Evolving turbidite systems on a deforming basin floor, Tabernas, SE Spain

The Tabernas‐Sorbas basin was a narrow, east‐west trending, marine trough of Late Miocene age. Sediment gravity flow deposits dominate the basin fill and provide a record of changing bathymetry in response to tectonically induced sea bed deformation. A reanalysis of the western end of the basin in the vicinity of Tabernas establishes an upward evolution involving: (1) sand‐starved marls that were incised by axial channels recording a period of bypass, during which sand deposition took place in a depocentre further to the east; (2) punctuated infilling of the incisions, locally by high‐sinuosity embedded channels. Channel filling is related to a gradient reduction, which presaged collapse of the axial slope as the depocentre began to migrate westwards into the Tabernas area; (3) draping of the earlier incision fills by laterally extensive sheet turbidites, which were initially contained in structurally controlled depressions. These ‘deeps’ opened up as active faults propagated through the former axial slope. Flow containment is inferred on account of the unusual structure of the sheet sandstone beds, complex palaeoflow relationships and thick mudstone caps; (4) fault‐controlled topography was subsequently healed, and further sheet turbidites showing evidence of longer range containment and progressive slope onlap were emplaced. These record mixed supply from both seismically trigged ‘axial’ failures and a reactivated, fault‐controlled slope building out from the northern margin of the basin. Flows traversing the trough floor were strongly reflected off slopes marking the southern limit of the basin. The studied succession is capped by (5) the Gordo megabed event, a large, probably seismically triggered, failure which blanketed the basin floor, demonstrating an enlarged but still contained basin now devoid of significant intrabasinal fault topography. Tectonics played a key role in driving the evolution of the turbidite systems in this basin. Deformation of the basin floor had an important impact on gradients, slope stability, bathymetry and the ability of flows to bypass along the trough axis. Westward migration of the depocentre into the Tabernas area led to a change from incision and bypass to conduit backfilling to flow containment, as fault‐induced subsidence generated a ‘sump’, which trapped flows moving along the basin axis.     

Explosive activity and generation mechanisms of pyroclastic flows at Arenal volcano, Costa Rica between 1987 and 2001

Explosive activity at Arenal and associated tephra fall that has occurred over the 14-year period from 1987–2001 is described. Explosions have been notably variable in both frequency and size. A marked decrease in both frequency and quantity of tephra fallout occurred in early 1998 until the end of 2001. Grainsize distributions of cumulative tephra samples collected once a month are typically bimodal. Aggregation causing premature fallout of fine ash and possibly fallout from ash plumes produced by pyroclastic flows are considered responsible for the bimodality of fallout. Scanning electron microscopy of the glass component of tephra from single explosions show predominantly blocky and blocky/fluidal clast types, interpreted as being the product of vulcanian type explosions. Fragmentation of a mainly rigid, degassed magma body, and a minor molten component is inferred for these explosions. Pyroclastic flows were produced either associated with the larger explosions by a mechanism of column collapse (1987–1990), or unrelated to explosions by partial collapse of the crater wall (1993, 1998, 2000, 2001). Pyroclastic flow activity has migrated from west to north during the period reported. Pyroclastic flow deposits are variable in the quantity of juvenile material and any associated surge component. Large juvenile blocks were partially molten on emplacement and many have a typical cauliform texture. Blocks with both juvenile and lithic textures indicate that at the summit magma was in intimate contact with the pre-existing edifice, rather than as a simple open crater or lava pool. Crater wall collapse may have been promoted by the reduction in explosive activity, which has increased the lava accumulation at the summit and in turn increased instability of the summit region. Thus although explosive activity has waned, if the lava output is maintained, the hazard of pyroclastic flows is likely to continue.Editorial responsibility: R. Cioni     

Volcanic tremor during eruptions: Temporal characteristics,scaling and constraints on conduit size and processes

We investigated characteristics of eruption tremor observed for 24 eruptions at 18 volcanoes based on published reports. In particular, we computed reduced displacements (D_R) to normalize the data and examined tremor time histories. We observed: (a) maximum D_R is approximately proportional to the square root of the cross sectional area of the vent, however, with lower than expected slope; (b) about one half of the cases show approximately exponential increases in D_R at the beginnings of eruptions, on a scale of minutes to hours; (c) one half of the cases show a sustained maximum level of tremor; (d) more than 90% of the cases show approximately exponential decay at the ends of eruptions, also on a scale of minutes to hours; and (e) exponential increases, if they occur, are commonly associated with the first large stage of eruptions. We estimate the radii of the vents using several methods and reconcile the topographic estimates, which are systematically too large, with those obtained from D_R itself and theoretical considerations. We compare scaling of tremor D_R with that for explosions and find that explosions have large absolute pressures and scale with vent radius squared, whereas tremor consists of pressure fluctuations that have lower amplitudes than the absolute pressure of explosions, and the scaling is different. We explore several methods to determine the appropriate scaling. This characteristic helps us to distinguish the type of eruptions: explosive (Vulcanian or Strombolian) eruptions versus sustained or continuous ash (e.g. Plinian) eruptions. Average eruption discharge, estimated from the total volume of tephra and the total duration of eruption tremor, is well correlated with peak discharge calculated from cross sectional area of the vent and velocity of volcanic ejecta. These results suggest similar scaling between different eruption types and the overall usefulness of monitoring tremor for evaluating volcanic activity.     

The application of size distribution equations to rock breakage by explosives

SummaryThe Application of Size Distribution Equations to Rock Breakage by Explosives Size distribution equations can be used to describe the degree of fragmentation produced by explosive rock breakage. This paper describes the results of small scale blasting experiments and the derivation of equations to relate size distributions to blasting design parameters. The application and relevance of these techniques to large scale blasting operations is also discussed.With 7 Figures