Eruptive dynamics and petrological evolution of recent volcanism on the El Hierro Island : Implications for volcanic hazard assessment

[eng] The Canarian archipelago, extends over approximately 500 km in total along the passive continental margin off NW Africa, comprises seven major and four minor islands, and it is part of the so called Macaronesia region, together with the archipelagos of Azores, Madeira, Salvajes and Cape Verde. Within the oceanic geodynamic context, the Canary archipelago is located on oceanic crust of the big African plate, specifically upon the passive continental margin, with thickness exceeding 20 km. It is a good example of oceanic intraplate alkaline volcanism. According the radioisotopic data available (Carracedo et al., 1998) the archipelago has been formed during the last 60 Ma and is still volcanically active. Multiple periods of volcanic activity accompanied with extreme range in magma compositions and eruptive styles have been exhibited during the evolution. A wide variety of models have been proposed for the origin of the Canary Islands, such as, hot spot, decompressing fusion, Atlas generated propagating fracture, or the "block" model based on regional fractures that helped elevate the islands. Holocene sub-aerial activity has occurred on all islands, except La Gomera, with 18 eruptions in the last 520 years (historic activity) on Tenerife, La Palma, Lanzarote and El Hierro. All these eruptive events consist of monogenetic basaltic eruptions along structures or zones identified as rifts (only the 1798 of Montaña Chahorra in Tenerife, expulsed intermediate composition magma and was located at the base of the Teide-Pico Viejo volcanic complex). Although monogenetic volcanism is the most extended type of volcanic activity on the planet (Walker 2000) and is characterized by a large diversity of eruptive styles and products, it is generally associated to low level volcanic hazard and many times it is underestimated in the hazard assessment. The main structures generated by these type of eruptions (concentrated as volcanic fields or long rift zones) are cinder cones, formed by the pyroclastic products and lava flows, that can reach several kilometres length. Eventually, can generate phreatomagmatic deposits, when an interaction between magma and water occurs (shallow submarine volcanism or littoral cones). These eruptions, traditionally, are associated with a single batch and pulse of magma and are greatly influenced by local and regional stress fields. Other parameters that can be important in the evolution of the activity, as in any other volcanic activity, are magma composition, volume, and rheological contrast beneath the surface. Recent studies have revealed that, even in a monogenetic eruption, an internal geochemical evolution could be possible, mainly because of the multiple batches involved and the importance of the local stress controls in the migration and finally eruption of magma. Complexity, derived from these internal and external conditions in combination with the depth where magmas are stored and transported, is reflected in the difficulty to anticipate and forecast these types of eruptions and their evolution, especially, for areas with long quiescent periods and a variety of magmas as in the Canary Islands, where a new volcano could come up in any location. The reconstruction of the structure, geometry, composition and plumbing system conditions of pre- existed monogenetic eruptions on the Canary Islands along with the data obtained (petrological, seismological, geodetical, etc.) of an eruption in course such was the 2011 El Hierro eruption will help us obtain a significant progress in understanding the processes that take place, improve our knowledge on monogenetic eruptions and as a consequence enhance hazard assessment and reduce the risk to human lives.[spa] La última erupción en la isla de El Hierro (2011-12) representa una excelente oportunidad para estudiar el volcanismo monogenético basáltico. La comparación de los productos emitidos durante esa erupción con los emitidos en erupciones anteriores y la interpretación de los resultados petrológicos junto con los datos obtenidos por la red multiparamétrica de vigilancia volcánica del IGN de vigilancia (estaciones sísmicas, GNSS, gravimétricas,…) nos ha permitido lograr un conocimiento integral de los procesos que ocurren antes y durante este tipo de erupciones basáticas monogenéticas, que son las más probables a corto y medio plazo en Canarias. Este enfoque multidisciplinar nos ha proporcionado nueva información sobre el ascenso del magma, las condiciones y procesos internos, los mecanismos de las erupciones basálticas, los mecanismos de deposición y los escenarios de interacción. La interpretación conjunta de todos los datos obtenidos permitirá una mejor evaluación del riesgo volcánico, no solo para la isla de El Hierro, sino para todo el archipiélago canario. En esta tesis, junto con el estudio de la erupción de 2011-12, se han estudiado dos más erupciones; la que ha dado el depósito de productos evolucionados en el centro de la isla (área del Malpaso) donde la dinámica y evolución de ella se ha ligado en la interacción magma/agua y la erupción de Chinyero (1909, Tenerife) que con rasgos similares a la de El Hierro (basáltica) pero con menor volumen de magma involucrado, ha tenido una dinámica más explosiva de lo que se había creído hasta hoy. Por lo tanto, las evaluaciones de riesgo volcánico a largo y corto plazo para el conjunto de las islas Canarias deben tener en cuenta posibles escenarios que no solo incluyen la erupciones basálticas submarinas, como es el caso de 2011-2012, sino también las erupciones sub-aéreas de corta vida como la del Chinyero o las erupciones como la del Malpaso, donde la intrusión basáltica y la interacción con el agua son procesos que aumentan la explosividad de una erupción y como consecuencia, al área afectado de sus productos

Fire in the sea - Growth and destruction of submarine volcanoes

The appearance of a steaming volcano close to the sea surface represents a rare but spectacular geological event, because the birth of a new volcano vividly illustrates the steady yet piecemeal growth of the Earth’s crust; and its simultaneous destruction

Multiteide Project: Multiparametric characterization of the activity of Teide-Pico Viejo volcanic system

European Geosciences Union General Assembly (2017. Viena)Teide-Pico Viejo complex stands for one of the major natural volcanic hazards in the Canary Islands, due to the expected types of eruptions in the area and the high number of inhabitants in Tenerife Island. Therefore, it is necessary to have a volcanic alert system able to afford a precise assessment of the current state of the complex. For this purpose, the knowledge of the expected signals at each volcanic activity level is required. Moreover, the external effects that can affect the measurements shall be distinguished, external influences as the atmosphere are qualitatively known but have not been quantified yetCentro Geofísico de Canarias, Instituto Geográfico Nacional, EspañaObservatorio Geofísico Central, Instituto Geográfico Nacional, EspañaInstituto Geológico y Minero de España, EspañaLaboratoire GéoSciences Réunion, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, EspañaPeer reviewe

Repeated magmatic intrusions at El Hierro Island following the 2011–2012 submarine eruption

After more than 200 years of quiescence, in July 2011 an intense seismic swarm was detected beneath the center of El Hierro Island (Canary Islands), culminating on 10 October 2011 in a submarine eruption, 2 km off the southern coast. Although the eruption officially ended on 5 March 2012, magmatic activity continued in the area. From June 2012 to March 2014, six earthquake swarms, indicative of magmatic intrusions, were detected underneath the island. We have studied these post-eruption intrusive events using GPS and InSAR techniques to characterize the ground surface deformation produced by each of these intrusions, and to determine the optimal source parameters (geometry, location, depth, volume change). Source inversions provide insight into the depth of the intrusions (~ 11–16 km) and the volume change associated with each of them (between 0.02 and 0.13 km3). During this period, > 20 cm of uplift was detected in the central-western part of the island, corresponding to approximately 0.32–0.38 km3 of magma intruded beneath the volcano. We suggest that these intrusions result from deep magma migrating from the mantle, trapped at the mantle/lower crust discontinuity in the form of sill-like bodies. This study, using joint inversion of GPS and InSAR data in a post-eruption period, provides important insight into the characteristics of the magmatic plumbing system of El Hierro, an oceanic intraplate volcanic island

Comment on "Evidence from acoustic imaging for submarine volcanic activity in 2012 off the west coast of El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain)" by Pérez NM, Somoza L, Hernández PA, González de Vallejo L, León R, Sagiya T, Biain A, González FJ, Medialdea T, Barrancos J, Ibáñez J, Sumino H, Nogami K and Romero C [Bull Volcanol (2014) 76:882-896]

Versión del editor2,205

Hydrography applied to the mapping of submarine volcanoes

Technical advances in hydrographic studies of the seafloor and the progressive use of these techniques in oceanographic expeditions with scientific objectives, is generating greater collaborations between the hydrographic and oceanographic institutions. Coordination between the different institutions and the use of IHO criteria in the acquisition of bathymetric data in oceanographic expeditions, allow regional hydrographic offices to have an additional source of data for the improvement of the navigation charts. Meanwhile the Oceanographic Institutions will benefit by having validated bathymetric data of high precision. This product is of great interest in studies of submarine geological hazards where is necessary to have a very detailed knowledge of the seabed to determine possible morphological changes associated with the risk processes and the possible active structures. In addition, monitoring of active volcanoes need to have a good knowledge of changes in the physico-chemical properties of the water column, the possible changes in low intensity emissions (hot water, gas) can be detected with these studies in the overlying water masses.Versión del edito

Peralkaline Felsic Magmatism of the Atlantic Islands

The oceanic-island magmatic systems of the Atlantic Ocean exhibit significant diversity in their respective sizes, ages, and the compositional ranges of their eruptive products. Nevertheless, almost all of the Atlantic islands and island groups have produced peralkaline felsic magmas, implying that similar petrogenetic regimes may be operating throughout the Atlantic Ocean, and arguably elsewhere. The origins of peralkaline magmas are frequently linked to low-degree partial melting of enriched mantle, followed by protracted differentiation in the shallow crust. However, additional petrogenetic processes such as magma mixing, crustal melting, and contamination have been identified at numerous peralkaline centers. The onset of peralkalinity leads to magma viscosities lower than those typical for metaluminous felsic magmas, which has profound implications for processes such as crystal settling. This study represents a compilation of published and original data which demonstrates trends that suggest that the peralkaline magmas of the Atlantic Ocean islands are generated primarily via extended (up to ∼ 95%), open system fractional crystallization of mantle-derived mafic magmas. Crustal assimilation is likely to become more significant as the system matures and fusible material accumulates in the crust. Magma mixing may occur between various compositional end-members and may be recognized via hybridized intermediate magmas. The peralkaline magmas are hydrous, and frequently zoned in composition, temperature, and/or water content. They are typically stored in shallow crustal magma reservoirs (∼ 2–5 km), maintained by mafic replenishment. Low melt viscosities (1 × 101.77 to 1 × 104.77 Pa s) facilitate two-phase flow, promoting the formation of alkali-feldspar crystal mush. This mush may then contribute melt to an overlying melt lens via filter pressing or partial melting. We utilize a three-stage model to account for the establishment, development, and termination of peralkaline magmatism in the ocean island magmatic systems of the Atlantic. We suggest that the overall control on peralkaline magmatism in the Atlantic is magma flux rate, which controls the stability of upper crustal magma reservoirs. The abundance of peralkaline magmas in the Atlantic suggests that their development must be a common, but not inevitable, stage in the evolution of ocean islands

Explosive felsic volcanism on El Hierro (Canary Islands)

© 2014, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. The Canary Islands consist of seven basaltic shield volcanoes whose submerged portion is much more voluminous than the subaerial part of each island. Like so many other volcanic oceanic islands, the indicative deposits of explosive felsic volcanism are not a common feature on the Canary archipelago. Hitherto, they have only been documented from the central islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife, which are the largest volcanic complexes of the islands. On the other Canary Islands, the presence of felsic rocks is mostly restricted to intrusions and a few lava flows, generally within the succession in the oldest parts of individual islands. In this paper, we present a detailed stratigraphic, lithological and sedimentological study of a significant felsic pumice deposit on the island of El Hierro, referred here as the Malpaso Member, which represents the only explosive episode of felsic volcanism found on the Canary Islands (outside of Gran Canaria and Tenerife). The products of the eruption indicate a single eruptive event and cover an area of about 15 km2. This work provides a detailed stratigraphic and chronological framework for El Hierro, and four subunits are identified within the member on the basis of lithological and granulometric characteristics. The results of this study demonstrate the importance of an explosive eruption in a setting where the activity is typified by effusive basaltic events. Given the style and the spatial distribution of the Malpaso eruption and its products, a future event with similar characteristics could have a serious impact on the population, infrastructure and economy of the island of El Hierro.This research was partially funded by the MINECO grant CGL2011-16144-E and the European Commission (FT7 Theme: ENV.2011.1.3.3-1; grant 282759:VUELCO’ )Peer Reviewe

The 1909 Chinyero eruption on Tenerife (Canary Islands): insights from historical accounts, and tephrostratigraphic and geochemical data

The last eruption on Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) started on 18 November 1909 from the El Chinyero vent on the northwestern Santiago rift. This fissural eruption was well documented by scientists and eyewitnesses, but there is a lack of data on the high-energy phase that produced the most significant emissions of ash and lapilli at the onset of the eruption. Here, we review historical documents (e.g. newspapers, dispatches, telegrams); eyewitness accounts and scientific reports were reviewed from a volcanological perspective and integrated with data from the analysis of deposit features, allowing an accurate reconstruction of the eruption and its dynamics. The 1909 eruption of Chinyero was fed by a compositionally discrete magma batch that ascended rapidly within the crust, producing rather violent pulsating Strombolian explosive activity in the early phases of the eruption. This activity produced a ca. 80 m high scoria cone and heavy fallout of lapilli and ash over the entire northern sector of the island of Tenerife. The energy of explosive activity waned after 3 days, giving way to the weak Strombolian explosive activity that contributed to a lesser extent to the buildup of the pyroclastic pile. Eruptions such as those from the Chinyero vent in 1909 are representative of rift activity on Tenerife and constitute a volcanic hazard for present-day inhabitants.Published886V. Pericolosità vulcanica e contributi alla stima del rischioJCR Journa