The Ilchulbong tuff cone, Cheju Island, South Korea

The Ilchulbong mount of Cheju Island, South Korea, is an emergent tuff cone of middle Pleistocene age formed by eruption of a vesiculating basaltic magma into shallow seawater. A sedimentological study reveals that the cone sequence can be represented by nine sedimentary facies that are grouped into four facies associations. Facies association I represents steep strata near the crater rim composed mostly of crudely and evenly bedded lapilli tuff and minor inversely graded lapilli tuff. These facies suggest fall-out from tephra finger jets and occasional grain flows, respectively. Facies association II represents flank or base-of-slope deposits composed of lenticular and hummocky beds of massive or backset-stacked deposits intercalated between crudely to thinly stratified lapilli tuffs. They suggest occasional resedimentation of tephra by debris flows and slides during the eruption. Facies association III comprises thin, gently dipping marginal strata, composed of thinly stratified lapilli tuff and tuff. This association results from pyroclastic surges and cosurge falls associated with occasional large-scale jets. Facies association IV comprises a reworked sequence of massive, inversely graded and cross-bedded (gravelly) sandstones. These facies represent post-eruptive reworking of tephra by debris and stream flows. The facies associations suggest that the Ilchulbong tuff cone grew by an alternation of vertical and lateral accumulation. The vertical buildup was accomplished by plastering of wet tephra finger jets. This resulted in oversteepening and periodic failure of the deposits, in which resedimentation contributed to the lateral growth. After the eruption ceased, the cone underwent subaerial erosion and faulting of intracrater deposits. A volcaniclastic apron accumulated with erosion of the original tuff cone; the faulting was caused by subsidence of the subvolcanic basement within the crater.