Post-supereruption recovery at Toba Caldera

Large calderas, or supervolcanoes, are sites of the most catastrophic and hazardous events on Earth, yet the temporal details of post-supereruption activity, or resurgence, remain largely unknown, limiting our ability to understand how supervolcanoes work and address their hazards. Toba Caldera, Indonesia, caused the greatest volcanic catastrophe of the last 100 kyr, climactically erupting ~74 ka. Since the supereruption, Toba has been in a state of resurgence but its magmatic and uplift history has remained unclear. Here we reveal that new 14 C, zircon U-Th crystallization and (U-Th)/He ages show resurgence commenced at 69.7±4.5 ka and continued until at least ~2.7 ka, progressing westward across the caldera, as reflected by post-caldera effusive lava eruptions and uplifted lake sediment. The major stratovolcano north of Toba, Sinabung, shows strong geochemical kinship with Toba, and zircons from recent eruption products suggest Toba's climactic magma reservoir extends beneath Sinabung and is being tapped during eruptions

Trace element chemistry and U-Pb dating of zircons from oceanic gabbros and their relationship with whole rock composition (Lanzo, Italian Alps)

The U-Pb ages and the trace element content of zircon U-Pb along with major and trace element whole rock data on gabbroic dikes from the Lanzo lherzolitic massif, N-Italy, have been determined to constrain crustal accretion in ocean-continent transition zones. Three Fe-Ti gabbros were dated from the central and the southern part of the massif providing middle Jurassic ages of 161 +/- 2, 158 +/- 2 and 163 +/- 1 Ma, which argue for magmatic activity over few millions of years. Zircon crystals are characterized by high but variable Th/U ratios, rare earth element patterns enriched in heavy rare earths, pronounced positive Ce and negative Eu-anomalies consistent with crystallization after substantial plagioclase fractionation. The zircon trace element composition coupled with whole rock chemistry was used to reconstruct the crystallization history of the gabbros. A number of gabbros crystallized in situ, and zircon precipitated from trapped, intercumulus liquid, while other gabbros represent residual liquids that were extracted from a cumulus pile and crystallized along syn-magmatic shear zones. We propose a model in which the emplacement mechanism of gabbroic rocks in ocean-continent transition zones evolves from in situ crystallization to stratified crystallization with efficient extraction of residual liquid along syn-magmatic shear zones. Such an evolution of the crystallization history is probably related to the thermal evolution of the underlying mantle lithosphere

Methods for determination of the age of Pleistocene tephra, derived from eruption of Toba, in central India

Tephra, emplaced as a result of Pleistocene eruption of the Indonesian ‘supervolcano’ Toba, occurs at many localities in India. However, the ages of these deposits have hitherto been contentious; some workers have argued that these deposits mark the most recent eruption (eruption A, ca 75 ka), although at some sites they are stratigraphically associated with Acheulian (Lower Palaeolithic) artefacts. Careful examination of the geochemical composition of the tephras, which are composed predominantly of shards of rhyolitic glass, indicates that discrimination between the products of eruption A and eruption D (ca 790 ka) of Toba is difficult. Nonetheless, this comparison favours eruption D as the source of the tephra deposits at some sites in India, supporting the long-held view that the Lower Palaeolithic of India spans the late Early Pleistocene. In principle, these tephra deposits should be dateable using the K–Ar system; however, previous experience indicates contamination by a small proportion of ancient material, resulting in apparent ages that exceed the true ages of the tephras. We have established the optimum size-fraction in which the material from Toba is concentrated, 53–61 μm, and have considered possible origins for the observed contamination. We also demonstrate that Ar–Ar analysis of four out of five of our samples has yielded material with an apparent age similar to that expected for eruption D. These numerical ages, of 809 ± 51, 714 ± 62, 797 ± 45 and 827 ± 39 ka for the tephras at Morgaon, Bori, Gandhigram and Simbhora, provide a weighted mean age for this eruption of 799 ± 24 ka (plus-or-minus two standard deviations). However, these numerical ages are each derived from no more than 10–20% of the argon release in each sample, which is not ideal. Nonetheless, our results demonstrate that it is feasible, in principle, to date this difficult material using the Ar–Ar technique; future follow-up studies will therefore be able to refine our preparation and analysis procedures to better optimize the dating

Depths of magma chambers at three volcanic provinces in the Karlıova region of Eastern Turkey

The size of a volcanic eruption, and thus the associated potential hazards, depends partly on the depth, geometry, and size of the source magma chamber. To estimate magma chamber depths and sizes, we apply a newly developed analytical method, based on the aspect ratio (length/thickness) of dikes, to three volcanoes in the Karlıova region of Eastern Turkey, namely Turnadağ, Varto, and Özenç. The results indicate that the depths of the source chambers are between 2 and 4 km at Turnadağ, 2 to 5 km at Varto, both of which are located in transtensional tectonic regimes, but from 22 to 27 km at Özenç, which is located in a convergent tectonic regime. A similar reservoir depth at Özenç is indicated by seismic tomography, and this data also suggests that the reservoir is laterally continuous for more than 40 km. The large volume of ignimbrites (> 40 km3) associated with Varto, a collapse caldera, indicates that caldera subsidence may have maintained the excess magmatic pressure (through tectonic forcing) in the chamber over a longer time than during normal pyroclastic eruptions. The dike aspect ratios further indicate magmatic overpressures of 13–21 MPa for Varto, 13–17 MPa for Turnadağ, and 26–31 MPa for Özenç. The combined results from seismic tomography, analytical models and magma compositions indicate that both Turnadağ and Varto volcanoes, which are typical stratovolcanoes composed of mostly intermediate, and more rarely, acidic magmas, were fed by two very shallow and comparatively small magma chambers (2–5 km depth). Whereas less evolved magmas were erupted from Özenç, which hosts predominantly basaltic and intermediate lavas and dikes that were fed by a deep reservoir at 22–27 km depth. Our tomographic models show that none of the volcanoes are located directly over the center of a deep magma reservoir. Our data also indicates that the magma in the reservoir has migrated between 34 and 40 km in a right lateral motion (to the east) below Varto and Turnadağ, respectively, and 23 km in a left lateral motion (to the west) at Özenç over the past 3 Ma. This lateral propagation of magma can be explained by tectonic escape of the Anatolian block to the west through the Northern Anatolian Fault and the Varto Fault Zone over the last 6 Ma