Interaction between caldera collapse and eruptive dynamics during the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption,Phlegraean Fields,Italy

The Campanian Ignimbrite (36000 years B.P.) was produced by the explosive eruption of at least 80 km³ DRE of trachytic ash and pumice which covered most of the southern Italian peninsula and the eastern Mediterranean region. The eruption has been related to the 12-x15-km-diameter caldera located in the Phlegraean Fields, west of Naples. Proximal deposits on the periphery of the Phlegraean Fields comprise the following pyroclastic sequence from base to top: densely welded ignimbrite and lithic-rich breccias (unit A); sintered ignimbrite, low-grade ignimbrite and lithic-rich breccia (unit B); lithic-rich breccia and spatter agglutinate (unit C); and low-grade ignimbrite (unit D). Stratigraphic and componentry data, as well as distribution of accidental lithic types and the composition of pumice clasts of different units, indicate that coarse, lithic-rich breccias were emplaced at different stages during the eruption. Lower breccias are associated with fines-rich ignimbrites and are interpreted as co-ignimbrite lag breccia deposits. The main breccia unit (C) does not grade into a fines-rich ignimbrite, and therefore is interpreted as formed from a distinct lithic-rich flow. Units A and B exhibit a similar pattern of accidental lithic types, indicating that they were erupted from the same area, probably in the E of the caldera. Units C and D display a distinct pattern of lithics indicating expulsion from vent(s) that cut different areas. We suggest that unit C was ejected from several vents during the main stage of caldera collapse. Field relationships between spatter agglutinate and the breccia support the possibility that these deposits were erupted contemporaneously from vents with different eruptive style. The breccia may have resulted from a combination of magmatic and hydrothermal explosive activity that accompanied extensive fracturing and subsidence of the magma-chamber roof. The spatter rags probably derived from sustained and vigorous pyroclastic fountains. We propose that the association lithic-rich breccia and spatter agglutinate records the occurrence of catastrophic piecemeal collapse.     

Reconstruction of a major caldera-forming eruption from pyroclastic deposit characteristics: Kos Plateau Tuff, eastern Aegean Sea

The 161 ka explosive eruption of the Kos Plateau Tuff (KPT) ejected a minimum of 60 km³ of rhyolitic magma, a minor amount of andesitic magma and incorporated more than 3 km³ of vent- and conduit-derived lithic debris. The source formed a caldera south of Kos, in the Aegean Sea, Greece. Textural and lithofacies characteristics of the KPT units are used to infer eruption dynamics and magma chamber processes, including the timing for the onset of catastrophic caldera collapse.The KPT consists of six units: (A) phreatoplinian fallout at the base; (B, C) stratified pyroclastic-density-current deposits; (D, E) volumetrically dominant, massive, non-welded ignimbrites; and (F) stratified pyroclastic-density-current deposits and ash fallout at the top. The ignimbrite units show increases in mass, grain size, abundance of vent- and conduit-derived lithic clasts, and runout of the pyroclastic density currents from source. Ignimbrite formation also corresponds to a change from phreatomagmatic to dry explosive activity. Textural and lithofacies characteristics of the KPT imply that the mass flux (i.e. eruption intensity) increased to the climax when major caldera collapse was initiated and the most voluminous, widespread, lithic-rich and coarsest ignimbrite was produced, followed by a waning period. During the eruption climax, deep basement lithic clasts were ejected, along with andesitic pumice and variably melted and vesiculated co-magmatic granitoid clasts from the magma chamber. Stratigraphic variations in pumice vesicularity and crystal content, provide evidence for variations in the distribution of crystal components and a subsidiary andesitic magma within the KPT magma chamber. The eruption climax culminated in tapping more coarsely crystal-rich magma. Increases in mass flux during the waxing phase is consistent with theoretical models for moderate-volume explosive eruptions that lead to caldera collapse.     

Geology and eruptive history of the Rabaul Caldera area, Papua New Guinea

Rabaul Caldera is the most recently active (1937–1943) of four adjoining volcanic centres aligned north-south through the northern extremity of eastern New Britain. Geological mapping after the 1983–1985 Rabaul seismic and deformation crisis has partially revealed a long and complex eruption history dominated by numerous explosive eruptions, the largest accompanied by caldera collapse. The oldest exposed eruptives are the basaltic pre-caldera cone Tovanumbatir Lavas K/Ar dated at 0.5 Ma. The dacitic Rabaul Quarry Lavas exposed in the caldera wall and K/Ar dated at 0.19 Ma, are overlain by a sequence of dacitic and andesitic pyroclastic flow and fall deposits. Uplifted coral reef limestones, interbedded within the pyroclastic sequence on the northeast coast, suggest that explosive eruptions in the Rabaul area had commenced prior to the 0.125 Ma last interglacial high sea level stand. The pyroclastic sequence includes the large Boroi Ignimbrites and Malaguna Pyroclastics both ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dated at about 0.1 Ma, and the Barge Tunnel Ignimbrite ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dated at around 0.04 Ma. Few reliable ages exist for the many younger eruptives. These include Holocene ignimbrites of the latest caldera-forming eruptions—the Raluan Pyroclastics variously dated (¹⁴C) at either about 3500 or 7000 yr B.P., and the ca. 1400 yr B.P. Rabaul Pyroclastics. At least eight intracaldera eruptions have occurred since the 1400 yr B.P. collapse, building small pyroclastic and lava cones within the caldera.A major erosional episode is evident as a widespread unconformity in the upper pyroclastic stratigraphy at Rabaul. Lacking relevant radiometric ages, this episode is assumed to have occurred during last glaciation low sea levels and is here arbitarily dated at ca. ?20 ka. At least five, possibly nine, significant ignimbrite eruptions have occurred at Rabaul during the last ?20 ka. The new eruptive history differs considerably from that previously published, which considered ignimbrite eruption and caldera collapse to have first occurred at 3500 yr B.P.Rabaul volcanism has been dominated by two main types: (a) basaltic and basaltic andesite cone building eruptions; and (b) dacitic, and rarely andesitic or rhyolitic, plinian/ignimbrite eruptions of both high- and low-aspect ratio types. The 1400 yr B.P. Rabaul Ignimbrite is a type example of a low-aspect ratio, high-energy, and potentially very damaging eruption. Fine vitric ash deposits, common in the Rabaul pyroclastic sequence, demonstrate the frequent modification of eruptions by external water probably related to early caldera lakes or bays. Interbedding of these fine ashes with plinian pumice lapilli beds suggests that many early eruptions occurred from multiple vents, located in both wet and dry areas.     

The emplacement of intermediate volume ignimbrites: A case study from Roccamonfina Volcano,Southern Italy

A model is presented for the emplacement of intermediate volume ignimbrites based on a study of two 6 km³ volume ignimbrites on Roccamonfina Volcano, Italy. The model considers that the flows were slow moving, and quickly deflated from turbulent to non-turbulent conditions. Yield strength and density increased whereas fluidisation decreased with time and runout of the pyroclastic flows. In proximal locations, on the caldera rim, heterogeneous exposures including discontinuous lithic breccias, stratified and cross-stratified units interbedded with massive ignimbrite suggest deposition from turbulent flows. In medial locations thick, massive ignimbrite occurs associated with three types of co-ignimbrite lithic breccia which we interpret as being emplaced by non-turbulent flows. Multiple grading of different breccia/lithic concentration types within single flow units indicates that internal shear occurred producing overriding or overlapping of the rear of the flow onto the slower-moving front part. This overriding of different parts of non-turbulent pyroclastic flows could be caused by at least two different mechanisms: (1) changes in flow regime, such as hydraulic jumps that may occur at breaks in slope; and (2) periods of increased discharge rate, possibly associated with caldera collapse, producing fresh pulses of lithic-rich material that sheared onto the slower-moving part of the flow in front.We propose that ground surge deposits enriched in pumice compared with their associated ignimbrite probably formed by a flow separation mechanism from the top and front of the pyroclastic flow. These turbulent clouds moved ahead of the non-turbulent lower part of the flow to form stratified pumice-rich deposits. In distal regions well-developed coarse, often clast-supported, pumice concentrations zones and coarse intra-flow-unit lithic concentrations occur within the massive ignimbrite. We suggest that the flows were non-turbulent, possessed a relatively high yield strength and may have moved by plug flow prior to emplacement.     

On magma fragmentation by conduit shear stress: Evidence from the Kos Plateau Tuff,Aegean Volcanic Arc

Large silicic explosive eruptions are the most catastrophic volcanic events. Yet, the intratelluric mechanisms underlying are not fully understood. Here we report a field and laboratory study of the Kos Plateau Tuff (KPT, 161 ka, Aegean Volcanic Arc), which provides an excellent geological example of conduit processes that control magma vesiculation and fragmentation during intermediate- to large-scale caldera-forming eruptions. A prominent feature of the KPT is the occurrence of quite unusual platy-shaped tube pumice clasts in pyroclastic fall and current deposits from the early eruption phases preceding caldera collapse. On macroscopic and SEM observations, flat clast faces are elongated parallel to tube vesicles, while transverse surfaces often occur at ~ 45° to vesicle elongation. This peculiar pumice texture provides evidence of high shear stresses related to strong velocity gradients normal to conduit walls, which induced vesiculation and fragmentation of the ascending magma. Either an increasing mass discharge rate without adequate enlargement of a narrow central feeder conduit or a developing fissure-like feeder system related to incipient caldera collapse provided suitable conditions for the generation of plate tube pumice within magma volumes under high shear during the pre-climactic KPT eruption phases. This mechanism implies that the closer to the conduit walls (where the stronger are the velocity gradients) the larger was the proportion of plate vs. conventional (lensoid) juvenile fragments in the ascending gas–pyroclast mixture. Consequently, plate pumice clasts were mainly entrained in the outer portions of the jet and convecting regions of a sustained, Plinian-type, eruption column, as well as in occasional lateral blast currents generated at the vent. As a whole, plate pumice clasts in the peripheral portions of the column were transported at lower altitudes and deposited by fallout or partial collapse closer to the vent relative to lensoid ones that dominated in the inner column portions. The plate tube pumice proportion decreased abruptly up to disappearance during the emplacement of the main pyroclastic currents and lithic-rich breccias related to extensive caldera collapse at the eruption climax, as a consequence of an overall widening of the magma feeder system through the opening of multiple conduits and eruptive vents, along with fissure erosion, concomitant to the disruption of the collapsing block.     

Lithofacies and eruption ages of Late Cretaceous caldera volcanoes in the Himeji–Yamasaki district, southwest Japan: Implications for ancient large-scale felsic arc volcanism

Abstract The Himeji–Yamasaki region in the Inner Zone of southwest Japan is underlain mainly by Late Cretaceous volcanic rocks called the Ikuno Group or the Hiromine and Aioi Groups. A new stratigraphic and geochronological study shows that the volcanic rocks in this area consist of 15 eroded caldera volcanoes between 82 and 65 Ma; they are, in order of decreasing age, the Hiromine, Hoden, Ibo, Okawachi, Seppikosan, Hayashida, Shinokubi, Fukusaki, Kurooyama, Ise, Fukadanigawa, Nagusayama, Matobayama, Yumesaki and Mineyama Formations. These calderas vary in diameter from 1 to 20 km and are bounded by steep unconformities; they coalesce and overlap each other. The individual caldera fills are composed mainly of single voluminous pyroclastic flow deposits, which are often interleaved with debris avalanche deposits and occasionally underlie lacustrine deposits. The intracaldera pyroclastic flow deposits are made up of massive, welded or non‐welded tuff breccia to lapilli tuff, and are characterized by their great thickness. The debris avalanche deposits are ill‐sorted breccia, generated by the collapse of the caldera wall toward the caldera floor during the pyroclastic‐flow eruption. The large calderas that are more than 10 km in diameter contain original values of approximately 100 km³ of intracaldera pyroclastic flow deposits. These large calderas are similar to the well‐known Valles‐type calderas in their dimensions, although it is uncertain whether their caldera floors are coherent plates or incoherent pieces. Conversely, the small calderas have diatreme‐like subsurface structures. The variety of the caldera volcanoes in this area is caused by the difference in the volume of caldera‐forming pyroclastic eruptions, as the large and small calderas coexisted. The caldera‐forming eruption rates in Late Cretaceous southwest Japan, including the studied area, were similar to those in late Cenozoic central Andes and northeast Honshu arc, Japan, but obviously smaller than those of late Cenozoic intracratonic caldera clusters in western North America and the Quaternary extensional volcanic arcs in Taupo, New Zealand. The widespread Late Cretaceous felsic igneous rocks in southwest Japan were generated by a long‐term accumulation of low‐rate granitic magmatism at the eastern margin of the Eurasian Plate.     

The caldera-forming eruption of Ksudach volcano about cal. A.D. 240: the greatest explosive event of our era in Kamchatka, Russia

The largest Plinian eruption of our era and the latest caldera-forming eruption in the Kuril-Kamchatka region occurred about cal. A.D. 240 from the Ksudach volcano. This catastrophic explosive eruption was similar in type and characteristics to the 1883 Krakatau event. The volume of material ejected was 18–19 km³ (8 km³ DRE), including 15 km³ of tephra fall and 3–4 km³ of pyroclastic flows. The estimated height of eruptive column is 22–30 km. A collapse caldera resulting from this eruption was 4 × 6.5 km in size with a cavity volume of 6.5–7 km³. Tephra fall was deposited to the north of the volcano and reached more than 1000 km. Pyroclastic flows accompanied by ash-cloud pyroclastic surges extended out to 20 km. The eruption was initially phreatomagmatic and then became rhythmic, with each pulse evolving from pumice falls to pyroclastic flows. Erupted products were dominantly rhyodacite throughout the eruption. During the post-caldera stage, when the Shtyubel cone started to form within the caldera, basaltic-andesite and andesite magma began to effuse. The trigger for the eruption may have been an intrusion of mafic magma into the rhyodacite reservoir. The eruption had substantial environmental impact and may have produced a large acidity peak in the Greenland ice sheet.     

Apoyo caldera, Nicaragua: A major quaternary silicic eruptive center

Apoyo caldera, near Granada, Nicaragua, was formed by two phases of collapse following explosive eruptions of dacite pumice about 23,000 yr B.P. The caldera sits atop an older volcanic center consisting of lava flows, domes, and ignimbrite (ash-flow tuff). The earliest lavas erupted were compositionally homogeneous basalt flows, which were later intruded by small andesite and dacite flows along a well defined set of N—S-trending regional faults. Collapse of the roof of the magma chamber occurred along near-vertical ring faults during two widely separated eruptions. Field evidence suggests that the climactic eruption sequence opened with a powerful plinian blast, followed by eruption column collapse, which generated a complex sequence of pyroclastic surge and ignimbrite deposits and initiated caldera collapse. A period of quiescence was marked by the eruption of scoria-bearing tuff from the nearby Masaya caldera and the development of a soil horizon. Violent plinian eruptions then resumed from a vent located within the caldera. A second phase of caldera collapse followed, accompanied by the effusion of late-stage andesitic lavas, indicating the presence of an underlying zoned magma chamber. Detailed isopach and isopleth maps of the plinian deposits indicate moderate to great column heights and muzzle velocities compared to other eruptions of similar volume. Mapping of the Apoyo airfall and ignimbrite deposits gives a volume of 17.2 km³ within the 1-mm isopach. Crystal concentration studies show that the true erupted volume was 30.5 km³ (10.7 km³ Dense Rock Equivalent), approximately the volume necessary to fill the caldera. A vent area located in the northeast quadrant of the present caldera lake is deduced for all the silicic pyroclastic eruptions. This vent area is controlled by N—S-trending precaldera faults related to left-lateral motion along the adjacent volcanic segment break. Fractional crystallization of calc-alkaline basaltic magma was the primary differentiation process which led to the intermediate to silicic products erupted at Apoyo. Prior to caldera collapse, highly atypical tholeiitic magmas resembling low-K, high-Ca oceanic ridge basalts were erupted along tension faults peripheral to the magma chamber. The injection of tholeiitic magmas may have contributed to the paroxysmal caldera-forming eruptions.     

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.     

Complex spatter- and pumice-rich pyroclastic deposits from an andesitic caldera-forming eruption: the Siwi pyroclastic sequence,Tanna, Vanuatu

The small- to moderate-volume, Quaternary, Siwi pyroclastic sequence was erupted during formation of a 4 km-wide caldera on the eastern margin of Tanna, an island arc volcano in southern Vanuatu. This high-potassium, andesitic eruption followed a period of effusive basaltic andesite volcanism and represents the most felsic magma erupted from the volcano. The sequence is up to 13 m thick and can be traced in near-continuous outcrop over 11 km. Facies grade laterally from lithic-rich, partly welded spatter agglomerate along the caldera rim to two medial, pumiceous, non-welded ignimbrites that are separated by a layer of lithic-rich, spatter agglomerate. Juvenile clasts comprise a wide range of densities and grain sizes. They vary between black, incipiently vesicular, highly elongate spatter clasts that have breadcrusted pumiceous rinds and reach several metres across to silky, grey pumice lapilli. The pumice lapilli range from highly vesicular clasts with tube or coalesced spherical vesicles to denser finely vesicular clasts that include lithic fragments.Textural and lithofacies characteristics of the Siwi pyroclastic sequence suggest that the first phase of the eruption produced a base surge deposit and spatter-poor pumiceous ignimbrite. A voluminous eruption of spatter and lithic pyroclasts coincided with a relatively deep withdrawal of magma presumably driven by a catastrophic collapse of the magma chamber roof. During this phase, spatter clasts rapidly accumulated in the proximal zone largely as fallout, creating a variably welded and lithic-rich agglomerate. This phase was followed by the eruption of moderately to highly vesiculated magma that generated the most widespread, upper pumiceous ignimbrite. The combination of spatter and pumice in pyroclastic deposits from a single eruption appears to be related to highly explosive, magmatic eruptions involving low-viscosity magmas. The combination also indicates the coexistence of a spatter fountain and explosive eruption plume for much of the eruption.Editorial responsibility: R. Cioni     

Pyroclastic deposits as a guide for reconstructing the multi-stage evolution of the Somma-Vesuvius Caldera

 The evolution of the Somma-Vesuvius caldera has been reconstructed based on geomorphic observations, detailed stratigraphic studies, and the distribution and facies variations of pyroclastic and epiclastic deposits produced by the past 20,000 years of volcanic activity. The present caldera is a multicyclic, nested structure related to the emptying of large, shallow reservoirs during Plinian eruptions. The caldera cuts a stratovolcano whose original summit was at 1600–1900 m elevation, approximately 500 m north of the present crater. Four caldera-forming events have been recognized, each occurring during major Plinian eruptions (18,300 BP "Pomici di Base", 8000 BP "Mercato Pumice", 3400 BP "Avellino Pumice" and AD 79 "Pompeii Pumice"). The timing of each caldera collapse is defined by peculiar "collapse-marking" deposits, characterized by large amounts of lithic clasts from the outer margins of the magma chamber and its apophysis as well as from the shallow volcanic and sedimentary units. In proximal sites the deposits consist of coarse breccias resulting from emplacement of either dense pyroclastic flows (Pomici di Base and Pompeii eruptions) or fall layers (Avellino eruption). During each caldera collapse, the destabilization of the shallow magmatic system induced decompression of hydrothermal–magmatic and hydrothermal fluids hosted in the wall rocks. This process, and the magma–ground water interaction triggered by the fracturing of the thick Mesozoic carbonate basement hosting the aquifer system, strongly enhanced the explosivity of the eruptions. Received: 24 November 1997 / Accepted: 23 March 1999     

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.     

Ignimbrites of the Roque Nublo group, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands

 Non-welded, lithic-rich ignimbrites, hereintermed the Roque Nublo ignimbrites, are the most distinctive deposits of the Pliocene Roque Nublo group, which forms the products of second magmatic cycle on Gran Canaria. They are very heterogeneous, with 35–55% volume lithic fragments, 15-30% mildly vesiculated pumice, 5–7% crystals and 20–30% ash matrix. The vitric components (pumice fragments and ash matrix) are largely altered and transformed into zeolites and subordinate smectites. The Roque Nublo ignimbrites originated from hydrovolcanic eruptions that caused rapid and significant erosion of vents thus incorporating a high proportion of lithic clasts into the eruption columns. These columns rapidly became too dense to be sustained as vertical eruption columns and were transformed into tephra fountains which fed high-density pyroclastic flows. The deposits from these flows were mainly confined to palaeovalleys and topographic depressions. In distal areas close to the coast line, where these palaeovalleys widened, most of the pyroclastic flows expanded laterally and formed numerous thin flow units. The combined effect of the magma–water interaction and the high content of lithic fragments is sufficient to explain the characteristic low emplacement temperature of the Roque Nublo ignimbrites. This fact also explains the transition from pyroclastic flows into lahar deposits observed in distal facies of the Roque Nublo ignimbrites. The existence of hydrovolcanic eruptions generating high-density pyroclastic flows, unable to efficiently separate the water vapour from the vitric components during transport, also accounts for the intense zeolitic alteration in these deposits. Received: 5 November 1996 / Accepted: 3 March 1997     

Facies characteristics and magma–water interaction of the White Trachytic Tuffs (Roccamonfina Volcano, southern Italy)

 The Quaternary White Trachytic Tuffs Formation from Roccamonfina Volcano (southern Italy) comprises four non-welded, trachytic, pyroclastic sequences bounded by paleosols, each of which corresponds to small- to intermediate-volume explosive eruptions from central vents. From oldest to youngest they are: White Trachytic Tuff (WTT) Cupa, WTT Aulpi, WTT S. Clemente, and WTT Galluccio. The WTT Galluccio eruption was the largest and emplaced ∼ 4 km³ of magma. The internal stratigraphy of all four WTT eruptive units is a complex association of fallout, surge, and pyroclastic flow deposits. Each eruptive unit is organized into two facies associations, Facies Association A below Facies Association B. The emplacement of the two facies associations may have been separated by short time breaks allowing for limited reworking and erosion. Facies Association A consists of interbedded fallout deposits, surge deposits, and subordinate ignimbrites. This facies association involved the eruption of the most evolved trachytic magma, and pumice clasts are white and well vesiculated. The grain size coarsens upward in Facies Association A, with upward increases of dune bedform wavelengths and a decrease in the proportion of fine ash. These trends could reflect an increase in eruption column height from the onset of the eruption and possibly also in mass eruption rate. Facies Association B comprises massive ignimbrites that are progressively richer in lithic clast content. This association involved the eruption of more mafic magma, and pumice clasts are gray and poorly vesiculated. Facies Association B is interpreted to record the climax of the eruption. Phreatomagmatic deposits occur at different stratigraphic levels in the four WTT and have different facies characteristics. The deposits reflect the style and degree of magma–water interaction and the local hydrogeology. Very fine-grained, lithic-poor phreatomagmatic surge deposits found at the base of WTT Cupa and WTT Galluccio could record the interaction of the erupting magma with a lake that occupied the Roccamonfina summit depression. Renewed magma–water interaction later in the WTT Galluccio eruption is indicated by fine grained, lithic-bearing phreatomagmatic fall and surge deposits occurring at the top of Facies Association A. They could be interpreted to reflect shifts of the magma fragmentation level to highly transmissive, regional aquifers located beneath the Roccamonfina edifice, possibly heralding a caldera collapse event. Received: 26 August 1996 / Accepted: 27 February 1998     

Timing of magma extraction during the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption (Campi Flegrei Caldera)

A core drilled within the northern part of the city of Napoli has offered the unique opportunity to observe in one single sequence the superposition of the four pyroclastic flow units emplaced during the Campanian Ignimbrite (CI) eruption. Such a stratigraphic succession has never been encountered before in natural or in man made exposures. Therefore the CI sequence was reconstructed only on the basis of stratigraphic correlations and compositional data (in literature). The occurrence of four superposed CI flows, together with all the data available (in literature) allowed us to better constrain the chemical stratigraphy of the deposit and the compositional structure of the CI magma chamber. The CI magma chamber includes two cogenetic magma layers, separated by a compositional gap. The upper magma layer was contaminated by interaction with radiogenic fluids. The two magma layers were extruded either individually or simultaneously during the course of the eruption. In the latter case they produced a hybrid magma. But no evidence of input of new geochemically and isotopically distinct magma batches just prior or during the eruption has been found. Comparison with the exposed CI deposits has permitted reconstruction of variable eruption phases and related magma withdrawal and caldera collapse episodes. The eruption was likely to have began with phreatomagmatic explosions followed by the formation of a sustained plinian eruption column fed by the simultaneous extraction from both magma layers. Towards the end of this phase the upward migration of the fragmentation surface and the decrease in magma eruption rate and/or activation of fractures formed an unstable pulsating column that was fed only by the most-evolved magma layer. This plinian phase was followed by the collapse of the eruption column and the beginning of caldera formation. At this stage expanded pyroclastic flows fed by the upper magma layer in the chamber generated. During the following major caldera collapse episode, the maximum mass discharge rate was reached and both magma layers were tapped, generating expanded pyroclastic flows. Towards the end of the eruption, only the deeper and less differentiated magma layer was tapped producing more concentrated pyroclastic flows that traveled short distances.     

Asymmetric,multiple-block collapse at Rotorua Caldera,Taupo Volcanic Zone,New Zealand

Calderas worldwide have been classified according to their dominant collapse styles, although there is a good deal of speculation about the processes involved. Recent laboratory experiments have tried to constrain these processes by modelling magma withdrawal and observing the effects on overlying materials. However, many other factors also contribute to final caldera morphology. Rotorua Caldera formed during the eruption of the Mamaku Ignimbrite. Collapse structure and evolution of Rotorua Caldera is interpreted based its geophysical response, geology and geomorphology, and the stratigraphy of the Mamaku Ignimbrite. Rotorua Caldera is situated at the edge of the extensional Taupo Volcanic Zone, in which major faults strike NE-SW. A second, less dominant fault set strikes NW-SE. These two fault sets have a strong influence on the morphology of Rotorua Caldera. No one style of collapse can be applied to Rotorua Caldera; it was formed during a single eruption, but subsided as many blocks and shows features of trapdoor, piecemeal and downsag types of collapse. Here Rotorua Caldera is described, according to its composition, activity and geometry, as a rhyolitic, single event, asymmetric, multiple-block, single locus collapse structure. The Mamaku Ignimbrite is the only ignimbrite to have erupted from Rotorua Caldera. Extracaldera thickness of the Mamaku Ignimbrite is up to 145 m, whereas inside the caldera it may be greater than 1 km thick. The Mamaku Ignimbrite can be separated into a basal tephra sequence and main ignimbrite sequence. The main ignimbrite sequence contains no observable flow unit boundaries but can be split into lower, middle and upper parts (LMI, mMI, uMI respectively) based on crystal content, welding, jointing, devitrification and vapour phase alteration. Juvenile clasts within the ignimbrite comprise three consanguineous silicic pumice types and andesitic fragments. Only the most evolved pumice type occurs in the basal tephra sequence. All three pumice types occur together throughout the main ignimbrite sequence, whereas the andesitic fragments are only present in uMI. Lithic lag breccias in uMI indicate a late stage of caldera collapse. Concentration of lithic fragments increases towards the middle of the ignimbrite, and may also reflect increased subsidence rate during an earlier stage. Collapse of Rotorua Caldera is thought to have occurred throughout the eruption of the main ignimbrite sequence of the Mamaku Ignimbrite, allowing simultaneous eruption of all the different pumice types and causing the abrupt transition from deposition of the basal tephra sequence to the main ignimbrite sequence.     

The structure of the Campanian Plain and the activity of the Neapolitan volcanoes (Italy)

The central Campanian Plain is dominated by the structural depression of Acerra whose origin is tectonic, but may have been enlarged and further depressed after the eruption of the Campanian Ignimbrite (42-25 ka). The deposits of the Campanian Ignimbrite are possibly the results of multiple eruptions with huge pyroclastic deposits that covered all the Campanian Plain.The more recent activity of Vesuvius, Campi Flegrei and Procida occurred on the borders of Acerra depression and resulted from a reactivation of regional faults after the Campanian Ignimbrite cycle. The activity of Vesuvius produced the building of a stratovolcano mostly by effusive and plinian explosive eruptions. The Campi Flegrei area, on the contrary, was dominated by the eruption of the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff at 12 ka that produced a caldera collapse of the Gulf of Pozzuoli. The caldera formation controlled the emplacement of the recent activity of Campi Flegrei and the new volcanoes were formed only within the caldera or along its rim.     

The Ottaviano eruption of Somma-Vesuvio (8000 y B.P.): a magmatic alternating fall and flow-forming eruption

The Ottaviano eruption occurred in the late neolithic (8000 y B.P.). 2.40 km³ of phonolitic pyroclastic material (0.61 km³ DRE) were emplaced as pyroclastic flow, surge and fall deposits. The eruption began with a fall phase, with a model column height of 14 km, producing a pumice fall deposit (LA). This phase ended with short-lived weak explosive activity, giving rise to a fine-grained deposit (L1), passing to pumice fall deposits as the result of an increasing column height and mass discharge rate. The subsequent two fall phases (producing LB and LC deposits), had model column heights of 20 and 22 km with eruption rates of 2.5 × 10⁷ and 2.81 × 10⁷ kg/s, respectively. These phases ended with the deposition of ash layers (L2 and L3), related to a decreasing, pulsing explosive activity. The values of dynamic parameters calculated for the eruption classify it as a sub-plinian event. Each fall phase was characterized by variations in the eruptive intensity, and several pyroclastic flows were emplaced (F1 to F3). Alternating pumice and ash fall beds record the waning of the eruption. Finally, owing to the collapse of a eruptive column of low gas content, the last pyroclastic flow (F4) was emplaced.     

Correlation of welded ignimbrites on Pantelleria (Strait of Sicily) using paleomagnetism

Although the oldest volcanic rocks exposed at Pantelleria (Strait of Sicily) are older than 300 ka, most of the island is covered by the 45–50 ka Green Tuff ignimbrite, thought to be related to the Cinque Denti caldera, and younger lavas and scoria cones. Pre-50 ka rocks (predominantly rheomorphic ignimbrites) are exposed at isolated sea cliffs, and their stratigraphy and chronology are not completely resolved. Based on volcanic stratigraphy and K/Ar dating, it has been proposed that the older La Vecchia caldera is related to ignimbrite Q (114 ka), and that ignimbrites F, D, and Z (106, 94, and 79 ka, respectively) were erupted after caldera formation. We report here the paleomagnetic directions obtained from 23 sites in ignimbrite P (133 ka) and four younger ignimbrites, and from an uncorrelated (and loosely dated) welded lithic breccia thought to record a caldera-forming eruption. The paleosecular variation of the geomagnetic field recorded by ignimbrites is used as correlative tool, with an estimated time resolution in the order of 100 years. We find that ignimbrites D and Z correspond, in good agreement with recent Ar/Ar ages constraining the D/Z eruption to 87 ka. The welded lithic breccia correlates with a thinner breccia lying just below ignimbrite P at another locality, implying that collapse of the La Vecchia caldera took place at ~130–160 ka. This caldera was subsequently buried by ignimbrites P, Q, F, and D/Z. Paleomagnetic data also show that the northern caldera margin underwent a ~10° west–northwest (outwards) tilting after emplacement of ignimbrite P, possibly recording magma resurgence in the crust.     

Averno tuff ring in Campi Flegrei (south Italy)

The tuff ring of Averno (3700 years BP) is a wide maar-type, lake-filled volcano which formed during one of the most recent explosive eruptions inside the Campi Flegrei caldera.The eruptive products consist of (a) a basal coarse unit, intercalated ballistic fallout breccia, subplinian pumice deposits and pyroclastic surge bedsets and (b) an upper fine-grained, stratified, pyroclastic surge sequence.During the deposition of the lower unit both purely magmatic (lapilli breccia) and hydromagmatic episodes (wavy and planar bedded, fine ash pyroclastic surge bedsets) coexisted. The hydromagmatic deposits exhibit both erosive and depositional features. The upper unit mostly comprises fine grained, wet pyroclastic surge deposits. The pyroclastic surges were controlled by a highly irregular pre-existing topography, produced by volcano-tectonic dislocation of older tuff rings and cones.Both the upper and lower units show decreasing depletion of fines with increasing distance from the vent. The ballistic fallout layers, however, exhibit only a weak increase in fines with distance from the vent, in spite of marked fining of the lapilli and blocks. The deposits consist dominantly of moderately to highly vesicular juvenile material, generated by primary magmatic volatile driven fragmentation followed by episodes of near-surface magma-water interaction.The evolution of the eruption toward increased fragmentation and a more hydromagmatic character may reflect that the progressive depletion in magmatic volatiles and a decrease in conduit pressure during the last stage of the eruption, possibly associated with a widening of the vent at sea level.