Constraints on cooling rates and permeabilities of pumice in an explosive eruption jet from colour and magnetic mineralogy

In explosive volcanic eruptions, vesicular magma droplets, produced by fragmentation, are propelled into the atmosphere where they are chilled to form pumices. The thermal history of droplets and the permeability of their internal bubble networks determine how much they are deformed in the eruption jet, and hence what information pumices record about the state of the magma at fragmentation. We study these aspects of the `Minoan' plinian eruption of Santorini Volcano by quantifying the rate of oxidation reactions that took place when air entered the hot magma fragments. In our experiments white Minoan pumices were heated for minutes to hours between 600 and 850°C, either in air, or in an atmosphere with an oxygen fugacity at the Ni–NiO buffer. Pumices were unchanged by heating at Ni–NiO. Those heated in air often became pink to dark pink, depending on heating time, and their Curie temperatures, as determined by magnetic susceptibility measurements, increased. We use oxidation rates deduced from these experiments, in conjunction with calculations of the rate of conductive cooling and of the rate at which air can enter a pumice, to constrain the conditions experienced by pumices during the eruption. Natural Minoan pumices less than about 5 cm in radius are white, whereas larger ones often have white rims and pink interiors with Curie temperatures higher than those of white material. We infer that small pumices were cooled before being oxidized, and that oxidation of the interiors of large clasts mostly took place during flight, at temperatures within a few tens of degrees of magmatic values. White rims of large pumices, despite being permeable, were cooled before oxidation could occur. Permeability developed in the liquid state, but did not develop early enough, with respect to cooling, or was not large enough to allow extreme oxidation. We give measurements of pumice permeabilities that should be close to magmatic values.     

浮石及其开发利用研究进展

随着非金属矿市场的发展,目前浮石的应用领域正在拓宽和变化,相关研究亦在不断深入之中。本文在总结浮石一般特征和用途基础上,重点介绍了有关浮石气孔构造及相关特性、利用实验等方面研究的一些主要进展。     

冲绳海槽浮岩中岩浆包裹体岩石化学成分特征

系统地分析了冲绳海槽酸性浮岸中玻璃质岩浆包裹体的岩石化学成分，探讨了包裹体的岩石化学成分特征及其在岩浆起源及结晶演化过程中的指示意义，并结合前期及前人工作讨论了冲绳海槽不同岩石类型之间的成因联系及演化关系。结果表明，斑晶结晶时岩浆熔体为钙碱性英安质或流纹质岩浆，是来自地幔的拉斑玄武质岩浆充分结晶分异作用的产物。尽管各斑晶矿物中玻璃质岩浆包裹体的化学成分有所差异，但根据包裹体的岩石化学成分特征可以断定包裹体所代表的岩浆具有同源性，其差异只是反映了岩浆结晶演化的不同阶段或不同矿物结晶期，为进一步详细研究浮岩岩浆的结晶演化过程提供了最直接的资料。对比冲绳海槽酸性浮岩与玄武岩等不同岩石类型的岩石化学特征，可以证明这些岩石类型之间存在着密切的成因联系，包括同源性与继承性，它们分别是岩浆作用不同阶段的产物。另外，包裹体的成分主要取决于包裹体所在斑晶矿物的种类与成分，分析中未发现岩石化学性质明显不同的岩浆包裹体共存的现象，也没有在中酸性矿物中发现基性玻璃质岩浆包裹体，因此可以推断基本不存在不同性质的岩浆之间的直接混合作用。     

The Quetzalapa Pumice: a voluminous late Pleistocene rhyolite deposit in the eastern Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt

The study area is located in the east part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, in the Las Cumbres Volcanic Complex (LCVC) which lies between two large stratovolcanoes: Pico de Orizaba (5700 m a.s.l.) to the south, and Cofre de Perote (4200 m a.s.l.) to the NNE. The most conspicuous structure of the LCVC is a 4-km-diameter circular crater with a dacitic dome in the center, which constitutes the remains of a destroyed stratovolcano.The Quetzalapa Pumice (QP) was produced by a plinian eruption that was dated by the ¹⁴C method at 20 000 yr. BP. The eruptive sequence consists predominantly of pumice fall deposits and scarce intra-plinian pyroclastic flow deposits, which crop out on the west flank of the LCVC. The absence of post-plinian ignimbrite deposits is striking.The deposits are well sorted, clast-supported with reverse grading at the base, with a medium to high accessory lithics content. The maximum average thickness of the deposit in the proximal areas is about 15 m and has been divided into three members: the Basal Member (BM), 2 m thick with four submembers (BMf₁, BMf₂, BMf₃, and BMafl), the Intermediate Member (IM), 10 m thick with two submembers (IMpf and IMaf), and the Upper Member (UM), 3 m thick with four submembers (UMpl, UMsdf, UMwaf, and UMpls).The predominant component of the fall deposits is a white, highly vesiculated pumice with 71% SiO₂ content. Plagioclase is the most abundant mineral followed by 1–3-mm-long biotite phenocrysts. The accessory lithics are lavas mostly of andesitic composition. Their abundance increases toward the uppermost levels of the sequence.We calculate a minimum volume of 8.4 km³ (2.22 km³ dense rock equivalent), for the entire QP deposit. Isopach and isopleth maps show that the IM deposit has an elongated distribution with a NNE–SSW direction, whereas the UM deposit has a circular distribution.We estimate a maximum eruptive column height for the IM of 20 km. Field studies and isopach and isopleth maps indicate that the eruptive column was affected by a strong wind.Previous studies located the QP source in the Las Cumbres crater. However, based on the isopach and isopleth distribution, and the lack of pumice fall deposits inside the Las Cumbres crater, we consider that the QP emission center is located on the west flank of the LCVC, and was buried by its own pumice fall deposits. It coincides with an explosion crater called La Capilla formed during the closing phase of the QP eruption.A ‘pumice fountain’ model is proposed to explain the observed sequence of deposits. According to this model, the material was emitted through a ‘hose-type’ conduit during a monogenetic eruption of rhyolitic composition. This kind of volcanic activity is not extensively reported in the literature.     

~5.9 cal ka bp Towada-Chuseri tephra from Towada volcano: a mid-Holocene marker layer from Japan to northeast China

Far-travelled ash layers from explosive volcanic eruptions can provide invaluable marker horizons for dating and correlating regional to global sedimentary archives. Here, we present a new cryptotephra associated with the ~5.9 cal ka bp Towada-Chuseri eruption (To-Cu) in a peat sediment record from northeast China. This tephra exhibits a rhyolitic glass composition that can be distinguished from other widespread tephra layers around the region of Japan and northeast China. Our findings extend the known range of this ash significantly, making it now traceable about 1200 km from its source, Towada volcano, Japan. Notably, this tephra provides an important isochron for synchronising palaeoenvironmental studies during the mid-Holocene period from the western Pacific, central Japan, Japan Sea and northeast China.     

Hydrodynamic behaviour of Taupo 1800a pumice: implications for the sedimentology of remobilized pyroclasts

Abstract Large‐scale explosive eruptions from silicic caldera volcanoes can generate huge volumes of pyroclastic material in terrestrial and marine environments. On land, erosion, remobilization and redeposition of this debris is predominantly carried out by running water in the form of precipitation run‐off. Conversely, in the submarine realm, both primary emplacement and subsequent remobilization are influenced by the presence of water as a transporting medium. Despite this, and the number of studies devoted to volcaniclastic sedimentation, relatively little attention has been paid to the hydrodynamic behaviour of the particles themselves, which ought to underpin any assessment of transport or depositional process. This is crucial, as many volcanic particles exhibit variable density: according to composition and as functions of differing degrees of vesiculation and the extent to which pore space is filled by water and/or gaseous phases during transport and deposition. Investigation of the physical and hydrodynamic properties of Taupo 1800a pumice, with reference to sedimentary facies developed during the eruption aftermath, shows that, although buoyant when dry, when sufficiently waterlogged, cool pumice clasts will sink and behave more like quartzo‐feldspathic material. Saturation is apparently achieved by a combination of rapid capillary flooding of large interconnected vesicles and slower diffusional air–water exchange in smaller pores. Low saturated pumice densities result in lower settling velocities and easier entrainment by tractional currents than those for equivalent‐sized quartzo‐feldspathic or crystal/lithic particles. Fine‐grained pumice is conversely harder to entrain because of the frictional interlocking of angular particles. These unusual properties of temporary buoyancy, variable saturation, low density and size‐dependent cohesion complicate interpretations of the depositional setting and energy of pumiceous sediments and give rise to several unique facies. These findings have implications not only for the analysis of remobilized pyroclastic facies in terrestrial and marine environments, but also for primary depositional processes during subaqueous explosive volcanism.     

天然浮石粉水泥土力学性质的试验研究

利用内蒙古丰富的天然浮石矿产资源,将天然浮石粉作为外掺剂应用于水泥土改性研究,可有效地改善水泥土的力学性质,明显增强水泥土的耐久性。通过室内试验, 以水泥掺量15%为基准,分别掺入2%、4%、6%、8%、10%等不同掺量的天然浮石粉,养护龄期分别为7 d、28 d、60 d、90 d。试验结果表明：天然浮石粉水泥土无侧限抗压强度随着天然浮石粉掺量的增加而增大。当掺量达到8%时,强度达到了峰值,之后随浮石粉掺量的增加,强度不再增长;天然浮石粉水泥土强度随着龄期的增长而增大,90 d强度是28 d强度的1.52~1.6倍,后期强度增长很大;在不利的冻融循环条件下,天然浮石粉水泥土强度增长规律与冻前基本相同,水泥土强度虽然劣化,但比不掺浮石粉的情况均有很大程度的改善;浮石粉水泥土的渗透系数（对数）随着养护龄期的增长而减小,抗渗能力逐渐增强,特别是在最初的28 d以内,其渗透系数降低较快。     

Experimental Crystallization of a High-K Arc Basalt: the Golden Pumice, Stromboli Volcano (Italy)

The near-liquidus crystallization of a high-K basalt (PST-9golden pumice, 49·4 wt % SiO₂, 1·85 wt % K₂O,7·96 wt % MgO) from the present-day activity of Stromboli(Aeolian Islands, Italy) has been experimentally investigatedbetween 1050 and 1175°C, at pressures from 50 to 400 MPa,for melt H₂O concentrations between 1·2 and 5·5wt % and NNO ranging from –0·07 to +2·32.A drop-quench device was systematically used. AuPd alloys wereused as containers in most cases, resulting in an average Feloss of 13% for the 34 charges studied. Major crystallizingphases include clinopyroxene, olivine and plagioclase. Fe–Tioxide was encountered in a few charges. Clinopyroxene is theliquidus phase at 400 MPa down to at least 200 MPa, followedby olivine and plagioclase. The compositions of all major phasesand glass vary systematically with the proportion of crystals.Ca in clinopyroxene sensitively depends on the H₂O concentrationof the coexisting melt, and clinopyroxene Mg-number shows aweak negative correlation with NNO. The experimental data allowthe liquidus surface of PST-9 to be defined. When used in combinationwith melt inclusion data, a consistent set of pre-eruptive pressures(100–270 MPa), temperatures (1140–1160°C) andmelt H₂O concentrations is obtained. Near-liquidus phase equilibriaand clinopyroxene Ca contents require melt H₂O concentrations<2·7–3·6 and 3 ± 1 wt %, respectively,overlapping with the maximum frequency of glass inclusion data(2·5–2·7 wt % H₂O). For olivine to crystallizeclose to the liquidus, pressures close to 200 MPa are needed.Redox conditions around NNO = +0·5 are inferred fromclinopyroxene compositions. The determined pre-eruptive parametersrefer to the storage region of golden pumice melts, which islocated at a depth of around 7·5 km, within the metamorphicarc crust. Golden pumice melts ascending from their storagezone along an adiabat will not experience crystallization ontheir way to the surface. KEY WORDS: basalt; pumice; experiment; phase equilibria; Stromboli     

长白山天池火山天文峰黄色浮岩的岩相学与显微结构特征

在长白山天池火口天文峰内壁发育数十m厚的爆炸式喷发堆积物,颜色各异.其中1套规模较大的黄色中弱熔结的粗粒浮岩空降堆积,堆积物碎屑粒径大,气孔大量发育,含有大粒径粗面岩岩块.文中对采于该套黄色堆积物的样品进行了全岩成分和显微结构特征分析,并与“千年大喷发”的空降浮岩进行了对比.研究结果表明:1)黄色浮岩与千年喷发的浮岩一样,属于碱性流纹岩,比千年喷发的灰白色浮岩略偏基性,可能由同一岩浆演化而来;2)黄色浮岩呈泡沫状,由不同大小的气孔、气孔壁和少量斑晶组成,部分较大的圆形气孔沿斑晶周围发育,呈串珠状排列,流动特征明显,黄色浮岩的斑晶类型和气孔结构与千年喷发的灰白色浮岩类似;3)已有扫描电镜和X射线衍射分析结果显示黄色浮岩中的长石参数与其他浮岩明显不同,可能是独立火山喷发事件的产物.上述岩石学证据表明,该套黄色堆积物是火山爆炸式喷发作用形成的浮岩空降堆积.     

火山气体喷发量的一种计算方法——以汉诺坝浮岩为例

火山气体喷发量的一种计算方法———以汉诺坝浮岩为例夏成朱永峰王海华鲍景新（北京大学地质系,北京１００８７１）关键词浮岩二相分流气体喷发量以火山方式将地幔气体排出是地球内部向地表输出的一条重要途径。火山喷发过程中流体（岩浆及地幔气体）带出大量动能,喷出...