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Intense explosive activity occurred repeatedly at Vesuvius during the nearly 1,600-year period between the two Plinian eruptions of Avellino (3.5 ka) and Pompeii (79 A.D.). By correlating stratigraphic sections from more than 40 sites around the volcano, we identify the deposits of six main eruptions (AP1-AP6) and of some minor intervening events. Several deposits can be traced up to 20 km from the vent. Their stratigraphic and dispersal features suggest the prevalence of two main contrasting eruptive styles, each involving a complex relationship between magmatic and phreatomagmatic phases. The two main eruption styles are (1) sub-Plinian to phreato-Plinian events (AP1 and AP2 members), where deposits consist of pumice and scoria fall layers alternating with fine-grained, vesiculated, accretionary lapilli-bearing ashes; and (2) mixed, violent Strombolian to Vulcanian events (AP3-AP6 members), which deposited a complex sequence of fallout, massive to thinly stratified, scoria-bearing lapilli layers and fine ash beds. Morphology and density variations of the juvenile fragments confirm the important role played by magma-water interaction in the eruptive dynamics. The mean composition of the ejected material changes with time, and shows a strong correlation with vent position and eruption style. The ranges of intensity and magnitude of these events, derived by estimations of peak column height and volume of the ejecta, are significantly smaller than the values for the better known Plinian and sub-Plinian eruptions of Vesuvius, enlarging the spectrum of the possible eruptive scenarios at Vesuvius, useful in the assessment of its potential hazard.  相似文献   

3.
Contemporary accounts of the violent eruption of Vesuvius in 1631 are reviewed, and recorded events are correlated with resulting volcanic deposits. Field study of the deposits in the proximal area revealed the presence of tephra falls, pyroclastic flows and lava, with subordinate surge deposits. A total volume of 1.1 km3 (0.55 km3 DRE) of phono-tephritic to phonolitic magma was ejected during 24 hours.The different magma compositions correspond with a transition from a lower, white, aphyric, highly vesiculated pumice (layer 1) to an upper, gray, crystal-rich, poorly vesiculated pumice (layer 3), showing reverse grading. Isopach and isopleth maps of the tephra-falls have been constructed to determine changes in the eruptive style and temporal evolution of the eruption column which reached a maximum height of 16 to 28 km.The recorded column height variations show a change in the mass discharge rate (8.9 × 106 kg/s to 8.2 × 107 kg/s) and the occurrence of pyroclastic flows during the deposition of the weakly vesiculated, dense pumice of the upper part of layer 3. Pyroclastic flows are crystal-rich and show St. Vincent-type features. The explosive phase demolished the upper part of the pre-existing cone, and debris flows invaded the southern side of the volcano. In the afternoon of December 17, 1631 an outbreak of lava flow from a southern lateral fracture system occurred, and effusion of lava continued up to midnight of December 18. Intermittent steam blasts continued to the end of December, when the eruption ended and Mount Vesuvius entered a solfataric phase. The earthquakes that had marked both the pre-eruptive and eruptive phases, continued, however, well into March 1632.  相似文献   

4.
Impact of large-scale explosive eruptions largely depends on the dynamics of transport, dispersal and deposition of ash by the convective system. In fully convective eruptive columns, ejected gases and particles emitted at the vent are vertically injected into the atmosphere by a narrow, buoyant column and then dispersed by atmosphere dynamics on a regional scale. In fully collapsing explosive eruptions, ash partly generated by secondary fragmentation is carried and dispersed by broad co-ignimbrite columns ascending above pyroclastic currents. In this paper, we investigate the transport and dispersion dynamics of ash and lapillis during a transitional plinian eruption in which both plinian and co-ignimbrite columns coexisted and interacted. The 800 BP eruptive cycle of Quilotoa volcano (Ecuador) produced a well-exposed tephra sequence. Our study shows that the sequence was accumulated by a variety of eruptive dynamics, ranging from early small phreatic explosions, to sustained magmatic plinian eruptions, to late phreatomagmatic explosive pulses. The eruptive style of the main 800 BP plinian eruption (U1) progressively evolved from an early fully convective column (plinian fall bed), to a late fully collapsing fountain (dense density currents) passing through an intermediate transitional eruptive phase (fall + syn-plinian dilute density currents). In the transitional U1 regime, height of the convective plinian column and volume and runout of the contemporaneous pyroclastic density currents generated by partial collapses were inversely correlated. The convective system originated from merging of co-plinian and co-surge contributions. This hybrid column dispersed a bimodal lapilli and ash-fall bed whose grain size markedly differs from that of classic fall deposits accumulated by fully convective plinian columns. Sedimentological analysis suggests that ash dispersion during transitional eruptions is affected by early aggregation of dry particle clusters.  相似文献   

5.
The Quaternary Herchenberg composite tephra cone (East Eifel, FR Germany) with an original bulk volume of 1.17·107 m3 (DRE of 8.2·106 m3) and dimensions of ca. 900·600·90 m (length·width·height) erupted in three main stages: (a) Initial eruptions along a NW-trending, 500-m-long fissure were dominantly Vulcanian in the northwest and Strombolian in the southeast. Removal of the unstable, underlying 20-m-thick Tertiary clays resulted in major collapse and repeated lateral caving of the crater. The northwestern Lower Cone 1 (LC1) was constructed by alternating Vulcanian and Strombolian eruptions. (b) Cone-building, mainly Strombolian eruptions resulted in two major scoria cones beginning initially in the northwest (Cone 1) and terminating in the southeast (Cones 2 and 3) following a period of simultaneous activity of cones 1 and 2. Lapilli deposits are subdivided by thin phreatomagmatic marker beds rich in Tertiary clays in the early stages and Devonian clasts in the later stages. Three dikes intruded radially into the flanks of cone 1. (c) The eruption and deposition of fine-grained uppermost layers (phreatomagmatic tuffs, accretionary lapilli, and Strombolian fallout lapilli) presumably from the northwestern center (cone 1) terminated the activity of Herchenberg volcano. The Herchenberg volcano is distinguished from most Strombolian scoria cones in the Eifel by (1) small volume of agglutinates in central craters, (2) scarcity of scoria bomb breccias, (3) well-bedded tephra deposits even in the proximal facies, (4) moderate fragmentation of tephra (small proportions of both ash and coarse lapilli/bomb-size fraction), (5) abundance of dense ellipsoidal juvenile lapilli, and (6) characteristic depositional cycles in the early eruptive stages beginning with laterally emplaced, fine-grained, xenolith-rich tephra and ending with fallout scoria lapilli. Herchenberg tephra is distinguished from maar deposits by (1) paucity of xenoliths, (2) higher depositional temperatures, (3) coarser grain size and thicker bedding, (4) absence of glassy quenched clasts except in the initial stages and late phreatomagmatic marker beds, and (5) predominance of Strombolian, cone-building activity. The characteristics of Herchenberg deposits are interpreted as due to a high proportion of magmatic volatiles (dominantly CO2) relative to low-viscosity magma during most of the eruptive activity.  相似文献   

6.
Pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) generated during the Plinian eruption of the Pomici di Avellino (PdA) of Somma–Vesuvius were investigated through field and laboratory studies, which allowed the detailed reconstruction of their eruptive and transportation dynamics and the calculation of key physical parameters of the currents. PDCs were generated during all the three phases that characterised the eruption, with eruptive dynamics driven by both magmatic and phreatomagmatic fragmentation. Flows generated during phases 1 and 2 (EU1 and EU3pf, magmatic fragmentation) have small dispersal areas and affected only part of the volcano slopes. Lithofacies analysis demonstrates that the flow-boundary zones were dominated by granular-flow regimes, which sometimes show transitions to traction regimes. PDCs generated during eruptive phase 3 (EU5, phreatomagmatic fragmentation) were the most voluminous and widespread in the whole of Somma–Vesuvius’ eruptive history, and affected a wide area around the volcano with deposit thicknesses of a few centimetres up to more than 25 km from source. Lithofacies analysis shows that the flow-boundary zones of EU5 PDCs were dominated by granular flows and traction regimes. Deposits of EU5 PDC show strong lithofacies variation northwards, from proximally thick, massive to stratified beds towards dominantly alternating beds of coarse and fine ash in distal reaches. The EU5 lithofacies also show strong lateral variability in proximal areas, passing from the western and northern to the eastern and southern volcano slopes, where the deposits are stacked beds of massive, accretionary lapilli-bearing fine ash. The sedimentological model developed for the PDCs of the PdA eruption explains these strong lithofacies variations in the light of the volcano’s morphology at the time of the eruption. In particular, the EU5 PDCs survived to pass over the break in slope between the volcano sides and the surrounding volcaniclastic apron–alluvial plain, with development of new flows from the previously suspended load. Pulses were developed within individual currents, leading to stepwise deposition on both the volcano slopes and the surrounding volcaniclastic apron and alluvial plain. Physical parameters including velocity, density and concentration profile with height were calculated for a flow of the phreatomagmatic phase of the eruption by applying a sedimentological method, and the values of the dynamic pressure were derived. Some hazard considerations are summarised on the assumption that, although not very probable, similar PDCs could develop during future eruptions of Somma–Vesuvius.  相似文献   

7.
 High-resolution seismic reflection data are used to identify structural features in Naples Bay near Vesuvius Volcano. Several buried seismic units with reflection-free interiors are probably volcanic deposits erupted during and since the formation of the breached crater of Monte Somma Volcano, which preceded the growth of Vesuvius. The presumed undersea volcanic deposits are limited in extent; thus, stratigraphic relationships cannot be established among them. Other features revealed by our data include (a) the warping of lowstand marine deposits by undersea cryptodomes located approximately 10 km from the summit of Vesuvius, (b) a succession of normal step faults that record seaward collapse of the volcano, and (c) a small undersea slump in the uppermost marine deposits of Naples Bay, which may be the result of nueé ardentes that entered the sea during a major eruption of Vesuvius in 1631. Detection of these undersea features illustrates some capabilities of making detailed seismic reflection profiles across undersea volcanoes. Received: 16 September 1997 / Accepted: 23 November 1997  相似文献   

8.
Ash-rich tephra layers interbedded in the pyroclastic successions of Panarea island (Aeolian archipelago, Southern Italy) have been analyzed and related to their original volcanic sources. One of these tephra layers is particularly important as it can be correlated by its chemical and morphoscopic characteristics to the explosive activity of Somma-Vesuvio. Correlation with the Pomici di Base eruption, that is considered one of the largest explosive events causing the demolition of the Somma stratovolcano, seems the most probable. The occurrence on Panarea island of fine ashes related to this eruption is of great importance for several reasons: 1) it allows to better constrain the time stratigraphy of the Panarea volcano; 2) it provides a useful tool for tephrochronological studies in southern Italy and finally 3) it allows to improve our knowledge on the distribution of the products of the Pomici di Base eruption giving new insights on the dispersion trajectories of fine ashes from plinian plumes. Other exotic tephra layers interbedded in the Panarea pyroclastic successions have also been found. Chemical and sedimentological characteristics of these layers allow their correlation with local vents from the Aeolian Islands thus constraining the late explosive activity of Panarea dome.  相似文献   

9.
The Sarikavak Tephra from the central Galatean Volcanic Province (Turkey) represents the deposit of a complex multiple phase plinian eruption of Miocene age. The eruptive sequence is subdivided into the Lower-, Middle-, and Upper Sarikavak Tephra (LSKT, MSKT, USKT) which differ in type of deposits, lithology and eruptive mechanisms.The Lower Sarikavak Tephra is characterised by pumice fall deposits with minor interbedded fine-grained ash beds in the lower LSKT-A. Deposits are well stratified and enriched in lithic fragments up to >50 wt% in some layers. The upper LSKT-B is mainly reversely graded pumice fall with minor amounts of lithics. It represents the main plinian phase of the eruption. The LSKT-A and B units are separated from each other by a fine-grained ash fall deposit. The Middle Sarikavak Tephra is predominantly composed of cross-bedded ash-and-pumice surge deposits with minor pumice fall deposits in the lower MSKT-A and major pyroclastic flow deposits in the upper MSKT-B unit. The Upper Sarikavak Tephra shows subaerial laminated surge deposits in USKT-A and subaqueous tephra beds in USKT-B.Isopach maps of the LSKT pumice fall deposits as well as the fine ash at the LSKT-A/B boundary indicate NNE–SSW extending depositional fans with the source area in the western part of the Ovaçik caldera. The MSKT pyroclastic flow and surge deposits form a SW-extending main lobe related to paleotopography where the deposits are thickest.Internal bedding and lithic distribution of the LSKT-A result from intermittent activity due to significant vent wall instabilities. Reductions in eruption power from (partial) plugging of the vent produced fine ash deposits in near-vent locations and subsequent explosive expulsion of wall rock debris was responsible for the high lithic contents of the lapilli fall deposits. A period of vent closure promoted fine ash fall deposition at the end of LSKT-A. The subsequent main plinian phase of the LSKT-B evolved from stable vent conditions after some initial gravitational column collapses during the early ascent of the re-established eruption plume. The ash-and-pumice surges of the MSKT-A are interpreted as deposits from phreatomagmatic activity prior to the main pyroclastic flow formation of the MSKT-B.  相似文献   

10.
The dacite to andesite zoned Mateare Tephra is the fallout of a predominantly plinian eruption from Chiltepe peninsula at the western shore of Lake Managua that occurred 3000–6000 years ago. It comprises four units: Unit A of high-silica dacite is stratified, ash-rich lapilli fallout generated by unsteady subplinian eruption pulses affected by minor water access to the conduit and conduit blocking by degassed magma. Unit B of less silicic dacite is well sorted, massive pumice lapilli fallout from the main, steady plinian phase of the eruption. Unit C is andesitic fallout that is continuous from unit B except for the rapid change in chemical composition, which had little influence on the ongoing eruption except for a minor transient reduction of the discharge rate and access of water to the conduit. After this, discharge rate re-established to a strong plinian eruption that emplaced the main part of unit C. This was again followed by water access to the conduit which increased through upper unit C. The lithic-rich lapilli to wet ash fallout of unit D is the product of the fully phreatomagmatic terminal phase of the eruption. A massive well-sorted sand layer, the Mateare Sand, replaces laterally variable parts of unit A and lowermost part of unit B in outcrops up to 32 m above present lake level. The corresponding interval missing in the primary fallout can be identified by comparing the composition of pumice entrained in the sand, and pumice from the local base of unit B on top of the sand, with the compositional gradient in undisturbed fallout. The amount of fallout entrained in the sand decreases with distance to the lake. The Mateare Sand occurs at elevations well above beach levels and its widespread continuous distribution defies a fluviatile origin. Instead, it was produced by lake tsunamis triggered by eruption pulses during the initial unsteady phase of activity. Such tsunamis could threaten areas not affected by fallout, and represent a hazard of particular importance in Nicaragua where two large lakes host several explosive volcanoes.  相似文献   

11.
Quilotoa volcano, an example of young dacitic volcanism in a lake-filled caldera, is found at the southwest end of the Ecuador's volcanic front. It has had a long series of powerful plinian eruptions of moderate to large size (VEI = 4–6), at repetitive intervals of roughly 10–15 thousand years. At least eight eruptive cycles (labeled Q-I to Q-VIII with increasing age) over the past 200 ka are recognized, often beginning with a phreatomagmatic onset and followed by a pumice-rich lapilli fall, and then a sequence of pumice, crystal, and lithic-rich deposits belonging to surges and ash flows. These unwelded pyroclastic flows left veneers on hillsides as well as very thick accumulations in the surrounding valleys, the farthest ash flow having traveled about 17 km down the Toachi valley. The bulk volumes of the youngest flow deposits are on the order of 5 km3, but that of Q-I's 800 yr BP ash-fall unit is about 18 km3. In the last two eruption cycles water has had a more important role.  相似文献   

12.
A tephrostratigraphy for Erebus volcano is presented, including tephra composition, stratigraphy, and eruption mechanism. Tephra from Erebus were collected from glacial ice and firn. Scanning electron microscope images of the ash morphologies help determine their eruption mechanisms The tephra resulted mainly from phreatomagmatic eruptions with fewer from Strombolian eruptions. Tephra having mixed phreatomagmatic–Strombolian origins are common. Two tephra deposited on the East Antarctic ice sheet, ~ 200 km from Erebus, resulted from Plinian and phreatomagmatic eruptions. Glass droplets in some tephra indicate that these shards were produced in both phreatomagmatic and Strombolian eruptions. A budding ash morphology results from small spheres quenched during the process of hydrodynamically splitting off from a parent melt globule. Clustered and rare single xenocrystic analcime crystals, undifferentiated zeolites, and clay are likely accidental clasts entrained from a hydrothermal system present prior to eruption. The phonolite compositions of glass shards confirm Erebus volcano as the eruptive source. The glasses show subtle trends in composition, which correlate with stratigraphic position. Trace element analyses of bulk tephra samples show slight differences that reflect varying feldspar contents.  相似文献   

13.
 The subaqueous phases of an eruption initiated approximately 85 m beneath the surface of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville produced a broad mound of tephra. A variety of distinctive lithofacies allows reconstruction of the eruptive and depositional processes active prior to emergence of the volcano above lake level. At the base of the volcano and very near inferred vent sites are fines-poor, well-bedded, broadly scoured beds of sideromelane tephra having local very low-angle cross-stratification (M1 lithofacies). These beds grade upward into lithofacies M3, which shows progressively better developed dunes and cross-stratification upsection to its uppermost exposure approximately 10 m below syneruptive lake level. Both lithofacies were emplaced largely by traction from relatively dilute sediment gravity flows generated during eruption. Intercalated lithofacies are weakly bedded tuff and breccia (M2), and nearly structureless units with coarse basal layers above strongly erosional contacts (M4). The former combines products of deposition from direct fall and moderate concentration sediment gravity flows, and the latter from progressively aggrading high-concentration sediment gravity flows. Early in the eruption subaqueous tephra jetting from phreatomagmatic explosions discontinuously fed inhomogeneous, unsteady, dilute density currents which produced the M1 lithofacies near the vent. Dunes and crossbeds which are better developed upward in M3 resulted from interaction between sediment gravity flows and surface waves triggered as the explosion-generated pressure waves and eruption jets impinged upon and occasionally breached the surface. Intermingling of (a) tephra emplaced after brief transport by tephra jets within a gaseous milieu and (b) laterally flowing tephra formed lithofacies M2 along vent margins during parts of the eruption in which episodes of continuous uprush produced localized water-exclusion zones above a vent. M4 comprises mass flow deposits formed by disruption and remobilization of mound tephra. Intermittent, explosive magma–water interactions occurred from the outset of the Pahvant eruption, with condensation, entrainment of water and lateral flow marking the transformation from eruptive to "sedimentary" processes leading to deposition of the mound lithofacies. Received: 10 October 1995 / Accepted: 18 April 1996  相似文献   

14.
The ~5 ka Mt. Gambier Volcanic Complex in the Newer Volcanics Province, Australia is an extremely complex monogenetic, volcanic system that preserves at least 14 eruption points aligned along a fissure system. The complex stratigraphy can be subdivided into six main facies that record alternations between magmatic and phreatomagmatic eruption styles in a random manner. The facies are (1) coherent to vesicular fragmental alkali basalt (effusive/Hawaiian spatter and lava flows); (2) massive scoriaceous fine lapilli with coarse ash (Strombolian fallout); (3) bedded scoriaceous fine lapilli tuff (violent Strombolian fallout); (4) thin–medium bedded, undulating very fine lapilli in coarse ash (dry phreatomagmatic surge-modified fallout); (5) palagonite-altered, cross-bedded, medium lapilli to fine ash (wet phreatomagmatic base surges); and (6) massive, palagonite-altered, very poorly sorted tuff breccia and lapilli tuff (phreato-Vulcanian pyroclastic flows). Since most deposits are lithified, to quantify the grain size distributions (GSDs), image analysis was performed. The facies are distinct based on their GSDs and the fine ash to coarse+fine ash ratios. These provide insights into the fragmentation intensities and water–magma interaction efficiencies for each facies. The eruption chronology indicates a random spatial and temporal sequence of occurrence of eruption styles, except for a “magmatic horizon” of effusive activity occurring at both ends of the volcanic complex simultaneously. The eruption foci are located along NW–SE trending lineaments, indicating that the complex was fed by multiple dykes following the subsurface structures related to the Tartwaup Fault System. Possible factors causing vent migration along these dykes and changes in eruption styles include differences in magma ascent rates, viscosity, crystallinity, degassing and magma discharge rate, as well as hydrological parameters.  相似文献   

15.
Peak eruption column heights for the B1, B2, B3 and B4 units of the May 18, 1980 fall deposit from Mount St. Helens have been determined from pumice and lithic clast sizes and models of tephra dispersal. Column heights determined from the fall deposit agree well with those determined by radar measurements. B1 and B2 units were derived from plinian activity between 0900 and about 1215 hrs. B3 was formed by fallout of tephra from plumes that rose off pyroclastic flows from about 1215 to 1630 hrs. A brief return to plinian activity between 1630 and 1715 hrs was marked by a maximum in column height (19 km) during deposition of B4.Variations in magma discharge during the eruption have been reconstructed from modelling of column height during plinian discharge and mass-balance calculations based on the volume of pyroclastic flows and coignimbrite ash. Peak magma discharge occurred during the period 1215–1630 hrs, when pyroclastic flows were generated by collapse of low fountains through the crater breach. Pyroclastic flow deposits and the widely dispersed co-ignimbrite ash account for 77% of the total erupted mass, with only 23% derived from plinian discharge.A shift in eruptive style at noon on May 18 may have been associated with increase in magma discharge and the eruption of silicic andesite mingled with the dominant mafic dacite. Increasing abundance of the silicic andesite during the period of highest magma discharge is consistent with the draw-up and tapping of deeper levels in the magma reservoir, as predicted by theoretical models of magma withdrawal. Return to plinian activity late in the afternoon, when magma discharge decreased, is consistent with theoretical predictions of eruption column behavior. The dominant generation of pyroclastic flows during the May 18 eruption can be attributed to the low bulk volatile content of the magma and the increasing magma discharge that resulted in the transition from a stable, convective eruption column to a collapsing one.  相似文献   

16.
 Akutan Volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian arc, but until recently little was known about its history and eruptive character. Following a brief but sustained period of intense seismic activity in March 1996, the Alaska Volcano Observatory began investigating the geology of the volcano and evaluating potential volcanic hazards that could affect residents of Akutan Island. During these studies new information was obtained about the Holocene eruptive history of the volcano on the basis of stratigraphic studies of volcaniclastic deposits and radiocarbon dating of associated buried soils and peat. A black, scoria-bearing, lapilli tephra, informally named the "Akutan tephra," is up to 2 m thick and is found over most of the island, primarily east of the volcano summit. Six radiocarbon ages on the humic fraction of soil A-horizons beneath the tephra indicate that the Akutan tephra was erupted approximately 1611 years B.P. At several locations the Akutan tephra is within a conformable stratigraphic sequence of pyroclastic-flow and lahar deposits that are all part of the same eruptive sequence. The thickness, widespread distribution, and conformable stratigraphic association with overlying pyroclastic-flow and lahar deposits indicate that the Akutan tephra likely records a major eruption of Akutan Volcano that may have formed the present summit caldera. Noncohesive lahar and pyroclastic-flow deposits that predate the Akutan tephra occur in the major valleys that head on the volcano and are evidence for six to eight earlier Holocene eruptions. These eruptions were strombolian to subplinian events that generated limited amounts of tephra and small pyroclastic flows that extended only a few kilometers from the vent. The pyroclastic flows melted snow and ice on the volcano flanks and formed lahars that traveled several kilometers down broad, formerly glaciated valleys, reaching the coast as thin, watery, hyperconcentrated flows or water floods. Slightly cohesive lahars in Hot Springs valley and Long valley could have formed from minor flank collapses of hydrothermally altered volcanic bedrock. These lahars may be unrelated to eruptive activity. Received: 31 August 1998 / Accepted: 30 January 1999  相似文献   

17.
The violent August 16–17, 2006 Tungurahua eruption in Ecuador witnessed the emplacement of numerous scoria flows and the deposition of a widespread tephra layer west of the volcano. We assess the size of the eruption by determining a bulk tephra volume in the range 42–57 × 106 m3, which supports a Volcanic Explosivity Index 3 event, consistent with calculated column height of 16–18 km above the vent and making it the strongest eruptive phase since the volcano’s magmatic reactivation in 1999. Isopachs west of the volcano are sub-bilobate in shape, while sieve and laser diffraction grain-size analyses of tephra samples reveal strongly bimodal distributions. Based on a new grain-size deconvolution algorithm and extended sampling area, we propose here a mechanism to account for the bimodal grain-size distribution. The deconvolution procedure allows us to identify two particle subpopulations in the deposit with distinct characteristics that indicate dissimilar transport-depositional processes. The log-normal coarse-grained subpopulation is typical of particles transported downwind by the main volcanic plume. The positively skewed, fine-grained subpopulation in the tephra fall layer shares close similarities with the elutriated co-pyroclastic flow ash cloud layers preserved on top of the scoria flow deposits. The area with the higher fine particle content in the tephra layer coincides with the downwind prolongation of the pyroclastic flow deposits. These results indicate that the bimodal distribution of grain size in the Tungurahua fall deposit results from synchronous deposition of lapilli from the main plume and fine ash elutriated from scoria flows emplaced on the western flank of the volcano. Our study also reveals that inappropriate grain-size data processing may produce misleading determination of eruptive type.  相似文献   

18.
Cotopaxi, the highest active volcano on earth and one of the most dangerous of Ecuador is constituted by a composite cone made up of lava and tephra erupted from the summit crater. The activity of the present volcano begun with large-volume plinian eruptions followed by a succession of small-volume lava emissions and pyroclastic episodes which led to the edification of a symmetrical cone. The growth of the cone was broken by an episode of slope failure, the scar of which is now obliterated by recent and historical products. Volcanic history, eruptive frequency and characteristics of the activity were investigated by studying the stratigraphy of tephra and carrying out fifteen new 14C dating on paleosols and charcoals. The investigated period is comprised between the slope failure and the present. The deposit of the volcanic landside (dry debris avalanche of Rio Pita), previously believed to be between 13,000 and 25,000 yr B.P., is now considered to have an age slightly older than 5000 yr B.P. The stratigraphy of tephra of the last 2000 years reveals the existence of 22 fallout layers. Seven of them were dated with 14C whereas three were ascribed to the eruptions of 1534, 1768 and 1877 on the basis of comparison with historical information.Maximum clast size distribution (isopleths) of 9 tephra layers points out that the sustained explosive eruptions of Cotopaxi during the last 2000 years are characterized by very high dispersive power (plinian plumes with column heights between 28 and 39 km) and high intensity (peak mass discharges from 1.1 to 4.1 × 108kg/s). The magnitude (mass) of tephra fallout deposits calculated from distribution of thickness (isopaches) are, however, moderate (from 0.8 to 7.2 × 1011 kg). The limited volume of magma erupted during each explosive episode is consistent with the lack of caldera collapses. Small-volume pyroclastic flows and surges virtually accompanied all identified tephra fallouts. During such an activity large scale snow/ice melting of the summit glacier produced devastating mudflows comparable in scale to those of 1877 eruption. By assuming a 1:1 correspondence between fallout episodes and generation of large-scale lahar, we have estimated an average recurrence of one explosive, lahartriggering event every 117 years over the last two millennia. This value compares well with that calculated by considering the period since Spanish Conquest. The probability of having an eruption like this in 100 or 200 years is respectively of 0.57 and 0.82. Such an high probability underscores the need for quick actions aimed at the mitigation of Cotopaxi lahar hazard along all the main valleys which originate from the volcano.  相似文献   

19.
We describe the products of the hitherto poorly known 512 AD eruption at Vesuvius, Italy. The deposit records a complex sequence of eruptive events, and it has been subdivided into eight main units, composed of stratified scoria lapilli or thin subordinate ash-rich layers. All the units formed by deposition from tephra fallout, pyroclastic density currents of limited extent being restricted to the initial stages of the eruption (U2). The main part of the deposit (U3 and U5) is characterized by a striking grain size alternation of fine to coarse lapilli, similar to that often described for mid-intensity, explosive eruptions. The erupted products have a phonotephritic composition, with progressively less evolved composition from the base to the top of the stratigraphic sequence. Based on different dispersal, sedimentological and textural features of the products, we identify five phases related to different eruptive styles: opening phase (U1, U2), subplinian phase (U3 to U5), pulsatory phreatomagmatic phase (U6), violent strombolian phase (U7) and final ash-dominated phase (U8). A DRE volume of 0.025 km3 has been calculated for the total fallout deposit. Most of the magma was erupted during the subplinian phase; lithic dispersal data indicate peak column heights of between 10 and 15 km, which correspond to a mass discharge rate (MDR) of 5 × 106 kg s−1. The lower intensity, violent strombolian phase coincided with the eruption of the least evolved magma; a peak column height of 6–9 km, corresponding to an MDR of 1 ×10 6 kg s −1, is estimated from field data. Phreatomagmatic activity played a minor role in the eruption, only contributing to the ash-rich deposits of U1, U4, U6 and U8.  相似文献   

20.
During the past 22 ka of activity at Somma–Vesuvius, catastrophic pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) have been generated repeatedly. Examples are those that destroyed the towns of Pompeii and Ercolano in AD 79, as well as Torre del Greco and several circum-Vesuvian villages in AD 1631. Using new field data and data available from the literature, we delineate the area impacted by PDCs at Somma–Vesuvius to improve the related hazard assessment. We mainly focus on the dispersal, thickness, and extent of the PDC deposits generated during seven plinian and sub-plinian eruptions, namely, the Pomici di Base, Greenish Pumice, Pomici di Mercato, Pomici di Avellino, Pompeii Pumice, AD 472 Pollena, and AD 1631 eruptions. We present maps of the total thickness of the PDC deposits for each eruption. Five out of seven eruptions dispersed PDCs radially, sometimes showing a preferred direction controlled by the position of the vent and the paleotopography. Only the PDCs from AD 1631 eruption were influenced by the presence of the Mt Somma caldera wall which stopped their advance in a northerly direction. Most PDC deposits are located downslope of the pronounced break-in slope that marks the base of the Somma–Vesuvius cone. PDCs from the Pomici di Avellino and Pompeii Pumice eruptions have the most dispersed deposits (extending more than 20 km from the inferred vent). These deposits are relatively thin, normally graded, and stratified. In contrast, thick, massive, lithic-rich deposits are only dispersed within 7 to 8 km of the vent. Isopach maps and the deposit features reveal that PDC dispersal was strongly controlled by the intensity of the eruption (in terms of magma discharge rate), the position of the vent area with respect to the Mt Somma caldera wall, and the pre-existing topography. Facies characteristics of the PDC deposits appear to correlate with dispersal; the stratified facies are consistently dispersed more widely than the massive facies.  相似文献   

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