Formation of the mid-fifteenth century Kuwae caldera (Vanuatu) by an initial hydroclastic and subsequent ignimbritic eruption

In the mid-fifteenth century, one of the largest eruptions of the last 10 000 years occurred in the Central New Hebrides arc, forming the Kuwae caldera (12x6 km). This eruption followed a late maar phase in the pre-caldera edifice, responsible for a series of alternating hydromagmatic deposits and airfall lapilli layers. Tuffs related to caldera formation ( 120 m of deposits on a composite section from the caldera wall) were emitted during two main ignimbritic phases associated with two additional hydromagmatic episodes. The lower hydromagmatic tuffs from the precaldera maar phase are mainly basaltic andesite in composition, but clasts show compositions ranging from 48 to 60% SiO₂. The unwelded and welded ashflow deposits from the ignimbritic phases and the associated intermediate and upper hydromagmatic deposits also show a wide compositional range (60–73% SiO₂), but are dominantly dacitic. This broad compositional range is thought to be due to crystal fractionation. The striking evolution from one eruptive style (hydromagmatic) to the other (magmatic with emission of a large volume of ignimbrites) which occurred either over the tuff series as a whole, or at the beginning of each ignimbritic phase, is the most impressive characteristic of the caldera-forming event. This strongly suggests triggering of the main eruptive phases by magma-water interaction. A three-step model of caldera formation is presented: (1) moderate hydromagmatic (sequences HD 1–4) and magmatic (fallout deposits) activity from a central vent, probably over a period of months or years, affected an area slightly wider than the present caldera. At the end of this stage, intense seismic activity and extrusion of differentiated magma outside the caldera area occurred; (2) unhomogenized dacite was released during a hydromagmatic episode (HD 5). This was immediately followed by two major pyroclastic flows (PFD 1 and 2). The vents spread and intense magma-water interaction at the beginning of this stage decreased rapidly as magma discharge increased. Subsequent collapse of the caldera probably commenced in the southeastern sector of the caldera; (3) dacitic welded tuffs were emplaced during a second main phase (WFD 1–5). At the beginning of this phase, magma-water interaction continued, producing typical hydromagmatic deposits (HD 6). Caldera collapse extended to the northern part of the caldera. Previous C¹⁴ dates and records of explosive volcanism in ice from the south Pole show that the climactic phase of this event occurred in 1452 A.D.     

Construction Problems on the Karstified Limestone Tuffs of Condeixa, Central Portugal: A Case Study

During the excavations for the foundations of a three storey building on the limestone tuffs of Condeixa, Central Portugal, a large dissolution fissure and smaller dissolution voids were found. Since the area has never been the subject of engineering geology investigation, it was decided to evaluate the risk associated with the construction of the building. These limestone tuffs were formed in a continental environment by the precipitation of calcite carried by the water coming from the large limestone body in the east. The precipitated calcite mixed with the terrigenous materials and around trunks and leaves of plants, originating a very heterogeneous and porous ground, which is characteristic of limestone tuffs. The study started with a detailed geological survey followed by a large number of destructive drillings, located essentially under the pad foundations. The results revealed several karstic cavities with serious problems for the building foundations and the structure, and many smaller dissolution cavities, often filled with clayey soils. The ground treatment solutions used included, dental cleaning, filling with concrete or granular material the dissolution structures accessible at the level of the foundation, reinforcement of the footing and the structure of the building and adding a continuous foundation beam to hold the foundations together. The cost of the engineering geology study, site investigation, ground treatment, and the reinforcement of the foundation and building, increased the total construction cost from 2%, at the design stage, to 4.8%.     

Tectonostratigraphic history of the Neogene Maimará basin,Northwest Argentina

This paper presents the tectonostratigraphic evolution of the Maimará Basin and explores the relationship between the clastic sediments and pyroclastic deposits in the basin and the evolution of the adjacent orogeny and magmatic arc. The sedimentary facies in this part of the basin include, in ascending order, an ephemeral fluvial system, a deep braided fluvial system and a medial to distal ephemeral fluvial system. We interpret that Maimará Formation accumulated in a basin that has developed two stages of accumulation. Stage 1 extended from 7 to 6.4 Ma and included accelerated tectonic uplift in the source areas, and it corresponds to the ephemeral fluvial system deposits. Stage 2, which extended from 6.4 to 4.8 Ma, corresponds to a tectonically quiescent period and included the development of the deep braided fluvial system deposits. The contact between the Maimará and Tilcara formations is always characterized by a regional unconformity and, in the study area, also shows pronounced erosion.Rare earth element and other chemical characteristics of the tuff intervals in the Maimará Formation fall into two distinct groups suggesting the tuffs were erupted from two distinct late Miocene source regions. The first and most abundant group has characteristics that best match tuffs erupted from the Guacha, Pacana and Pastos Grandes calderas, which are located 200 and 230 km west of the study area at 22º-23º30′S latitude. The members the second group are chemically most similar to the Merihuaca Ignimbrite from the Cerro Galán caldera 290 km south-southwest of the studied section. The distinctive geochemical characteristics are excellent tools to reconstruct the stratigraphic evolution of the Neogene Maimará basin from 6.4 to 4.8 Ma.     

北半球72 ka BP气候突变事件及其与Toba火山的关系

72 ka BP左右的强降温事件是末次冰期最大的气候突变事件,且同时期发生了第四纪以来最强的火山喷发——Toba火山喷发,后者在此次强降温事件中扮演着什么角色一直是古气候学界研究的热点。对此进行深入的研究,有助于全面评价火山喷发的环境效应,进一步完善末次冰期突变事件的成因机制。系统回顾深海岩芯、极地冰芯、洞穴石笋、黄土、湖泊等古气候载体的研究成果,这些记录对72 ka BP左右的强降温事件和/或Toba火山喷发进行了不同程度的描述,并从不同的角度分析二者的关系。从72 ka BP左右的强降温事件和Toba火山喷发的时间上,以及火山喷发对气候变化影响的机理上看,Toba火山喷发确实对这次强降温事件产生了实质性影响。这个影响在格陵兰冰芯记录中表现得尤为明显,并得到了气候模拟的进一步支持。然而,部分低纬海洋记录研究表明,Toba火山喷发前后气候没有发生显著变化,至少低纬地区的气候不如高纬地区变化明显。古生物研究同时显示出Toba火山喷发并未对其生存环境产生灾难性的影响,由此可见,72 ka BP左右的强降温事件驱动机制及其对Toba火山喷发的响应程度尚存争议。今后的研究应重视提高气候记录分辨率和探测Toba火山喷发证据的研究,从解剖事件的内部结构特征入手,进而建立气候模式与火山效应之间的联系,以此来明确“72 ka事件”驱动机制及其对Toba火山喷发的响应关系。     

Association of phosphate with rhyolite glass in marine Neogene tuffs from Patagonia,Argentina

The precipitation/replacement of Ca‐phosphate is a complex process that commonly takes place during the early diagenesis in marine sediments. The unusual occurrence of shallow marine, early diagenetic phosphatic deposits associated with glassy tuffs in the Neogene Gaiman Formation, in the Chubut Province, Patagonia, Argentina, constitutes a good case example for the study of replacement and precipitation of Ca‐phosphate on an unstable substrate. Isocon diagrams illustrate that chemical changes during glass diagenesis include gains in loss on ignition and Ca, and losses of K. These changes are the result of glass hydration during sea water–glass interaction, together with adsorption and diffusion of ions into the bulk shard; combined, these represent an incipient process of volcanic glass replacement by Ca‐phosphate. Subsequent early diagenetic P enrichment in the pore solutions led to phosphate precipitation, associated with pitting on the glass shards and pumice. The associated development of a reactive surface promoted the incorporation of P and Ca into their margins. Lastly, precipitation of calcium phosphate filled the vesicles and other open cavities, inhibiting further glass dissolution. The high porosity and reactivity of the volcanic glass provided an appropriate substrate for phosphate precipitation, leading to the development of authigenic apatite concretions in the volcanic‐glass bearing strata of the Gaiman Formation. This research is of significance for those concerned with marine phosphatic deposits and sheds light on the processes of early diagenetic phosphate precipitation by replacement of an atypical, unstable substrate like hydrated volcanic glass.     

Records of Toba eruptions in the South China Sea -Chemical characteristics of the glass shards from ODP 1143A

Three layers of volcanic tephra, sampled from ODP 1143 Site in the South China Sea,were observed at the mcd depth of 5.55 m, 42.66 m, and 48.25 m, and named, in this paper, lay ers of A, B, and C, respectively. All of these tephra layers have an average thickness of ca. 2 cm.They were constrained in age of ca. 0.070 Ma, ca. 0.80 Ma, and ca. 1.00 Ma, respectively, by the microbiostratigraphy data. These tephra layers were predominated by volcanic glass shards with a median grain size of 70-75 μm in diameter. Major chemical compositions analyzed by EMPA and comparison with the previous data from other scatter areas suggest that these three layers of tephra can correspond to the three layers of Toba tephra, YTT, OTT, and HDT, respectively, erupt ing during the Quaternary. The occurrence of these tephra layers in the South China Sea implies that the Toba eruptions often occurred in the summer monsoon seasons of the South China Sea during the Quaternary, and that the strength of eruptions was probably stronger than that previously estimated.     

High-precision 40Ar/39Ar dating of pleistocene tuffs and temporal anchoring of the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary

High-precision ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages for a series of proximal tuffs from the Toba super-volcano in Indonesia, and the Bishop Tuff and Lava Creek Tuff B in North America have been obtained. Core from Ocean Drilling Project Site 758 in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean contains discrete tephra layers that we have geochemically correlated to the Young Toba Tuff (73.7 ± 0.3 ka), Middle Toba Tuff (502 ± 0.7 ka) and two eruptions (OTTA and OTTB) related to the Old Toba Tuff (792.4 ± 0.5 and 785.6 ± 0.7 ka, respectively) (⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data reported as full external precision, 1 sigma). Within ODP 758 Termination IX is coincident with OTTB and hence this age tightly constrains the transition from Marine Isotope Stage 19–20 for the Indian Ocean. The core also preserves the location of the Australasian tektites, and the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary with Bayesian age-depth models used to determine the ages of these events, c. 786 and c. 784 ka, respectively. In North America, the Bishop Tuff (766.6 ± 0.4 ka) and Lava Creek Tuff B (627.0 ± 1.5 ka) have quantifiable stratigraphic relationships to the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary. Linear age-depth extrapolation, allowing for uncertainties associated with potential hiatuses in five different terrestrial sections, defines a geomagnetic reversal age of 789 ± 6 ka. Considering our data with respect to the previously published age data for the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary of Sagnotti et al. (2014), we suggest at the level of temporal resolution currently attainable using radioisotopic dating the last reversal of Earths geomagnetic field was isochronous. An overall Matuyama-Brunhes reversal age of 783.4 ± 0.6 ka is calculated, which allowing for inherent uncertainties in the astronomical dating approach, is indistinguishable from the LR04 stack age (780 ± 5 ka) for the geomagnetic boundary. Our high-precision age is 10 ± 2 ka older than the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary age of 773 ± 1 ka, as reported previously by Channell et al. (2010) for Atlantic Ocean records. As ODP 758 features in the LR04 marine stack, the high-precision ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages determined here, as well as the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary age, can be used as temporally accurate and precise anchors for the Pleistocene time scale.     

云南曲靖盆地蔡家冲粗面英安质凝灰岩——扬子克拉通内曲靖深断裂新生代强烈活动的证据

云南曲靖盆地内的蔡家冲火山岩作为扬子克拉通内部深断裂受青藏高原向东南逃逸而影响强度的标志之一,具有重要意义。在该区新发现的新生代火山岩的斑晶成分主要为正长石和少量黑云母,为钾质火山岩(粗面质火山岩);结合火山岩的全岩成分、微量元素分析,确定蔡家冲火山岩为粗面质火山岩(超钾质火山岩),经湖相水解后K、Na等碱质组分部分流失,导致该区火山岩在火山岩分类图解中落入碱质稍低的花岗闪长岩区域,其本质是水解的粗面质火山岩;全岩K/Ar同位素测年显示:火山岩活动时间范围在44.9±0.8~48.4±0.9Ma之间;火山岩下部至上部年龄差大致为3.5Ma,属于古近纪始新世路特阶的产物。该区的新生代火山岩反映出,曲靖深断裂的走滑拉分不仅形成了曲靖、陆良、弥勒、开远等一系列盆地,其活动强度还导致新生代始新世路特阶的蔡家冲组火山岩的喷发,曲靖深断裂同小江深断裂一样,新生代活动显示为超壳深断裂。火山岩显著富集Cd、Pb、Zn等元素,综合考虑东川播卡等地深部发现同时期的富碱侵入岩及金矿床,该区火山岩显示的金矿、铅锌矿的找矿潜力值得关注。曲靖深断裂还与地震活动、热水资源、农业生态环境、油气资源、固体矿产等密切相关,值得深入研究。     

The Relation between the 72 ka BP Event and the Toba Super-eruption

72 ka BP左右的强降温事件是末次冰期最大的气候突变事件,且同时期发生了第四纪以来最强的火山喷发———Toba火山喷发,后者在此次强降温事件中扮演着什么角色一直是古气候学界研究的热点。对此进行深入的研究,有助于全面评价火山喷发的环境效应,进一步完善末次冰期突变事件的成因机制。系统回顾深海岩芯、极地冰芯、洞穴石笋、黄土、湖泊等古气候载体的研究成果,这些记录对72 ka BP左右的强降温事件和/或Toba火山喷发进行了不同程度的描述,并从不同的角度分析二者的关系。从72 ka BP左右的强降温事件和Toba火山喷发的时间上,以及火山喷发对气候变化影响的机理上看,Toba火山喷发确实对这次强降温事件产生了实质性影响。这个影响在格陵兰冰芯记录中表现得尤为明显,并得到了气候模拟的进一步支持。然而,部分低纬海洋记录研究表明,Toba火山喷发前后气候没有发生显著变化,至少低纬地区的气候不如高纬地区变化明显。古生物研究同时显示出Toba火山喷发并未对其生存环境产生灾难性的影响,由此可见,72 kaBP左右的强降温事件驱动机制及其对Toba火山喷发的响应程度尚存争议。今后的研究应重视提高气候记录分辨率和探测Toba火山喷发证据的研究,从解剖事件的内部结构特征入手,进而建立气候模式与火山效应之间的联系,以此来明确＂72 ka事件＂驱动机制及其对Toba火山喷发的响应关系。