Recent volcanic activity at glacier peak

Previous reports suggested that Glacier Peak, a volcano in northern Washington State, has been dormant for the past 11,000 years. New radiocarbon dates for volcanic deposits indicate that major volcanic events, such as tephra eruptions, pyroclastic flows, and mudflows traveling tens of kilometers, occurred at least five times in the past 1800 years and nine times in the past 5500 years.     

Eruption of the nevado del ruiz volcano, Colombia, on 13 november 1985: tephra fall and lahars

A small Plinian eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Colombia ejected 3.5 x 10(10) kilograms of mixed dacite and andesite tephra on 13 November 1985, with a maximum column height of 31 kilometers above sea level. Small pyroclastic flows and surges, generated during the initial stage of the eruption, caused surface melting of approximately 10% of the volcano's ice cap, leading to meltwater floods. The erosive floods incorporated soils and loose sediments from the volcano's flanks and developed into lahars, which claimed at least 25,000 lives.     

Cristobalite in volcanic ash of the soufriere hills volcano, montserrat, british west indies

Crystalline silica (mostly cristobalite) was produced by vapor-phase crystallization and devitrification in the andesite lava dome of the Soufriere Hills volcano, Montserrat. The sub-10-micrometer fraction of ash generated by pyroclastic flows formed by lava dome collapse contains 10 to 24 weight percent crystalline silica, an enrichment of 2 to 5 relative to the magma caused by selective crushing of the groundmass. The sub-10-micrometer fraction of ash generated by explosive eruptions has much lower contents (3 to 6 percent) of crystalline silica. High levels of cristobalite in respirable ash raise concerns about adverse health effects of long-term human exposure to ash from lava dome eruptions.     

Numerical models of caldera-scale volcanic eruptions on Earth, venus, and Mars

Volcanic eruptions of gassy magmas on Earth, Venus, and Mars produce plumes with markedly different fluid dynamics regimes. In large part the differences are caused by the differing atmospheric pressures and ratios of volcanic vent pressure to atmospheric pressure. For each of these planets, numerical simulations of an eruption of magma containing 4 weight percent gas were run on a workstation. On Venus the simulated eruption of a pressure-balanced plume formed a dense fountain over the vent and continuous pyroclastic flows. On Earth and Mars, simulated pressure-balanced plumes produced ash columns, ash falls, and possible small pyroclastic flows. An overpressured plume, illustrated for Mars, exhibited a complex supersonic velocity structure and internal shocks.     

Explosive deep water basalt in the sumisu backarc rift

Eruption of 1-million-year-old tholeiitic basalt >1800 meters below sea level (>18 megapascals) in a backarc rift behind the Bonin arc produced a scoriaceous breccia similar in some respects to that formed during subaerial eruptions. Explosion of the magma is thought to have produced frothy agglutinate which welded either on the sea floor or in a submarine eruption column. The resulting 135-meter-thick pyroclastic deposit has paleomagnetic inclinations that are random at a scale of <2.5 meters. High magmatic water content, which is about 1.3 percent by weight after vesiculation, contributed to the explosivity.     

Lunar cinder cones

Data on terrestrial eruptions of pyroclastic material and ballistic considerations suggest that in the lunar environment (vacuum and reduced gravity) low-rimmed pyroclastic rings are formed rather than the high-rimmed cinder cones so abundant on the earth. Dark blanketing deposits in the Taurus-Littrow region (Apollo 17 landing area) are interpreted as being at least partly composed of lunar counterparts of terrestrial cinder cones.     

Buried caldera of mauna kea volcano, hawaii

An elliptical caldera (2.1 by 2.8 kilometers) at the summit of Mauna Kea volcano is inferred to lie buried beneath hawaiite lava flows and pyroclastic cones at an altitude of approximately 3850 meters. Stratigraphic relationships indicate that hawaiite eruptions began before a pre-Wisconsin period of ice-cap glaciation and that the crest of the mountain attained its present altitude and gross form during a glaciation of probable Early Wisconsin age.     

Tephra from the 1979 soufriere explosive eruption

The explosive phase of the 1979 Soufriere eruption produced 37.5 x 10(6) cubic meters (dense-rock equivalent) of tephra, consisting of about 40 percent juvenile basaltic andesite and 60 percent of a nonjuvenile component derived from the fragmentation of the 1971-1972 lava island during phreatomagmatic explosions. The unusually fine grain size, poor sorting, and bimodality of the land deposit are attributed to particle aggregation and the formation of accretionary lapilli in a wet eruption column.     

Pyroclastic activity at Home Plate in Gusev Crater, Mars

Home Plate is a layered plateau in Gusev crater on Mars. It is composed of clastic rocks of moderately altered alkali basalt composition, enriched in some highly volatile elements. A coarsegrained lower unit lies under a finer-grained upper unit. Textural observations indicate that the lower strata were emplaced in an explosive event, and geochemical considerations favor an explosive volcanic origin over an impact origin. The lower unit likely represents accumulation of pyroclastic materials, whereas the upper unit may represent eolian reworking of the same pyroclastic materials.     

火山灰石砾含量对烤烟苗期生长的影响

[目的]研究水田土和旱地土添加火山灰石砾比例对烟草农艺性状和生理指标的影响,为植烟土壤的改良提供参考.[方法]以盆栽烤烟云87为材料,分析不同环境条件下纯旱地土、纯水田土及与10％、20％、30％的火山灰石砾混合、纯火山灰土等9个处理对移栽后苗期烤烟农艺性状和生理指标的影响.[结果]相对于其他处理,纯火山灰土处理的烟株苗期长势较好;纯水田土和纯旱地土处理的烤烟苗期长势相对优于添加火山灰石砾处理.在一定时期内,随着火山灰石砾比例的增加,水田土添加火山灰石砾处理的烟株株高、茎围、最大叶面积均有提升,旱地土添加火山灰石砾处理的烟株株高、茎围、最大叶面积呈增加趋势.在移栽后15～36 d,随着水田土添加火山灰石砾比例的增加,大田盆栽烤烟根系活力、NR活性显著降低,但叶绿素a与叶绿素b变化不明显.[结论]纯火山灰更有利于烤烟前期生长,水田土较旱地土利于烤烟前期生长;随着时间的延长,不同土壤类型添加不同比例火山灰石砾对烟株生长的影响逐渐变弱.     

Magma supply rate at kilauea volcano, 1952-1971

The three longest Kilauea eruptions since 1952 produced lava at an overall constant rate of about 9 x 10(6) cubic meters per month (vesicle-free). This is considered to represent the rate of magma supply from a deep source, probably the mantle, because little or no summit deformation indicating high-level storage accompanied any of the three eruptions.     

Discovery of a large-magnitude, late pleistocene volcanic eruption in alaska

An extensive blanket of dacitic tephra was deposited across Alaska and the western Yukon Territory by a plinian eruption about 80,000 years ago. The volume of tephra erupted probably exceeded 50 cubic kilometers and the source was probably in the Wrangell Mountains. This widespread layer of tephra serves as an excellent late Pleistocene stratigraphic marker.     

Hesperian age for western Medusae Fossae Formation, Mars

The Medusae Fossae Formation (MFF) on Mars is an intensely eroded deposit north of the cratered highlands. It is widely thought that MFF materials were emplaced through ignimbrite eruptions. Recent geologic mapping of western MFF identified outliers of MFF materials well beyond the previously mapped western extent for the deposit, including outliers close to Gale crater. We report counts of impact craters on the MFF units that have implications for our understanding of the general history of MFF and the uppermost layered materials on the Gale crater mound.     

Subaqueous explosive eruption and welding of pyroclastic deposits

Silicic tuffs infilling an ancient submarine caldera, at Mineral King in California, show microscopic fabrics indicative of welding of glass shards and pumice at temperatures >500 degrees C. The occurrence indicates that subaqueous explosive eruption and emplacement of pyroclastic materials can occur without substantial admixture of the ambient water, which would cause chilling. Intracaldera progressive aggradation of pumice and ash from a thick, fast-moving pyroclastic flow occurred during a short-lived explosive eruption of approximately 26 cubic kilometers of magma in water >/=150 meters deep. The thickness, high velocity, and abundant fine material of the erupted gas-solids mixture prevented substantial incorporation of ambient water into the flow. Stripping of pyroclasts from upper surfaces of subaqueous pyroclastic flows in general, both above the vent and along any flow path, may be the main process giving rise to buoyant-convective subaqueous eruption columns and attendant fallout deposits.     

Monitoring the 1980-1982 eruptions of mount st. Helens: compositions and abundances of glass

The Mount St. Helens eruptive sequence of 1980 through 1982 reflects the tapping of successively less water-rich, more highly crystallized, and more viscous, highly phyric dacitic magmas. These changes reflect both syn- and preeruption processes. The decreasing water content points to a continued decline in the volume and intensity of explosive pyroclastic activity. This decreasing water content appears to be composed of a long-term trend established during a long period of repose (about 130 years) imposed on short-term trends established during short periods (about 7 to 100 days) of repose between eruptions in the present eruptive cycle. The last two eruptive cycles of this volcano, the T (A.D. 1800) and W cycles (about A. D. 1500), exhibited similar trends. These changes are inferred from a combination of petrographic, bulk chemical, and electron- and ion-microprobe analyses of matrix and melt-inclusion glasses.     

Geology of the Caloris basin, Mercury: a view from MESSENGER

The Caloris basin, the youngest known large impact basin on Mercury, is revealed in MESSENGER images to be modified by volcanism and deformation in a manner distinct from that of lunar impact basins. The morphology and spatial distribution of basin materials themselves closely match lunar counterparts. Evidence for a volcanic origin of the basin's interior plains includes embayed craters on the basin floor and diffuse deposits surrounding rimless depressions interpreted to be of pyroclastic origin. Unlike lunar maria, the volcanic plains in Caloris are higher in albedo than surrounding basin materials and lack spectral evidence for ferrous iron-bearing silicates. Tectonic landforms, contractional wrinkle ridges and extensional troughs, have distributions and age relations different from their counterparts in and around lunar basins, indicating a different stress history.     

Early maritime economy and El Nino events at quebrada tacahuay, peru

The archaeological site of Quebrada Tacahuay, Peru, dates to 12,700 to 12,500 calibrated years before the present (10,770 to 10,530 carbon-14 years before the present). It contains some of the oldest evidence of maritime-based economic activity in the New World. Recovered materials include a hearth, lithic cutting tools and flakes, and abundant processed marine fauna, primarily seabirds and fish. Sediments below and above the occupation layer were probably generated by El Nino events, indicating that El Nino was active during the Pleistocene as well as during the early and middle Holocene.     

Hydrovolcanic explosions: the systematics of water-pyroclast equilibration

The initial contact of external water with erupting magma and the mass ratio of water to magma govern the development of hydrovolcanic phenomena. The phase relations of water within the runout system and the separation of vapor or liquid from the pyroclasts explain gradational transitions between some pyroclastic flows, base surges, mud hurricanes, mudflows, and sheetfloods.     

Late Bronze Age glass production at Qantir-Piramesses, Egypt

It has been uncertain whether the glass produced during the Late Bronze Age (LBA) originated in Egypt or Mesopotamia. Here we present evidence for the production of glass from its raw materials in the eastern Nile Delta during the LBA. Glass was made in workshops that were separate from where the production of objects took place. The initial melting of the raw materials to semi-finished glass was done at temperatures of 900 degrees to 950 degrees C, followed by coloration and ingot production at 1000 degrees to 1100 degrees C.     

Holocene eruptive activity of el chichon volcano, chiapas, Mexico

Geologic and radiometric-age data indicate that El Chichón was frequently and violently active during the Holocene, including eruptive episodes about 600, 1250, and 1700 years ago and several undated, older eruptions. These episodes, involving explosive eruptions of sulfur-rich magma and associated dome-growth processes, were apparently separated by intervals of approximately 350 to 650 years. Some of El Chichón's eruptions may correlate with unusual atmospheric phenomena around A.D. 1300 and possibly A.D. 623.