5 research outputs found
Melt inclusion constraints on petrogenesis of the 2014–2015 Holuhraun eruption, Iceland
The 2014–2015 Holuhraun eruption, on the Bárðarbunga volcanic system in central Iceland, was one of the best-monitored basaltic fissure eruptions that has ever occurred, and presents a unique opportunity to link petrological and geochemical data with geophysical observations during a major rifting episode. We present major and trace element analyses of melt inclusions and matrix glasses from a suite of ten samples collected over the course of the Holuhraun eruption. The diversity of trace element ratios such as La/Yb in Holuhraun melt inclusions reveals that the magma evolved via concurrent mixing and crystallization of diverse primary melts in the mid-crust. Using olivine–plagioclase–augite–melt (OPAM) barometry, we calculate that the Holuhraun carrier melt equilibrated at 2.1 ± 0.7 kbar (7.5 ± 2.5 km), which is in agreement with the depths of earthquakes (6 ± 1 km) between Bárðarbunga central volcano and the eruption site in the days preceding eruption onset. Using the same approach, melt inclusions equilibrated at pressures between 0.5 and 8.0 kbar, with the most probable pressure being 3.2 kbar. Diffusion chronometry reveals minimum residence timescales of 1–12 days for melt inclusion-bearing macrocrysts in the Holuhraun carrier melt. By combining timescales of diffusive dehydration of melt inclusions with the calculated pressure of H2O saturation for the Holuhraun magma, we calculate indicative magma ascent rates of 0.12–0.29 m s−1. Our petrological and geochemical data are consistent with lateral magma transport from Bárðarbunga volcano to the eruption site in a shallow- to mid-crustal dyke, as has been suggested on the basis of seismic and geodetic datasets. This result is a significant step forward in reconciling petrological and geophysical interpretations of magma transport during volcano-tectonic episodes, and provides a critical framework for the interpretation of premonitory seismic and geodetic data in volcanically active regions
L'éruption sur la péninsule de Reykjanes, Islande, directement alimentée par la fonte de l'asthénosphère
International audienc
L'éruption sur la péninsule de Reykjanes, Islande, directement alimentée par la fonte de l'asthénosphère
International audienc
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Near-surface magma flow instability drives cyclic lava fountaining at Fagradalsfjall, Iceland
Acknowledgements: We thank the Icelandic Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate (Umhverfis-, orku- og loftslagsráðuneytið; URN) for funding the volcano monitoring efforts at Fagradalsfjall, and Prof. Evgenia Ilyinskaya (University of Leeds) for acquiring the FTIR spectrometer used in this study. We thank Sveinbjörn Steinþórsson for providing help with the eruption monitoring efforts at the University of Iceland and the Department of Civil Protection (Almannavarnir) for providing help and access to the eruption site. S.W.S. thanks Prof. Eva Eibl (University of Potsdam) for stimulating discussions and insight into the physical mechanisms driving intermittent lava fountaining at Fagradalsfjall.AbstractLava fountains are a common manifestation of basaltic volcanism. While magma degassing plays a clear key role in their generation, the controls on their duration and intermittency are only partially understood, not least due to the challenges of measuring the most abundant gases, H2O and CO2. The 2021 Fagradalsfjall eruption in Iceland included a six-week episode of uncommonly periodic lava fountaining, featuring ~ 100–400 m high fountains lasting a few minutes followed by repose intervals of comparable duration. Exceptional conditions on 5 May 2021 permitted close-range (~300 m), highly time-resolved (every ~ 2 s) spectroscopic measurement of emitted gases during 16 fountain-repose cycles. The observed proportions of major and minor gas molecular species (including H2O, CO2, SO2, HCl, HF and CO) reveal a stage of CO2 degassing in the upper crust during magma ascent, followed by further gas-liquid separation at very shallow depths (~100 m). We explain the pulsatory lava fountaining as the result of pressure cycles within a shallow magma-filled cavity. The degassing at Fagradalsfjall and our explanatory model throw light on the wide spectrum of terrestrial lava fountaining and the subsurface cavities associated with basaltic vents.</jats:p