Pyroclastic surges and flows from the 8–10 May 1997 explosive eruption of Bezymianny volcano, Kamchatka, Russia

The 8-10 May 1997 eruption of Bezymianny volcano began with extrusion of a crystallized plug from the vent in the upper part of the dome. Progressive gravitational collapses of the plug caused decompression of highly crystalline magma in the upper conduit, leading at 13:12 local time on 9 May to a powerful, vertical Vulcanian explosion. The dense pyroclastic mixture collapsed in boil-over style to generate a pyroclastic surge which was focused toward the southeast by the steep-walled, 1956 horseshoe-shaped crater. This surge, with a temperature <200 °C, covered an elliptical area >30 km² with deposits as much as 30 cm thick and extending 7 km from the vent. The surge deposits comprised massive to vaguely laminated, gravelly sand (Md -1.2 to 3.7J sorting 1.2 to 3J) of poorly vesiculated andesite (mean density 1.82 g cm^-3; vesicularity 30 vol%; SiO₂ content ~58.0 wt%). The deposits, with a volume of 5-15᎒⁶ m³, became finer grained and better sorted with distance; the maximal diameter of juvenile clasts decreased from 46 to 4 cm. The transport and deposition of the surge over a snowy landscape generated extensive lahars which traveled >30 km. Immediately following the surge, semi-vesiculated block-and-ash flows were emplaced as far as 4.7 km from the vent. Over time the juvenile lava in clasts of these flows became progressively less crystallized, apparently more silicic (59.0 to 59.9 wt% SiO₂) and more vesiculated (density 1.64 to 1.12 g cm^-3; vesicularity 37 to 57 vol%). At this stage the eruption showed transitional behavior, with mass divided between collapsing fountain and buoyant column. The youngest pumice-and-ash flows were accompanied by a sustained sub-Plinian eruption column ~14 km high, from which platy fallout clasts were deposited (~59.7% SiO₂; density 1.09 g cm^-3; vesicularity 58 vol%). The explosive activity lasted about 37 min and produced a total of ~0.026 km³ dense rock equivalent of magma, with an average discharge of ~1.2᎒⁴ m³ s^-1. A lava flow ~200 m long terminated the eruption. The evolutionary succession of different eruptive styles during the explosive eruption was caused by vertical gradients in crystallization and volatile content of the conduit magma, which produced significant changes in the properties of the erupting mixture.     

The 1972–1974 eruption of klyuchevskoy volcano,Kamchatka

A new Klyuchevskoy volcano eruptive cycle encompasses terminal (March 30, 1972 to August 23, 1974) and lateral (August 23, 1974 to December, 1974) eruption stages. The terminal eruption stage resulted in lava flows and parasitic cones that formed on the south-western flank of the volcano. Eruption products are moderately alkalic high-alumina olivine-bearing andesite-basalts. The terminal eruption stage was accompanied by volcanic earthquakes and volcanic tremor. The lateral eruption was accompanied by explosive earthquakes. Volcanic tremor was the most useful prognostic sign indicating the onset of the lateral eruption. Eruptive mechanisms are discussed.     

Physical volcanology of the 2,050 bp caldera-forming eruption of Okmok volcano, Alaska

In the Aleutian volcanic chain (USA), the 2,050±50 bp collapse of Okmok caldera generated pyroclasts that spread over 1,000 km² on Umnak Island. After expelling up to 0.25 km³ DRE of rhyodacitic Plinian air fall and 0.35 km³ DRE of andesitic phreatomagmatic tephra, the caldera collapsed and produced the 29 km³ DRE Okmok II scoria deposit, which is composed of valley-ponding, poorly sorted, massive facies and over-bank, stratified facies with planar and cross bedding. Geological and sedimentological data suggest that a single density current produced the Okmok II deposits by segregating into a highly concentrated base and an overriding dilute cloud. The dense base deposited massive facies, whereas the dilute cloud sedimented preferentially on hills as stratified deposits. The pyroclastic current spread around Okmok in an axisymmetric fashion, encountering topographic barriers on the southwest, reaching Unalaska Island across an 8-km strait on the east, and reaching the shoreline of Umnak in the other directions. A kinematic model (Burgisser and Bergantz, Earth Planet Sci Lett 202:405–418, 2002) was used to show how decoupling of the pyroclastic current was triggered by both sea entrance and interaction with the topography. In the former case, the dense part of the current and the lithics transported by the dilute cloud went underwater. In the latter case, topographical barriers noticeably decelerated both parts of the decoupled current and favored sedimentation by partial or complete blocking. The resulting unloading of the dilute current drastically reduced the runout distance by triggering an early buoyant lift-off.Editorial responsibility: A.W. Woods     

Prediction and characteristics of the 1975 eruption of Tolbachik volcano,Kamchatka

According to a long-term prediction. Tolbachik volcano was expected to erupt with a 0.7 probability, some time in the period 1964–1978. An eruption of Tolbachik commenced at 21.45 GMT on July 5, 1975. It took place on the southwestern Hank of the volcano at an altitude of 880 m a.s.l. about 18 km from the central crater. An earthquake swarm preceded it. The place and time of eruption were predicted three days belore it began on the basis of epicenter locations and characteristics of recorded seismic activity. During the period July 5–28 gases and incandescent magma were continuously ejected to a height of 2,000 m above ground level. Ash clouds rose to a height of 6 to 8 km, with a train of ash extending over a horizontal distance of 300 km. The velocity of jets from the crater was about 200 m/see. During the first days of the eruption the quantity of materials erupted and the eruption power amounted to 1.25 · 10⁵ kg/see and 2.1 · 10¹¹W, respectively. The vertical growth of the scoria cone was consistent with the lawH=2.15³√vt, where the time and height are expressed in seconds and meters, respectively. The mouth of the volcano conduit was estimated to be 12 m in diameter. Lava began to erupt at 22^h23^m on July 28. During the period July 5–31 about 3 · 10¹¹ kg of magmatic material, consisting of ash, scoria and lava, was erupted onto the earth’s surface. The energy released over the period of eruption accounted for 5 · 10¹⁷ J.     

The large fissure eruption in the region of Plosky Tolbachik volcano in Kamchatka, 1975–1976

The paper describes the course of the Large Tolbachik fissure eruption taking place in Kamchatka from July 6, 1975 to December 10, 1976. The eruption zone extended for 30 km. The formation of monogenic scoria cones nearly 300 m high, lava tubes and basalt sheets up to 80 m thick and more than 40 km² in area and subsidence of the Plosky Tolbachik summit caldera to a depth of more than 400 m were observed during the eruption. The volume of eruption products amounted to more than 2 km³. It was the largest basalt eruption which has taken place in the Kurile-Kamchatka volcanic belt in historic time.     

Sumisu volcano,Izu-Bonin arc,Japan: site of a silicic caldera-forming eruption from a small open-ocean island

Sumisu volcano was the site of an eruption during 30–60 ka that introduced ∼48–50 km³ of rhyolite tephra into the open-ocean environment at the front of the Izu-Bonin arc. The resulting caldera is 8 × 10 km in diameter, has steep inner walls 550–780 m high, and a floor averaging 900 m below sea level. In the course of five research cruises to the Sumisu area, a manned submersible, two ROVs, a Deep-Tow camera sled, and dredge samples were used to study the caldera and surrounding areas. These studies were augmented by newly acquired single-channel seismic profiles and multi-beam seafloor swath-mapping. Caldera-wall traverses show that pre-caldera eruptions built a complex of overlapping dacitic and basaltic edifices, that eventually grew above sea level to form an island about 200 m high. The caldera-forming eruption began on the island and probably produced a large eruption column. We interpret that prodigious rates of tephra fallback overwhelmed the Sumisu area, forming huge rafts of floating pumice, choking the nearby water column with hyperconcentrations of slowly settling tephra, and generating pyroclastic gravity currents of water-saturated pumice that traveled downslope along the sea floor. Thick, compositionally similar pumice deposits encountered in ODP Leg 126 cores 70 km to the south could have been deposited by these gravity currents. The caldera-rim, presently at ocean depths of 100–400 m, is mantled by an extensive layer of coarse dense lithic clasts, but syn-caldera pumice deposits are only thin and locally preserved. The paucity of syn-caldera pumice could be due to the combined effects of proximal non-deposition and later erosion by strong ocean currents. Post-caldera edifice instability resulted in the collapse of a 15° sector of the eastern caldera rim and the formation of bathymetrically conspicuous wavy slump structures that disturb much of the volcano’s surface.     

Deposits of the 30 March 1956 directed blast at Bezymianny volcano,Kamchatka, Russia

 On 30 March 1956 a catastrophic directed blast took place at Bezymianny volcano. It was caused by the failure of 0.5 km³ portion of the volcanic edifice. The blast was generated by decompression of intra-crater dome and cryptodome that had formed during the preclimactic stage of the eruption. A violent pyroclastic surge formed as a result of the blast and spread in an easterly direction effecting an area of 500 km² on the lower flank of the volcano. The thickness of the deposits, although variable, decreases with distance from the volcano from 2.5 m to 4 cm. The volume of the deposit is calculated to be 0.2–0.4 km³. On average, the deposits are 84% juvenile material (andesite), of which 55% is dense andesite and 29% vesicular andesite. On a plot of sorting vs median diameter (Inman coefficients) the deposits occupy the area between the fall and flow fields. In the proximal zone (less than 19 km from the volcano) three layers can be distinguished in the deposits. The lower one (layer A) is distributed all over the proximal area, is very poorly sorted, enriched in fragments of dense juvenile andesite and contains an admixture of soil and uncharred plant remains. The middle layer (layer B) is distributed in patches tens to hundreds of metres across on the surface of layer A. Layer B is relatively well sorted as a result of a very low content of fine fractions, and it contains rare charred plant remains. The uppermost layer (layer C) forms still smaller patches on the surface of layer B. Layer C is characterized by intermediate sorting, is enriched in vesicular juvenile andesitic fragments, and contains a high percentage of the fine fraction and very rare plant remains which are thoroughly charred. Maximum clast size decreases from layer A to layer C. The absence of internal cross bedding is a characteristic of all three layers. In the distal zone (more than 19 km from the volcano) stratigraphy changes abruptly. Deposit here consists of one layer 26 to 4 cm in thickness, is composed of wavy laminated sand with a touch of gravel, is well sorted and contains uncharred plant remains. The Bezymianny blast deposits are not analogous with known types of pyroclastic surges, with the exception of the directed blast deposits of the Mount St.Helens eruption of 18 May 1980. The peculiarities of deposits from these two eruptions allow them to be separated into a special type: blast surge. This type of surge is formed when failure of volcanic edifice relieves the pressure from an inter-crater dome and/or cryptodome. A model is proposed to explain the peculiarities of the formation, transportation and emplacement of the Bezymianny blast surge deposits. Received: 19 December 1994 / Accepted: 12 December 1995     

The Opala IV: An explosive caldera-generating super eruption,which was the largest in Kamchatka in the last 50000 years

It is shown that the youngest (~40000 ¹⁴C years BP) caldera of the Opala caldera complex, the Opala IV, was formed by a catastrophic explosive supereruption, the largest in Kamchatka during the last 50000 years of the seven dated similar-type eruptions that occurred during the Late Pleistocene paroxysm of explosive volcanism. It is thought that the ejected volume was on the order of 250 km³ of pyroclastic material. A smaller part of it went to form pumice-rich pyroclastic flows, with the greater part being transported as tephra. The principal axis of the ash fallout was oriented NNE (azimuth ~30°) where the tephra thickness was 20–30 cm at a distance of 300–320 km from the eruptive center. The uncontaminated juvenile material is rhyolite, the concentration of SiO₂ was 75–76%, the total alkali content 7.3–8.3%, and the K₂O/Na₂O ratio 0.83–0.96. It was concluded that no such eruption can occur in the Opala caldera complex in the future for hundreds or thousands of years.     

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     

Multiple edifice failures, debris avalanches and associated eruptions in the Holocene history of Shiveluch volcano, Kamchatka, Russia

 Investigation of well-exposed volcaniclastic deposits of Shiveluch volcano indicates that large-scale failures have occurred at least eight times in its history: approximately 10,000, 5700, 3700, 2600, 1600, 1000, 600 ¹⁴C BP and 1964 AD. The volcano was stable during the Late Pleistocene, when a large cone was formed (Old Shiveluch), and became unstable in the Holocene when repetitive collapses of a portion of the edifice (Young Shiveluch) generated debris avalanches. The transition in stability was connected with a change in composition of the erupting magma (increased SiO₂ from ca. 55–56% to 60–62%) that resulted in an abrupt increase of viscosity and the production of lava domes. Each failure was triggered by a disturbance of the volcanic edifice related to the ascent of a new batch of viscous magma. The failures occurred before magma intruded into the upper part of the edifice, suggesting that the trigger mechanism was indirectly associated with magma and involved shaking by a moderate to large volcanic earthquake and/or enhancement of edifice pore pressure due to pressurised juvenile gas. The failures typically included: (a) a retrogressive landslide involving backward rotation of slide blocks; (b) fragmentation of the leading blocks and their transformation into a debris avalanche, while the trailing slide blocks decelerate and soon come to rest; and (c) long-distance runout of the avalanche as a transient wave of debris with yield strength that glides on a thin weak layer of mixed facies developed at the avalanche base. All the failures of Young Shiveluch were immediately followed by explosive eruptions that developed along a similar pattern. The slope failure was the first event, followed by a plinian eruption accompanied by partial fountain collapse and the emplacement of pumice flows. In several cases the slope failure depressurised the hydrothermal system to cause phreatic explosions that preceded the magmatic eruption. The collapse-induced plinian eruptions were moderate-sized and ordinary events in the history of the volcano. No evidence for directed blasts was found associated with any of the slope failures. Received: 28 June 1998 / Accepted: 28 March 1999     

Transport and deposition of pyroclastic material from the ∼1000 A.D. caldera-forming eruption of Volcán Ceboruco, Nayarit, Mexico

The complex eruption sequence from the ∼1000 A.D. caldera-forming eruption of Volcán Ceboruco, known as the Jala Pumice, offers an exceptional opportunity to examine how pyroclastic material is transported and deposited from pyroclastic density currents over variable topography. Three main pyroclastic surge deposits (S1, S2, and S3) and two pyroclastic flow deposits (Marquesado and North-Flank PFDs) were emplaced during this eruption. Pyroclastic surge deposits are massive, planar, or cross-bedded, poor-to-well sorted, and display fluctuations in thickness, median diameter, sorting, and lithology as a function of distance, topography, and flow dynamics. Marquesado pyroclastic flow deposits reveal lateral variations from massive, poorly sorted deposits located within 5 km of Ceboruco to planar bedded, moderately well sorted deposits located >15 km away over the nearly horizontal topography to the south of Ceboruco. North-Flank pyroclastic flow deposits also reveal lateral variations from massive, poorly sorted deposits located within 4 km of Ceboruco to planar bedded, moderately well sorted deposits located 8 km away atop an escarpment that steeply rises 230 m from the northern valley floor. Field observations, granulometric analyses, component analyses, and crystal sedimentation calculations along flow-parallel sampling transects all suggest that both surges and flows were density stratified currents, where deposition occurred from a basal region of higher particle concentration that was supplied from an overlying dilute layer that transports particles in suspension. This supports the idea of a transition between “flow” and “surge” end members with variations in particle concentration. Topography greatly affects the transport and depositional capacity of the pyroclastic density currents as a result of “blocking”, either by topographic obstacles or by abrupt breaks at the base of volcano slopes, whereas the origin of Jala Pumice surge deposits (phreatomagmatic versus magmatic) appears to have little impact on their flow dynamics. Editorial responsibility: A.W. Woods This revised version was published in February 2005 with corrections to the title. An erratum to this article is available at .     

The explosive activity of Karymskii Volcano, Kamchatka: Acoustic and seismic observations

Karymskii Volcano typically shows explosive activity with great variations in the frequency and energy of explosions. This is demonstrated here for three time segments of the volcano’s activity (1970–1973, 1976–1980, and 1996–2000). We examine various types of seismic and acoustic emission as controlled by crater morphology and the character of activity. The explosion funnels migrated over the crater area, and the 1976 effusive-explosive eruption occurred at two centers of lava flow effusion; this is here explained by the fact that magma as it was moving along the conduit was stratified to form a set of vertical filaments. The shape of shock waves in air recorded in August 2011 favors the hypothesis that the leading explosive mechanism during that period was a fragmentation wave that was produced in a gas-charged, viscous, porous magma during decompression. One notices that the shape of some shock waves in air recorded in 2011 indicates the occurrence of air blasts above the crater. The air blasts may have been caused by combustible volcanic gases such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen (CO and H₂), which entered the atmosphere in sufficient amounts.     

The Averno 2 fissure eruption: a recent small-size explosive event at the Campi Flegrei Caldera (Italy)

The Averno 2 eruption (3,700 ± 50 a B.P.) was an explosive low-magnitude event characterized by magmatic and phreatomagmatic explosions, generating mainly fall and surge beds, respectively. It occurred in the Western sector of the Campi Flegrei caldera (Campanian Region, South Italy) at the intersection of two active fault systems, oriented NE and NW. The morphologically complex crater area, largely filled by the Averno lake, resulted from vent activation and migration along the NE-trending fault system. The eruption generated a complex sequence of pyroclastic deposits, including pumice fall deposits in the lower portion, and prevailing surge beds in the intermediate-upper portion. The pyroclastic sequence has been studied through stratigraphical, morphostructural and petrological investigations, and subdivided into three members named A through C. Member A was emplaced during the first phase of the eruption mainly by magmatic explosions which generated columns reaching a maximum height of 10 km. During this phase the eruption reached its climax with a mass discharge rate of 3.2 10⁶ kg/s. Intense fracturing and fault activation favored entry of a significant amount of water into the system, which produced explosions driven by variably efficient water-magma interaction. These explosions generated wet to dry surge deposits that emplaced Member B and C, respectively. Isopachs and isopleths maps, as well as areal distribution of ballistic fragments and facies variation of surge deposits allow definition of four vents that opened along a NE oriented, 2 km long fissure. The total volume of magma extruded during the eruption has been estimated at about 0.07 km³ (DRE). The erupted products range in composition from initial, weakly peralkaline alkali-trachyte, to last-emplaced alkali-trachyte. Isotopic data and modeling suggest that mixing occurred during the Averno 2 eruption between a more evolved, less radiogenic stored magma, and a less evolved, more radiogenic magma that entered the shallow reservoir to trigger the eruption. The early phases of the eruption, during which the vent migrated from SW to the center of the present lake, were fed by the more evolved, uppermost magma, while the following phases extruded the less evolved, lowermost magma. Integration of the geological and petrological results suggests that the Averno 2 complex eruption was fed from a dyke-shaped shallow reservoir intruded into the NE-SW fault system bordering to the west the La Starza resurgent block, within the caldera floor.     

Compositions of spinels from cumulative anorthites of the Mutnovskii,Ksudach, Golovnina,and Malyi Semyachik Volcanoes,in Kamchatka

Microprobe studies of unzoned plagioclases (An_92–96) from crystal tuff of Mutnovskii Volcano and allivalite nodules of rocks from the Ksudach, Malyi Semyachik, and Golovnina Volcanoes revealed small inclusions of a dark-colored mineral that was later identified as spinel. Microprobe analyses showed that the grains are unzoned and spinel inclusions of different chemical compositions may occur in one plagioclase crystal. The spinel compositions form a clear extended single trend corresponding to the solvus zone of a solid solution that has not been described in the literature. The existence of this spinel trend in the solvus zone might have been due to early capturing of spinel grains by growing plagioclase crystals and their rapid cooling soon after eruption, resulting in hardening of the metastable solution. These spinels are supposed to form synchronously with plagioclase crystallization. The diversity of spinel compositions is explained by thermo diffusive equalizing of originally zonal spinel crystals after they were captured by plagioclase crystals or by their growth in crystallization haloes of anorthite.     

The submarine eruption of the Bombarda volcano,Milos Island,Cyclades, Greece

The Milos volcanic field includes a well-exposed volcaniclastic succession which records a long history of submarine explosive volcanism. The Bombarda volcano, a rhyolitic monogenetic center, erupted ∼1.7 Ma at a depth <200 m below sea level. The aphyric products are represented by a volcaniclastic apron (up to 50 m thick) and a lava dome. The apron is composed of pale gray juvenile fragments and accessory lithic clasts ranging from ash to blocks. The juvenile clasts are highly vesicular to non-vesicular; the vesicles are dominantly tube vesicles. The volcaniclastic apron is made up of three fades: massive to normally graded pumice-lithic breccia, stratified pumice-lithic breccia, and laminated ash with pumice blocks. We interpret the apron beds to be the result of water-supported, volcaniclastic mass-How emplacement, derived directly from the collapse of a small-volume, subaqueous eruption column and from syn-eruptive, down-slope resedimentation of volcaniclastic debris. During this eruptive phase, the activity could have involved a complex combination of phreatomagmatic explosions and minor submarine effusion. The lava dome, emplaced later in the source area, is made up of flow-banded lava and separated from the apron by an obsidian carapace a few meters thick. The near-vertical orientation of the carapace suggests that the dome was intruded within the apron. Remobilization of pyroclastic debris could have been triggered by seismic activity and the lava dome emplacement. Published online: 30 January 2003 Editorial responsibility: J. McPhie     

The 16 September 1986 eruption of Lascar volcano,north Chile: Satellite investigations

Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images acquired in 1984 and 1985 revealed a pronounced thermal anomaly on Lascar volcano, north Chile. Subsequent images showed that the anomaly was persistent but variable and that after a significant eruption on 16 September 1986 it was weaker and divided into several sources. TM studies and other observations of Lascar indicate that the persistent thermal anomaly may be due to high-temperature fumaroles within the summit crater. GOES weather satellite images and field investigations confirm that the 16 September event was a short-lived, Vulcanian-type eruption, which produced an ash column that reached 15 km altitude. The ash cloud can be tracked on GEOS images to about 400 km downwind and covered an area > 112 000 km². Transport occurred in the upper troposphere at speeds up to 180 km/h. Ash fall from the plume was well sorted and moderately fine grained (Md 200 µm). Formation and fallout of ash as aggregates was unimportant in the deposition of the ash layer. Although small, the Lascar 16 September eruption is significant because few historic eruptions have been recorded in the central Andes. Little would have been known of the eruption in the absence of remote-sensed data.     

The Middle Scoria sequence: A Holocene violent strombolian, subplinian and phreatomagmatic eruption of Okmok volcano, Alaska

The Middle Scoria deposit represents an explosive eruption of basaltic andesite magma (54 wt. % SiO₂) from Okmok volcano during mid-Holocene time. The pattern of dispersal and characteristics of the ejecta indicate that the eruption opened explosively, with ash textural evidence for a limited degree of phreatomagmatism. The second phase of the eruption produced thick vesicular scoria deposits with grain texture, size and dispersal characteristics that indicate it was violent strombolian to subplinian in style. The third eruptive phase produced deposits with a shift towards grain shapes that are dense, blocky, and poorly vesicular, and intermittent surge layers, indicating later transitions between magmatic (violent strombolian) to phreatomagmatic (vulcanian) eruptive styles. Isopach maps yield bulk volume estimates that range from 0.06 to 0.43 km³, with ~ 0.04 to 0.25 km³ total DRE. The associated column heights and mass discharge values calculated from isopleth maps of individual Middle Scoria layers are 8.5 – 14 km and 0.4 to 45 × 10⁶ kg/s. The Middle Scoria tephras are enriched in plagioclase microlites that have the textural characteristics of rapid magma ascent and relatively high degrees of effective undercooling. Those textures probably reflect the rapid magma ascent accompanying the violent strombolian and subplinian phases of the eruption. In the later stages of the eruption, the plagioclase microlite number densities decrease and textures include more tabular plagioclase, indicating a slowing of the ascent rate. The findings on the Middle Scoria are consistent with other explosive mafic eruptions, and show that outside of the two large caldera-forming eruptions, Okmok is also capable of producing violent mafic eruptions, marked by varying degrees of phreatomagmatism.