Search results for "Pyroclastic rock"

A roadmap for amphibious drilling at the Campi Flegrei caldera: insights from a MagellanPlus workshop

2019

Large calderas are among the Earth's major volcanic features. They are associated with large magma reservoirs and elevated geothermal gradients. Caldera-forming eruptions result from the withdrawal and collapse of the magma chambers and produce large-volume pyroclastic deposits and later-stage deformation related to post-caldera resurgence and volcanism. Unrest episodes are not always followed by an eruption; however, every eruption is preceded by unrest. The Campi Flegrei caldera (CFc), located along the eastern Tyrrhenian coastline in southern Italy, is close to the densely populated area of Naples. It is one of the most dangerous volcanoes on Earth and represents a key example of an acti…

Linking tephrochronology and soil characteristics in the Sila and Nebrodi mountains, Italy

2017

Recent studies have demonstrated that soils formed on pyroclastic ash deposits are much more common in the Mediterranean area than previously assumed. These soils are an important key to understanding past volcanic events and landscape evolution. Chronological information in soils of Quaternary volcanic events, however, remains still poorly understood in southern Italy. Using a multi-method forensic approach, we explore the origin and age of volcanic deposits (soils) in Sicily and Calabria. The geochemical signature of the soil was compared to the chemical fingerprint of the magmas of potential source areas of southern Italian volcanoes. The results indicate that the investigated soils on t…

Explosive eruptive history of Pantelleria, Italy: Repeated caldera collapse and ignimbrite emplacement at a peralkaline volcano

2018

A new, pre-Green Tuff (46 ka) volcanic stratigraphy is presented for the peralkaline Pantelleria Volcano, Italy. New 40Ar/39Ar and paleomagnetic data are combined with detailed field studies to develop a comprehensive stratigraphic reconstruction of the island.We find that the pre-46 ka succession is characterised by eight silicarich peralkaline (trachyte to pantellerite) ignimbrites,many ofwhich blanketed the entire island. The ignimbrites are typically welded to rheomorphic, and are commonly associated with lithic breccias and/or pumice deposits. They record sustained radial pyroclastic density currents fed by lowpyroclastic fountains. The onset of ignimbrite emplacement is typically prec…

Thematic vent opening probability maps and hazard assessment of small-scale pyroclastic density currents in the San Salvador volcanic complex (El Sal…

2021

The San Salvador volcanic complex (El Salvador) and Nejapa-Chiltepe volcanic complex (Nicaragua) have been characterized by a significant variability in eruption style and vent location. Densely inhabited cities are built on them and their surroundings, including the metropolitan areas of San Salvador (∼2.4 million people) and Managua (∼1.4 million people), respectively. In this study we present novel vent opening probability maps for these volcanic complexes, which are based on a multi-model approach that relies on kernel density estimators. In particular, we present thematic vent opening maps, i.e., we consider different hazardous phenomena separately, including lava emission, small-scale…

Shallow vent architecture during hybrid explosive-effusive activity at Cordón Caulle (Chile, 2011-12): Evidence from direct observations and pyroclas…

2013

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…

The Permeability Evolution of Tuffisites and Implications for Outgassing Through Dense Rhyolitic Magma

2019

There is growing evidence that outgassing through transient fracture networks exerts an important control on conduit processes and explosive‐effusive activity during silicic eruptions. Indeed, the first modern observations of rhyolitic eruptions have revealed that degassed lava effusion may depend upon outgassing during simultaneous pyroclastic venting. The outgassing is thought to occur as gas and pyroclastic debris are discharged through shallow fracture networks within otherwise low‐permeability, conduit‐plugging lava domes. However, this discharge is only transient, as these fractures become clogged and eventually blocked by the accumulation and sintering of hot, melt‐rich pyroclastic d…

Trace element behaviour in seawater during Etna's pyroclastic activity in 2001: Concurrent effects of nutrients and formation of alteration minerals

2010

volcanic ash ; trace element leaching ; kinetic experiments ; chlorophyll-alpha; International audience; The eruption of Etna in Sicily on 13 July 2001 marked the most intense activity of the volcano in the last 300 years. The eruption occurred while the oceanographic cruise ANSIC 01 was being conducted to the east of Sicily, presenting a unique opportunity for the investigation of the chemical effects on the marine system during a period of significant (similar to 1 g m(-2)) ash deposition. Comparison of trace element data with measured concentrations from the oceanographic cruise JUVENILE 99, carried out two years before, indicates large enrichments of V. Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu and Pb. We att…

Strongly SiO2-undersaturated, CaO-rich kamafugitic Pleistocene magmatism in Central Italy (San Venanzo volcanic complex) and the role of shallow dept…

2020

The Pleistocene (~460–265 ka) San Venanzo volcanic complex belongs to the IAP (Intra-Apennine Province) in central Italy, which comprises at least four small Pleistocene monogenetic volcanoes plus several unrooted pyroclastic deposits with peculiar mineralogical and whole-rock chemical compositions. San Venanzo products are strongly SiO2-undersaturated, CaO- and MgO-rich and show ultrapotassic serial character. The relatively common occurrence of calcite in the pyroclastic rocks and the overall high CaO content are interpreted in literature as primary mineral. The main rock facies at San Venanzo are calcite-rich scoria and lapilli tuffs, with minor massive lava flows, and a rare pegma…

2017

Ranking among the largest volcanic eruptions of the Common Era (CE), the ‘Millennium Eruption’ of Changbaishan produced a widely-dispersed tephra layer (known as the B-Tm ash), which represents an important tie point for palaeoenvironmental studies in East Asia. Hitherto, there has been no consensus on its age, with estimates spanning at least the tenth century CE. Here, we identify the cosmogenic radiocarbon signal of 775 CE in a subfossil larch engulfed and killed by pyroclastic currents emplaced during the initial rhyolitic phase of the explosive eruption. Combined with glaciochemical evidence from Greenland, this enables us to date the eruption to late 946 CE. This secure date rules out…

Geochemical properties of rocks and soils in Gusev Crater, Mars: Results of the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer from Cumberland Ridge to Home Plate

2008

Geochemical diversity of rocks and soils has been discovered by the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) during Spirit’s journey over Husband Hill and down into the Inner Basin from sol 470 to 1368. The APXS continues to operate nominally with no changes in calibration or spectral degradation over the course of the mission. Germanium has been added to the Spirit APXS data set with the confirmation that it occurs at elevated levels in many rocks and soils around Home Plate. Twelve new rock classes and two new soil classes have been identified at the Spirit landing site since sol 470 on the basis of the diversity in APXS geochemistry. The new rock classes are Irvine (alkaline basalt…