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1.
Thermal–mechanical analyses of isotherms in low-volume basalt flows having a range of aspect ratios agree with inferred isotherm patterns deduced from cooling fracture patterns in field examples on the eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho, and highlight the caveats of analytical models of sheet flow cooling when considering low-volume flows. Our field observations show that low-volume lava flows have low aspect ratios (width divided by thickness), typically < 5. Four fracture types typically develop: column-bounding, column-normal, entablature (all of which are cooling fractures), and inflation fractures. Cooling fractures provide a proxy for isotherms during cooling and produce patterns that are strongly influenced by flow aspect ratio. Inflation fractures are induced by lava pressure-driven inflationary events and introduce a thermal perturbation to the flow interior that is clearly evidenced by fracture patterns around them. Inflation fracture growth occurs incrementally due to blunting of the lower tip within viscoelastic basalt, allowing the inflation fracture to pivot open. The final stage of growth involves propagation beyond the blunted tip towards the stress concentration at the tapered tip of a lava core, resulting in penetration of the core that causes quenching of the lava and the formation of a densely fractured entablature. We present numerical models that include the effects of inflation fractures on lava cooling and which support field-based inferences that inflation fractures depress the isotherms in the vicinity of the fracture, cause a subdivision of the lava core, control the location of the final portion of the lava flow to solidify, and cause significant changes in the local cooling fracture orientations. In addition to perturbing isotherms, inflation fractures cause a lava flow to completely solidify in a shorter amount of time than an identically shaped flow that does not contain an inflation fracture.  相似文献   

2.
Komatiites of the 3.5-Ga Komati Formation are ultramafic lavas (>23% MgO) erupted in a submarine, lava plain environment. Newly discovered vesicular komatiites have vesicular upper crusts disrupted by synvolcanic structures that are similar to inflation-related structures of modern lava flows. Detailed outcrop maps reveal flows with upper vesicular zones, 2-15 m thick, which were (1) rotated by differential inflation, (2) intruded by dikes from the interior of the flow, (3) extended, forming a flooded graben, and/or (4) entirely engulfed. The largest inflated structure is a tumulus with 20 m of surface relief, which was covered by a compound flow unit of spinifex flow lobes. The lava that inflated and rotated the upper vesicular crust did not vesiculate, but crystallized as a thick spinifex zone with fist-size skeletal olivine. Instead of representing rapidly cooled lava, the spinifex zone cooled slowly beneath an insulating upper crust during inflation. Overpressure of the inflating lava may have inhibited vesiculation. This work describes the oldest vesicular komatiites known, illustrates the first field evidence for inflated structures in komatiite flows, proposes a new factor in the development of spinifex zones, and concludes that the inflation model is useful for understanding the evolution of komatiite submarine flow fields.  相似文献   

3.
The initial cooling of pahoehoe flow lobes   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  
 In this paper we describe a new thermal model for the initial cooling of pahoehoe lava flows. The accurate modeling of this initial cooling is important for understanding the formation of the distinctive surface textures on pahoehoe lava flows as well as being the first step in modeling such key pahoehoe emplacement processes as lava flow inflation and lava tube formation. This model is constructed from the physical phenomena observed to control the initial cooling of pahoehoe flows and is not an empirical fit to field data. We find that the only significant processes are (a) heat loss by thermal radiation, (b) heat loss by atmospheric convection, (c) heat transport within the flow by conduction with temperature and porosity-dependent thermal properties, and (d) the release of latent heat during crystallization. The numerical model is better able to reproduce field measurements made in Hawai'i between 1989 and 1993 than other published thermal models. By adjusting one parameter at a time, the effect of each of the input parameters on the cooling rate was determined. We show that: (a) the surfaces of porous flows cool more quickly than the surfaces of dense flows, (b) the surface cooling is very sensitive to the efficiency of atmospheric convective cooling, and (c) changes in the glass forming tendency of the lava may have observable petrographic and thermal signatures. These model results provide a quantitative explanation for the recently observed relationship between the surface cooling rate of pahoehoe lobes and the porosity of those lobes (Jones 1992, 1993). The predicted sensitivity of cooling to atmospheric convection suggests a simple field experiment for verification, and the model provides a tool to begin studies of the dynamic crystallization of real lavas. Future versions of the model can also be made applicable to extraterrestrial, submarine, silicic, and pyroclastic flows. Received: 26 November 1994 / Accepted: 1 December 1995  相似文献   

4.
Here, we use observations of active flows along with detailed morphometric field measurements of more than 70 tumuli on flows at Mount Etna (Italy), Kilauea, and Hualalai (US) volcanoes to constrain a previously published model that estimates the pressure needed to form tumuli. In an attempt to discover the nature and magnitude of pressure variations within active lava flow interiors, we then consider how tumuli differ from idealized circular plates. We incorporate observations of active tumuli and find that they may grow asymmetrically yet produce a symmetrical tumulus and can form where the flow path significantly changes direction. Bending models of clamped edges provide the most reasonable head estimates for the tumuli in our study. Tumulus formation requires the proper combination of cooling and effusion rate. If cooling is too extensive and effusion rate too low, the crust will provide too much resistance to bending. If cooling is too limited and effusion rates too high, crusts will not develop or have insufficient strength to resist fracture and subsequent breakouts. We do not find it surprising that tumuli are rarely found over well-established lava tubes that typically have rigid, walls/overlying crusts that exceed 2 m in thickness and provide too much resistance to bending. Silicic flows lack tumuli because the viscosity gradients within the flow are insufficient to concentrate stress in a localized area.  相似文献   

5.
Clinker is a term used to describe massive or scoriaceous fragments commonly associated with ‘a‘ā lava flows. Clinker is generally considered to form by fragmentation of an upper vesiculated crust, due to an increase in apparent viscosity and/or to an increase in shear strain rate. Surface clinker is considered to be transported to the flow front and incorporated at the base by caterpillar motion. Clinker that we have observed on a variety of lava flows has very variable textures, which suggests several different mechanisms of formation. In order to study clinker formation, we examined several lava flows from the Chaîne des Puys Central France, where good sections, surface morphology and surface textures are widespread and clearly visible. We observed basal and surface ‘a‘ā clinker that has fragmentation textures similar to those observed in ash formed in eruptions under dry conditions. In two pāhoehoe flows we have observed basal clinker that formed in-situ. Two other flows display clinker features identical to those commonly observed in phreatomagmatic ash, such as adhering particles, blocky shapes, spherical glass and attached microphenocrysts. Another pāhoehoe flow has a flakey, angular basal breccia, with microfaulted and abraded clasts. These were probably formed at a cooled lava base by large amounts of simple shear and consequent intra-lava brittle faulting. Using these observations we propose three different ways of fragmentation. (1) Clinker can form at the surface and eventually produce roll-over basal breccia. (2) Water/lava interactions can form basal clinker by phreatomagmatic fragmentation. Water/lava ratio variations may produce different clinker structures, in a manner similar to observed textural changes in phreatomagmatic eruptions. (3) Clinker can be formed by brittle brecciation during basal simple shear. The different clinker can provide information about the mechanisms and environmental conditions during lava flow emplacement.  相似文献   

6.
Gas accumulation in magma may be aided by coalescence of bubbles because large coalesced bubbles rise faster than small bubbles. The observed size distribution of gas bubbles (vesicles) in lava flows supports the concept of post-eruptive coalescence. A numerical model predicts the effects of rise and coalescence consistent with observed features. The model uses given values for flow thickness, viscosity, volume percentage of gas bubbles, and an initial size distribution of bubbles together with a gravitational collection kernel to numerically integrate the stochastic collection equation and thereby compute a new size spectrum of bubbles after each time increment of conductive cooling of the flow. Bubbles rise and coalesce within a fluid interior sandwiched between fronts of solidification that advance inward with time from top and bottom. Bubbles that are overtaken by the solidification fronts cease to migrate. The model predicts the formation of upper and lower vesicle-rich zones separated by a vesicle-poor interior. The upper zone is broader, more vesicular, and has larger bubbles than the lower zone. Basaltic lava flows in northern California exhibit the predicted zonation of vesicularity and size distribution of vesicles as determined by an impregnation technique. In particular, the size distribution at the tops and bottoms of flows is essentially the same as the initial distribution, reflecting the rapid initial solidification at the bases and tops of the flows. Many large vesicles are present in the upper vesicular zones, consistent with expected formation as a result of bubble coalescence during solidification of the lava flows. Both the rocks and model show a bimodal or trimodal size distribution for the upper vesicular zone. This polymodality is explained by preferential coalescence of larger bubbles with subequal sizes. Vesicularity and vesicle size distribution are sensitive to atmospheric pressure because bubbles expand as they decompress during rise through the flow. The ratio of vesicularity in the upper to that in the lower part of a flow therefore depends not only on bubble rise and coalescence, but also on flow thickness and atmospheric pressure. Application of simple theory to the natural basalts suggests solidification of the basalts at 1.0±0.2 atm, consistent with the present atmospheric pressure. Paleobathymetry and paleoaltimetry are possible in view of the sensitivity of vesicle size distributions to atmospheric pressure. Thus, vesicular lava flows can be used to crudely estimate ancient elevations and/or sea level air pressure.  相似文献   

7.
In an attempt to model the effect of slope on the dynamics of lava flow emplacement, four distinct morphologies were repeatedly produced in a series of laboratory simulations where polyethylene glycol (PEG) was extruded at a constant rate beneath cold sucrose solution onto a uniform slope which could be varied from 1° through 60°. The lowest extrusion rates and slopes, and highest cooling rates, produced flows that rapidly crusted over and advanced through bulbous toes, or pillows (similar to subaerial “toey” pahoehoe flows and to submarine pillowed flows). As extrusion rate and slope increased, and cooling rate decreased, pillowed flows gave way to rifted flows (linear zones of liquid wax separated by plates of solid crust, similar to what is observed on the surface of convecting lava lakes), then to folded flows with surface crusts buckled transversely to the flow direction, and, at the highest extrusion rates and slopes, and lowest cooling rates, to leveed flows, which solidified only at their margins. A dimensionless parameter, Ψ, primarily controlled by effusion rate, cooling rate and flow viscosity, quantifies these flow types. Increasing the underlying slope up to 30° allows the liquid wax to advance further before solidifying, with an effect similar to that of increasing the effusion rate. For example, conditions that produce rifted flows on a 10° slope result in folded flows on a 30° slope. For underlying slopes of 40°, however, this trend reverses, slightly owing to increased gravitational forces relative to the strength of the solid wax. Because of its significant influence on heat advection and the disruption of a solid crust, slope must be incorporated into any quantitative attempt to correlate eruption parameters and lava flow morphologies. These experiments and subsequent scaling incorporate key physical parameters of both an extrusion and its environment, allowing their results to be used to interpret lava flow morphologies on land, on the sea floor, and on other planets.  相似文献   

8.
Lava flows with preserved bases and brecciated upper crusts constitute a morphological type that differs in character from typical pahoehoe and a'a: such flows have been reported from many provinces around the world. Previous studies had referred to these flows informally as ‘pahoehoe flows with rubbly tops’, ‘broken-top pahoehoe’ and ‘rubbly pahoehoe’. Recent studies have formally applied the latter term to describe parts of the well-studied Laki flow in Iceland as well as flows from the Columbia River Basalt province. Rubbly pahoehoe flows are abundant in the upper stratigraphic formations of the Deccan Volcanic Province (DVP), and are more commonly known as simple flows. This study presents detailed observations of such flows from various parts of the DVP and discusses their implications for understanding flow emplacement. These flows, which appear to be single units at the outcrop-scale, are generally much thicker and significantly more extensive than individual pahoehoe lobes that dominate the lower formations of the Deccan stratigraphy. They are characterised by preserved, gently undulating tachylitic bases but variably disrupted crustal zones that grade into flow-top breccias. The breccias are constituted of highly vesicular and oxidised fragments of varying sizes that appear to have been derived from previously formed pahoehoe crusts. Previous work has indicated that the morphology of these flows might be related to initial inflation, accompanied by rapid volatile exsolution and an increase in effusion rate and/or viscosity with time. This agrees reasonably well with the qualitative and quantitative models of emplacement developed for the Laki flow. The abundance of such flows in the upper formations of the Deccan stratigraphy clearly hints at a significant shift in the nature of the Deccan eruptions; this could be indicative of higher eruption rates during this period. This, in turn, raises the possibility of hazardous impact on the climate during the eruption of these flows, which is also discussed in the paper.  相似文献   

9.
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10.
Lava flows of the Mangawhero Formation (ca. 15–60 ka) on Ruapehu volcano erupted during the last glaciation. In a distal flow lobe at Tukino, on the east side of the mountain, small secondary columns (10–20 cm thick) have formed on the sides of large, rectangular, primary (0.5–3 m thick) cooling columns. Thick (10 m+) zones of such small columns form a lateral and basal outer rind of the lobe. As they do not mark glassy zones of quenching, these secondary columns are interpreted as being formed by a second cooling event at temperatures below the boundary between the low creep and elastic regimes (∼ 600 °C) by rapid influx of copious amounts of water. Temperature drops deduced from extensional strains of the two sets of columns were used to gauge the viability of such a two-stage process. Absence of reliable data on andesite contraction coefficients was overcome by using a sliding scale to assess a large range of values. The estimates indicate that two-stage chilling is feasible. After flowing across relatively ice-poor terrain, the lava flow must have interacted with a valley glacier that provided water for further chilling the already formed primary columns and formation of the outer rind small columns. Given this evidence for lava/ice interaction, it is likely that prominent, thick flows elsewhere in the Mangawhero Formation may have been constrained to their ridge-top locations by ice conditions similar to those described by Lescinsky and Sisson [Lescinsky, D.T., Sisson, T.W., 1998. Ridge-forming, ice-bounded lava flows at Mount Rainier, Washington. Geology, 26, 351–354].  相似文献   

11.
Along the Lebombo monocline acid and basic magmas extruded alternatively as fissure eruptions, to a thickness of approximately 12 km during the time interval from the Triassic/Jurassic boundary to the Cretaceous. Textural evidence suggests that the rhyolites were emitted as lava flows. The rate of cooling or the grade of crystallization, respectively, produced a series of textural zones. The upper parts of the lava flow-units are intricately flow folded. It is postulated that the Lebombo rhyolites were generated in the upper mantle.  相似文献   

12.
Lava flux and a low palaeoslope were the critical factors in determining the development of different facies in the Late Permian Blow Hole flow, which comprises a series of shoshonitic basalt lavas and associated volcaniclastic detritus in the southern Sydney Basin of eastern Australia. The unit consists of a lower lobe and sheet facies, a middle tube and breccia facies, and an upper columnar-jointed facies. Close similarities in petrography and geochemistry between the basalt lavas from the three facies suggest similar viscosities at similar temperatures. Sedimentological and palaeontological evidence from the sedimentary units immediately below the Blow Hole flow suggests that the lower part of the volcanic unit was emplaced in a cold water, shallow submarine environment, but at least the top of the uppermost lava was subaerial with some palaeosol development. The lower lobe and sheet facies was emplaced on a low slope (<2°) in a lower to middle shoreface environment with water depths of 20–25 m. Lava may have transgressed from subaerial to subaqueous and was emplaced relatively passively with lava flux sufficiently high and uniform to form lobes and sheets rather than pillows. The middle unit probably originated from a subaerial vent and flowed into a shallow (10–15 m) submarine environment, and wave action probably interacted with the advancing lava front to form a lava delta. Lava flux was sufficiently high to produce well-developed, subcircular lava tubes, which lack evidence for thermal erosion. In some areas, lava ‘burrowed’ into the unconsolidated, water-saturated lava delta and sand pile to produce intrusive contacts. The upper columnar-jointed unit represents a ponded facies probably emplaced initially in water depths <5 m but whose top was subaerial.  相似文献   

13.
The 1990 Kalapana flow field is a complex patchwork of tube-fed pahoehoe flows erupted from the Kupaianaha vent at a low effusion rate (approximately 3.5 m3/s). These flows accumulated over an 11-month period on the coastal plain of Kilauea Volcano, where the pre-eruption slope angle was less than 2°. the composite field thickened by the addition of new flows to its surface, as well as by inflation of these flows and flows emplaced earlier. Two major flow types were identified during the development of the flow field: large primary flows and smaller breakouts that extruded from inflated primary flows. Primary flows advanced more quickly and covered new land at a much higher rate than breakouts. The cumulative area covered by breakouts exceeded that of primary flows, although breakouts frequently covered areas already buried by recent flows. Lava tubes established within primary flows were longer-lived than those formed within breakouts and were often reoccupied by lava after a brief hiatus in supply; tubes within breakouts were never reoccupied once the supply was interrupted. During intervals of steady supply from the vent, the daily areal coverage by lava in Kalapana was constant, whereas the forward advance of the flows was sporadic. This implies that planimetric area, rather than flow length, provides the best indicator of effusion rate for pahoehoe flow fields that form on lowangle slopes.  相似文献   

14.
 Samples collected from a lava channel active at Kīlauea Volcano during May 1997 are used to constrain rates of lava cooling and crystallization during early stages of flow. Lava erupted at near-liquidus temperatures (∼1150  °C) cooled and crystallized rapidly in upper parts of the channel. Glass geothermometry indicates cooling by 12–14  °C over the first 2 km of transport. At flow velocities of 1–2 m/s, this translates to cooling rates of 22–50  °C/h. Cooling rates this high can be explained by radiative cooling of a well-stirred flow, consistent with observations of non-steady flow in proximal regions of the channel. Crystallization of plagioclase and pyroxene microlites occurred in response to cooling, with crystallization rates of 20–50% per hour. Crystallization proceeded primarily by nucleation of new crystals, and nucleation rates of ∼104/cm3s are similar to those measured in the 1984 open channel flow from Mauna Loa Volcano. There is no evidence for the large nucleation delays commonly assumed for plagioclase crystallization in basaltic melts, possibly a reflection of enhanced nucleation due to stirring of the flow. The transition of the flow surface morphology from pāhoehoe to 'a'ā occurred at a distance of 1.9 km from the vent. At this point, the flow was thermally stratified, with an interior temperature of ∼1137  °C and crystallinity of ∼15%, and a flow surface temperature of ∼1100  °C and crystallinity of ∼45%. 'A'ā formation initiated along channel margins, where crust was continuously disrupted, and involved tearing and clotting of the flow surface. Both observations suggest that the transition involved crossing of a rheological threshold. We suggest this threshold to be the development of a lava yield strength sufficient to prevent viscous flow of lava at the channel margin. We use this concept to propose that 'a'ā formation in open channels requires both sufficiently high strain rates for continued disruption of surface crusts and sufficient groundmass crystallinity to generate a yield strength equivalent to the imposed stress. In Hawai'i, where lava is typically microlite poor on eruption, these combined requirements help to explain two common observations on 'a'ā formation: (a) 'a'ā flow fields are generated when effusion rates are high (thus promoting crustal disruption); and (b) under most eruption conditions, lava issues from the vent as pāhoehoe and changes to 'a'ā only after flowing some distance, thus permitting sufficient crystallization. Received: 3 September 1998 / Accepted: 12 April 1999  相似文献   

15.
Crust formation on basaltic lava flows dictates conditions of both flow cooling and emplacement. For this reason, flow histories are dramatically different depending on whether lava is transported through enclosed lava tubes or through open channels. Recent analog experiments in straight uniform channels (Griffiths et al. J Fluid Mech 496:33–62, 2003) have demonstrated that tube flow, dictated by a stationary surface crust, can be distinguished from a mobile crust regime, where a central solid crust is separated from channel walls by crust-free shear zones, by a simple dimensionless parameter ϑ, such that ϑ<25 produces tube flow and ϑ>25 describes the mobile crust regime. ϑ combines a previously determined parameter ψ, which describes the balance between the formation rate of surface solid and the shear strain that disrupts the solid crust, with the effects of thermal convection (described by the Rayleigh number Ra).Here we explore ways in which ϑ can be used to describe the behavior of basaltic lava channels. To do this we have extended the experimental approach to examine the effects of channel irregularities (expansions, contractions, sinuosity, and bottom roughness) on crust formation and disruption. We find that such changes affect local flow behavior and can thus change channel values of ϑ. For example, gradual widening of a channel results in a decrease in flow velocity that causes a decrease in ϑ and may allow a down-flow transition from the mobile crust to the tube regime. In contrast, narrowing of the channel causes an increase in flow velocity (increasing ϑ), thus inhibiting tube formation.We also quantify the fraction of surface covered by crust in the mobile crust regime. In shallow channels, variations in crust width (d c) with channel width (W) are predicted to follow d c∼W 5/3. Analysis of channelized lava flows in Hawaii shows crustal coverage consistent with this theoretical result along gradually widening or narrowing channel reaches. An additional control on crustal coverage in both laboratory and basaltic flows is disruption of surface crust because of flow acceleration through constrictions, around bends, and over breaks in slope. Crustal breakage increases local rates of cooling and may cause local blockage of the channel, if crusts rotate and jam in narrow channel reaches. Together these observations illustrate the importance of both flow conditions and channel geometry on surface crust development and thus, by extension, on rates and mechanisms of flow cooling. Moreover, we note that this type of analysis could be easily extended through combined use of FLIR and LiDAR imaging to measure crustal coverage and channel geometry directly.Editorial responsibility: A. Harris  相似文献   

16.
This study focuses on Middle Miocene tholeiitic flood basalt lava flows from the Oregon Plateau, northwestern USA (Steens Basalt), and is the first to comprehensively document and evaluate their morphology. Field observations of flows from several sections within and proximal to the main exposures at Steens Mountain have been supplemented with textural and geochemical data, and are used to offer preliminary insights into their emplacement. Compound pahoehoe flows of variable thickness appear to be common throughout the study area, laterally and vertically. These tend to be plagioclase phyric and the morphology and disposition of constituent flow lobes are quite similar to those from other provinces such as Hawaii and the Snake River Plain. Classic a’a flows with brecciated upper and basal crusts are not abundant, but by no means uncommon. Flows with characters different from typical pahoehoe and a’a are also common. Such flows display a range in morphology; flows with preserved upper crusts but brecciated basal crusts, as well as those displaying well-developed flow-top breccias and preserved basal crusts (rubbly pahoehoe) are observed. The Steens Basalt appears to display greater morphological and textural diversity at the outcrop scale than that described for some other flood basalt provinces. The abundant compound pahoehoe flows (often rich in plagioclase phenocrysts) were likely emplaced during slow but sustained eruptive episodes; their constituent lobes show clear evidence for endogenous growth. The relatively aphyric flows with brecciated surfaces (including a’a) hint at higher strain rates and/or higher viscosity, probably caused by higher effusion rates. A couple of sections are characterized by compositionally similar, but morphologically different flows that were possibly part of the same eruption. While differences in pre-eruptive topography could explain this, it is also possible that certain physical parameters changed substantially and abruptly during eruption and that such changes were accompanied by differentiation processes within the plumbing system. It is possible that such observations indicate temporal fluctuations within complex magmatic and eruptive systems, and deserve closer scrutiny.  相似文献   

17.
Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper + (ETM+) data are presented which document the thermal characteristics of a series of lava flows emplaced at Mount Etna volcano, Sicily, during 27-28 October 1999. By examining the composition of the short-wave infrared (SWIR) signal emitted from the flow surface, we identified distinctive flow units. The first unit appears to comprise recently active lava flows with relatively cool crusts which, by virtue of the integrity of this crust as determined from the ETM+ data, we infer are stationary or barely moving. The second unit is characterized by much higher levels of SWIR radiance, consistent with a channel-fed active flow unit. Analysis of the SWIR data confirm that this is fed by a lava channel, the properties of which are consistent with vigorously active channels observed on Kilauea, Hawaii. Model predictions of the maximum length that such flows could attain compare favorably with the actual flow lengths observed in the ETM+ data, indicating that the cooler flows had indeed stopped advancing, and may have attained a cooling-limited, rather than volume-limited, maximum length. Our observations and modeling provide a physical corroboration for the supposition made by Wadge (1978) in his analysis of the shape of lava flow fields on Mount Etna, which in the cooling-limited case principal flows are active one after the other and not at the same time.  相似文献   

18.
The 2002 eruption of Nyiragongo volcano constitutes the most outstanding case ever of lava flow in a big town. It also represents one of the very rare cases of direct casualties from lava flows, which had high velocities of up to tens of kilometer per hour. As in the 1977 eruption, which is the only other eccentric eruption of the volcano in more than 100 years, lava flows were emitted from several vents along a N–S system of fractures extending for more than 10 km, from which they propagated mostly towards Lake Kivu and Goma, a town of about 500,000 inhabitants. We assessed the lava flow hazard on the entire volcano and in the towns of Goma (D.R.C.) and Gisenyi (Rwanda) through numerical simulations of probable lava flow paths. Lava flow paths are computed based on the steepest descent principle, modified by stochastically perturbing the topography to take into account the capability of lava flows to override topographic obstacles, fill topographic depressions, and spread over the topography. Code calibration and the definition of the expected lava flow length and vent opening probability distributions were done based on the 1977 and 2002 eruptions. The final lava flow hazard map shows that the eastern sector of Goma devastated in 2002 represents the area of highest hazard on the flanks of the volcano. The second highest hazard sector in Goma is the area of propagation of the western lava flow in 2002. The town of Gisenyi is subject to moderate to high hazard due to its proximity to the alignment of fractures active in 1977 and 2002. In a companion paper (Chirico et al., Bull Volcanol, in this issue, 2008) we use numerical simulations to investigate the possibility of reducing lava flow hazard through the construction of protective barriers, and formulate a proposal for the future development of the town of Goma.  相似文献   

19.
Surface-exposure dating (SED) methods typically rely on the measurement of a geochemical parameter that systematically changes with time. A pivotal task in the calibration of many of these techniques is to demonstrate that lava flow surfaces sampled for dating have not experienced erosion. Although criteria for identification of constructional basaltic lava flow surfaces have been published, no such criteria presently exist for the recognition of constructional silicic flows. Here we present several criteria for identifying constructional silicic lava flow features in the field. First, crease structures are fractures with easily identified, curved, striated walls that are commonly observed on recent and active silicic lava flows. Crease structures form during extrusion, and are resistant to mechanical disintegration because they expose dense material from the flow interior. Second, some crease structures break apart during formation, leaving a deposit of striated blocks on the flow surface. Crease structure blocks are striated on only one side, whereas blocks from internal columnar joints exposed through erosion are striated on two or more sides. Only the striated side of the crease structure block is definitively constructional. Finally, many silicic flow surfaces exhibit expanded or breadcrusted textures. These features consist of a dense, fractured rind, 1 –2cm thick, enclosing highly vesicular material. Breadcrust flow textures appear similar to breadcrust bombs produced during volcanic explosions, so it is imperative to demonstrate that they are part of the lava flow surface. These criteria should enable investigators to positively identify constructional silicic lava flow surfaces when calibrating an SED method.  相似文献   

20.
Lava flows from Mauna Loa volcano can travel the long distances from source vents to populated areas of east Hawaii only if heat-insulating supply conduits (lava channels and/or lava tubes) are constructed and maintained, so as to channelize the flow and prevent heat loss during transport. Lava is commonly directed into such conduits by horseshoe-or lyre-shaped spatter cones-loose accumulations of partially welded scoria formed around principal vents during periods of high fountaining. These conduit systems commonly develop fragile areas amenable to artificial disruption by explosives during typical eruptions. If these conduits can be broken or blocked, lava supply to the threatening flow fronts will be cut off or reduced. Explosives were first suggested as a means to divert lava flows threatening Hilo, Hawaii during the eruption of 1881. They were first used in 1935, without significant success, when the Army Air Force bombed an active pahoehoe channel and tube system on Mauna Loa’s north flank. Channel walls of a Mauna Loa flow were also bombed in 1942, but again there were no significant effects. The locations of the 1935 and 1942 bomb impact areas were determined and are shown for the first time, and the bombing effects are documented. Three days after the 1942 bombing the spatter cone surrounding the principal vent partially collapsed by natural processes, and caused the main flow advancing on Hilo to cease movement. This suggested that spatter cones might be a suitable target for future lava diversion attempts. Because ordnance, tactics, and aircraft delivery systems have changed dramatically since 1942, the U.S. Air Force conducted extensive testing of large aerial bombs (to 900 kg) on prehistoric Mauna Loa lavas in 1975 and 1976, to evaluate applicability of the new systems to lava diversion. Thirty-six bombs were dropped on lava tubes, channels, and a spatter cone in the tests, and it was verified that spatter cones are especially fragile. Bomb crater size (to 30 m diameter) was found to be inversely related to target rock density, with the largest craters produced in the least dense, weakest rock. Bomb fuze time delays of 0.05 sec caused maximum disruption effects for the high impact velocities employed (250 to 275 m/sec). Modern aerial bombing has a substantial probability of success for diversion of lava from most expected types of eruptions on Mauna Loa’s Northeast Rift Zone, if Hilo is threatened and if Air Force assistance is requested. The techniques discussed in this paper may be applicable to other areas of the world threatened by fluid lava flows in the future.  相似文献   

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