Massive atmospheric sulfur loading of the AD 1600 Huaynaputina eruption and implications for petrologic sulfur estimates.

International audienceWe combine petrological, analytical, and thermodynamical data to constrain the sulfur yield of the AD 1600 Huaynaputina eruption which has been associated with the largest Earth's temperature shift in the last 600 years. The calculated amount of S (26–55 Tg), partly overlaps, but ranges to almost twice the amount estimated from ice-core data (16–32 Tg), the higher values of our estimate probably reflect that not all S released by the eruption reached the stratosphere. Our study also shows that it is possible to estimate the atmospheric sulfur loading from the volcanic products themselves, which opens the possibility to explore volcano-climate links beyond the time period covered by ice-core archive

Stratigraphy and textural characteristics of the 1982–83 tephra of Galunggung volcano (Indonesia): implications for volcanic hazards

91.40.RsThe Galunggung volcano in western Java (Indonesia) was the site of historical activity in 1822, 1894, 1918, and 1982–83, located in a pre-historical horseshoe-shaped caldera. In 1982–83, a nine-month-long eruption generated successively (1) ash-and-scoria flows channeled in two valleys and extending 6 km from the vent (vulcanian phase 1), (2) surges and ash falls related to the excavation of a wide maar crater, with ash columns 20 km high (phreatomagmatic phase 2), and (3) ash and scoria falls that built a small cone inside the maar crater (strombolian phase 3). During phreatomagmatic phase 2, there was a significant increase of explosivity. Paradoxically, the magma composition had evolved from andesite to primitive magnesian basalt. Jet-plane incidents were recorded during this period: on the June 24 and July 13, 1982, two Boeing 747 aircraft experienced engine power loss when passing through the plume. The vertical variations of grain sizes and xenolith contents of pyroclasts were measured in the 1982–83 eruptive deposits. We show that a progressive increase of the ratio of xenolith versus juvenile magma before the end of vulcanian phase 1 heralded the increase of explosivity leading towards phreatomagmatic phase 2. In the same way, the decrease of the same ratio at the end of the phreatomagmatic phase 2 heralded the decrease of explosivity and the onset of strombolian phase 3. The transition from phase 1 to phase 2 is also marked by a slight but continuous decrease of the vesicularity index of juvenile clasts. We emphasize the increasing efficiency of groundwater/magma interaction during the eruption. The increasing interaction and renewed explosive activity occurred after a period of rest, during which additional groundwater was supplied in the vicinity of the magma column. The data suggest that it would have been possible to predict as soon as April–May 1982 the transition from vulcanian to phreatomagmatic activity, and consequently the corresponding increase in explosivity

Stratigraphy and age of the Cappadocia ignimbrites, Turkey: reconciling field constraints with paleontologic, radiochronologic, geochemical and paleomagnetic data

The stratigraphy and age of the Neogene Cappadocia ignimbrites (Central Turkey) have been inferred in previous studies from fieldwork and K–Ar age determinations. The resulting stratigraphic schemes, however, differed from each other, suggesting that further studies were required to produce a reliable succession. In this paper, we examine the chronostratigraphy of mammalian remains recovered in the continental sediments interbedded with the Cappadocia ignimbrites. Using recent advances in mammalian chronostratigraphy, we evaluate selected taxa and faunal associations to place new and independent constraints on the ignimbrite ages. The biostratigraphically bracketed ages concur with some published radiometric dates, but they disagree with others, principally at localities where major stratigraphic discrepancies have arisen in the literature. In order to reconcile these apparent inconsistencies, we combine, at selected sites, our field observations with the biostratigraphic and radiometric age limits, and we compare these with the available geochemical and magnetic data. This allows us to present revised age estimates, and a revised stratigraphy which includes the correlation of the local Sofular deposits with the large-volume Gördeles ignimbrite. The issues faced in this study apply to other ignimbrite provinces in the world. For instance, ignimbrite eruption frequency in Cappadocia is higher than the resolution of many published K–Ar ages. Furthermore, different K–Ar ages have led to the description of individual and distinct ignimbrites that fieldwork and geochemical data allow to merge into a single ignimbrite. Argon loss from pumice samples leading to radiometric “rejuvenation” provides a likely explanation for most stratigraphic discrepancies. Cappadocia is the only documented ignimbrite field in which the chronostratigraphy of vertebrate remains provides better constraints on some ignimbrite ages than scattered K–Ar dates. We further argue that K–Ar dates from the Cappadocia area are too imprecise to establish a reliable magnetostratigraphic scheme for the ignimbrite succession, with the exception of the not, vert, similar2.8 Ma Valibaba Tepe ignimbrite

Étude téphrostratigraphique et bio-climatique du Tardiglaciaire et de l’Holocène de la Laguna Salinas, Pérou méridional

La présente étude est une contribution à la connaissance de l'évolution de l'environnement tardiglaciaire et holocène des régions andines. En raison de la présence de volcans à proximité de la ville d'Arequipa (800 000 habitants), l'accent est mis sur la récurrence de l'activité volcanique et il est démontré que sept téphras majeures ont recouvert la région après le dernier maximum glaciaire. La Laguna Salinas est une dépression fermée d'origine volcano-tectonique du département d'Arequipa (Pérou méridional) qui constitue un piège sédimentaire dont des carottes ont été extraites des niveaux couvrant les quinze derniers millénaires. L'ensemble des analyses multidisciplinaires (téphras, pollen, diatomées, datation au 14C) réalisées sur ces carottes et des coupes accessibles autour de la lagune ont conduit à rétablissement d'un modèle stratigraphique actuellement unique pour le Tardiglaciaire et l'Holocène du Pérou méridional.This study is a contribution to the Late glacial and Holocene environmental changes in the Andean Cordillera. Due to the presence of volcanoes near Arequipa city (800,000 inhabitants), particular importance is given to the frequency of volcanic activity and it is demonstrated that seven major tephras have covered the area after the last glacial maximum. Laguna Salinas is a volcano-tectonic closed basin in the Arequipa Department (southern Peru) which acts as a sediment trap in which cores were taken that correspond to the last 15,000 years. A multidisciplinary research (tephras, pollen, diatoms, 14C-dating) of a core as well as tephrostratigraphical investigations of nearby roadcuts have allowed to realize the first chronostratigraphical model for the Late Glacial and Holocene periods of southern Peru.Die vorliegende Arbeit stellt einen Beitrag zur Kenntniss von Unweltverânderungen im Spat und Postglazial in den Anden dar. Da die sudperuanische Stadt Arequipa (800 000 Einwohner) zwischen Vulkanen eingebettet ist, wird beim Studium dieser Region ein bezonderer Akzent auf den Ruckgang der vulkanischen Aktivitàt und Fôrdertâtigkeit gelegt. Dabei haben sich fur die Zeit seit dem letzten Hochglazial sieben Haupttephren ergeben. Die Laguna Salinas erstreckt sich im sudperuanischen Département Arequipa in einem vulkano-tecktonishen Becken, das als eigentliche Sedimentfalle wirkt. Darin wurden in einer Kernbohrung Proben genommen, die zeitlich die letzten 15 000 Jahre abstecken. Tephralagen, Pollen, Diatomeen, l4C-Alter wurden multidisziplinar untersucht. Zusammen mit dem Studium umliegender Aufschlusse konnte eine stratigraphische Pionniermodell bzw Referenzprofil fur Sùdperu entwickelt werden

Petrology of the 2006-2007 tephras from Ubinas volcano, southern Peru

[ESP] El volcán Ubinas (16º 22 'S, 70º 54' O) se encuentra en el rango volcánico cuaternario en el sur de Perú, ~ 60 km al este de la ciudad de Arequipa (Fig. 1). Ubinas es históricamente el volcán más activo en el sur del Perú con 24 eventos volcánicos (VEI 1-3) registrados desde 1550 AD (Hantke y Parodi, 1966; Simkin y Siebert 1994; Rivera et al. 1998). Estos eventos son episodios de desgasificación en gran parte intensos, con algunas caídas de cenizas y bloqueos balísticos (<10.106m3) producidos por actividad explosiva vulcaniana y freatomagmática (Thouret et al. 2005; Rivera et al. 1998). Los eventos causaron daños a los cultivos y al ganado y afectaron a aproximadamente 3,500 personas que viven en seis aldeas a 12 km del volcán (Fig. 1). La actividad explosiva más reciente comenzó el 27 de marzo de 2006 y duró dos años con eventos eruptivos intermitentes, mientras que la desgasificación aún continúa. Según las características de la actividad y los productos en erupción, el episodio eruptivo ha progresado en cuatro etapas: 1) actividad freática y freatomagmática inicial (del 27 de marzo al 19 de abril de 2006), incluidas las columnas de alta erupción que dispersaron la caída de cenizas a una distancia de hasta 7 km del cumbre; 2) las explosiones vulcanianas (~ 20 de abril al 11 de junio de 2006) formaron columnas de 3 a 4 km de altura que expulsaron bloques de hasta 40 cm de diámetro a distancias de 2 km del respiradero (Fig. 2). La lava fresca llegó al fondo del respiradero el 20 de abril; 3) fuerte desgasificación intercalada con al menos 12 eventos que produjeron columnas de 2 a 3 km de altura entre mediados de junio de 2006 y abril de 2007, dispersando cenizas hasta 40 km del respiradero; 4) la desgasificación suave produce un penacho permanente de 200 a 800 m de altura y ocasionalmente cenizas ligeras alrededor de la cumbre (mayo de 2007 hasta el presente). Las columnas de babosas duraderas y de corta duración, explosiones tipo cañón, pequeñas cantidades de material juvenil y la composición andesítica de las bombas de corteza de pan indican un estilo de comportamiento vulcaniano en Ubinas. El comportamiento es similar a la primera fase de la erupción del Nevado Sabancaya en 1990-1998 (Gerbe y Thouret, 2004) o al comportamiento de Sakurajima, Japón desde 1955 (Morrisey y Mastin, 2000), y a Ngauruhoe, Nueva Zelanda en 1974 -1975 (Hobden et al. 2002). Las características petrográficas y geoquímicas de los bloques juveniles y las escoria erupcionadas durante la actividad explosiva 2006-2007 permiten la descripción del magma recién erupcionado y, por lo tanto, conducen a una mejor comprensión del origen de la erupción

Links between topography, wind, deflation, lakes and dust: The case of the Bodélé Depression, Chad

The Bodélé Depression, Chad is the planet's largest single source of dust. Deflation from the Bodélé could be seen as a simple coincidence of two key prerequisites: strong surface winds and a large source of suitable sediment. But here we hypothesise that long term links between topography, winds, deflation and dust ensure the maintenance of the dust source such that these two apparently coincidental key ingredients are connected by land-atmosphere processes with topography acting as the overall controlling agent. We use a variety of observational and numerical techniques, including a regional climate model, to show that: 1) contemporary deflation from the Bodélé is delineated by topography and a surface wind stress maximum; 2) the Tibesti and Ennedi mountains play a key role in the generation of the erosive winds in the form of the Bodélé Low Level Jet (LLJ); 3) enhanced deflation from a stronger Bodélé LLJ during drier phases, for example, the Last Glacial Maximum, was probably sufficient to create the shallow lake in which diatoms lived during wetter phases, such as the Holocene pluvial. Winds may therefore have helped to create the depression in which erodible diatom material accumulated. Instead of a simple coincidence of nature, dust from the world's largest source may result from the operation of long term processes on paleo timescales which have led to ideal conditions for dust generation in the world's largest dust source. Similar processes plausibly operate in other dust hotspots in topographic depressions