison of these samples with previous gas samples shows that the composition of volatiles in the magma has remained constant over the 3-year course of this episodic east rift eruption of Kilauea volcano. The uniformly carbon depleted nature of these gases is consistent with previous suggestions that all east rift eruptive magmas degas during prior storage in the shallow summit reservoir of Kilauea. Minor compositional variations within these gas collections are attributed to the kinetics of the magma degassing process.     

The intensity of plinian eruptions

Peak intensities (magma discharge rate) of 45 Pleistocene and Holocene plinian eruptions have been inferred from lithic dispersal patterns by using a theoretical model of pyroclast fallout from eruption columns. Values range over three orders of magnitude from 1.6 × 10⁶ to 1.1 × 10⁹ kg/s. Magnitudes (total erupted mass) also vary over about three orders of magnitude from 2.0 × 10¹¹ to 6.8 × 10¹⁴ kg and include several large ignimbrite-forming events with associated caldera formation. Intensity is found to be positively correlated with the magnitude when total erupted mass (tephra fall, surges and pyroclastic flows) is considered. Initial plinian fall phases with intensities in excess of 2.0 × 10⁸ kg/s typically herald the onset of major pyroclastic flow generation and subsequent caldera collapse. During eruptions of large magnitude, the transition to pyroclastic flows is likely to be the result of high intensity, whereas the generation of pyroclastic flows in small magnitude eruptions may occur more often by reduction of magmatic volatile content or some transient change in magma properties. The correlation between plinian fall intensity and total magnitude suggests that the rate of magma discharge is related to the size of the chamber being tapped. A simple model is presented to account for the variation in intensity by progressive enlargement of conduits and vents and excess pressure at the chamber roof caused by buoyant forces acting on the chamber as it resides in the crust. Both processes are fundamentally linked to the absolute size of the pre-eruption reservoir. The data suggest that sustained eruption column heights (i.e. magma discharge rates) are indicators of eventual eruption magnitude, and perhaps eruptive style, and thus are key parameters to monitor in order to assess the temporal evolution of plinian eruptions.     

Petrology of lavas from episodes 2–47 of the Puu Oo eruption of Kilauea Volcano,Hawaii: Evaluation of magmatic processes

The Puu Oo eruption of Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii is one of its largest and most compositionally varied historical eruptions. The mineral and whole-rock compositions of the Puu Oo lavas indicate that there were three compositionally distinct magmas involved in the eruption. Two of these magmas were differentiated (<6.8 wt% MgO) and were apparently stored in the rift zone prior to the eruption. A third, more mafic magma (9–10 wt% MgO) was probably intruded as a dike from Kilauea's summit reservoir just before the start of the eruption. Its intrusion forced the other two magmas to mix, forming a hybrid that erupted during the first three eruptive episodes from a fissure system of vents. A new hybrid was erupted during episode 3 from the vent where Puu Oo later formed. The composition of the lava erupted from this vent became progressively more mafic over the next 21 months, although significant compositional variation occurred within some eruptive episodes. The intra-episode compositional variation was probably due to crystal fractionation in the shallow (0.0–2.9 km), dike-shaped (i.e. high surface area/volume ratio) and open-topped Puu Oo magma reservoir. The long-term compositional variation was controlled largely by mixing the early hybrid with the later, more mafic magma. The percentage of mafic magma in the erupted lava increased progressively to 100% by episode 30 (about two years after the eruption started). Three separate magma reservoirs were involved in the Puu Oo eruption. The two deeper reservoirs (3–4 km) recharged the shallow (0.4–2.9 km) Puu Oo reservoir. Recharge of the shallow reservoir occurred rapidly during an eruption indicating that these reservoirs were well connected. The connection with the early hybrid magma body was cut off before episode 30. Subsequently, only mafic magma from the summit reservoir has recharged the Puu Oo reservoir.     

Young pumice deposits on Nisyros,Greece

The island of Nisyros (Aegean Sea) consists of a silicic volcanic sequence upon a base of mafic-andesitic hyaloclastites, lava flows, and breccias. We distinguish two young silicic eruptive cycles each consisting of an explosive phase followed by effusions, and an older silicic complex with major pyroclastic deposits. The caldera that formed after the last plinian eruption is partially filled with dacitic domes. Each of the two youngest plinian pumice falls has an approximate DRE volume of 2–3 km³ and calculated eruption column heights of about 15–20 km. The youngest pumice unit is a fall-surge-flow-surge sequence. Laterally transitional fall and surge facies, as well as distinct polymodal grainsize distributions in the basal fall layer, indicate coeval deposition from a maintained plume and surges. Planar-bedded pumice units on top of the fall layer were deposited from high-energy, dry-steam propelled surges and grade laterally into cross-bedded, finegrained surge deposits. The change from a fall-to a surge/flow-dominated depositional regime coincided with a trend from low-temperature argillitic lithics to high-temperature, epidote-and diopside-bearing lithic clasts, indicating the break-up of a high-temperature geothermal reservoir after the plinian phase. The transition from a maintained plume to a surge/ash flow depositional regime occurred most likely during break-up of the high-temperature geothermal reservoir during chaotic caldera collapse. The upper surge units were possibly erupted through the newly formed ringfracture.