Characterization of low-temperature pyroclastic surges that occurred in the northeastern Japan arc during the late 19th century

Three eruption events occurring in the central part of the northeastern Japan arc were investigated and compared: Adatara AD1900, Zao AD1895, and Bandai AD1888. Producing low-temperature (LT) pyroclastic surges, these events are characterized by steam eruptions ejecting no juvenile material. These eruptions' well-preserved eruptive deposits and facies facilitated granulometric analyses of the beds, which revealed the transport and deposition mechanisms of LT surges. Combining these results with those of investigations of documents reporting the events, we correlated each eruption to the relevant individual bed and reconstructed the LT surge development sequence. Important findings related to the transport and deposition modes are the following. (1) Bed sets consisting of thin, laminated ash and its overlying thick massive tuff were recognized in the Adatara 1900 proximal deposits. The bed set was probably produced by a strong wind that discharged and propagated quickly from the vent (leading wind) and a gravitationally segregated, highly concentrated flow originated from the eruption column, within a discrete eruption episode. A similar combination might have occurred during the first surge of the Bandai 1888 event. (2) Comparison of the proximal and distal facies for the largest eruption of Adatara 1900 event indicates that the initial turbulence of the eruption cloud decreased rapidly, transforming into a density-stratified surge with a highly concentrated part near the base. Similar surges occurred in the climatic stage of Zao 1895. (3) Bandai 1888 ejecta indicate massive beds deposited preferentially at topographic lows. Co-occurring planar beds showed no topographic affection, as indicated by the topographic blocking of a stratified surge. The observed facies–massive tuffs, crudely stratified tuffs, and thin bedded tuffs–are compatible with those for high-temperature surges. At Bandai, absence of dune bedded tuffs and commonly poorer sorting in the LT surge deposits might be attributable to poor thermally induced turbulence of eruption columns. Condensation of vapor in the surges might have contributed to the poor sorting. The estimated explosion energies were 6 × 10¹³ J for Adatara AD1900, 6.5 × 10¹⁰ J for Zao AD1895, and 6.5 × 10¹⁵ J for Bandai AD1888, implying that the three events were hydrothermal eruptions with distinctive eruptive mechanisms. Regarding eruption sources, the Adatara 1900 event was caused solely by thermal energy of the hydrothermal fluid, although magma intrusion likely triggered evolution of hydrothermal systems at Zao in 1895. Steam eruptions in the Bandai 1888 event occurred simultaneously with sudden exposure of the hydrothermal system, whose triggers require no internal energy.     

Vesuvius: A historical approach to the 1631 eruption “cold data” from the analysis of three contemporary treatises

The 1631 Vesuvius eruption is one of its best known and most studied of its type. However, the historical approach performed within the framework of the Exploris project highlighted new evidence from previously unused or unknown historical sources. These consist of three treatises that were contemporary to the event; although written in Latin, they have been fully translated and analysed. To guarantee systematic use and open access to the large amount of information they contain, they have been provided as a small database. These treatises have provided new information on phenomena that preceded and accompanied the eruption of 1631, making possible the formation of a complex chronological profile, starting from around 6 months before the eruption. The anthropic impact is also outlined. The method applied has produced a chronology of “cold data”, which are not interpreted from the volcanological standpoint, but only derived directly from the analysed history and sequence of the texts. The analysis of the three treatises has not, however, solved all of the problems connected with the detailed knowledge of the event in 1631. Indeed, problems of two kinds persist: a) linguistic correspondence between the volcanological terms of today and those used in the texts; b) the lack of precision of the measures indicated. Here, the main results obtained from this analysis method are presented, along with a discussion of their limitations and some new perspectives.     

内蒙古东部晚第四纪玛珥式火山的堆积序列及喷发过程研究

随着全球火山研究的深入,地质学家在大多数火山群中均发现了特殊成因的玛珥式火山。以低平火山口和低矮锥体著称的玛珥式火山主要由具有爬升层理、平行层理、大型低角度交错层理等结构构造的基浪堆积物组成,是火山喷发演化过程研究的重要对象。近年来,在内蒙古东部的诺敏河、阿尔山-柴河和阿巴嘎火山群中也先后发现了典型的玛珥式火山及基浪堆积物。本文从野外火山地质特征着手,以火山学与火山地质学理论为指导,结合国内外玛珥式火山的研究成果,对内蒙古东部晚第四纪玛珥式火山的分布、产物和结构构造等火山地质特征进行了归纳总结,将其大致划分为3个喷发期次,分别是以基浪堆积物为主的射汽-岩浆爆发、以降落-溅落堆积物为主的岩浆喷发和以碱性橄榄玄武岩为主的岩浆溢流期次。复合火山的活动时代总体属于晚更新世,其中玛珥式火山的形成时代为晚更新世早中期。通过分析研究区的地层、火山产物和区域断裂构造等地质特征,推断射汽-岩浆爆发的深度较浅,并进一步探讨了玛珥式火山的成因机制,模拟其喷发演化过程,认为玛珥式火山与斯通博利式、夏威夷式等类型火山具有继承性演化关系。     

扬子地台东南缘上奥陶统五峰组斑脱岩锆石U-Pb年龄及其地质意义

扬子板块东南缘思南地区上奥陶统顶部—下志留统底部地层中普遍发育一层斑脱岩。选取思南县罗湾沱上奥陶统五峰组剖面进行LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb测年,获得其年龄加权平均值为449±11Ma,限定了该区域奥陶系—志留系地层沉积年龄,为扬子板块东南缘思南地区奥陶系—志留系界线附近的火山喷发事件、地层年代学研究提供了较可靠的证据。449±11Ma的年龄与扬子板块北西大巴山一带的年龄数据高度吻合,但略晚于华北克拉通西南缘奥陶系顶部斑脱岩的年龄(449.0～465.8Ma)。其所代表的火山活动可能与华夏板块向扬子板块俯冲有关。晚奥陶世—早志留世晚期,多期次的火山喷发事件影响了当时的海洋化学条件、生态圈环境,造成中—晚奥陶世以来的生物灭绝事件及冰川启动。     

Volcanic plumes and wind: Jetstream interaction examples and implications for air traffic

Volcanic plumes interact with the wind at all scales. On smaller scales, wind affects local eddy structure; on larger scales, wind shapes the entire plume trajectory. The polar jets or jetstreams are regions of high [generally eastbound] winds that span the globe from 30 to 60° in latitude, centered at an altitude of about 10 km. They can be hundreds of kilometers wide, but as little as 1 km in thickness. Core windspeeds are up to 130 m/s. Modern transcontinental and transoceanic air routes are configured to take advantage of the jetstream. Eastbound commercial jets can save both time and fuel by flying within it; westbound aircraft generally seek to avoid it.Using both an integral model of plume motion that is formulated within a plume-centered coordinate system (BENT) as well as the Active Tracer High-resolution Atmospheric Model (ATHAM), we have calculated plume trajectories and rise heights under different wind conditions. Model plume trajectories compare well with the observed plume trajectory of the Sept 30/Oct 1, 1994, eruption of Kliuchevskoi Volcano, Kamchatka, Russia, for which measured maximum windspeed was 30–40 m/s at about 12 km. Tephra fall patterns for some prehistoric eruptions of Avachinsky Volcano, Kamchatka, and Inyo Craters, CA, USA, are anomalously elongated and inconsistent with simple models of tephra dispersal in a constant windfield. The Avachinsky deposit is modeled well by BENT using a windspeed that varies with height.Two potentially useful conclusions can be made about air routes and volcanic eruption plumes under jetstream conditions. The first is that by taking advantage of the jetstream, aircraft are flying within an airspace that is also preferentially occupied by volcanic eruption clouds and particles. The second is that, because eruptions with highly variable mass eruption rate pump volcanic particles into the jetstream under these conditions, it is difficult to constrain the tephra grain size distribution and mass loading present within a downwind volcanic plume or cloud that has interacted with the jetstream. Furthermore, anomalously large particles and high mass loadings could be present within the cloud, if it was in fact formed by an eruption with a high mass eruption rate. In terms of interpretation of tephra dispersal patterns, the results suggest that extremely elongated isopach or isopleth patterns may often be the result of eruption into the jetstream, and that estimation of the mass eruption rate from these elongated patterns should be considered cautiously.     

Improved prediction and tracking of volcanic ash clouds

During the past 30 years, more than 100 airplanes have inadvertently flown through clouds of volcanic ash from erupting volcanoes. Such encounters have caused millions of dollars in damage to the aircraft and have endangered the lives of tens of thousands of passengers. In a few severe cases, total engine failure resulted when ash was ingested into turbines and coating turbine blades. These incidents have prompted the establishment of cooperative efforts by the International Civil Aviation Organization and the volcanological community to provide rapid notification of eruptive activity, and to monitor and forecast the trajectories of ash clouds so that they can be avoided by air traffic. Ash-cloud properties such as plume height, ash concentration, and three-dimensional ash distribution have been monitored through non-conventional remote sensing techniques that are under active development. Forecasting the trajectories of ash clouds has required the development of volcanic ash transport and dispersion models that can calculate the path of an ash cloud over the scale of a continent or a hemisphere. Volcanological inputs to these models, such as plume height, mass eruption rate, eruption duration, ash distribution with altitude, and grain-size distribution, must be assigned in real time during an event, often with limited observations. Databases and protocols are currently being developed that allow for rapid assignment of such source parameters. In this paper, we summarize how an interdisciplinary working group on eruption source parameters has been instigating research to improve upon the current understanding of volcanic ash cloud characterization and predictions. Improved predictions of ash cloud movement and air fall will aid in making better hazard assessments for aviation and for public health and air quality.     

Time series analysis of lava flux

We have applied time series analytical techniques to the flux of lava from an extrusive eruption. Tilt data acting as a proxy for flux are used in a case study of the May–August 1997 period of the eruption at Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat. We justify the use of such a proxy by simple calibratory arguments. Three techniques of time series analysis are employed: spectral, spectrogram and wavelet methods. In addition to the well-known ~9-hour periodicity shown by these data, a previously unknown periodic flux variability is revealed by the wavelet analysis as a 3-day cycle of frequency modulation during June–July 1997, though the physical mechanism responsible is not clear. Such time series analysis has potential for other lava flux proxies at other types of volcanoes.     

吉林龙岗四海火山碎屑物粒度分析与地质意义

四海火山灰是龙岗火山群中的一次火山爆发形成的,这次火山爆发形成的玄武质空降堆积物分别组成金龙顶子火山渣锥和位于金龙顶子火山锥以东的、分布于辉南县红旗林场和靖宇县四海林场一带的低缓开阔的火山碎屑席。通过投点得知金龙顶子火山喷发类型为次布里尼式(Sub-Plinian)喷发,反映金龙顶子火山爆发强度很大。四海火山灰空降碎屑物7个样品的粒度累计频率曲线投点分布范围、集中区域均有较好的一致性,累计频率曲线表明碎屑物在空中搬运与沉降时都经过了类似的重力分选作用。近火口缘样品粗粒碎屑含量较高,随着与火口缘距离的增加,粗粒部分含量明显降低,细粒碎屑含量增加趋势明显。龙岗火山区内其它岩渣锥火山碎屑物粒度分布范围明显宽于四海火山灰粒度分布范围,累积频率曲线斜率较为一致。虽然样品距火山口距离均较近,但也出现了细粒富集程度变缓的现象,反映了龙岗火山区其它火山锥喷发强度明显小于四海火山。对比长白山天池火山碎屑物粒度分布特征发现,天池火山空降堆积物粒度分布斜率变化比较均匀,四海火山灰斜率有明显变化;四海火山灰最大粒度小于长白山天池火山空降堆积物,但是粗粒度碎屑物含量较高。细粒度碎屑物部分累计频率曲线上升趋势较缓,说明金龙顶子火山的喷发     

Color-change processes of a plinian pumice and experimental constraints of color-change kinetics in air of an obsidian

Colors of plinian pumices were measured by spectrocolorimetry, and their quantitative color parameters in the L*a*b* color space were determined. A series of heating experiments of obsidian was conducted to simulate the color-change processes of rhyolitic glasses. In these experiments, following three stages of color-change processes were observed. Stage I showed a rapid b* (yellowishness) increase associated with fast dehydration controlled by water diffusivity (D _water). In stage II, a* (reddishness) increase was accompanied by Fe²⁺ decrease. Both a* increase and Fe²⁺ decrease can be simulated by a diffusion model. Obtained diffusivity D _oxidation were about two orders of magnitude smaller than D _water . The a*-value increase after the oxidation in stage III appeared to be quasi-linear with time, indicating the zeroth order reaction corresponding to the formation of hematite-like structures in rhyolitic glasses. The diffusion-limited a* increase model in stage II was applied to a natural plinian pumice fall unit to evaluate time periods of color-change processes through oxidation by air of fragmented rhyolitic materials.