Major and trace element geochemistry of El Chichón volcano-hydrothermal system (Chiapas, México) in 2006-2007: implications for future geochemical monitoring

Isotopic, major and trace element composition studies for the crater lake, the Soap Pool and thermal springs at El Chichón volcano in November 2006-October 2007 confirm the complex relationship between annual rainfall distribution and crater lake volume and chemistry. In 2001, 2004 and 2007 high volume high-Cl lake may be related to reactivation of high discharge (>10 kg/s) saline near-neutral water from the Soap Pool boiling springs into the lake, a few months (~January) after the end of the rainy season (June-October). The peak lake volume occurred in March 2007 (~6 x 105 m3). Agua Tibia 2 thermal springs discharge near the foot of the SW dome but their chemistry suggests a lower temperature regime, an enhanced water-rock interaction and basement contribution (evaporites and carbonates), anhydrite leaching from the 1982 pyroclastic deposits, rather than dome activity. New suggestions of crater lake seepage are evidenced by the Agua Caliente thermal springs. Existing models on the “crater lake-Soap Pool spring” and the deep hydrothermal system are discussed. Chemical changes in the deep geothermal aquifer feeding the thermal springs may predict dome rise. Future volcanic surveillance should focus on spring chemistry variations, as well as crater lake monitoring

New insights into landslide processes around volcanic islands from Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) observations offshore Montserrat

Submarine landslide deposits have been mapped around many volcanic islands, but interpretations of their structure, composition, and emplacement are hindered by the challenges of investigating deposits directly. Here we report on detailed observations of four landslide deposits around Montserrat collected by Remotely Operated Vehicles, integrating direct imagery and sampling with sediment core and geophysical data. These complementary approaches enable a more comprehensive view of large-scale mass-wasting processes around island-arc volcanoes than has been achievable previously. The most recent landslide occurred at 11.5–14 ka (Deposit 1; 1.7 km3) and formed a radially spreading hummocky deposit that is morphologically similar to many subaerial debris-avalanche deposits. Hummocks comprise angular lava and hydrothermally altered fragments, implying a deep-seated, central subaerial collapse, inferred to have removed a major proportion of lavas from an eruptive period that now has little representation in the subaerial volcanic record. A larger landslide (Deposit 2; 10 km3) occurred at ∼130 ka and transported intact fragments of the volcanic edifice, up to 900 m across and over 100 m high. These fragments were rafted within the landslide, and are best exposed near the margins of the deposit. The largest block preserves a primary stratigraphy of subaerial volcanic breccias, of which the lower parts are encased in hemipelagic mud eroded from the seafloor. Landslide deposits south of Montserrat (Deposits 3 and 5) indicate the wide variety of debris-avalanche source lithologies around volcanic islands. Deposit 5 originated on the shallow submerged shelf, rather than the terrestrial volcanic edifice, and is dominated by carbonate debris

Major and trace element geochemistry of El Chichón volcano-hydrothermal system (Chiapas, Mexico) in 2006-2007: implications for future geochemical monitoring

We report a detailed study of isotopic, major and trace element composition in the crater lake, Soap Pool and thermal springs at El Chichón volcano for the period November 2006-October 2007. After two decades of studying the crater lake, it is possible to confirm the complex relationship between the annual rainfall distribution and the crater lake volume and chemistry: during three years (2001, 2004 and 2007) a large volume high-Cl lake can be related to the reactivation of high discharge (>10 kg/s) of saline near-neutral water from the Soap Pool boiling springs towards the lake, only a few months (~January) after the end of the rainy season (June-October). The highest lake volume ever observed occurred in March 2007 (~6x105 m3). Despite the fact that the Agua Tibia 2 thermal springs discharge at the foot of the SW dome, their chemistry indicates a lower temperature regime, an enhanced water-rock interaction and basement contribution (evaporites and carbonates), and anhydrite leaching from the 1982 pyroclastic deposits, rather than dome activity. New suggestions on crater lake seepage are evidenced by the Agua Caliente thermal springs. Existing models on the “crater lake-Soap Pool spring” and the deep hydrothermal system are justified and detailed. We believe that chemical changes in the deep geothermal aquifer feeding the thermal springs will anticipate dome rise. Future volcanic surveillance should focus on the changes in spring chemistry, besides crater lake monitoring

Submarine deposits from pumiceous pyroclastic density currents traveling over water: an outstanding example from offshore Montserrat (IODP 340)

Pyroclastic density currents have been observed to both enter the sea, and to travel over water for tens of kilometers. Here, we identified a 1.2-m-thick, stratified pumice lapilli-ash cored at Site U1396 offshore Montserrat (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program [IODP] Expedition 340) as being the first deposit to provide evidence that it was formed by submarine deposition from pumice-rich pyroclastic density currents that traveled above the water surface. The age of the submarine deposit is ca. 4 Ma, and its magma source is similar to those for much younger Soufrière Hills deposits, indicating that the island experienced large-magnitude, subaerial caldera-forming explosive eruptions much earlier than recorded in land deposits. The deposit’s combined sedimentological characteristics are incompatible with deposition from a submarine eruption, pyroclastic fall over water, or a submarine seafloor-hugging turbidity current derived from a subaerial pyroclastic density current that entered water at the shoreline. The stratified pumice lapilli-ash unit can be subdivided into at least three depositional units, with the lowermost one being clast supported. The unit contains grains in five separate size modes and has a >12 phi range. Particles are chiefly subrounded pumice clasts, lithic clasts, crystal fragments, and glass shards. Pumice clasts are very poorly segregated from other particle types, and lithic clasts occur throughout the deposit; fine particles are weakly density graded. We interpret the unit to record multiple closely spaced (<2 d) hot pyroclastic density currents that flowed over the ocean, releasing pyroclasts onto the water surface, and settling of the various pyroclasts into the water column. Our settling and hot and cold flotation experiments show that waterlogging of pumice clasts at the water surface would have been immediate. The overall poor hydraulic sorting of the deposit resulted from mixing of particles from multiple pulses of vertical settling in the water column, attesting to complex sedimentation. Slow-settling particles were deposited on the seafloor together with faster-descending particles that were delivered at the water surface by subsequent pyroclastic flows. The final sediment pulses were eventually deflected upon their arrival on the seafloor and were deposited in laterally continuous facies. This study emphasizes the interaction between products of explosive volcanism and the ocean and discusses sedimentological complexities and hydrodynamics associated with particle delivery to water

Izu-Bonin-Mariana Rear Arc - The missing half of the subduction factory, 30 March – 30 May 2014

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Hole U1436A (proposed Site IBM-4GT) lies in the western part of the Izu fore-arc basin, ~60 km east of the arc-front volcano Aogashima, ~170 km west of the axis of the Izu-Bonin Trench, 1.5 km west of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 792, and at 1776 meters below sea level (mbsl). It was drilled as a 150 m deep geotechnical test hole for potential future deep drilling (5500 meters below seafloor [mbsf]) at proposed Site IBM-4 using the D/V Chikyu. Core from Site U1436 yielded a rich record of Late Pleistocene explosive volcanism, including distinctive black glassy mafic ash layers that may record large-volume eruptions on the Izu arc front. Because of the importance of this discovery, Site U1436 was drilled in three additional holes (U1436B, U1436C, and U1436D), as part of a contingency operation, in an attempt to get better recovery on the black glassy mafic ash layers and enclosing sediments and to better constrain the thickness of the mafic ash layers. IODP Site U1437 is located in the Izu rear arc, ~330 km west of the axis of the Izu-Bonin Trench and ~90 km west of the arc-front volcanoes Myojinsho and Myojin Knoll, at 2117 mbsl. The primary scientific objective for Site U1437 was to characterize “the missing half of the subduction factory”; this was because numerous ODP/Integrated Ocean Drilling Program sites had been drilled in the arc to fore-arc region (i.e., ODP Site 782A Leg 126), but this was the first site to be drilled in the rear part of the Izu arc. A complete view of the arc system is needed to understand the formation of oceanic arc crust and its evolution into continental crust. Site U1437 on the rear arc had excellent core recovery in Holes U1437B and U1437D, and we succeeded in hanging the longest casing ever in the history of R/V JOIDES Resolution scientific drilling (1085.6 m) in Hole U1437E and cored to 1806.5 mbsf. The stratigraphy at Site U1437 was divided into seven lithostratigraphic units (I–VII) that were distinguished from each other based on the proportions and characteristics of tuffaceous mud/mudstone and interbedded tuff, lapilli tuff, and tuff breccia. The section is much more mud rich than expected, with ~60% tuffaceous mud for the section as a whole (89% in the uppermost 433 m) and high sedimentation rates of 100–260 m/My for the upper 1320 m (Units I–V). The proportion (40%) and grain size of tephra are much smaller than expected for an intra-arc basin, composed half of ash/tuff and half of lapilli tuff of fine grain size (clasts < 3 cm). These were deposited by suspension settling through water and from density currents, in relatively distal settings. Volcanic blocks are only sparsely scattered through the lowermost 25% of the section (Units VI and VII, 1320–1806.5 mbsf), which includes hyaloclastite, in situ quench-fragmented blocks, and a rhyolite peperite intrusion (i.e., proximal deposits). The transition from unconsolidated to lithified rocks occurred progressively; however, sediments were considered lithified from 427 mbsf (top of Hole U1437D) downward. Alteration resulted in destruction of fresh glass from ~750 mbsf downward, but minerals are less altered. Because of the alteration, the deepest biostratigraphic datum was at ~850 mbsf and the deepest paleomagnetic datum was at ~1300 mbsf. Additional age control deeper than this depth is provided by an age range of 10.97–11.85 Ma inferred from a nannofossil assemblage at ~1403 mbsf and a preliminary U-Pb zircon concordia intercept age of 13.6 +1.6/–1.7 Ma, measured postcruise on a rhyolite peperite in Unit VI at ~1390 mbsf. Based on the seismic profiles, the Miocene–Oligocene hiatus (~17–23 Ma) was predicted to lie at ~1250 mbsf, but strata at that depth (Unit V, 1120–1312 mbsf) are much younger (~9 Ma), indicating that we recovered a thicker Neogene section of volcaniclastics and associated igneous rocks than anticipated. Our preliminary interpretation of shipboard geochemistry is that arc-front versus rear-arc sources can be distinguished in the upper, relatively distal 1320 m of section (Units I–V), whereas the lower, proximal 25% of the section (Units VI–VII) may be geochemically heterogeneous, suggesting that the rear-arc magmas only fully compositionally diverged after ~13 Ma

Expedition 350 summary

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Hole U1436A (proposed Site IBM-4GT) lies in the western part of the Izu fore-arc basin, ~60 km east of the arc-front volcano Aogashima, ~170 km west of the axis of the Izu-Bonin Trench, and 1.5 km west of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 792, at 1776 meters below sea level (mbsl). It was drilled as a 150 m deep geotechnical test hole for potential future deep drilling (5500 meters below seafloor [mbsf]) at proposed Site IBM-4 using the D/V Chikyu. Core from Site U1436 yielded a rich record of Late Pleistocene explosive volcanism, including a distinctive black glassy mafic ash layer that may record a large-volume subaqueous eruption on the Izu arc front. Because of the importance of this discovery, Site U1436 was drilled in three additional holes (U1436B, U1436C, and U1436D), as part of a contingency operation, in an attempt to get better recovery on the black glassy mafic ash layer and its enclosing sediments and to better constrain its thickness. IODP Site U1437 is located in the Izu rear arc, ~330 km west of the axis of the Izu-Bonin Trench and ~90 km west of the arc-front volcanoes Myojinsho and Myojin Knoll, at 2117 mbsl. The primary scientific objective for Site U1437 was to characterize “the missing half of the subduction factory” because numerous ODP/Integrated Ocean Drilling Program sites had been drilled in the arc-front to fore-arc region (i.e., ODP Site 782A Leg 126), but this was the first site to be drilled in the rear-arc region of the Izu arc. A complete view of the arc system is needed to understand the formation of oceanic arc crust and its evolution into continental crust. Site U1437 on the rear arc had excellent core recovery in Holes U1437B and U1437D, and we succeeded in hanging the longest casing ever in the history of R/V JOIDES Resolution scientific drilling (1085.6 m) in Hole U1437E and cored to 1806.5 mbsf. The stratigraphy at Site U1437 was divided into seven lithostratigraphic units (I–VII) that were distinguished from each other based on the proportions and characteristics of tuffaceous mud/mudstone and interbedded tuff, lapilli-tuff, and tuff-breccia. The section is much more mud rich than expected, with ~60% tuffaceous mud for the section as a whole (89% in the uppermost 433 m) and high sedimentation rates of 100–260 m/My for the upper 1320 m (Units I–V). The proportion (40%) and grain size of volcaniclastics are much smaller than expected for an intra-arc basin, composed half of ash/tuff and half of lapilli-tuff of fine grain size (clasts <3 cm). These volcaniclastics were deposited by suspension settling through water and from density currents, in relatively distal settings. Volcanic blocks are only sparsely scattered through the lowermost 25% of the section (Units VI and VII, 1320–1806.5 mbsf), which includes hyaloclastite, in situ quench-fragmented blocks, and a rhyolite peperite intrusion (i.e., proximal deposits). The transition from unconsolidated to lithified rocks occurred progressively; however, sediments were considered lithified from 427 mbsf (top of Hole U1437D) downward. Alteration resulted in destruction of fresh glass from ~750 mbsf downward, but minerals are less altered. Because of the alteration, the deepest biostratigraphic datum was at ~850 mbsf and the deepest paleomagnetic datum was at ~1300 mbsf. Additional age control deeper than ~1300 mbsf is provided by an age range of 10.97–11.85 Ma inferred from a nannofossil assemblage at ~1403 mbsf and a preliminary U-Pb zircon concordia intercept age of 13.6 +1.6/−1.7 Ma, measured postcruise on a rhyolite peperite in Unit VI at ~1390 mbsf. Based on the seismic profiles, the Miocene–Oligocene hiatus (~17–23 Ma) was predicted to lie at ~1250 mbsf, but strata at that depth (Unit V, 1120–1312 mbsf) are much younger (~9 Ma), indicating that we recovered a thicker Neogene section of volcaniclastics and associated igneous rocks than anticipated. Our preliminary interpretation of shipboard geochemistry of solids is that arc-front versus rear-arc sources can be distinguished for individual intervals in the upper, relatively distal 1320 m of the section (Units I–V), whereas data for the lower, proximal 25% of the section (Units VI–VII) overlap and exceed the compositional fields for Neogene rear-arc seamounts and Quaternary arc-front volcanoes. This suggests that the compositional divergence between arc-front and rear-arc magmas only fully developed after ~13 Ma

Expedition 350 methods

Introduction This chapter of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 350 Proceedings volume documents the procedures and tools employed in the various shipboard laboratories of the R/V JOIDES Resolution during Expedition 350. This information applies only to shipboard work described in the Expedition Reports section of this volume. Methods for shore-based analyses of Expedition 350 samples and data will be described in the individual scientific contributions to be published in the open literature or in the Expedition Research Results section of this volume. This section describes procedures and equipment used for drilling, coring, and hole completion; core handling; computation of depth for samples and measurements; and sequence of shipboard analyses. Subsequent sections describe specific laboratory procedures and instruments in more details