| Abstract: | Eruptions from the top of a dyke containing two layers of magma can selectively withdraw the upper layer, leaving the dense lower layer undisturbed. Alternatively, if the upper layer is thinner than some critical depth, d, then both layers will be tapped simultaneously. Laboratory experiments yield an equation giving the draw-up depth, d, as a function of dyke geometry, eruption rate, and magma properties. This equation is valid for low to moderate Reynolds numbers and applies to dykes which are much longer than the draw-up depth. Short dykes will yield larger draw-up depths than are predicted by the equation. A large draw-up depth is favoured when the eruption rate, upper layer magma viscosity, or dyke length/breadth ratio is large or the density difference is small. Calculations show that rhyolite-capped dykes can contain several hundred metres thickness of rhyolite when a lower layer is first tapped. Draw-up depths in a dyke are as much as an order of magnitude greater than those for an identical eruption from a large cylindrical chamber tapped by a central vent. Nonetheless, for low effusion rate eruptions from small dykes, as at Inyo Domes, California, relatively small draw-up heights are calculated (e.g. 70 m). This is compatible with the small amounts of mixed magmas found at the transition between the two rhyolite magmas erupted there 11]. |
