Gustavo Villarosa

The Unexpected Awakening of Chaitén Volcano, Chile

On 2 May 2008, a large eruption began unexpectedly at the inconspicuous Chaiten volcano in Chile’s southern volcanic zone. Ash columns abruptly jetted from the volcano into the stratosphere, followed by lava dome effusion and continuous low- altitude ash plumes [Lara, 2009]. Apocalyptic photographs of eruption plumes suffused with lightning were circulated globally. Effects of the eruption were extensive. Floods and lahars inundated the town of Chaiten, and its 4625 residents were evacuated. Widespread ashfall and drifting ash clouds closed regional airports and cancelled hundreds of domestic flights in Argentina and Chile and numerous international flights [Guffanti et al., 2008]. Ash heavily affected the aquaculture industry in the nearby Gulf of Corcovado, curtailed ecotourism, and closed regional nature preserves. To better prepare for future eruptions, the Chilean government has boosted support for monitoring and hazard mitigation at Chaiten and at 42 other highly hazardous, active volcanoes in Chile. The Chaiten eruption discharged rhyolite magma, a high-silica composition associated with extremes of eruptive behavior ranging from gentle lava effusion to violent, gas-driven explosions. As the first major rhyolitic eruption since that of Alaska’s Katmai-Novarupta in 1912, it permits observations that are benchmarks for future such events. It also reignites the debate on what processes rekindle long-dormant volcanoes, justifies efforts to mitigate rare but significant hazards through ground-based monitoring, and confi rms the value of timely satellite observations.

Holocene climate variability and environmental history at the Patagonian forest/steppe ecotone: Lago Mosquito (42°29'37.89''S, 71°24'14.57''W) and Laguna del Cóndor (42°20'47.22”S, 71°17’07.62”W)

Along the eastern Andes, a sharp ecotone separates steppe from North Patagonian forest dominated by Nothofagus spp. and Austrocedrus chilensis. The longitudinal position of the ecotone is largely determined by effective moisture, which in turn is partly governed by the strength and latitudinal position of the Southern Westerlies. As a result, changes in the ecotone provide an opportunity to examine past climate variations. Holocene environmental history at two sites in close proximity is inferred from pollen and high-resolution charcoal data. Prior to 9000 cal. yr BP, vegetation resembled a steppe, in accordance with widespread aridity. Fires were infrequent, likely as a consequence of fuel discontinuity associated with low vegetation cover. At 9000 cal. yr BP, forest taxa expanded into steppe and fires became frequent, indicating that summers were arid enough to support fires but winter moisture was sufficient for Nothofagus spp. to expand. A two-step increase in effective moisture is inferred for the middle Holocene. The first step occurred at 8500 cal. yr BP, as interpreted from the increase in A. chilensis in the region, probably as a consequence of an eastward migration from glacial refugia. The second step at 5500 cal. yr BP is based on a Nothofagus spp. expansion into the steppe. Steppe readvances into the forest between 5250 and 3000 cal. yr BP indicate decreased temperatures and/or effective moisture. The last 3000 years are characterized by expansions of A. chilensis and an eastward shift of the ecotone, suggesting more humid conditions. European settlement is reflected in the establishment of non-native species and disturbance-adapted taxa.

Multiple melt bodies fed the AD 2011 eruption of Puyehue-Cordón Caulle, Chile

Within the volcanological community there is a growing awareness that many large- to small-scale, point-source eruptive events can be fed by multiple melt bodies rather than from a single magma reservoir. In this study, glass shard major- and trace-element compositions were determined from tephra systematically sampled from the outset of the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle (PCC) eruption (~1 km3) in southern Chile which commenced on June 4th, 2011. Three distinct but cogenetic magma bodies were simultaneously tapped during the paroxysmal phase of this eruption. These are readily identified by clear compositional gaps in CaO, and by Sr/Zr and Sr/Y ratios, resulting from dominantly plagioclase extraction at slightly different pressures, with incompatible elements controlled by zircon crystallisation. Our results clearly demonstrate the utility of glass shard major- and trace-element data in defining the contribution of multiple magma bodies to an explosive eruption. The complex spatial association of the PCC fissure zone with the Liquiñe-Ofqui Fault zone was likely an influential factor that impeded the ascent of the parent magma and allowed the formation of discrete melt bodies within the sub-volcanic system that continued to independently fractionate.

A past-millennium maximum in postglacial activity from Volcán Chaitén, southern Chile

Volcan Chaiten (southern Chile, ∼43°S) initiated an historically unprecedented eruption in A.D. 2008, surprising the local inhabitants, Chilean and Argentine authorities, and the geologic community. Available data at the time indicated an absence of explosive eruptions from this rhyolitic volcano since a large-magnitude eruptive event dated at ca. 10,500 yr B.P. We present lake-sediment data from Lago Teo, a small closed-basin lake located in the immediate vicinity of both Chaiten township and the volcano, that spans the past ∼10,000 yr and contains 26 pyroclastic fallout deposits. Glass-shard electron microprobe analyses revealed ten rhyolitic tephras indistinguishable in composition from the 2008 Volcan Chaiten eruption, and ten others potentially derived from the Michinmahuida volcanic complex. Among the rhyolites, we detected three closely spaced tephras deposited between ca. 9460 and 9680 yr B.P., followed by two thick tephras dated at ca. 7700 and ca. 5080 yr B.P. Three other closely spaced tephras occur between ca. 600 and 850 yr B.P., the most recent prehistoric event at ca. 420 yr B.P., and a 3-cm-thick tephra deposited during the 2008 event. We calculate a median recurrence of ∼310 yr between eruptive events from all sources over the past ∼10,000 yr, and ∼200 yr between Volcan Chaiten events over the past millennium. Our results not only challenge the notion of an ∼10,500-yr-long quiescence for Volcan Chaiten activity, but also suggest that the 2008 eruption was an overdue phenomenon in the context of its postglacial eruptive history, illustrating the advantage and absolute necessity of utilizing lake-sediment archives for developing continuous well-dated time series inventories of explosive volcanic events.

HEAVY METAL CONTAMINATION IN SEDIMENTS OF LAKE NAHUEL HUAPI, NAHUEL HUAPI NATIONAL PARK, NORTHERN PATAGONIA, ARGENTINA

Trace metals (Sb, As, Br, Cs, Co, Cr, Ag and Hg), rare earth elements (Ce, Eu, La, Lu, Sm, Tb and Yb), and Sc. were analysed in suspended load and in two sediment cores from Lake Nahuel Huapi, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Patagonia, Argentina, by using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis. The core activity profiles of 210Pb and 137Cs were measured to estimate the age of the sediments. Silver was enriched in the upper layers of both cores, and correlated with the strong growthof the population of Bariloche City in the last 50 yr. Concentrations are higher in the core sampled near Bariloche, andindicate some transport in the water body. Silver concentrationsmeasured in the suspended load were 4.58±0.36 and 3.46±0.40 μg g-1 in the southern margin of the lake, near San Carlos de Bariloche City, whereas in the northern margin the concentrations were 1.68±0.18 and 1.88±0.23 μg g-1. Concentration ratio for silver in suspended load and upper core layers were equal in both sampling points. These facts suggest that Ag contents correspond to inputs associated with human activities. Bromine concentrations show a strong increase abovebase line values, similar to silver. In contrast, caesium, chromium, and cobalt concentrations do not differ from base linevalues. The metalloids antimony and arsenic show little variationwith regard to base line concentration. Noticeable, the mercurycontents found in the suspended load.

Impacts to agriculture and critical infrastructure in Argentina after ashfall from the 2011 eruption of the Cordón Caulle volcanic complex: an assessment of published damage and function thresholds

The 2011 Cordón Caulle (Chile) was a large silicic eruption that dispersed ashfall over 75,000 km2 of land in Central Argentina, affecting large parts of the Neuquén, Río Negro, and Chubut provinces, including the urban areas of Villa la Angostura, Bariloche and Jacobacci. These regions all received damage and disruption to critical infrastructure and agriculture due to the ashfall. We describe these impacts and classify them according to published damage/disruption states (DDS). DDS for infrastructure and agriculture were also assigned to each area using the tephra thickness thresholds suggested by previous studies reported in the volcanological literature. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the impacts were as expected based on the DDS suggested thresholds, and to determine whether other factors, apart from ashfall thickness, played a part. DDS thresholds based on tephra thickness were a good predictor of the impacts that occurred in the semi-arid steppe area around Jacobacci. This was unexpected as the more severe impacts were related to the challenging environmental conditions (low precipitation levels, high levels of wind erosion) and the daily wind remobilisation of ash that occurred, rather than the ashfall thicknesses received. The temperate region, including Villa la Angostura and Bariloche, performed better than the DDS assigned by ashfall thickness suggested. Despite deposits as thick as 300 mm, full recovery occurred within months of the ashfall event. The DDS scales need to incorporate a wider range of system characteristics, and environmental and vulnerability factors, as we propose here.

Little Ice Age to Present Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction Based on Multiproxy Analyses from Nahuel Huapi Lake (Patagonia, Argentina)

Abstract. Lakes are ideal sites to study environmental changes since they preserve climatic, anthropogenic, and volcanic signals in their sediments. Brazo Blest is one of the most important ramifications of Lake Nahuel Huapi and it is an interesting site to study climatic variations as it receives direct discharge of heavy suspended sediments loads from Tronador Glacier through the Frías River, as a result of the abrasion of the bedrock and runoff from the surrounding Valdivian Forest. A short sediment core from Brazo Blest was analyzed for chironomid and diatom assemblages and pigments in order to reconstruct environmental changes during the last 100 years in the basin under study. This multiproxy study also included geochemical and physical analyses and reveals changes in the productivity of the lake over time, showing a shift in the 1950s from autochthonous to allochthonous organic matter. This modification is related to the increase of precipitation and the consequent fluvial runoff from two catchments, Frías River and the Blest-Cántaros basin together with the effects ofrising temperatures, which affected Tronador Glacier. Further, it allows us to link volcanic eruptions to a decrease in species richness and number of chironomids and diatoms, as a consequence of reduced light intensities and food availability induced by the high content of suspended sediments in the water column. This study highlights the effectiveness of multiproxy analyses to reconstruct environmental changes.

Investigating the nature of an ash cloud event in Southern Chile using remote sensing: volcanic eruption or resuspension?

ABSTRACT On 14 December 2013, the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (United States) reported a volcanic ash cloud apparently emitted by the Puyehue Cordón Caulle Volcanic Complex (Chile) and indicated its cause was probably resuspension. The distinction of volcanic ash resuspension from volcanic eruptions is important because both processes pose different scenarios for civil protection authorities and besides, there is a special need of specific schemes for detecting and monitoring resuspension of volcanic ash. To this end, we intended to identify the cause of this event by using remote sensing technology. Remote sensing based volcanic ash products enabled us to confirm the presence of volcanic ash and observations on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)–based cloud-integrated water path provided evidence in favour of a small and short-lived eruption. Thus, a volcanic eruption would constitute a plausible explanation for the cloud of 14 December 2013, but we were unable to discard resuspension. On the other hand, we found out that the water path product could constitute useful ancillary data to identify the origin of this kind of processes. The set of observations presented constitutes a good initial point towards the identification and subsequent development of decision support tools for the mitigation of the hazards posed by volcanic ash resulting from volcanic eruptions and resuspension.

Subaequeous landslides analysis in lacustrine deltas (Nahuel Huapi lake, Argentina) through high-resolution bathymetry

Las localidades asentadas en las costas de los grandes lagos de Norpatagonia Andina estan expuestas a frecuente actividad sismica y volcanica regional y a fenomenos tsunamigenicos asociados. Olas extraordinarias como el tsunami de 1960 en el lago Nahuel Huapi, que afecto las costas de la ciudad de Bariloche, pueden ser inducidas por deslizamientos subaereos o subacuaticos desencadenados durante un sismo de magnitud (Villarosa et al., 2009). Este trabajo aborda el estudio de los procesos de remocion en masa que se desarrollan en la porcion sumergida de deltas lacustres ubicados en las costas de las localidades de Bariloche y Dina Huapi, con el fin de aportar informacion relevante que sirva de base a futuras evaluaciones de peligrosidad en estas costas. Se registro la morfologia subacuatica mediante un Sonar Batimetrico por Medicion de Fase y se confeccionaron Modelos Digitales de Elevacion y mapas derivados utilizando ArcGIS. Los resultados indican que se trata de deltas tipo Gilbert: frentes deltaicos de pendientes pronunciadas donde el sustrato se moviliza mediante procesos gravitacionales (deslizamientos, flujos de detritos y/o corrientes de turbidez). La abundancia y magnitud de los deslizamientos (con escarpas de cabecera de unos 10 m de altura y hasta 200 m de longitud y escarpas laterales que se extienden hasta el limite del area estudiada, superando los 600 m de longitud) indican que periodicamente se desarrollan fenomenos de remocion que involucran grandes volumenes de sedimento. Estos eventos son potenciales generadores de ondas en la superficie del lago. La cercania entre estos ambientes y las localidades costeras implica que un evento de este tipo desencadenado por un terremoto de magnitud considerable en la region podria afectar a las costas mas vulnerables.