Jennie S. Gilbert

The origin of accretionary lapilli

Experimental investigations in a recirculating wind tunnel of the mechanisms of formation of accretionary lapilli have demonstrated that growth is controlled by collision of liquid-coated particles, due to differences in fall velocities, and binding as a result of surface tension forces and secondary mineral growth. The liquids present on particle surfaces in eruption plumes are acid solutions stable at ≪ 100% relative humidity, from which secondary minerals, e.g. calcium sulphate and sodium chloride, precipitate prior to impact of accretionary lapilli with the ground. Concentric grain-size zones within accretionary lapilli build up due to differences in the supply of particular particle sizes during aggregate growth. Accretionary lapilli do not evolve by scavenging of particles by liquid drops followed by evaporation — a process which, in wind tunnel experiments, generates horizontally layered hemispherical aggregates. Size analysis of particles in the wind tunnel air stream and particles adhering to growing aggregates demonstrate that the aggregation coefficient is highly grain-size dependent. Theoretical simulation of accretionary lapilli growth in eruption plumes predicts maximum sizes in the range 0.7–20 mm for ash cloud thicknesses of 0.5–10 km respectively.

Distal deposition of tephra from the Eyjafjallajökull 2010 summit eruption

The 2010 Eyjafjallajokull lasted 39 days and had 4 different phases, of which the first and third (14-18 April and 5-6 May) were most intense. Most of this period was dominated by winds with a northerly component that carried tephra toward Europe, where it was deposited in a number of locations and was sampled by rain gauges or buckets, surface swabs, sticky-tape samples and air filtering. In the UK, tephra was collected from each of the Phases 1-3 with a combined range of latitudes spanning the length of the country. The modal grain size of tephra in the rain gauge samples was 25 mu m, but the largest grains were 100 mu m in diameter and highly vesicular. The mass loading was equivalent to 8-218 shards cm(-2), which is comparable to tephra layers from much larger past eruptions. Falling tephra was collected on sticky tape in the English Midlands on 19, 20 and 21st April (Phase 2), and was dominated by aggregate clasts (mean diameter 85 mu m, component grains <10 mu m). SEM-EDS spectra for aggregate grains contained an extra peak for sulphur, when compared to control samples from the volcano, indicating that they were cemented by sulphur-rich minerals e. g. gypsum (CaSO4 center dot H2O). Air quality monitoring stations did not record fluctuations in hourly PM10 concentrations outside the normal range of variability during the eruption, but there was a small increase in 24-hour running mean concentration from 21-24 April (Phase 2). Deposition of tephra from Phase 2 in the UK indicates that transport of tephra from Iceland is possible even for small eruption plumes given suitable wind conditions. The presence of relatively coarse grains adds uncertainty to concentration estimates from air quality sensors, which are most sensitive to grain sizes <10 mu m. Elsewhere, tephra was collected from roofs and vehicles in the Faroe Islands (mean grain size 40 mu m, but 100 mu m common), from rainwater in Bergen in Norway (23-91 mu m) and in air filters in Budapest, Hungary (2-6 mu m). A map is presented summarizing these and other recently published examples of distal tephra deposition from the Eyjafjallajokull eruption. It demonstrates that most tephra deposited on mainland Europe was produced in the highly explosive Phase 1 and was carried there in 2-3 days.

Density, construction, and drag coefficient of electrostatic volcanic ash aggregates

Recent laboratory experiments have demonstrated that electrostatic charges generated during the fragmentation of volcanic pumice cause rapid aggregation of the silicate particles produced. Here, we present measurements of the mass and component particle size distribution of individual, electrostatically bound aggregates produced during these experiments. Particles produced by fracturing pumice aggregated as they fell ∼1.5 m within an enclosed fall chamber. Aggregate mass measurements indicate aggregate densities of ∼200 kg m−3 or less. The component particle size analysis demonstrates exponential-type cumulative distributions which are dominated (on a volume basis) by particles ∼10–40 μm in diameter and contain few particles >70 μm. By representing these particles as disks of 5 μm thickness the calculated aggregate densities are in agreement with those derived from the aggregate mass measurements and indicate a relatively constant aggregate density with size (in contrast with previous results from fall velocities). Combining the density measurements with fall velocity data allows the drag coefficient of aggregates to be determined. Empirical equations developed to describe the particle size distribution within aggregates are used to derive relative aggregation coefficients for the electrostatic aggregation process. Our results can be used within numerical models of volcanic plumes in order to improve their representation of electrostatic aggregation processes.

Volcanic plume electrification: experimental investigation of a fracture-charging mechanism.

Although ashfall from particulate volcanic plumes is known to be highly electrically charged, little is known about the charging mechanism. We describe experiments designed to investigate the particle charges generated from the fracture of pumice. Small silicate particles were produced in the laboratory during collisions between two samples cut from pumice clasts. The net charge magnitudes detected on these particles are similar to those previously measured on ashfall from volcanic plumes (∼10−5 to 10−6 C kg−1). This net charge is also shown to be the result of a small imbalance between the sums of individual particle charges of both polarities, which are up to several orders of magnitude larger than the net charge. The magnitude of both the net and single polarity specific charges were only weakly affected by changes of relative humidity, but single polarity charges increased steadily with increasing sample impact velocities. The dominant charging process during the experiments was that of material fracture. The charging mechanism is thus interpreted to be fractoemission (the release of nuclear particles from fresh crack surfaces) occurring during the production of the silicate particles. This implies that the electrification of volcanic plumes could be the result of brittle fragmentation of magma or pumice clasts within the upper regions of the conduit and in the jet region of the plume.

The hydration and alteration of perlite and rhyolite

Abstract: The volatile concentrations and thermal characteristics of hydrothermally altered rhyolitic deposits erupted under Icelandic glaciers have been studied by combined differential scanning calorimetry–thermogravimetric analysis–mass spectrometry (DSC–TGA–MS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Samples range from pristine obsidians to strongly perlitized and altered fragmental deposits. Four types of samples are determined to have notable differences in total volatile concentrations: obsidians (0.44–3.04 wt%), perlites (2.15–8.15 wt%), obsidian-breccias (8.49–9.41 wt%) and hyaloclastites (3.23–7.78 wt%). DSC–TGA–MS and textural data indicate that the volatile concentration of the perlitic samples increases as the amount of perlitization increases. XRD data show that the volatile-rich samples are rich in the low-temperature zeolite minerals heulandite and mordenite. The temperature at which volatile exsolution occurs is shown to decrease as the volatile concentration increases, reflecting the speciation of water as well as zeolite mineral growth. Supplementary material: Detailed grain-size fraction analysis data in table and histogram form are available at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18366.

The geology of Nevados de Chillán volcano, Chile

Nevados de Chillan volcano is a large composite stratovolcanic complex in the Southern Volcanic Zone of the Chilean Andes. It is one of the highest-risk volcanoes in Chile due to high levels of historic activity and rapid development of economic activity in the area. High precision 40 Ar/ 39 Ar and 14 C geochronology, geochemistry and petrology have been employed in addition to photogeology and field mapping to elucidate the evolution of this volcano and assess its hazards. Nevados de Chillan has been active since at least 640 ka when a large group of subglacial andesite flows were erupted. Since 100 ka, sequences of andesite and dacite lavas have been erupted into both subaerial and subglacial environments. Ignimbrites were erupted at around 40 ka and may have been associated with caldera collapses. Two separate eruptive centres have evolved since 40 ka: the Cerro Blanco and Las Termas subcomplexes. The two centres are 6 km apart, yet have contemporaneously erupted geochemically distinct magmas. Subglacial lavas have been identified on the high flanks of the volcano and 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dating has confirmed their eruption during recent glaciations (isotope stages 4 and 2). Tephra fall deposits have been dated by 14 C analysis of interstratified organic material and indicate that no proximal tephra fallout deposits older than 9 ka remain. Tephra dispersal indicates that Holocene activity has involved vulcanian to subplinian eruptions. At least, 3 pyroclastic flow eruptions have occurred during the Holocene and lahar deposits are common in the valleys around the volcano. Historically, the Santa Gertrudis vent erupted during 1861-1865 and the dacite lava cone complexes Nuevo and Arrau were constructed during 1906-1943 and 1973-1986, respectively. Historic records indicate that lahars and landslides are major hazards to economic developments on the lower flanks and valleys

Ice-melt collapse pits and associated features in the 1991 lahar deposits of Volcán Hudson, Chile: criteria to distinguish eruption-induced glacier melt.

In subaerial volcaniclastic sequences structures formed by ice blocks can provide information about a volcanos history of lahar generation by glacier melt. At Volcán Hudson in Chile, catastrophic lahars were initiated by eruption-induced melting of glacier ice in August and October 1991. They transported large ice blocks 50 km down the Rio de los Huemules valley to the sea. Large current crescents with lee-side lenses were formed where ice blocks were deposited during waning stages of the flood. When stranded blocks of ice melted, they left cone-shaped and ring-shaped heaps of ice-rafted debris on the sediment surface. Several hundred ice blocks were completely buried within the aggrading lahar sediment, and when these melted circular collapse pits formed in the sediment. Collapse types included subsided coherent blocks of sediment bounded by an outward-dipping ring-fracture, trapdoor structures with horseshoe-shaped fractures, downsag pits with centroclinal dips locally up to 60°, pits with peripheral graben and crevasses, piecemeal (highly fragmented) collapse structures and funnel-shaped pits containing disaggregated sediment. A sequence of progressive collapse is inferred in which initial downsag and subsidence on an outward-dipping ring fracture produces a small diameter pit. This is followed by widening of the pit by progressive development of concentric ring fractures and downsag outside the early formed pit, and by collapse of overhanging pit walls to produce vertical to inward-dipping walls and aprons of collapse debris on the pit floor. The various structures have potential for preservation even in regions prone to high rainfall and flooding, and they can be used to indicate that former lahars contained abundant blocks of ice.

Physical volcanology of a subglacial-to-emergent rhyolitic tuya at Rauðufossafjöll, Torfajökull, Iceland

Abstract This paper presents the first modern volcanological study of a subglacial-to-emergent rhyolite tuya, at SE Rauðufossafjöll, Torfajökull, Iceland. A flat-topped edifice with a volume of c. 1 km3 was emplaced in Upper Pleistocene time beneath a glacier >350m thick. Although it shares morphological characteristics with basaltic tuyas, the lithofacies indicate a very different eruption mechanism. Field observations suggest that the eruption began with vigorous phreatomagmatic explosions within a well-drained ice vault, building a pile of unbedded ash up to 300m thick. This was followed by a subaerial effusive phase, in which compound lava flows were emplaced within ice cauldrons. Small-volume effusive eruptions on the volcano flanks created several lava bodies, with a variety of features (columnar-jointed sides, subaerial tops, peperitic bases) that are used to reconstruct spatially-heterogeneous patterns of volcano-ice interaction. Volcaniclastic sediments exposed in a stream section provide evidence for channelised meltwater drainage and fluctuating depositional processes during the eruption. Models are developed for the evolution of SE Rauðufossafjöll, and the differences between subglacial rhyolitic and basaltic eruption mechanisms, which are principally caused by contrasting hydrological patterns, are discussed.

Fluid motions in volcanic conduits : a source of seismic and acoustic signals

Volcanoes become active when fluids are in motion, and erupt when these fluids escape into the atmosphere. Volcanic fluids are a mixture of solid, liquid and gas. These mixtures result in a complex range of flow behaviour, especially during interaction with conduit geometry. These processes are not directly observable and must be inferred from interpretations of field observation and measurement. One of the outcomes of this complexity is the generation of pressure and force transients as high-density phases accelerate and decelerate during unsteady flow. These transients are one means of flexing the conduit wall, a process that manifests itself as ground motion and is detectable as volcano seismic signals. On eruption, volcanic fluids interact with the atmosphere and generate acoustic and thermal signals. In this Special Publication we present a series of papers based on field, numerical and experimental approaches that seek to establish links between geophysical signals and fluid motion in volcanic conduits.

Will subglacial rhyolite eruptions be explosive or intrusive? Some insights from analytical models

Abstract Simple analytical models of subglacial eruptions are presented, which simulate evolving subglacial cavities and volcanic edifices during rhyolitic eruptions beneath temperate glaciers. They show that the relative sizes of cavity and edifice may strongly influence the eruption mechanisms. Intrusive eruptions will occur if the edifice fills the cavity, with rising magma quenched within the edifice and slow melting of ice. Explosive magma–water interaction may occur if a water- or steam-filled gap develops above the edifice. Meltwater is assumed to drain away continuously, but any gap above the edifice will be filled by meltwater or steam. Ductile roof closure will occur if the glacier weight exceeds the cavity pressure and is modelled here using Nye’s law. The results show that the effusion rate is an important control on the eruption style, with explosive eruptions favoured by large effusion rates. The models are used to explain contrasting eruption mechanisms during various Quaternary subglacial rhyolite eruptions at Torfajökull, Iceland. Although the models are simplistic, they are first attempts to unravel the complex feedbacks between subglacial eruption mechanisms and glacier response that can lead to a variety of eruptive scenarios and associated hazards.