Electrification of volcanic plumes

Volcanic lightning, perhaps the most spectacular consequence of the electrification of volcanic plumes, has been implicated in the origin of life on Earth, and may also exist in other planetary atmospheres. Recent years have seen volcanic lightning detection used as part of a portfolio of developing techniques to monitor volcanic eruptions. Remote sensing measurement techniques have been used to monitor volcanic lightning, but surface observations of the atmospheric electric Potential Gradient (PG) and the charge carried on volcanic ash also show that many volcanic plumes, whilst not sufficiently electrified to produce lightning, have detectable electrification exceeding that of their surrounding environment. Electrification has only been observed associated with ash-rich explosive plumes, but there is little evidence that the composition of the ash is critical to its occurrence. Different conceptual theories for charge generation and separation in volcanic plumes have been developed to explain the disparate observations obtained, but the ash fragmentation mechanism appears to be a key parameter. It is unclear which mechanisms or combinations of electrification mechanisms dominate in different circumstances. Electrostatic forces play an important role in modulating the dry fall-out of ash from a volcanic plume. Beyond the local electrification of plumes, the higher stratospheric particle concentrations following a large explosive eruption may affect the global atmospheric electrical circuit. It is possible that this might present another, if minor, way by which large volcanic eruptions affect global climate. The direct hazard of volcanic lightning to communities is generally low compared to other aspects of volcanic activity.     

Diffuse Emission of CO2 from Showa-Shinzan, Hokkaido, Japan: A Sign of Volcanic Dome Degassing

Two soil CO₂ efflux surveys were carried out in September 1999 and June 2002 to study the spatial distribution of diffuse CO₂ degassing and estimate the total CO₂ output from Showa-Shinzan volcanic dome, Japan. Seventy-six and 81 measurements of CO₂ efflux were performed in 1999 and 2002, respectively, covering most of Showa-Shinzan volcano. Soil CO₂ efflux data showed a wide range of values up to 552 g m^-2 d^-1. Carbon isotope signatures of the soil CO₂ ranged from -0.9‰ to -30.9‰, suggesting a mixing between different carbon reservoirs. Most of the study area showed CO₂ efflux background values during the 1999 and 2002 surveys (B = 8.2 and 4.4 g m^-2 d^-1, respectively). The spatial distribution of CO₂ efflux anomalies for both surveys showed a good correlation with the soil temperature, indicating a similar origin for the extensive soil degassing generated by condensation processes and fluids discharged by the fumarolic system of Showa-Shinzan. The total diffuse CO₂ output of Showa-Shinzan was estimated to be about 14.0–15.6 t d^-1 of CO₂ for an area of 0.53 km².     

High precision locations of LP events on Mt. Etna: Reconstruction of the fluid-filled volume

During 1991–93 at Mount Etna, long-period (LP) events occurring in swarms characterized the evolution of the eruption. The presence of multiplets i.e. groups of events with similar waveform signatures, has been recognized within this activity. Traditional techniques for locating LP events do not allow obtaining reliable hypocenters, which have only succeeded in placing earthquakes in a roughly 1 km² area slightly east of the Mt. Etna Northeast Crater. Hypocenters have been relocated in two steps: the absolute location has been improved using Thurber’s code and a complex 3D velocity model; a highly precise relative location has been applied on multiplets to define the source geometry. 3D locations and high precision analysis suggest that during the 1991–93 eruption the resonator producing LP events was a part of the uppermost Northeast Crater conduit, measuring 210 meters in height and 45–50 meters in diameter.     

青藏高原羌塘北部托和平错一带二叠系展金组火山岩的特征及构造环境

西藏改则县托和平错地区展金组中发育一套早—中二叠世以玄武岩类为主、玄武安山岩次之、安山岩少量的海相火山岩组合。该火山岩中玄武岩、玄武安山岩的SiO2含量为44.43%～54.87%,TiO2含量多在4%以上,K2O+Na2O平均为4.57%,玄武岩类富K,玄武安山岩富Na。区内火山岩富集K、Ba、Th、Ta、Ce、P、Zr、Sm、Ti、Cr,亏损Rb、Nb、Hf、Sc,Y/Nb在0.322～0.499之间。综合常量元素和微量元素特征,可将该火山岩归入碱性玄武岩系列。区内火山岩从基性到中性稀土元素总量基本没有变化,REE平均为402.31×10-6,LREE/HREE为8.17～12.69,为轻稀土强烈富集型,δEu为0.93～1.04,平均为0.99,无Eu异常,玄武岩的Th/Ta值多数大于1.6。火山岩的地质特征和地球化学特征表明,本区火山岩产出的大地构造环境为冈瓦纳大陆北缘裂谷环境。     

Cenozoic volcanic rocks in the Belog Co area, Qiangtang, northern Tibet, China： Petrochemical evidence for partial melting of the mantle-crust transition zone

Neogene volcanic rocks in the Belog Co area, Qiangtang, northern Tibet, are represented by a typical intermediate-basic and intermediate alkaline rock association, with latite-trachyte as the main rock type. The results of chemical analysis are: SiO2=52%–62%, Al2O3>15%, Na2O/K2O>1 and MgO<3.30%. In addition, the volcanic rocks are LREE-enriched with LREE/HREE=10–13, (La/Yb)N=15–19, and show a weak negative Eu anomaly with δEu=0.71–0.89. The close relationship between Mg# and SiO2 and the co-variation of the magmatophile elements and ultra-magmatophile elements such as La/Sm-La and Cr-Tb indicate that this association of volcanic rocks is the product of comagmatic fractional crystallization. The rock association type and lower Sm/Yb values (Sm/Yb=3.23–3.97) imply that this association of volcanic rocks should have originated from partial melting of spinel lherzolite in the lithospheric mantle. On the other hand, the weak negative Eu anomaly and relative depletion in Nb, Ta and Ti reflect the features of terrigenous magma. So the Neogene Belog Co alkaline volcanic rocks should be the result of partial melting of the special crust-mantle transition zone on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.     

The Kuwae (Vanuatu) eruption of<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps"> AD</Emphasis> 1452: potential magnitude and volatile release

Sometime during AD 1452, according to new evidence, a large-magnitude, initially phreatomagmatic eruption, destroyed the island of Kuwae (16.83°S, 168.54°E), located in the present-day Republic of Vanuatu. It created a 12×6-km submarine caldera composed of two adjacent basins. Based on estimates of caldera volume, between 30 and 60 km³ DRE of dacite magma was ejected as pyroclastic flow and fall deposits during this event. Annual layers of ice dating from the period AD 1450–1460 contain acidity peaks representing fallout of sulfuric acid onto both the Greenland and Antarctic ice caps. These acidity peaks have been attributed by others to the sedimentation of H₂SO₄ aerosols that originated from sulfur degassing during the Kuwae eruption. Improved dating techniques and new data from nineteen ice cores reveal a single acidity peak attributed to Kuwae lasting from 1453 to 1457. In this study, we present new electron microprobe analyses of the S, Cl, and F contents of matrix glasses and glass inclusions in phenocrysts from tephra ejected during the Kuwae eruption. We establish that the Kuwae event did indeed yield a large release of sulfur gases. From our glass inclusion data and analysis, we calculate that the total atmospheric aerosol loading from the 1452 Kuwae eruption was ≫100 Tg H₂SO₄. Much of the volatile mass released during the eruption was probably contained in a separate, volatile-rich, fluid phase within the pre-eruptive Kuwae magma body. Comparing the volatile release of the Kuwae eruption with other large-magnitude eruptions, places Kuwae as the greatest sulfuric acid aerosol producer in the last seven centuries, larger even than sulfur emissions from the eruption of Tambora (Indonesia) in 1815, and possibly Laki (Iceland) in 1783. The severe and unusual climatic effects reported in the mid- to late-1450s were likely caused by the Kuwae eruption.     

青藏高原新生代火车头山碱性及钙碱性两套火山岩的地球化学特征及其物源讨论

藏北羌塘火车头山新生代火山岩可区分为钙碱性及碱性两个不同的系列。钙碱性火山岩主要岩石组合为玄武岩-安山岩-英安岩,其SiO_2介于49%～70%之间,Al_2O_3>10%,Na_2O/K_2O>1;其中玄武岩具平坦型稀土配分型式,LREE/HREE为1.3～1.8,(La/Yb)_N为2.87～4.45,无明显铕异常,δEu为0.96～1.09;该套岩石的Mg~#与SiO_2相关关系以及La/sm-La等亲岩浆元素与超亲岩浆元素协变关系表明,它们应为幔源岩浆经分离结晶演化的产物,其岩石组合类型以及低的Sm/Yb值(Sm/Yb=1.53～5.35)表明它们的原始岩浆应来源于岩石圈地幔尖晶石二辉橄榄岩的局部熔融。本区碱性火山岩为一套典型的钾质岩石系列,主要岩石组合类型为碱玄岩-碱玄质响岩-响岩,其SiO_2介于44%～59%之间,Al_2O_3>14%,Na_2O/K_2O介于0.47～1.51之间;岩石轻稀土强烈富集,LREE/HREE为13.20～15.76,(La/Yb)_N=50.44～91.99;其岩石组合类型以及Mg~#与SiO_2相关关系以及La/Sm-La协变关系同样表明它们为共源岩浆分离结晶演化的产物;然而,其较高的Sm/Yb值(Sm/ Yb=2.63～13.98)表明它们并非地幔橄榄岩直接局部熔融的产物,岩石弱的负Eu异常(δEu=0.77～0.85)以及Th、U的强烈富集和Nb、Ta的相对亏损,又反映了原始岩浆中有显著的地壳物质的贡献;该套钾质碱性系列岩石在La/Co-Th/Co同分母协变图上呈直线型分布,而在La/Co-Sc/Th异分母协变图上呈显著的双曲线分布,从而表明其源区为二源混合型,是青藏高原特殊的壳幔混合层局部熔融的产物,这些特征是新生代青藏高原壳幔层圈物质交换的重要岩石学证据。     

我国低钛月海型模拟月壤初始物质选择的地球化学依据

以Apollo14月壤样品和美国JSC-1模拟月壤的地球化学特征为基础,结合我国低钛玄武岩火山的分布,对我国不同地区新生代玄武岩的化学成分、年龄、储量等方面进行对比分析结果表明,滇西北金沙江地区和吉林辉南红旗林场-四海地区的玄武质火山喷发物的化学成分与Apollo14月壤样品和美国JSC-1模拟月壤相似,比较适合用于我国低钛月海玄武岩模拟月壤研制的初始物质。野外地质调查发现,吉林省辉南县金川镇红旗林场—四海一带产出的玄武质火山渣为距今1600 a的该玄武质火山岩的喷发物,其储量大、质地纯、粒度均匀,而且比滇西北金沙江地区最近一期的玄武质火山渣新鲜,最适合作为我国低钛月海玄武岩模拟月壤研制的初始物质。     

湖北兴山大峡口浅海相二叠系-三叠系界线附近粘土岩研究

利用X射线衍射、扫描电镜、能谱等鉴定分析方法,对湖北兴山大峡口剖面二叠系—三叠系界线附近的8层粘土岩研究发现,各层粘土岩中的主要粘土矿物均为伊/蒙混层矿物,并且各层中均含有数量不等的六方双锥石英和黄铁矿,非粘土矿物为石膏,个别层位中还含有粘土微球粒。该8层粘土岩均为火山物源成因,联系相应的火山事件记录表明该地区在二叠系—三叠系之交经历了多次火山活动。这些火山事件与同时段牙形石的绝灭和延缓复苏呈现一致性。频繁的火山活动是造成二叠纪—三叠纪之交生物及生态系重大转折的主导事件之一。     

安徽庐枞盆地中巴家滩岩体的岩石地球化学特征及成因

巴家滩岩体位于长江中下游庐枞中生代火山岩盆地的中心地带,出露面积约4km2.岩性主要为辉石二长岩和含英辉石二长岩,发育黄铁矿化和黄铜矿化.野外及室内证据表明该岩体可分为两期,第一期表现为闪长质岩石包体;第二期主要为旱阶段的辉石二长岩和晚阶段的含石英辉石二长岩.巴家滩岩体随着由早到晚的演化,其SiO2含量、总碱含量(Na2O K2O)和岩石的氧化度不断增高.稀土配分整体呈右倾趋势,轻稀土富集,重稀土分馏不明显.岩石学、稀土和微量元素地球化学特征表明巴家滩岩体成岩物质来源于富含金云母的富集地幔Ⅱ.巴家滩岩体属于橄榄玄粗岩系,形成于伸展构造环境.巴家滩岩体具有高Al2O2、Sr、St/Y、La/Yb,低Y、Yb、Sr正异常,Eu弱负异常,与沙溪岩体的特征相似,早期包体的Cu含量高达0.8402,推断在其深部可能有可能有类似沙溪岩体的矿化岩浆存在.