Mixing of rhyolite, trachyte and basalt magma erupted from a vertically and laterally zoned reservoir, composite flow P1, Gran Canaria

The 14.1 Ma composite welded ignimbrite P1 (45 km3 DRE) on Gran Canaria is compositionally zoned from a felsic lower part to a basaltic top. It is composed of four component magmas mixed in vertically varying proportions: (1) Na-rhyolite (10 km3) zoned from crystal-poor to highly phyric; (2) a continuously zoned, evolved trachyte to sodic trachyandesite magma group (6 km3); (3) a minor fraction of Na-poor trachyandesite (<1 km3); and (4) nearly aphyric basalt (26 km3) zoned from 4.3 to 5.2 wt% MgO. We distinguish three sites and phases of mixing: (a) Mutual mineral inclusions show that mixing between trachytic and rhyolitic magmas occurred during early stages of their intratelluric crystallization, providing evidence for long-term residence in a common reservoir prior to eruption. This first phase of mixing was retarded by increasing viscosity of the rhyolite magma upon massive anorthoclase precipitation and accumulation. (b) All component magmas probably erupted through a ring-fissure from a common upper-crustal reservoir into which the basalt intruded during eruption. The second phase of mixing occurred during simultaneous withdrawal of magmas from the chamber and ascent through the conduit. The overall withdrawal and mixing pattern evolved in response to pre-eruptive chamber zonation and density and viscosity relationships among the magmas. Minor sectorial variations around the caldera reflect both varying configurations at the conduit entrance and unsteady discharge. (c) During each eruptive pulse, fragmentation and particulate transport in the vent and as pyroclastic flows caused additional mixing by reducing the length scale of heterogeneities. Based on considerations of magma density changes during crystallization, magma temperature constraints, and the pattern of withdrawal during eruption, we propose that eruption tapped the P1 magma chamber during a transient state of concentric zonation, which had resulted from destruction of a formerly layered zonation in order to maintain gravitational equilibrium. Our model of magma chamber zonation at the time of eruption envisages a basal high-density Na-poor trachyandesite layer that was overlain by a central mass of highly phyric rhyolite magma mantled by a sheath of vertically zoned trachyte-trachyandesite magma along the chamber walls. A conventional model of vertically stacked horizontal layers cannot account for the deduced density relationships nor for the withdrawal pattern

Hydrothermal alteration of andesitic lava domes can lead to explosive volcanic behaviour

Dome-forming volcanoes are among the most hazardous volcanoes on Earth. Magmatic outgassing can be hindered if the permeability of a lava dome is reduced, promoting pore pressure augmentation and explosive behaviour. Laboratory data show that acid-sulphate alteration, common to volcanoes worldwide, can reduce the permeability on the sample lengthscale by up to four orders of magnitude and is the result of pore- and microfracture-filling mineral precipitation. Calculations using these data demonstrate that intense alteration can reduce the equivalent permeability of a dome by two orders of magnitude, which we show using numerical modelling to be sufficient to increase pore pressure. The fragmentation criterion shows that the predicted pore pressure increase is capable of fragmenting the majority of dome-forming materials, thus promoting explosive volcanism. It is crucial that hydrothermal alteration, which develops over months to years, is monitored at dome-forming volcanoes and is incorporated into real-time hazard assessments

MeMoVolc report on classification and dynamics of volcanic explosive eruptions

Classifications of volcanic eruptions were first introduced in the early twentieth century mostly based on qualitative observations of eruptive activity, and over time, they have gradually been developed to incorporate more quantitative descriptions of the eruptive products from both deposits and observations of active volcanoes. Progress in physical volcanology, and increased capability in monitoring, measuring and modelling of explosive eruptions, has highlighted shortcomings in the way we classify eruptions and triggered a debate around the need for eruption classification and the advantages and disadvantages of existing classification schemes. Here, we (i) review and assess existing classification schemes, focussing on subaerial eruptions; (ii) summarize the fundamental processes that drive and parameters that characterize explosive volcanism; (iii) identify and prioritize the main research that will improve the understanding, characterization and classification of volcanic eruptions and (iv) provide a roadmap for producing a rational and comprehensive classification scheme. In particular, classification schemes need to be objective-driven and simple enough to permit scientific exchange and promote transfer of knowledge beyond the scientific community. Schemes should be comprehensive and encompass a variety of products, eruptive styles and processes, including for example, lava flows, pyroclastic density currents, gas emissions and cinder cone or caldera formation. Open questions, processes and parameters that need to be addressed and better characterized in order to develop more comprehensive classification schemes and to advance our understanding of volcanic eruptions include conduit processes and dynamics, abrupt transitions in eruption regime, unsteadiness, eruption energy and energy balance