An Upper Pliocene coarse pumice breccia generated by a shallow submarine explosive eruption,Milos, Greece

The Filakopi Pumice Breccia (FPB) is a very well exposed, Pliocene volcaniclastic unit on Milos, Greece, and has a minimum bulk volume of 1 km³. It consists of three main units: (A) basal lithic breccia (4–8 m) mainly composed of angular to subangular, andesitic and dacitic clasts up to 2.6 m in diameter; (B) very thickly bedded, poorly sorted pumice breccia (16–17 m); and (C) very thick, reversely graded, grain-supported, coarse pumice breccia (6.5–20 m), at the top. The depositional setting is well constrained as shallow marine (up to a few hundred metres) by overlying fossiliferous and bioturbated mudstone. This large volume of fine pumice clasts is interpreted to be the product of an explosive eruption from a submarine vent because: (1) pumice clasts are the dominant component; (2) the coarse pumice clasts (>64 mm) have complete quenched margins; (3) very large (>1 m) pumice clasts are common; (4) overall, the formation shows good hydraulic sorting; and (5) a significant volume of ash was deposited together with the coarsest pyroclasts.The bed forms in units A and B suggest deposition from lithic-rich and pumiceous, respectively, submarine gravity currents. In unit C, the coarse (up to 6.5 m) pumice clasts are set in matrix that grades upwards from diffusely stratified, fine (1–2 cm) pumice clasts at the base to laminated shard rich mud at the top. The coarse pumice clasts in unit C were settled from suspension and the framework was progressively infilled by fine pumice clasts from waning traction currents and then by water-settled ash. The FPB displays important features of the products of submarine explosive eruptions that result from the ambient fluid being seawater, rather than volcanic gas or air. In particular, submarine pyroclastic deposits are characterised by the presence of very coarse juvenile pumice clasts, pumice clasts with complete quenched rims, and good hydraulic sorting.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article if you access the article at . A link in the frame on the left on that page takes you directly to the supplementary material.Editorial responsibility: J. Donelly-Nolan     

Doppler radar sounding of volcanic eruption dynamics at Mount Etna

Besides their common use in atmospheric studies, Doppler radars are promising tools for the active remote sensing of volcanic eruptions but were little applied to this field. We present the observations made with a mid-power UHF Doppler radar (Voldorad) during a 7-h Strombolian eruption at the SE crater of Mount Etna on 11–12 October 1998. Main characteristics of radar echoes are retrieved from analysis of Doppler spectra recorded in the two range gates on either side of the jet axis. From the geometry of the sounding, the contribution of uprising and falling ejecta to each Doppler spectrum can be discriminated. The temporal evolution of total power backscattered by uprising targets is quite similar to the temporal evolution of the volcanic tremor and closely reproduces the overall evolution of the eruption before, during and after its paroxysm. Moreover, during the sharp decrease of eruptive activity following the paroxysm, detailed analysis of video (from camera recording), radar and seismic measurements reveals that radar and video signals start to decrease simultaneously, approximately 2.5 min after the tremor decline. This delay is interpreted as the ascent time through a magma conduit of large gas slugs from a shallow source roughly estimated at about 500 m beneath the SE crater. Detailed analysis of eruptive processes has been also made with Voldorad operating in a high sampling rate mode. Signature of individual outburst is clearly identified on the half part of Doppler spectra corresponding to rising ejecta: temporal variations of the backscattered power exhibit quasi periodic undulations, whereas the maximum velocity measured on each spectrum displays a sharp peak at the onset of each outburst followed by a slow decay with time. Periodicity of power variations (between 3.8 and 5.5 s) is in agreement with the occurrence of explosions visually observed at the SE vent. Maximum vertical velocities of over 160 m s^–1 were measured during the paraoxysmal stage and the renewed activity. Finally, by using a simplified model simulating the radar echoes characteristics, we show that when Voldorad is operating in high sampling rate mode, the power and maximum velocity variations are directly related to the difference in size and velocity of particles crossing the antenna beam.Editorial responsibility: A. Woods     

Vortical mechanism for generation of astrophysical jets

A vortical mechanism for generation of astrophysical jets is proposed based on exact solutions of the hydrodynamic equations with a generalized Rankine vortex. It is shown that the development of a Rankine vortex in the polar layer of a rotating gravitating body creates longitudinal fluxes of matter that converge toward the vortex trunk, providing an exponential growth in the angular rotation velocity of the trunk and a pressure drop on its axis. The increased rotational velocity of the vortex trunk and the on-axis pressure drop cease when the discontinuity in the azimuthal velocity at the surface of the trunk reaches the sound speed. During this time, ever deeper layers of the gravitating body are brought into the vortical motion, while the longitudinal velocity of the flow along the vortex trunk builds up, producing jet outflows of mass from its surface. The resulting vortices are essentially dissipationless. Dedicated to the 100-th birthday of Academician V. A. Ambartsumyan __________ Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 51, No. 2, pp. 201–218 (May 2008).     

太阳多极活动区中的磁重联、剪切低磁弧内的强电流和冕穴结构

探讨了复杂磁结构上空日冕物理状态与磁剪切的关系．结果表明在强磁场的磁中性线上方磁剪切会引起具有强电流和较强等离子体压力的低磁弧．这可解释Ｙｏｈｋｏｈ 卫星的观测结果     

Explosive volcanic eruptions—X. The influence of pyroclast size distributions and released magma gas contents on the eruption velocities of pyroclasts and gas in Hawaiian and Plinian eruptions

Previous treatments of the relationship between the mass fraction of released magma volatiles and the eruption speeds of gas and pyroclasts in steady explosive eruptions have not taken detailed account of the dynamic effects associated with the finite size distribution of the pyroclasts. When this is done, it is found that previously published estimates of exsolved magma volatile contents obtained from the analysis of pyroclast size distributions in near-vent deposits overestimate the volatile content by approximately 20 per cent in the case of Plinian eruptions. The discrepancy is much worse for pyroclast size distributions skewed towards coarse clasts, as is common in basaltic lava fountains; in such cases pyroclast dispersal studies may overestimate the exsolved magma volatile content by at least 200 per cent. An analogous problem arises if released magma volatile amounts deduced from studies of fluid inclusions in pyroclasts are inserted into most current computer models of eruption dynamics, but the gas eruption speeds deduced have an even larger error, being underestimated by up to 300 per cent in the case of coarse-grained eruptions. The more sophisticated of the currently available numerical models of eruption dynamics can in principle avoid this problem, but practical implementation limitations have so far prevented such models being run with a sufficiently wide range of grain sizes for the importance of these effects to be fully appreciated.     

北半球中纬度地区上层臭氧变化的合成分析研究

应用逆转方法（C）,对北半球中纬度地区8个观测质量较好的O3地面站的近30年地面遥感逆转资料进行标准处理。采用合成分析方法,对中纬度带上层O3进行了分析研究,发现上层O3总的长期演变趋势较为平坦,仅80年代初及90年代初在36km以上层O3含量有突降现象。这可能与EL Chichon大火山焊发和Pinatubo大火山爆发有较大关系。此外。在上层O3含量的长期演变过程中,还可看到准11年周期,并证实28～36km层及36km以上层O3含量季节变化位相相反。本研究结果可能对南极O3洞的形成机制及近年来O3层变浅薄的机制的认识提供依据并产生影响。       

Analysis of the institutional and social responses to the eruption and the lahars of Mount Pinatubo volcano from 1991 to 1998 (Central Luzon, Philippines)

Mount Pinatubo volcano erupted in June 1991 in the main island of Luzon belonging to the Philippines archipelago. Huge economic losses and population exodus have followed. This major crisis has been relayed with other crises due to rain-fed lahars which have been supplied with eruption deposits. These lahars have occurred every year since 1991 during the rainy season. They will probably last until 2005. After a brief presentation of the Philippine official response system to disasters, this paper draws up a critical analysis of the different kinds of institutional and social responses deployed to manage the different crisis and post-crisis phases of this event. Based on three viewpoints: from population, media and other actors, this analysis attempts to point out the strengths and weaknesses of the official management system, especially by studying the efficiency and the range of the solutions taken. So, it appears that the management of the June 1991 main crisis (eruption) was a success. On the other hand, difficulties have occurred with lahars risk management. Indeed, these lahars have obliged the authorities to protect and relocate thousands of people. In spite of persistent problems, the management system (monitoring/warning/evacuation) of lahar crises improves year after year. Failures appear especially within the rehabilitation program (protection/rehousing). Many direct (lack of means, preparedness, coordination, dialog, etc.) and indirect (politico-administrative, socio-economic, cultural contexts) factors come together to lock the wheels of the institutional response system. They defer the socio-economic start of this vital northern Philippines area. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

长白山天池火山全新世喷发与岩石地球化学特征

全新世以来长白山天池火山以爆炸式喷发为特点,其喷发物包括空降堆积浮岩、熔结凝灰岩和碎成熔岩,除了极少量粗面质成分（SiO2<65％）,均属于碱流质火山碎屑岩（SiO2＝70%～73％,K2O+Na2O=10%～11%）。火山岩的矿物学（造岩矿物和残余矿物）和主微量元素、SrNd同位素地球化学研究表明,天池火山全新世火山岩与造锥阶段、造盾阶段火山岩是同源（幔源）岩浆演化的产物,全新世火山岩都具有强烈而相似的Eu、Ba、Sr、Ti负异常,指示了岩浆演化主要受斜长石的强烈分离结晶作用控制。     

吉林龙冈火山群金龙顶子火山喷发物中幔源包体的基本特征及其地质意义

龙冈火山群金龙顶子火山喷发发生在距今1500年前,其火山喷发物中所含的幔源橄榄岩包体是我国在最新火山喷发物中所发现的幔源包体。这些包体以普遍含有韭闪石为特征。包体的结构和位错构造反映这些包体在上地幔条件下经历过一定程度的变形作用。包体的平衡温度大多数集中在800～950℃之间,只有个别样品温度达到1050℃;平衡压力大多数集中在1.0～1.5 GPa之间。由包体平衡温度、压力得到的上地幔地温线稍低于中国东部由新第三纪包体得到的上地幔地温线,但接近第四纪包体得到的地温线。包体在上地幔条件下变形时的差异应力在30～44MPa,应变速率为10-18s-110-15s-1。角闪石的出现反映上地幔流体的渗透及交代作用。金龙顶子火山发的玄武岩浆直接来自35～50km的上地幔顶部。