Converted phases analysis of the Campi Flegrei caldera using active seismic data

We applied a type of depth migration for converted seismic phases to active and passive seismic data sets from the Campi Flegrei volcanic region in southern Italy. The migration method is based on the diffraction summation migration technique. Travel times to grid points in a volume were calculated in smooth P and S-velocity models and trace energy near the calculated converted phase time was stacked over multiple sources at one receiver. Weighting factors based on Snell's Law at an arbitrarily oriented local interface were applied to better focus trace energy. PP reflection images from the active data set provide increased detail to images of the caldera rim from other studies. The migrated images also show features near 2–3 km in depth beneath Pozzuoli City, which may be associated with an over-pressured gas volume, as suggested by other geophysical investigations. Possible deeper features near 4 km depth may be related to the presence of the carbonate basement or may image a previously undetected feature, such as a small body of strongly thermometamorphosed volcanic rock. The current passive earthquake data set from the 1984 ground uplift episode was not well suited to the converted phases analysis due to narrow P–S windows and high noise levels in the traces. However, two stations provide confirmation and extension of imaged features in the active data.     

Kaguyak dome field and its Holocene caldera,Alaska Peninsula

Kaguyak Caldera lies in a remote corner of Katmai National Park, 375 km SW of Anchorage, Alaska. The 2.5-by-3-km caldera collapsed ~ 5.8 ± 0.2 ka (¹⁴C age) during emplacement of a radial apron of poorly pumiceous crystal-rich dacitic pyroclastic flows (61–67% SiO₂). Proximal pumice-fall deposits are thin and sparsely preserved, but an oxidized coignimbrite ash is found as far as the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, 80 km southwest. Postcaldera events include filling the 150-m-deep caldera lake, emplacement of two intracaldera domes (61.5–64.5% SiO₂), and phreatic ejection of lakefloor sediments onto the caldera rim. CO₂ and H₂S bubble up through the lake, weakly but widely. Geochemical analyses (n = 148), including pre-and post-caldera lavas (53–74% SiO₂), define one of the lowest-K arc suites in Alaska. The precaldera edifice was not a stratocone but was, instead, nine contiguous but discrete clusters of lava domes, themselves stacks of rhyolite to basalt exogenous lobes and flows. Four extracaldera clusters are mid-to-late Pleistocene, but the other five are younger than 60 ka, were truncated by the collapse, and now make up the steep inner walls. The climactic ignimbrite was preceded by ~ 200 years by radial emplacement of a 100-m-thick sheet of block-rich glassy lava breccia (62–65.5% SiO₂). Filling the notches between the truncated dome clusters, the breccia now makes up three segments of the steep caldera wall, which beheads gullies incised into the breccia deposit prior to caldera formation. They were probably shed by a large lava dome extruding where the lake is today.     

试论雁荡山岩石地貌

雁荡山岩石地貌由叠嶂、方山、石门、柱峰、锐峰、岩洞、天生桥和峡谷、涧溪、瀑、潭、湖等岩石地貌组合而成。其形成的地质学、岩石学基础是白垩破火山岩相与构造。不同类型地貌景观反映了这一破火山构造。断裂切割、重力崩塌与流水侵蚀是形成此类地貌的主要外动力地质作用。雁荡山岩石地貌在形态、成因和审美学意义上均有别于我国砂砾岩岩石地貌、碳酸岩岩石地貌和花岗岩岩石地貌。雁荡山地貌可作为流纹质火山岩地貌的代表。     

Shear wave velocities and primary influencing factors of Campi Flegrei–Neapolitan deposits

The Campi Flegrei caldera (Italy) has been the site of intense seismic activity over the past decades. This area is densely populated and includes important towns such as Napoli with historical sites and supporting many industries. For the proper use and management of the region, the evaluation of the dynamic properties of near-surface rocks is necessary.

The volcanological pattern has been reconstructed from the lithostratigraphies of several drillings. The most interesting and widespread pyroclastic products are the pozzolana deposit (soil) and the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff (rock). Both pozzolana and tuff products are covered by recent eluvial and coastal sandy deposits and younger volcanic products (<12 000 years). The characteristic ranges of the shear wave velocity (V_s) of the Campi Flegrei–Neapolitan soils and tuffs are defined and the primary influencing factors are evaluated. For the sandy deposits, the results show that eluvial and lacustral products have lower shear wave velocities than coastal products. For the volcanic products younger than 12 000 years b.p. the influence of vertical pressure is emphasized. As regards the pozzolana deposit (soil) and the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff (rock), a major influencing factor is shown by the textural characteristics and the different hardening degrees as a consequence of the diagenetic processes. The scattering of the V_s velocities for the same formation is so wide that only the variability ranges can be individuated. These results suggest a need to carry out detailed V_s measurements or, at least, to make a parametric study of the effect of the V_s ranges on seismic response analysis in order to give safe building codes.     

Origin and Evolution of Silicic Magmatism at Yellowstone Based on Ion Microprobe Analysis of Isotopically Zoned Zircons

The origin of large-volume Yellowstone ignimbrites and smaller-volumeintra-caldera lavas requires shallow remelting of enormous volumesof variably ¹⁸O-depleted volcanic and sub-volcanic rocks alteredby hydrothermal activity. Zircons provide probes of these processesas they preserve older ages and inherited ¹⁸O values. This studypresents a high-resolution, oxygen isotope examination of volcanismat Yellowstone using ion microprobe analysis with an averageprecision of ± 0·2 and a 10 µm spot size.We report 357 analyses of cores and rims of zircons, and isotopeprofiles of 142 single zircons in 11 units that represent majorYellowstone ignimbrites, and post-caldera lavas. Many zirconsfrom these samples were previously dated in the same spots bysensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP), and all zirconswere analyzed for oxygen isotope ratios in bulk as a functionof grain size by laser fluorination. We additionally reportoxygen isotope analyses of quartz crystals in three units. Theresults of this work provide the following new observations.(1) Most zircons from post-caldera low-¹⁸O lavas are zoned,with higher ¹⁸O values and highly variable U–Pb ages inthe cores that suggest inheritance from pre-caldera rocks exposedon the surface. (2) Many of the higher-¹⁸O zircon cores in theselavas have U–Pb zircon crystallization ages that postdatecaldera formation, but pre-date the eruption age by 10–20kyr, and represent inheritance of unexposed post-caldera sub-volcanicunits that have ¹⁸O similar to the Lava Creek Tuff. (3) Youngand voluminous 0·25–0·1 Ma intra-calderalavas, which represent the latest volcanic activity at Yellowstone,contain zircons with both high-¹⁸O and low-¹⁸O cores surroundedby an intermediate-¹⁸O rim. This implies inheritance of a varietyof rocks from high-¹⁸O pre-caldera and low-¹⁸O post-calderaunits, followed by residence in a common intermediate-¹⁸O meltprior to eruption. (4) Major ignimbrites of Huckleberry Ridge,and to a lesser extent the Lava Creek and Mesa Falls Tuffs,contain zoned zircons with lower-¹⁸O zircon cores, suggestingthat melting and zircon inheritance from the low-¹⁸O hydrothermallyaltered carapace was an important process during formation ofthese large magma bodies prior to caldera collapse. (5) The¹⁸O zoning in the majority of zircon core–rim interfacesis step-like rather than smoothly inflected, suggesting thatprocesses of solution–reprecipitation were more importantthan intra-crystalline oxygen diffusion. Concave-downward zirconcrystal size distributions support dissolution of the smallercrystals and growth of rims on larger crystals. This study suggeststhat silicic magmatism at Yellowstone proceeded via rapid, shallow-levelremelting of earlier erupted and hydrothermally altered Yellowstonesource rocks and that pulses of basaltic magma provided theheat for melting. Each post-caldera Yellowstone lava representsan independent homogenized magma batch that was generated rapidlyby remelting of source rocks of various ages and ¹⁸O values.The commonly held model of a single, large-volume, super-solidus,mushy-state magma chamber that is periodically reactivated andproduces rhyolitic offspring is not supported by our data. Rather,the source rocks for the Yellowstone volcanism were cooled belowthe solidus, hydrothermally altered by heated meteoric watersthat caused low ¹⁸O values, and then remelted in distinct pocketsby intrusion of basic magmas. Each packet of new melt inheritedzircons that retained older age and ¹⁸O values. This interpretationmay have significance for interpreting seismic data for crustallow-velocity zones in which magma mush and solidified areasexperiencing hydrothermal circulation occur side by side. Newbasalt intrusions into this solidifying batholith are requiredto form the youngest volcanic rocks that erupted as independentrhyolitic magmas. We also suggest that the Lava Creek Tuff magmawas already an uneruptable mush by the time of the first post-calderaeruption after 0·1 Myr of the climactic caldera-formingeruption. KEY WORDS: Yellowstone; oxygen isotopes; geochronology; isotope zoning; zircon; U–Pb dating; caldera; rhyolite; ion microprobe     

Magmatic Differentiation at an Island-arc Caldera: Okmok Volcano, Aleutian Islands, Alaska

Okmok volcano is situated on oceanic crust in the central Aleutianarc and experienced large (15 km³) caldera-forming eruptionsat 12 000 years BP and 2050 years BP. Each caldera-forming eruptionbegan with a small Plinian rhyodacite event followed by theemplacement of a dominantly andesitic ash-flow unit, whereaseffusive inter- and post-caldera lavas have been more basaltic.Phenocryst assemblages are composed of olivine + pyroxene +plagioclase ± Fe–Ti oxides and indicate crystallizationat 1000–1100°C at 0·1–0·2 GPain the presence of 0–4% H₂O. The erupted products followa tholeiitic evolutionary trend and calculated liquid compositionsrange from 52 to 68 wt % SiO₂ with 0·8–3·3wt % K₂O. Major and trace element models suggest that the moreevolved magmas were produced by 50–60% in situ fractionalcrystallization around the margins of the shallow magma chamber.Oxygen and strontium isotope data (¹⁸O 4·4–4·9,⁸⁷Sr/ ⁸⁶Sr 0·7032–0·7034) indicate interactionwith a hydrothermally altered crustal component, which led toelevated thorium isotope ratios in some caldera-forming magmas.This compromises the use of uranium–thorium disequilibria[(²³⁰Th/ ²³⁸U) = 0·849–0·964] to constrainthe time scales of magma differentiation but instead suggeststhat the age of the hydrothermal system is 100 ka. Modellingof the diffusion of strontium in plagioclase indicates thatmany evolved crystal rims formed less than 200 years prior toeruption. This addition of rim material probably reflects theremobilization of crystals from the chamber margins followingreplenishment. Basaltic recharge led to the expansion of themagma chamber, which was responsible for the most recent caldera-formingevent. KEY WORDS: Okmok; caldera; U-series isotopes; Sr-diffusion; time scales; Aleutian arc     

Radon variation in groundwaters in the Campi Flegrei Caldera (southern Italy) during and after the 1982–1984 bradyseismic crisis

Groundwater Rn concentration has been monitored at several sites in the Campi Flegrei Caldera since the time of the last episode of bradyseismic activity. The results concerning the period 1983–88 indicate that the Rn concentration is spatially variable due to the different chemico-physical characteristics of the waters or structural features. Rn concentration is generally influenced by the long-term changes of meteorological factors. Rainfalls appear to affect the Rn content of the most superficial aquifers. Several short-term spike-like Rn anomalies have been detected both during and after the period of the bradyseismic crisis. They do not show correlation with temporal changes of the pH and/or temperature of waters. A systematic correlation between Rn anomalies and episodic strong rainfall events is also absent. Furthermore, a clear relationship between Rn spikes and both uplift velocity changes and seismic activity has not been found.The overall evidence makes it very difficult to understand the temporal changes of groundwater Rn concentration that have occurred during and after the 1982–84 bradyseismic crisis. Nevertheless, a clear causal relationship between Rn concentration and the dynamics of the bradyseism is observed in some monitored sites. Its appearance may have been favoured by the low Rn concentration in the groundwaters during periods of quiescent activity.     

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.     

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.