Island-arc affinity of the Central Iranian Volcanic Belt

Three types of tectonic settings are proposed for the Central Iranian Volcanic Belt (CIVB), namely, rift, continental margin, and post-collision settings. However, geochemical, tectonic, stratigraphic, and metallogenic evidence favor an ensialic island-arc setting. The discrimination diagrams that have been used in this study are useful for making a distinction between ensialic island-arcs and continental margin-arcs from which the ensialic island-arcs were derived.     

U-Pb SHRIMP zircon dating of andesite from the Dolomite area (NE Italy): geochronological evidence for the early onset of Permian Volcanism in the eastern part of the southern Alps

The Athesian Volcanic District (AVD), a thick sequence of andesitic to rhyolitic lava and ignimbrite, overlies both the Variscan basement of the Dolomites and, where present, the continental basal conglomerate of Upper Carboniferous(?) to Early Permian age. This volcanic activity is known to mark the margin of the intra-Pangea megashear system between Gondwana and Laurasia, the onset age of which is determined in this study.SHRIMP U-Pb dating on zircon from Ponte Gardena/Waidbruck (Isarco/Eisack valley) basaltic andesite yields an age of 290.7 ± 3 Ma, providing the oldest record of andesite volcanic activity yet documented in the AVD. Two younger dates (279.9 ± 3.3 and 278.6 ± 3.1 Ma) obtained for the andesitic necks of M. dei Ginepri (Eores/Aferer valley) and Col Quaternà (western Comelico), respectively, probably represent a second pulse of andesite magmatic activity.Near Chiusa/Klausen, the volcanoclastic deposits at the bottom of the Funes/Villnöss valley volcano-sedimentary complex only contain detrital zircons, dated at 469 ± 6 Ma; these probably derive from erosion of Paleozoic porphyroids. Other zircons from the same sediments and inherited cores of magmatic andesite crystals give Paleoproterozoic (1953.6 ± 22.1, 1834.6 ± 69.3, 1773.6 ± 25.1 Ma), Early Neoproterozoic (1015 ± 14 Ma) and Late Neoproterozoic (728.4 ± 9.6, 687.6 ± 7.6 Ma) ages. These ancient detrital and inherited zircon ages fit the model that envisages the Dolomite region as being tectonically coherent with Africa, at least until the Lower Permian.     

Alert system to mitigate tephra fallout hazards at Mt. Etna Volcano,Italy

Volcanic eruptions may create a wide range of risks in inhabited areas and, as a consequence, major economic damage to the surrounding territory. An example of volcanic hazard was given between 1998 and 2001 by Mt. Etna volcano, in Italy, with its frequent paroxysmal explosive activity that caused more than a hundred fire-fountain episodes. In the period January–June 2000, in particular, 64 lava fountains took place at the Southeast Crater. During the most intense explosive phase of each episode, a sustained column often formed, reaching up to 6 km above the eruptive vent. Then, the column started to expand laterally causing more or less copious tephra fallout on the slopes of Etna; ash and lapilli, therefore, constituted a serious danger for vehicular and air traffic. A software and hardware warning system was developed to mitigate the volcanic hazard indicating the areas affected by potential ash and lapilli fallout. The alert system was mainly based on the good correspondence between the pattern of volcanic tremor amplitude and the evolution of explosive activity. When a fixed tremor threshold was exceeded, a semiautomatic process started to send faxes to Civil Defence and Municipalities directly affected by tephra fallout, together with information on wind directions from the Meteorological Office. The application of this methodology, during the last 14 eruptive episodes in 2000 and the 14 events occurred in 2001, demonstrated the good correspondence between the forecasts on the areas affected by tephra fallout and the effective tephra distribution on land. Despite the integrity of the performance provided by the alert system, small discrepancies occurred in the technical procedure of alerting, for which possible solutions have been discussed. The improvement of this type of system, could become basic for the Etnean region and be proposed for similar volcanic areas throughout the world.     

西藏冈底斯带洛巴堆组火山岩地球化学及构造意义

冈底斯带中-新生代火山岩的成因和地质演化是青藏高原地质研究的热点领域,但是对晚古生代火山岩的性质及其形成的构造背景仍缺乏研究.冈底斯带二叠系显示缓慢的海退过程,并伴随基性和中酸性两期火山活动,具有活动大陆边缘特征.笔者对墨竹工卡县唐家乡和林周县勒青拉地区二叠纪洛巴堆组火山岩进行了常量、微量元素和St、Nd、Pb同位素地球化学测试.研究认为二叠纪是冈底斯岛弧的形成和演化时期.洛巴堆组玄武岩从下部(可能为早二叠世)到上部(中二叠世),MgO含量从7.43%降到3.99%,Al2O3含量从15.54%上升到17.57%,后者类似于岛弧高铝玄武岩;稀土总量∑REE从54.12(10-6)上升到108.82(10-6),LREE/HREE比值从3.00上升到5.40.洛巴堆组玄武岩均具有明显的Nb、Ta负异常,但中二叠世更显著.岩石地球化学示踪表明,冈底斯洛巴堆组玄武岩代表二叠纪初始岛弧环境.早期玄武岩形成于略亏损地幔和下地壳成分的混合源区,地壳相对较薄,源区或岩浆的壳源成分比例较低.到中二叠世地壳逐渐加厚.壳源成分在源区或岩浆中所占比例增大,代表向陆缘弧的演化过程.冈底斯带二叠纪岛弧是古特提斯洋向南的俯冲、消减的产物.     

云南宾川-永胜-丽江地区低钛玄武岩和苦橄岩的岩石成因与源区性质

云南宾川-永胜-丽江地区是峨眉山玄武岩厚度最大、喷发最早的地区,最主要的岩石类型是低钛和高钛玄武岩,并有少量摘要云南宾川—永胜—丽江地区是峨眉山玄武岩厚度最大、喷发最早的地区,最主要的岩石类型是低钛和高钛玄武岩,并有少量的苦橄质玄武岩、苦橄岩和麦美奇岩。大部分火山岩的岩石化学组成属于拉斑玄武岩系列,少数低钛玄武岩属碱性玄武岩系列。它们不同程度地富集大离子亲石元素和轻稀土元素,相对亏损重稀土元素,稀土元素分馏明显,显著亏损相容元素(Co,V,Cr,Ni)。陆壳物质对低钛玄武岩浆的混染程度明显大于对苦橄质岩浆的影响程度。而且混染作用对于Sr同位素和大离子亲石元素的影响程度明显大于对Nd同位素和稀土元素的影响程度。Nd和Sr同位素证明,混染物主要是下地壳变质岩,也有少量上部陆壳物质。未受混染的样品具有适度亏损的Nd、Sr同位素组成。低钛玄武岩和苦橄岩类岩石是不同原生岩浆分异演化的产物。低钛玄武岩的原生岩浆是高镁拉斑玄武岩浆,原生苦橄质岩浆以EM-55为代表(MgO= 16.56%)。此外,还有一种比EM-55更富镁的原生岩浆。高镁拉斑玄武岩浆分异过程中的主要分离结晶相/堆晶相是单斜辉石,并有少量斜长石。苦橄岩浆分异过程中的主要分离结晶相/堆晶相是橄榄石,并有少量单斜辉石。参考相关的实验岩石学成果,可以证明,地幔柱源区由两种岩石组成:一种是50%榴辉岩和50%橄榄岩反应形成的石榴石辉石岩,另一种是橄榄岩。在地幔柱绝热上升过程中,位于其轴部的石榴石辉石岩的熔融作用始于≈165km,主要的熔融作用发生于165～128km,持续到66km,熔融产物为苦橄岩浆。橄榄岩的部分熔融始于≈150km,持续到66km,熔融产物是比EM-55更富镁的岩浆。地幔柱头部的熔融作用始于≈100km,终止于66km,主要的熔融作用发生于尖晶石稳定域,熔融产物为低钛玄武岩浆。     

Experimental constraints on syneruptive magma ascent related to the phreatomagmatic phase of the 2000<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">AD</Emphasis> eruption of Usu volcano,Japan

We experimentally studied the dacitic magma ejected during the first event in the Usu 2000 eruption to investigate the conditions of syneruptive magmatic ascent. Geophysical data revealed that the magma reached under West Nishiyama, the location of the event’s craters, after rising beneath the summit. Prior study of bubble-size distributions of ejecta shows two stages (stage 1 and stage 2) with different magma ascent rates, as the magma accelerated beneath West Nishiyama with the start of the second stage. To simulate ascent of stage 1 from the main reservoir, which was located at a depth of 4–6 km (125 MPa) to 2 km (50 MPa) beneath West Nishiyama, decompression experiments were conducted isothermally at 900°C following two paths. Single step decompression (SSD) samples were decompressed rapidly (0.67 MPa/s) to their final pressure and held for 12 to 144 hours. Multiple step decompression (MSD) samples were decompressed stepwise to their final pressure and quenched instantly. In MSD, the average decompression rates and total experimental durations varied between 0.01389 to 0.00015 MPa/s and 1.5 to 144 hours, respectively. Syneruptive crystallization was confined to stage 1, and the conditions of ascent were determined by documenting similarities in decompression-induced crystallization between ejecta and experiments. Core compositions, number densities, and shapes of experimental microlites indicate that ascent to 2 km depth occurred in less than 1.5 h. Volumes and number densities of experimental microlites from the SSD experiments that best replicate the decompression rate to 2 km indicate that the magma remained at 2 km for approximately 24 h before the eruption. Stagnation at a depth of 2 km corresponds with horizontal transport through a dike from beneath the summit to West Nishiyama, according to geodetic results. The total magma transport timescale including stage 2 is tens of hours and is shorter than the timescale of precursory seismicity (3.5 days), indicating that the erupted magma did not move out of the reservoir for the first 2 days. This is consistent with the temporal change in numbers of earthquakes, which reached a peak after 2 days.     

Mount Etna eruptions of the last 2,750 years: revised chronology and location through archeomagnetic and <Superscript>226</Superscript>Ra-<Superscript>230</Superscript>Th dating

A careful re-examination of the well-known written documents pertaining to the 2,750-year-long historical period of Mount Etna was carried out and their interpretation checked through the high-accuracy archeomagnetic method (>1,200 large samples), combined with the ²²⁶Ra-²³⁰Th radiochronology. The magnetic dating is based upon secular variation of the direction of the geomagnetic field (DGF) and estimated to reach a precision of  ±40 years for the last 1,200 years, and ±100 to 200 years up to circa 150 B.C. Although less precise, the ²²⁶Ra-²³⁰Th method provides a unique tool for distinguishing between historic and prehistoric lavas, which in some cases might have similar DGFs. We show that despite the abundance of details on ancient historical eruptions, the primary sources of information are often too imprecise to identify their lava flows and eruptive systems. Most of the ages of these lavas, which are today accepted on the geological maps and catalogues, were attributed in the 1800s on the basis of their morphology and without any stratigraphical control. In fact, we found that 80% of the “historically dated” flows and cones prior to the 1700s are usually several hundreds of years older than recorded, the discrepancies sometimes exceeding a millennium. This is proper the case for volcanics presumed of the “1651 east” (actually ∼1020), “1595” (actually two distinct flows, respectively, ∼1200 and ∼1060), “1566” (∼1180), “1536” (two branches dated ∼1250 and ∼950), “1444” (a branch dated ∼1270), “1408” (lower branches dated ∼450 and ∼350), “1381” (∼1160), “1329” (∼1030), “1284” (∼1450 and ∼700), “1169 or 812” (∼1000) eruptions. Conversely, well-preserved cones and flows that are undated on the maps were produced by recent eruptions that went unnoticed in historical accounts, especially during the Middle Ages. For the few eruptions that are recorded between A.D. 252 and 750 B.C., none of their presumed lava flows shows a DGF in agreement with that existing at their respective dates of occurrence, most of these flows being in fact prehistoric. The cinder cones of Monpeloso (presumed “A.D. 252”) and Mt. Gorna (“394 B.C.”), although roughly consistent magnetically and radiochronologically with their respective epochs, remain of unspecified age because of a lack of precision of the DGF reference curve at the time. It is concluded that at the time scale of the last millennia, Mount Etna does not provide evidence of a steady-state behavior. Periods of voluminous eruptions lasting 50 to 150 years (e.g., A.D. 300–450, 950–1060, 1607–1669) are followed by centuries of less productive activity, although at any time a violent outburst may occur. Such a revised history should be taken into account for eruptive models, magma output, internal plumbing of the volcano, petrological evolution, volcano mapping and civil protection.     

Volcanic hazards at Mount Semeru,East Java (Indonesia), with emphasis on lahars

Mt. Semeru, the highest mountain in Java (3,676 m), is one of the few persistently active composite volcanoes on Earth, with a plain supporting about 1 million people. We present the geology of the edifice, review its historical eruptive activity, and assess hazards posed by the current activity, highlighting the lahar threat. The composite andesite cone of Semeru results from the growth of two edifices: the Mahameru ‘old’ Semeru and the Seloko ‘young’ Semeru. On the SE flank of the summit cone, a N130-trending scar, branched on the active Jonggring-Seloko vent, is the current pathway for rockslides and pyroclastic flows produced by dome growth. The eruptive activity, recorded since 1818, shows three styles: (1) The persistent vulcanian and phreatomagmatic regime consists of short-lived eruption columns several times a day; (2) increase in activity every 5 to 7 years produces several kilometer-high eruption columns, ballistic bombs and thick tephra fall around the vent, and ash fall 40 km downwind. Dome extrusion in the vent and subsequent collapses produce block-and-ash flows that travel toward the SE as far as 11 km from the summit; and (3) flank lava flows erupted on the lower SE and E flanks in 1895 and in 1941–1942. Pyroclastic flows recur every 5 years on average while large-scale lahars exceeding 5 million m³ each have occurred at least five times since 1884. Lumajang, a city home to 85,000 people located 35 km E of the summit, was devastated by lahars in 1909. In 2000, the catchment of the Curah Lengkong River on the ESE flank shows an annual sediment yield of 2.7 × 10⁵ m³ km⁻² and a denudation rate of 4 10⁵ t km⁻² yr⁻¹, comparable with values reported at other active composite cones in wet environment. Unlike catchments affected by high magnitude eruptions, sediment yield at Mt. Semeru, however, does not decline drastically within the first post-eruption years. This is due to the daily supply of pyroclastic debris shed over the summit cone, which is remobilised by runoff during the rainy season. Three hazard-prone areas are delineated at Mt. Semeru: (1) a triangle-shaped area open toward the SE has been frequently swept by dome-collapse avalanches and pyroclastic flows; (2) the S and SE valleys convey tens of rain-triggered lahars each year within a distance of 20 km toward the ring plain; (3) valleys 25 km S, SE, and the ring plain 35 km E toward Lumajang can be affected by debris avalanches and debris flows if the steep-sided summit cone fails.     

Petrologic evidence of a complex plumbing system feeding the July–August 2001 eruption of Mt. Etna,Sicily, Italy

After the major 1991–1993 eruption, Mt. Etna resumed flank activity in July 2001 through a complex system of eruptive fissures cutting the NE and the S flanks of the volcano and feeding effusive activity, fire fountains, Strombolian and minor phreatomagmatic explosions. Throughout the eruption, magmas with different petrography and composition were erupted. The vents higher than 2,600 m a.s.l. (hereafter Upper vents, UV) erupted porphyritic, plagioclase-rich trachybasalt, typical of present-day summit and flank activity. Differently, the vents located at 2,550 and 2,100 m a.s.l. (hereafter Lower vents, LV) produced slightly more primitive trachybasalt dominated by large clinopyroxene, olivine and uncommon minerals for Etna such as amphibole, apatite and orthopyroxene and containing siliceous and cognate xenoliths. Petrologic investigations carried out on samples collected throughout the eruption provided insights into one of the most intriguing aspects of the 2001 activity, namely the coeval occurrence of distinct magmas. We interpret this evidence as the result of a complex plumbing system. It consists in two separate magma storage systems: a shallow one feeding the activity of the UV and a deeper and more complex storage related to the activity of LV. In this deep storage zone, which is thermally and compositionally zoned, the favourable conditions allow the crystallization of amphibole and the occurrence of cognate xenoliths representing wall cumulates. Throughout 2001 eruption, UV and LV magmas remain clearly distinct and ascended following different paths, ruling out the occurrence of mixing processes between them. Furthermore, integrating the 2001 eruption in the framework of summit activity occurring since 1995, we propose that the 2001 magma feeding the vents lower than 2,600 m a.s.l. is a precursor of a refilling event, which reached its peak during the 2002–2003 Etna flank eruption.     

Contrasting grain size and componentry in complex proximal deposits of the 1886 Tarawera basaltic Plinian eruption

The 1886 Plinian eruption of Tarawera, New Zealand, is a unique basaltic fissure-fed eruption with exceptionally well preserved fall deposits to within 200 meters of the source vents. These proximal deposits form a series of spatter/cinder half-cones along the northeastern 8-km-long segment of the 1886 fissure. Here we examine these deposits using grain size and clast componentry techniques. We contrast the products of the phreatomagmatic (phases I and III) and Plinian (Phase II) stages of the eruption and examine deposit variability as a function of contrasting eruptive intensity within the climactic phase (II) of the eruption. The opening phreatomagmatic phase I of the eruption involved gas-rich magma interacting with water and fragmenting at least 300 meters below the surface. The deposits of the climactic phase that followed have relatively uniform grain size but marked contrasts in the relative abundance of juvenile and wall rock (lithic) clasts. Deposits linked to vents associated with the high Plinian plume are more uniform than those characterized by a weaker cone-forming eruption style. During the third, and closing, phase of the eruption, magma withdrawal accompanied the onset of decoupling of the exsolved gas phase, leading to fragmentation at increasingly greater depths and significant wall rock collapse into the erupting vents. Variability in eruptive style during phase II along the fissure appears to be a function of shallow seated controls, in particular the variable extent of incorporation of lithic wall rock into the erupting jet, as a consequence of vent wall collapse. Widely dispersed beds centralized around Plinian sources along the fissure have very low lithic content; cone-forming beds at other craters that contain very high lithic contents. This incorporation led to a significant reduction of the velocity and stability of the jet at these latter steep-walled craters, and induced episodicity in the form of vent-clearing explosions. The result is a large reduction of the physical and thermal ability of these vents to contribute to a stable high eruptive plume. Instead large volumes of ejecta were sedimented prematurely from shallow heights at rates an order of magnitude greater than for historical Strombolian, Hawaiian and subPlinian eruptions. This study illustrates that sustained powerful Plinian eruptions can be accompanied by heterogeneities and instabilities of the eruptive jet. At Tarawera, the record of complex proximal transport and deposition processes in the eruptive jet cannot be inferred from the eruption products at distances greater than 400 m from the eruptive fissure. We suggest that study of ultraproximal deposits, as seen at Mt Tarawera, provides the only opportunity to document the complex, dynamic behavior of the jet region of Plinian eruptions.