The origin and evolution of breakouts in a cooling-limited rhyolite lava flow
Understanding lava flow processes is important for interpreting existing lavas and for hazard assessments. Although substantial progress has been made for basaltic lavas our understanding of silicic lava flows has seen limited recent advance. In particular, the formation of lava flow breakouts, which represent a characteristic process in cooling-limited basaltic lavas, but has not been described in established models of rhyolite emplacement. Using data from the 2011–2012 rhyolite eruption of Puyehue-Cordón Caulle, Chile, we develop the first conceptual framework to classify breakout types in silicic lavas, and to describe the processes involved in their progressive growth, inflation, and mo…
Dynamics of mild strombolian activity on Mt. Etna
Abstract Here we report the first measurements of gas masses released during a rare period of strombolian activity at the Bocca Nuova crater, Mt. Etna, Sicily. UV camera data acquired for 195 events over an ≈ 27 minute period (27th July 2012) indicate erupted SO2 masses ranging from ≈ 0.1 to ≈ 14 kg per event, with corresponding total gas masses of ≈ 0.1 to 74 kg. Thus, the activity was characterised by more frequent and smaller events than typically associated with strombolian activity on volcanoes such as Stromboli. Events releasing larger measured gas masses were followed by relatively long repose periods before the following burst, a feature not previously reported on from gas measureme…
Exceptional mobility of an advancing rhyolitic obsidian flow at Cordón Caulle volcano in Chile
The emplacement mechanisms of rhyolitic lava flows are enigmatic and, despite high lava viscosities and low inferred effusion rates, can result in remarkably, laterally extensive (30 km) flow fields. Here we present the first observations of an active, extensive rhyolitic lava flow field from the 2011-2012 eruption at Cordón Caulle, Chile. We combine high-resolution four-dimensional flow front models, created using automated photo reconstruction techniques, with sequential satellite imagery. Late-stage evolution greatly extended the compound lava flow field, with localized extrusion from stalled, ~35 m-thick flow margins creating80 breakout lobes. In January 2013, flow front advance continu…
Shallow vent architecture during hybrid explosive-effusive activity at Cordón Caulle (Chile, 2011-12): Evidence from direct observations and pyroclast textures
International audience; In June 2011, an eruption of rhyolite magma began at the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic complex, southern Chile. By January 2012, explosive activity had declined from sustained pyroclastic (Plinian to sub-Plinian) fountaining to mixed gas and ash jetting punctuated by Vulcanian blasts. This explosive activity was accompanied by synchronous effusion of obsidian lava in a hybrid explosive-effusive eruption. Fortuitous climatic conditions permitted ground-based observation and video recording of transient vent dynamics as well as real-time collection of proximal juvenile ash as it sedimented from the active plume. The main eruptive vent complex and site of lava effusion…
Post-fragmentation vesiculation timescales in hydrous rhyolitic bombs from Chaitén volcano
Abstract Bubble nucleation and growth dynamics exert a primary control on the explosivity of volcanic eruptions. Numerous theoretical and experimental studies aim to capture the complex process of melt vesiculation, whereas textural studies use vesicle populations to reconstruct magma behaviour. However, post-fragmentation vesiculation in rhyolitic bombs can create final quenched bubble (vesicle) textures that are not representative of the nature of fragmenting magma within the conduit. To examine bubble growth in hydrous rhyolitic bombs, we have used heated stage microscopy to directly observe vesiculation of a Chaiten rhyolite melt (with an initial dissolved water content of ~0.95 wt %) a…