15 research outputs found
Vhub: a knowledge management system to facilitate online collaborative volcano modeling and research
Active hydrothermal fluids circulation triggering small-scale collapse events: the case of the 2001–2002 fissure in the Lakki Plain (Nisyros Island, Aegean Sea, Greece)
In 2001–2002, two ground collapses occurred in the island of Nisyros (Aegean
Sea, Greece), which formed a 600 m long and up to 5 m wide fissure in the vegetated
central part of the Lakki Plain caldera. The fissure was alternatively ascribed to tensional
stress release and hydrothermal alteration. In this study, we present original data of diffuse
CO2 soil fluxes, soil temperatures, mineralogical and chemical composition of the calderafilling
deposits exposed on the fissure walls, and chemical and isotopic composition of
interstitial soil gases collected from: the bottom of the fissure, the adjacent vegetated areas, the hydrothermal craters, and selected sites outside the caldera. The occurrence of intense
hydrothermal alteration was shown by both mineralogical and chemical analyses of the
fissure walls material. Typical mineral assemblage and enrichments in incompatible elements
related to advanced argillic alteration, characterizing steam-heated hydrothermal
environments, were recognized. Although the low-permeable sediment cover in the Lakki
Plain concealed the underneath hydrothermal gas flow, preventing anomalous soil temperatures
and CO2 fluxes, the chemical and isotopic composition of the interstitial soil
gases revealed an active hydrothermal fluids circulation below the collapsed area, likely
controlled by buried structural lineaments. Hydrothermal alteration can then be invoked as
the most likely trigger mechanism for the 2001–2002 collapse event
Modelling Tephra Thickness and Particle Size Distribution of the 1913 Eruption of Volcán de Colima, Mexico
A crucial problem at most volcanoes is reconstructing past eruptions from the geological record. The rapid erosion of many volcanic terrains results in geologically recent eruptions leaving a relatively sparse record of the event. Here we consider the tephra-stratigraphic record of the 1913 eruption of Volcán de Colima, a recent but greatly eroded tephra fallout deposit. A total of 38 stratigraphic sections of the 1913 deposit have been analysed for thickness, granulometry and geochemistry. The 1913 scoria are hornblende and two-pyroxene andesites with approximately 58 wt% SiO2, providing a geochemical and petrographic signature that is distinct from earlier (1818) and later tephra fallout deposits. Tephra2, a tephra dispersion computer code based on the advection-diffusion equation, is used to model thickness variation and particle size distribution of the pyroclasts for the 1913 deposit. Based on computer simulations, the observed tephra stratigraphy is best fit with a total eruption mass of ~5.5 × 1010 kg. Computer simulations including reports of tephra accumulation from the historical record produces an alternative deposit model with a finer median particle size (~1.77 ϕ), a higher eruption column (~25 km above mean sea level, amsl), and a greater total eruption mass (~1.4 × 1011 kg). This larger eruption magnitude is supported by modelling the granulometry of the 38 stratigraphic sections. The models suggest a median deposit particle size of at least 2ϕ, a deposit mass of 1–5 × 1011 kg (VEI 4), and that significant segregation by particle size as a function of height occurred in the 1913 eruption column. This analysis highlights potential bias in eruption magnitude estimates that use only thickness of proximal deposits, and the advantage of modelling the granulometry of the deposit in such circumstances