Impact of the lateral blast on the spatial pattern and grain size characteristics of the 18 May 1980 Mount St. Helens fallout deposit

International audienceThe 18 May 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens started with a lateral blast that fed a pyroclastic surge, which then uplifted to form a co-blast plume. Thirty minutes later, Plinian activity started at the vent and fluctuated in intensity for ~9 h. The resulting fallout deposit, documented to > 600 km from vent, presents some striking features: (1) displacement of the overall deposit to the north of the vent, (2) a secondary thickness and mass maximum at ~300 km from vent, (3) a total grain size distribution dominated by fine ash (62 wt % of the deposit < 63 μm), and (4) individual grain size distributions that vary dramatically in the crosswind direction from strongly bimodal in the south to skewed unimodal in the north. Results from a new deconvolution of the individual grain size distributions show that they are a combination of a coarse subpopulation that decreases in size with distance from vent and a constant fine subpopulation with a mean of ∼15 μm. Relative proportions of each subpopulation vary asymmetrically in the crosswind directions, with the fine subpopulation preponderant toward the north and the coarse one dominating the south of the deposit, both reach their absolute maxima in mass on the deposit axis. Componentry analyses of selected samples show that blast-derived material is greatly enriched toward the north of the deposit. These results indicate that the co-blast plume dispersed fine-grained material over great distances and dominated the fine subpopulation. Comparison with reanalysis data of atmospheric wind fields and satellite images of the spreading ash cloud suggests contrasting ash transport and depositional processes for the (early) co-blast plume and the (later) vent-derived Plinian plumes. The co-blast plume is displaced to the north; it had a high overshoot height, and eastward dispersion via strong winds low in the stratosphere (~10-15 km). The Plinian plumes were lower and dispersed most of the material to the southeast as the direction of high-velocity winds shifted just before the late climactic Plinian eruptive phase. Fine ash (fine subpopulation) was deposited continuously throughout the deposit, with an increase of sedimentation rate ~300 km from the vent where there is a secondary maximum in the deposit mass and thickness. Fine ash probably settled by a combination of enhanced sedimentation mechanisms, including not only aggregation but also gravitational convective instabilities of cloud base, hydrometeor formation and destruction, and entrainment of small particles by larger ones. Finally, we show that half of the deposit (by mass) in the medial area was deposited by the co-blast plume, and that a significant proportion of the Mount St. Helens fallout deposit is nonjuvenile, which has implications for the magmatic budget of this eruption

Primary and secondary fragmentation of crystal-bearing intermediate magma

Crystal-rich intermediate magmas are subjected to both primary and secondary fragmentation processes, each of which may produce texturally distinct tephra. Of particular interest for volcanic hazards is the extent to which each process contributes ash to volcanic plumes. One way to address this question is by fragmenting pyroclasts under controlled conditions. We fragmented pumice samples from Soufriere Hills Volcano (SHV), Montserrat, by three methods: rapid decompression in a shock tube-like apparatus, impact by a falling piston, and milling in a ball mill. Grain size distributions of the products reveal that all three mechanisms produce fractal breakage patterns, and that the fractal dimension increases from a minimum of ~ 2.1 for decompression fragmentation (primary fragmentation) to a maximum of ~ 2.7 by repeated impact (secondary fragmentation). To assess the details of the fragmentation process, we quantified the shape, texture and components of constituent ash particles. Ash shape analysis shows that the axial ratio increases during milling and that particle convexity increases with repeated impacts. We also quantify the extent to which the matrix is separated from the crystals, which shows that secondary processes efficiently remove adhering matrix from crystals, particularly during milling (abrasion). Furthermore, measurements of crystal size distributions before (using x-ray computed tomography) and after (by componentry of individual grain size classes) decompression-driven fragmentation show not only that crystals influence particular size fractions across the total grain size distribution, but also that free crystals are smaller in the fragmented material than in the original pumice clast. Taken together, our results confirm previous work showing both the control of initial texture on the primary fragmentation process and the contributions of secondary processes to ash formation. Critically, however, our extension of previous analyses to characterisation of shape, texture and componentry provides new analytical tools that can be used to assess contributions of secondary processes to ash deposits of uncertain or mixed origin. We illustrate this application with examples from SHV deposits

Eruptive budgets and origin of andesitic explosive paroxysms in open systems : the August 2006 eruption of the Tungurahua in Ecuador

Plusieurs volcans andésitiques dans le monde connaissent des périodes d’activité en système ouvert pendant plusieurs années, décennies voire siècles, qui sont caractérisées par des manifestations éruptives persistantes d’intensité fluctuante et ponctuées de phases explosives violentes et dangereuses, souvent accompagnées d’écoulements pyroclastiques. La compréhension de la dynamique et de l’origine de ces paroxysmes en système ouvert est un enjeu majeur de la recherche volcanologique dans le but d’améliorer la surveillance de ce type d’activité. Le Tungurahua en Equateur est un excellent exemple pour étudier un système andésitique ouvert : entré en activité en 1999, le volcan a connu une phase paroxysmale en août 2006, avec l’émission d’un panache éruptif de 15 km de hauteur et la mise en place d’écoulements pyroclastiques. Les objectifs de cette thèse sont, à partir de l’étude du dépôt de retombée, d’explorer la dynamique d’un volcan andésitique fonctionnant en système ouvert en étudiant le cas du paroxysme explosif du Tungurahua et de développer une méthode de suivi haute-résolution des budgets éruptifs massiques, transposable à différentes phases éruptives et différents volcans. A l’aide d’une déconvolution automatique des distributions granulométriques bimodales du dépôt, deux sous-populations ont été caractérisées et quantifiées. Ces dernières reflètent la syn-sédimentation de particules grossières depuis le panache éruptif, et de particules fines depuis des nuages co-écoulements pyroclastiques. Cette analyse granulométrique couplée à l’étude de l’amincissement du dépôt indiquent un volume total minimum de 42×106 m3 et un panache de 16-18 km au dessus du cratère. Cette éruption est classée comme une VEI 3 de type subplinien. Un nouveau protocole d’analyses de type et densité de clastes révèle une distribution sigmoïdale des densités des particules vésiculées avec la granulométrie. Cette loi empirique permet de déterminer la charge massique de chaque classe de constituants latéralement dans le dépôt à partir des données de comptage de grains. L’intégration des lois de décroissance massique exponentielle et puissance de chaque classe de constituant dans le dépôt permet d’estimer leur masse totale. Ces budgets massiques indiquent une magnitude~3,5 et une intensité ~9,2. La faible masse de ponces acides (<0.4 wt.%) exclus une origine par mélange de magma. Une proportion de ~98 wt.% et la faible densité de produits juvéniles révèle le caractère magmatique de l’éruption et l’absence d’interactions phréato-magmatiques. Les xénoclastes témoignent d’une fragmentation et d’une érosion des 2 km supérieurs du conduit. Des analyses morphologiques de particules menées avec un outil automatique et innovant (Morphologi G3 de Malvern) montrent le caractère hautement vésiculé des particules juvéniles et la faible viscosité de la lave. L’explosivité élevée d’août 2006 apparaît comme une manifestation extrême d’un système ouvert alimenté par des injections irrégulières de magma andésitique profond. L’activité du Tungurahua depuis 1999 définit un système caractérisé par un conduit très ouvert, une lave peu visqueuse et un dégazage par le biais d’explosions stromboliennes de faibles à hautes intensités. La méthode de détermination des budgets éruptifs est un atout majeur pour le suivi et la surveillance des phases éruptives en système ouvert.Many andesitic volcanoes at subduction plate margins can experience in the course of their evolution periods of continuous eruption during years, decades, or centuries characterized by a fluctuation of the activity interrupted by explosive events of varying size and duration, with possible production of pyroclastic density currents. Magmatic activity lasts for long periods of time before violent explosive eruptions occur, which makes the forecasting of such events a real challenge. I focus on the case of Tungurahua, one of Ecuador’s most active volcanoes, which started an open-vent eruptive period in 1999. The paroxysmal phase occurred in August 2006 and resulted in a sustained eruption column associated with pyroclastic flows and surges. From the study of the tephra fall deposit, the aims of this work are to understand the origin and the dynamics of the August 2006 explosive paroxysmal phase and to develop a transposable method of high-resolution analysis of eruptive mass budgets. Based on a new grainsize deconvolution algorithm, two subpopulations of grains were distinguished, characterized and quantified in the bimodal distributions of the tephra fall deposit. These subpopulations result from the syn-deposition of coarse grains from the main volcanic plume and fine-grained ash elutriated from pyroclastic flows. A bulk minimum tephra volume ~42×106 m3 and a column height of 16-18 km above the vent are assessed. These data support a VEI 3 event of subplinian type. Detailed componentry counting and particle density analyses allow to propose a sigmoidal law to describe the particle density variations with grainsize of vesicular grains. This law is used to calculate the mass per unit area of the componentry classes laterally in the deposit, from the results of the componentry analyses. Integrating the mass decay rates of the componentries in the deposit, we infer their total mass. Results point to a mass magnitude of~3.5 and an intensity of ~9.2. The pumice mass fraction is far too small (< 0.4 %) to account for the high explosivity of the 2006 event. The high juvenile content in the deposit (~98 wt.%)supports a magmatic origin of the eruption, and no phreatic influence on the overall explosivity. The nature and content of non-magmatic material imply that fragmentation and erosional behaviour occurred in the upper ~2 km of the plumbing system. Morphological analyses performed with Morphologi G3 instrument (Malvern) show a high vesicularity of the products and a low viscosity of the lava. These results support an explosive event fed by a deep gas-rich andesitic reinjection, which would have incorporated a pocket of older differentiated magma and eroded the upper conduit during the sub-plinian event. Tungurahua activity describes a eruptive system characterized by an open-vent, a low lava viscosity and a degassing behaviour through strombolian explosions of weak to high intensity. The high-resolution mass-based approach reveals useful to decipher the origin of the violent 2006 paroxysm and has potential to improve magnitude determinations of ancient eruption by considering componentry mass instead of volume. It is also applicable for monitoring purposes in the context of on-going crises at many andesitic eruptive worldwide

Budgets éruptifs et origine des paroxysmes explosifs andésitiques en système ouvert : l'éruption d'août 2006 du Tungurahua en Equateur

Many andesitic volcanoes at subduction plate margins can experience in the course of their evolution periods of continuous eruption during years, decades, or centuries characterized by a fluctuation of the activity interrupted by explosive events of varying size and duration, with possible production of pyroclastic density currents. Magmatic activity lasts for long periods of time before violent explosive eruptions occur, which makes the forecasting of such events a real challenge. I focus on the case of Tungurahua, one of Ecuador’s most active volcanoes, which started an open-vent eruptive period in 1999. The paroxysmal phase occurred in August 2006 and resulted in a sustained eruption column associated with pyroclastic flows and surges. From the study of the tephra fall deposit, the aims of this work are to understand the origin and the dynamics of the August 2006 explosive paroxysmal phase and to develop a transposable method of high-resolution analysis of eruptive mass budgets. Based on a new grainsize deconvolution algorithm, two subpopulations of grains were distinguished, characterized and quantified in the bimodal distributions of the tephra fall deposit. These subpopulations result from the syn-deposition of coarse grains from the main volcanic plume and fine-grained ash elutriated from pyroclastic flows. A bulk minimum tephra volume ~42×106 m3 and a column height of 16-18 km above the vent are assessed. These data support a VEI 3 event of subplinian type. Detailed componentry counting and particle density analyses allow to propose a sigmoidal law to describe the particle density variations with grainsize of vesicular grains. This law is used to calculate the mass per unit area of the componentry classes laterally in the deposit, from the results of the componentry analyses. Integrating the mass decay rates of the componentries in the deposit, we infer their total mass. Results point to a mass magnitude of~3.5 and an intensity of ~9.2. The pumice mass fraction is far too small (< 0.4 %) to account for the high explosivity of the 2006 event. The high juvenile content in the deposit (~98 wt.%)supports a magmatic origin of the eruption, and no phreatic influence on the overall explosivity. The nature and content of non-magmatic material imply that fragmentation and erosional behaviour occurred in the upper ~2 km of the plumbing system. Morphological analyses performed with Morphologi G3 instrument (Malvern) show a high vesicularity of the products and a low viscosity of the lava. These results support an explosive event fed by a deep gas-rich andesitic reinjection, which would have incorporated a pocket of older differentiated magma and eroded the upper conduit during the sub-plinian event. Tungurahua activity describes a eruptive system characterized by an open-vent, a low lava viscosity and a degassing behaviour through strombolian explosions of weak to high intensity. The high-resolution mass-based approach reveals useful to decipher the origin of the violent 2006 paroxysm and has potential to improve magnitude determinations of ancient eruption by considering componentry mass instead of volume. It is also applicable for monitoring purposes in the context of on-going crises at many andesitic eruptive worldwide.Plusieurs volcans andésitiques dans le monde connaissent des périodes d’activité en système ouvert pendant plusieurs années, décennies voire siècles, qui sont caractérisées par des manifestations éruptives persistantes d’intensité fluctuante et ponctuées de phases explosives violentes et dangereuses, souvent accompagnées d’écoulements pyroclastiques. La compréhension de la dynamique et de l’origine de ces paroxysmes en système ouvert est un enjeu majeur de la recherche volcanologique dans le but d’améliorer la surveillance de ce type d’activité. Le Tungurahua en Equateur est un excellent exemple pour étudier un système andésitique ouvert : entré en activité en 1999, le volcan a connu une phase paroxysmale en août 2006, avec l’émission d’un panache éruptif de 15 km de hauteur et la mise en place d’écoulements pyroclastiques. Les objectifs de cette thèse sont, à partir de l’étude du dépôt de retombée, d’explorer la dynamique d’un volcan andésitique fonctionnant en système ouvert en étudiant le cas du paroxysme explosif du Tungurahua et de développer une méthode de suivi haute-résolution des budgets éruptifs massiques, transposable à différentes phases éruptives et différents volcans. A l’aide d’une déconvolution automatique des distributions granulométriques bimodales du dépôt, deux sous-populations ont été caractérisées et quantifiées. Ces dernières reflètent la syn-sédimentation de particules grossières depuis le panache éruptif, et de particules fines depuis des nuages co-écoulements pyroclastiques. Cette analyse granulométrique couplée à l’étude de l’amincissement du dépôt indiquent un volume total minimum de 42×106 m3 et un panache de 16-18 km au dessus du cratère. Cette éruption est classée comme une VEI 3 de type subplinien. Un nouveau protocole d’analyses de type et densité de clastes révèle une distribution sigmoïdale des densités des particules vésiculées avec la granulométrie. Cette loi empirique permet de déterminer la charge massique de chaque classe de constituants latéralement dans le dépôt à partir des données de comptage de grains. L’intégration des lois de décroissance massique exponentielle et puissance de chaque classe de constituant dans le dépôt permet d’estimer leur masse totale. Ces budgets massiques indiquent une magnitude~3,5 et une intensité ~9,2. La faible masse de ponces acides (<0.4 wt.%) exclus une origine par mélange de magma. Une proportion de ~98 wt.% et la faible densité de produits juvéniles révèle le caractère magmatique de l’éruption et l’absence d’interactions phréato-magmatiques. Les xénoclastes témoignent d’une fragmentation et d’une érosion des 2 km supérieurs du conduit. Des analyses morphologiques de particules menées avec un outil automatique et innovant (Morphologi G3 de Malvern) montrent le caractère hautement vésiculé des particules juvéniles et la faible viscosité de la lave. L’explosivité élevée d’août 2006 apparaît comme une manifestation extrême d’un système ouvert alimenté par des injections irrégulières de magma andésitique profond. L’activité du Tungurahua depuis 1999 définit un système caractérisé par un conduit très ouvert, une lave peu visqueuse et un dégazage par le biais d’explosions stromboliennes de faibles à hautes intensités. La méthode de détermination des budgets éruptifs est un atout majeur pour le suivi et la surveillance des phases éruptives en système ouvert

Contribution of fine ash to the atmosphere from plumes associated with pyroclastic density currents

International audienc

The grainsize of volcanic fall deposits: Spatial trends and physical controls

International audienceVolcanic tephra fall deposits, which form during explosive eruptions, are commonly characterized in terms of their thickness and grainsize. While significant efforts have been undertaken to relate spatial trends in thickness to plume dispersion processes, comparably few studies have focused on understanding variations in grainsize. Yet, grainsize is a key parameter providing insight into eruption dynamics, from magma fragmentation to plume transport processes, and modulates the impacts of tephra. Here, we present a set of grainsize data extracted from the published record for 56 deposits that represent a range of eruption intensities and magnitudes. We systematically analyze the deposits in terms of modality (bimodal or unimodal grainsize distributions) and provide the median particle diameter with distance from source for component distribution modes. We found that bimodal fall deposits are formed by eruptions with large amounts of fine particles (<100 μm) and that all tephra-fall deposits show characteristic patterns of grainsize decay with distance from source that can be related to eruption plume height and thus intensity. The grainsize decay trends are also related to ash dispersion and deposition processes such as individual particle settling versus collective settling mechanisms. The maximum distance from source reached by particles of different sizes is controlled by a combination of source and transport processes. This data set provides insight into the preservation potential of deposits of different grainsizes at varying distances from their sources. Finally, we emphasize the importance of using grainsize trends in combination with thickness trends to interpret tephra-fall deposit records

Formation and Dispersal of Ash at Open Conduit Basaltic Volcanoes: Lessons From Etna

co-auteur étrangerInternational audienceOpen conduit volcanoes are characterized by frequent, small scale explosive eruptions, which have a significant impact. Ash-forming explosions are impacting over larger areas with respect to effusive or poorly explosive events and, consequently, are more significant for hazard assessments. Quantifying the hazard associated with them requires understanding the processes and parameters controlling explosive style, and tephra dispersal and obtaining a comprehensive dataset to constrain syn-eruptive dynamics and particle transport in the volcanic plume. We present a study focused on Etna volcano (Italy), which, despite its continuous outgassing through the summit vents, has very frequent explosive eruptions dispersing ash along the southern Mediterranean area. The goal of this study is to obtain a statistically valid dataset on ash morphology and texture and investigate how various particle types distribute spatially in the tephra blanket. We chose a small scale, ash-forming eruption occurred in May 2016, sampled a few hours after tephra deposition. Analyses of grainsize distribution were coupled with further data on tephra texture and morphology, and numerical simulations. Several components were identified based either on purely textural or purely shape characteristics. Shape parameters related to the form of the grains (aspect ratio) are consistent across grainsizes and components. However, roughness parameters (solidity, convexity, concavity index) vary non-uniformly with particle size and componentry. Ash was formed through complex fragmentation of heterogenous magma, starting in the conduit, extending to the explosion jet, and resulting into a large variability of particle shapes, density and textures which distribute non-uniformly across grainsizes. This variability determines variable traveling potential within the volcanic plume and thus non uniform distribution in the deposit. Componentry variations along the dispersal axis suggest that density is the most effective parameter in controlling particle settling. However, extreme shapes, such as very elongated particles formed by surface tension instabilities in the jet, have the largest potential of being transported in the plume and can disperse downwind up to tens of km. Our results suggest that heterogeneities in textures and morphologies of particles are fundamental characteristics of tephra from frequently erupting volcanoes and should be accounted for plume dispersal modelling and hazard assessment

Sigmoidal particle density distribution in a subplinian scoria fall deposit

International audienceA general expression to describe particle density distribution in tephra fall deposits is essential to improve fallout tephra mass determination and numerical modelling of tephra dispersion. To obtain particle density distributions in tephra fall deposits, we performed high-resolution componentry and particle density analyses on samples from the 2006 subplinian eruption of Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador. Six componentry classes, including pumice and scoria, have been identified in our sample collection. We determined the class of 300 clasts in each 0.5ϕ fractions from −4.5ϕ to 3.5ϕ and carried out water pycnometry density measurements on selected size fractions. Results indicate that the mean particle density increases with ϕ up to a plateau of ~2.6 g/cm3 for clasts finer than 1.5ϕ. The density of scoria and pumice increases between −3 and 1ϕ, while dense particle density is sub-constant with grainsize. We show that the mean particle density μ of the vesicular fractions is a function of grainsize i (ϕ scale) given by a sigmoidal law: μ(i)=K+β/(1+αe −ri ) , where K, β, α and r are constants. These sigmoidal distributions can be used to determine accurately the load of each componentry class and should be applicable to many tephra deposits and for modelling purposes

Budgets éruptifs et origine des paroxysmes explosifs andésitiques en système ouvert (l'éruption d'août 2006 du Tungurahua en Equateur)

Plusieurs volcans andésitiques dans le monde connaissent des périodes d activité en système ouvert pendant plusieurs années, décennies voire siècles, qui sont caractérisées par des manifestations éruptives persistantes d intensité fluctuante et ponctuées de phases explosives violentes et dangereuses, souvent accompagnées d écoulements pyroclastiques. La compréhension de la dynamique et de l origine de ces paroxysmes en système ouvert est un enjeu majeur de la recherche volcanologique dans le but d améliorer la surveillance de ce type d activité. Le Tungurahua en Equateur est un excellent exemple pour étudier un système andésitique ouvert : entré en activité en 1999, le volcan a connu une phase paroxysmale en août 2006, avec l émission d un panache éruptif de 15 km de hauteur et la mise en place d écoulements pyroclastiques. Les objectifs de cette thèse sont, à partir de l étude du dépôt de retombée, d explorer la dynamique d un volcan andésitique fonctionnant en système ouvert en étudiant le cas du paroxysme explosif du Tungurahua et de développer une méthode de suivi haute-résolution des budgets éruptifs massiques, transposable à différentes phases éruptives et différents volcans. A l aide d une déconvolution automatique des distributions granulométriques bimodales du dépôt, deux sous-populations ont été caractérisées et quantifiées. Ces dernières reflètent la syn-sédimentation de particules grossières depuis le panache éruptif, et de particules fines depuis des nuages co-écoulements pyroclastiques. Cette analyse granulométrique couplée à l étude de l amincissement du dépôt indiquent un volume total minimum de 42.106 m3 et un panache de 16-18 km au dessus du cratère. Cette éruption est classée comme une VEI 3 de type subplinien. Un nouveau protocole d analyses de type et densité de clastes révèle une distribution sigmoïdale des densités des particules vésiculées avec la granulométrie. Cette loi empirique permet de déterminer la charge massique de chaque classe de constituants latéralement dans le dépôt à partir des données de comptage de grains. L intégration des lois de décroissance massique exponentielle et puissance de chaque classe de constituant dans le dépôt permet d estimer leur masse totale. Ces budgets massiques indiquent une magnitude~3,5 et une intensité ~9,2. La faible masse de ponces acides (<0.4 wt.%) exclus une origine par mélange de magma. Une proportion de ~98 wt.% et la faible densité de produits juvéniles révèle le caractère magmatique de l éruption et l absence d interactions phréato-magmatiques. Les xénoclastes témoignent d une fragmentation et d une érosion des 2 km supérieurs du conduit. Des analyses morphologiques de particules menées avec un outil automatique et innovant (Morphologi G3 de Malvern) montrent le caractère hautement vésiculé des particules juvéniles et la faible viscosité de la lave. L explosivité élevée d août 2006 apparaît comme une manifestation extrême d un système ouvert alimenté par des injections irrégulières de magma andésitique profond. L activité du Tungurahua depuis 1999 définit un système caractérisé par un conduit très ouvert, une lave peu visqueuse et un dégazage par le biais d explosions stromboliennes de faibles à hautes intensités. La méthode de détermination des budgets éruptifs est un atout majeur pour le suivi et la surveillance des phases éruptives en système ouvert.Many andesitic volcanoes at subduction plate margins can experience in the course of their evolution periods of continuous eruption during years, decades, or centuries characterized by a fluctuation of the activity interrupted by explosive events of varying size and duration, with possible production of pyroclastic density currents. Magmatic activity lasts for long periods of time before violent explosive eruptions occur, which makes the forecasting of such events a real challenge. I focus on the case of Tungurahua, one of Ecuador s most active volcanoes, which started an open-vent eruptive period in 1999. The paroxysmal phase occurred in August 2006 and resulted in a sustained eruption column associated with pyroclastic flows and surges. From the study of the tephra fall deposit, the aims of this work are to understand the origin and the dynamics of the August 2006 explosive paroxysmal phase and to develop a transposable method of high-resolution analysis of eruptive mass budgets. Based on a new grainsize deconvolution algorithm, two subpopulations of grains were distinguished, characterized and quantified in the bimodal distributions of the tephra fall deposit. These subpopulations result from the syn-deposition of coarse grains from the main volcanic plume and fine-grained ash elutriated from pyroclastic flows. A bulk minimum tephra volume ~42.106 m3 and a column height of 16-18 km above the vent are assessed. These data support a VEI 3 event of subplinian type. Detailed componentry counting and particle density analyses allow to propose a sigmoidal law to describe the particle density variations with grainsize of vesicular grains. This law is used to calculate the mass per unit area of the componentry classes laterally in the deposit, from the results of the componentry analyses. Integrating the mass decay rates of the componentries in the deposit, we infer their total mass. Results point to a mass magnitude of~3.5 and an intensity of ~9.2. The pumice mass fraction is far too small (< 0.4 %) to account for the high explosivity of the 2006 event. The high juvenile content in the deposit (~98 wt.%)supports a magmatic origin of the eruption, and no phreatic influence on the overall explosivity. The nature and content of non-magmatic material imply that fragmentation and erosional behaviour occurred in the upper ~2 km of the plumbing system. Morphological analyses performed with Morphologi G3 instrument (Malvern) show a high vesicularity of the products and a low viscosity of the lava. These results support an explosive event fed by a deep gas-rich andesitic reinjection, which would have incorporated a pocket of older differentiated magma and eroded the upper conduit during the sub-plinian event. Tungurahua activity describes a eruptive system characterized by an open-vent, a low lava viscosity and a degassing behaviour through strombolian explosions of weak to high intensity. The high-resolution mass-based approach reveals useful to decipher the origin of the violent 2006 paroxysm and has potential to improve magnitude determinations of ancient eruption by considering componentry mass instead of volume. It is also applicable for monitoring purposes in the context of on-going crises at many andesitic eruptive worldwide.CLERMONT FD-Bib.électronique (631139902) / SudocSudocFranceF

Electronic Structure and Thermodynamic Properties of the Molecule GeC from All-Electron ab initio Calculations and Knudsen Effusion Mass Spectrometric Measurements

International audienceInteractions between clasts in pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) generate volcanic ash that can be dispersed to the atmosphere in co-PDC plumes, and due to its small size, is far-travelled. We designed a series of experiments to determine the effects of pyroclast vesicularity and crystal content on the efficiency and type of ash generated by abrasion. Two different pyroclastic materials were used: (1) basaltic-andesite pyroclasts from Fuego volcano (Guatemala) with ~ 26–46% vesicularity and high groundmass crystallinity and (2) tephri-phonolite Avellino pumice (Vesuvius, Italy) with ~ 55–75% vesicularity and low groundmass crystallinity.When milled, both clast types produced bimodal grain size distributions with fine ash modes between 4 and 5φ (32–63 μm). Although the vesicular Avellino pumice typically generated more ash than the denser Fuego pyroclasts, the ash-generating potential of a single pyroclast was independent of density, and instead governed by heterogeneous crystal and vesicle textures. One consequence of these heterogeneities was to cause the vesicular Avellino clasts to split in addition to abrading, which further enhanced abrasion efficiency. The matrix characteristics also affected ash shape and componentry, which will influence the elutriation and transport properties of ash in the atmosphere. The experimental abrasion successfully replicated some of the characteristics of natural co-PDC ash samples, as shown by similarities in the Adherence Factor, which measures the proportion of attached matrix on phenocrysts, of both the experimentally generated ash and natural co-PDC ash samples. Our results support previous studies, which have shown that abrasion is an effective mechanism for generating fine ash that is similar in size (~ 5φ; 30 μm) to that found in co-PDC deposits. We further show that both the abundance and nature (shape, density, components, size distribution) of those ash particles are strongly controlled by the matrix properties of the abraded pyroclasts