debris jets in continental phreatomagmatic volcanoes a field study of their subterranean deposits in the coombs hills vent complex antarctica abstract the ferrar large igneous province of antarctica contains significant mafic volcaniclastic deposits some of which are interpreted to fill large vent complexes such a complex was re examined at coombs hills to map individual steep sided cross cutting bodies in detail and we found several contrasting types two of which are interpreted to have filled subterranean passageways forcefully opened from below into existing non consolidated debris these transient conduits were opened because of the propagation of debris jets upward moving streams of volcaniclastic debris steam magmatic gases liquid water droplets following explosive magma aquifer interaction some debris jets probably remained wholly subterranean whereas others made it to the surface but the studied outcrops do not allow us to differentiate between these cases the pipes filled with country rock rich lapilli tuff or tuff breccia are interpreted to have formed following phreatomagmatic explosions occurring near the walls or floor of the vent complex causing fragmentation of both magma and abundant country rock material in contrast some of the cross cutting zones filled with basalt rich tuff breccia or lapilli tuff could have been generated following explosions taking place within pre existing basalt bearing debris well away from the complex walls or floor we infer that once focused jets were formed they did not incorporate significant amounts of existing debris while travelling through them instead incorporation of fragments from the granular host took place near explosion sites other basalt rich tuff breccia zones accompanied by domains of in situ peperite and coherent basalt pods are inferred to have originated by less violent processes

formation of tuffisitic kimberlites by phreatomagmatic processes the rock type tuffisitic kimberlite tk occurs in the deeper diatremes of some southern african canadian and siberian kimberlite pipes and has been considered a unique rock type related to a particular emplacement process the key features of this rock type are its fragmental nature its massive well mixed appearance and a specific matrix mineralogy characterized by the presence of serpentine and microlitic clinopyroxene and the absence or scarcity of carbonate historically all these features were thought to be related to a highly specific intrusive extrusive magmatic emplacement process in this process the expansion of magmatic volatiles drives the fluidization of a pre existing shallow crustal vertical magma reservoir the embryonic pipe and its consequent evolution into the final diatreme after breakthrough to the surface the specific matrix mineralization is explained by the dissociation of carbonate into co2 and cao while the expanding co2 drives the fluidization process cao reacts with sio2 released from xenolith and olivine alteration to form microlitic clinopyroxene with the phreatomagmatic process chain we offer an alternative model that can readily explain this specific rock type ongoing explosions in a downward penetrating root zone excavate a pipe consisting of a rather regular cone shaped diatreme underlain by the irregular root zone at this stage the pipe in its majority is infilled by warm to hot pyroclastic tephra during thermohydraulic explosions in the root zone the expansion of water vapor homogenizes the overlying diatreme tephra and mixes it with the adjacent country rock lithologies this result in the massive well mixed volcaniclastic rock type typical for tkbs post emplacement hydrothermal alteration and mineralization under epi to mesothermal conditions are considered responsible for the observed specific matrix mineralogy carbonate is frequently present in coherent root zone rocks but is rare or absent due to its dissolution in hot hydrothermal fluids ascending from the lower diatreme which in turn precipitate their dissolved carbonate higher up in the cooler bedded upper diatreme region clinopyroxene also grows under epi to mesothermal conditions for the crystallization of serpentine a x h2o x co2 ratio of 20 1 is required which suggests both a high availability of groundwater and a low abundance of co2 after and likely during emplacement isotope studies h c o sr of matrix minerals suggest participation of groundwater in the formation of these minerals

topographic controls on a phreatomagmatic maar diatreme eruption field and numerical results from the holocene dotsero volcano colorado usa we analyze the eruptive products of holocene dotsero volcano colorado usa 4 15 ka which record evidence of a progression from effusive magmatic activity through explosive phreatomagmatic maar forming activity to a final explosive magmatic phase the nature of the deposits suggests that the irregular and mountainous pre eruptive topography strongly influenced the formation of directed pyroclastic density currents pdcs during the phreatomagmatic phase where the topographically high northern crater rim acted as a barrier and promoted transport to the south furthermore the crater shape strongly controlled the grain size of the final deposits providing further evidence that deposit grain size can be a misleading proxy for fragmentation or explosion intensity we test these hypotheses as gleaned from fieldwork by implementing a multiphase numerical model to simulate discrete explosions and their resulting pdcs at maar diatreme volcanoes we confirm that a crater shape where one rim is higher than the other promotes multiple pulses of particle transport in the direction of the lower rim the initial pdcs contain both coarse and fine particles whereas pdcs generated by later pulses contain predominately finer particles this mechanism provides an alternative explanation to the formation of lapilli tuff tuff couplets often found at maar diatreme tephra rings including dotsero volcano additional modeling shows how the crater depth can control grain size of the resulting pdc deposits in the case of a deep crater and a relatively weak explosion it is possible that only the fine particles escape following collapse of the eruptive column resulting in a fine grained deposit this work allows us to improve models developed to describe emplacement of pdcs for different crater geometries and informs on the dynamics of maar diatreme eruptions but also highlights the limitations of our knowledge of key parameters especially those related to the processes of magma water interaction and syn eruptive hydrogeology during such events

effects of explosion energy and depth to the formation of blast wave and crater field explosion experiment for the understanding of volcanic explosion we made field explosion experiments as an analogue of volcanic explosion to understand the relationship between the explosion condition and the resultant surface phenomena the main parameters we employed were explosion depth and explosion energy through the experiments we confirmed that scaled depth which is the depth divided by cube root of energy is the main parameter determining the properties of explosive volcanism the energy assigned to blast wave decreased exponentially against the scaled depth the scaled crater diameter became maximum when the scaled depth was about 4 10 3 m j scaled crater diameters by nuclear chemical subsurface and some volcanic explosions were almost the same from the scaling law the overpressure at crater rim was estimated to be several mpa which corresponded to typical rock strength probably the ground forming materials were broken inside the area where overpressure exceeded their strength

deep bedded ultramafic diatremes in the missouri river breaks volcanic field montana usa 1 km of syn eruptive subsidence the ultramafic eocene missouri river breaks volcanic field mrbvf montana usa includes over 50 diatremes emplaced in a mostly soft substrate the current erosion level is 1 3 1 5 km below the pre eruptive surface exposing the deep part of the diatreme structures and some dikes five representative diatremes are described here they are 200 375 m across and have sub vertical walls their infill consists mostly of 55 90 bedded pyroclastic rocks fine tuffs to coarse lapilli tuffs with concave upward bedding and 45 10 non bedded pyroclastic rocks medium lapilli tuffs to tuff breccias the latter zones form steep columns 15 135 m in horizontal dimension which cross cut the bedded pyroclastic rocks megablocks of the host sedimentary formations are also present in the diatremes some being found 1 km or more below their sources the diatreme infill contains abundant lithic clasts and ash sized particles indicating efficient fragmentation of magma and country rocks the spherical to sub spherical juvenile clasts are non vesicular they are accompanied by minor accretionary lapilli and armored lapilli the deposits of dilute pyroclastic density currents are locally observed our main interpretations are as follows 1 the observations strongly support phreatomagmatic explosions as the energy source for fragmentation and diatreme excavation 2 the bedded pyroclastic rocks were deposited on the crater floor and subsided by 1 0 1 3 km to their current location with subsidence taking place mostly during the eruption 3 the observed non bedded pyroclastic columns were created by debris jets that punched through the bedded pyroclastic material the debris jets did not empty the mature diatreme occupying only a fraction of its width and some debris jets probably did not reach the crater floor 4 the mature diatreme was nearly always filled and buttressed by pyroclastic debris at depth there was never a 1 3 1 5 km deep empty hole with sub vertical walls otherwise the soft substrate would have collapsed inward which it only did near the surface to create the megablocks we infer that syn eruptive subsidence shifted down bedded pyroclastic material and shallow sedimentary megablocks by 0 8 1 1 km or more after which limited post eruptive subsidence occurred this makes the mrbvf diatremes an extreme end member case of syn eruptive subsidence in the spectrum of possibilities for maar diatreme volcanoes worldwide

the emplacement of class 1 kimberlites abstract class 1 kimberlites are distinct from class 2 and class 3 in that they are characterized by three zones namely root diatreme and crater class 2 and 3 kimberlites do not form diatreme zones filled with diatreme facies rocks consequently these kimberlites probably form by different processes within the root zones of class 1 kimberlites subvolcanic contact breccias occur at particular horizons within the immediate wall rocks these could be formed by hydraulic fracturing caused by crystallization induced exsolution of juvenile volatiles within the cooling hypabyssal kimberlite this exsolution may subsequently also lead to the formation of transitional facies kimberlites in the uppermost parts of extended columns or plugs of hypabyssal kimberlite from such settings break through to surface and explosive eruption is thought to occur and pipes having characteristic diatremes slope angles of 82 and 500 700 m deep craters are formed through these processes these kimberlites undergo fundamental textural changes to produce a variety of rocks from hypabyssal through transitional to diatreme and crater facies kimberlites

multiphase flow above explosion sites in debris filled volcanic vents insights from analogue experiments abstract discrete explosive bursts are known from many volcanic eruptions in maar diatreme eruptions they have occurred in debris filled volcanic vents when magma interacted with groundwater implying that material mobilized by such explosions passed through the overlying and enclosing debris to reach the surface although other studies have addressed the form and characteristics of craters formed by discrete explosions in unconsolidated material no details are available regarding the structure of the disturbed debris between the explosion site and the surface field studies of diatreme deposits reveal cross cutting steep sided zones of non bedded volcaniclastic material that have been inferred to result from sedimentation of material transported by debris jets driven by explosions in order to determine the general processes and deposit geometry resulting from discrete explosive injections of entrained particles through a particulate host we ran a series of analogue experiments specific volumes of compressed 0 5 2 5 mpa air were released in bursts that drove gas particle dispersions through a granular host the air expanded into and entrained coloured particles in a small crucible before moving upward into the host white particles each burst drove into the host an expanding cavity containing air and coloured particles total duration of each run recorded with high speed video was approximately 0 5 1 s the coloured beads sedimented into the transient cavity this same behaviour was observed even in runs where there was no breaching of the surface and no coloured beads ejected a steep sided body of coloured beads was left that is similar to the cross cutting pipes observed in deposits filling real volcanic vents in which cavity collapse can result not only from gas escape through a granular host as in the experiments but also through condensation of water vapour a key conclusion from these experiments is that the geometry of cross cutting volcaniclastic deposits in volcanic vents is not directly informative of the geometry of the intrusions that formed them an additional conclusion is that complex structures can form quickly from discrete events

coherent tilt signals observed in the shumagin seismic gap detection of time dependent subduction at depth repeated surveys of short level lines in the shumagin islands alaska reveal coherent tilt signals associated with subduction of the pacific plate beneath the north american plate in the shumagin seismic gap ten years of steady tilt down toward the trench is interrupted during 1978 1980 by a rapid episode of reverse tilt the normal tilt represents surface deformation as subduction occurs with the plate boundary locked to at least 60 km depth using all available tilt sea level and seismic data the authors interpret the tilt reversal as due to an episodic reverse slip of ca 80 cm magnitude on the plate boundary between ca 70 km and ca 20 km depth downdip from the main seismogenic zone which remains locked this event causes an increase of stress on the locked main thrust zone the authors speculate that such events may be a regular process at subduction zones that great plate boundary earthquakes may be more common during their occurrence and that their onset may be detectable early enough to give warning of an increase in probability for the occurrence of a great earthquake 51 references 10 figures 1 table

revised conceptual model for maar diatremes subsurface processes energetics and eruptive products diatremes are debris filled structures beneath maars that result from many magma water phreatomagmatic explosions during a monogenetic volcano s lifetime a long standing model requires deepening explosions due to water table drawdown that eject progressively deeper seated country rock from the explosion sites while the overlying diatreme and its surface crater widen due to subsidence a revised model is proposed wherein explosions can take place at any level within a diatreme at a given time most effectively venting material from near surface explosions deep seated country rock lithics in tephra deposits record stepwise vertical mixing of material by upward directed debris jets and downward subsidence rather than direct ejection from deep explosions juvenile and lithic clasts erupted during a given explosion may have had a complex history within the diatreme and need not directly reflect fragmentation or brecciation during the explosion that ejects them

on the formation of eruption columns following explosive mixing of magma and surface water when magma vents into the sea or a crater lake the ensuing magma water interaction can affect the style of eruption dramatically if the mass of surface water incorporated into the erupting material is small 108 kg s the height progressively decreases with surface water content this occurs when the magma and surface water begin to constitute a significant fraction of the mass at the top of the column so that an increasing fraction of the initial magmatic thermal energy is converted to the surface water rather than the entrained air the transitions in eruption style which result from changes in the mass of surface water mixing with the magma may account for observations of both buoyant plumes and wet surge during the eruptions of taal in 1965 and miyake jima in 1983 and for the changes in the eruptive activity at surtsey in 1963 1964 as the access of seawater to the vent became more restricted we also present calculations which suggest that the accretionary lapilli which are often found in wet flow deposits may result from condensation of vapor in both the cold wet collapsing fountains and in the flows themselves

the potential failure of monte nuovo at ischia island southern italy numerical assessment of a likely induced tsunami and its effects on a densely inhabited area ischia is the emergent top of a large volcanic complex that rises more than 1 000 m above the sea floor at the north western end of the gulf of naples caldera resurgence in the central part of the island has resulted in the formation of differentially displaced blocks among which mt epomeo 787 m a s l is the most uplifted deformation and slope instability have been recognised as common features induced by a block resurgence mechanism that causes uplift and favours gravitational loading and flank failure the monte nuovo block a topographic high on the north western flank of mt epomeo has recently been interpreted as a block affected by deep seated gravitational slope deformation this block may undergo a catastrophic failure in the case of renewal of magmatic activity this paper investigates the potential failure of the monte nuovo block as a rockslide debris avalanche the consequent tsunami generation and wave propagation and discusses the catastrophic effects of such an event mobilization prone volume has been estimated at about 160 106 m3 and would move from a maximum elevation of 400 m a s l the landslide itself would sweep away a densely populated territory as large as 3 5 km2 the highest waves generated by the tsunami on which this paper is mainly focussed would hit the northern and western shores of ischia however the high coast would prevent inundation and limit devastation to beaches harbours and surrounding areas most of the tsunami energy would head towards the north east hitting the campania coast severe inundation would affect an area of up to 20 km2 around the mouth of the volturno river including the urban area of castel volturno in contrast less energy would travel towards the south and the gulf of naples would be perturbed by long persisting waves of limited damaging potential

shallow plumbing systems for small volume basaltic volcanoes 2 evidence from crustal xenoliths at scoria cones and maars abstract monogenetic basaltic volcanoes record complex eruption processes and the relationships between those processes and shallow plumbing are poorly understood this paper explores these relationships building upon earlier studies of exposed shallow plumbing in the upper hundreds of meters of crust beneath volcanoes produced by magmatic eruption processes and those produced by phreatomagmatic processes such as scoria cones and maars respectively eruptive facies and xenolith abundances are described at three scoria cones and at tephra rings around two maars in the san francisco volcanic field arizona usa well constrained subvolcanic sedimentary stratigraphy provides constraints on the depths of origin of xenoliths of different types sedimentary xenolith contents at scoria cones are

experimental craters formed by single and multiple buried explosions and implications for volcanic craters with emphasis on maars 1 craters at many volcanoes including most maars are formed by multiple subsurface explosions experiments compared the crater formed by a single large buried explosion with craters formed by multiple explosions with the same cumulative energy explosive charges were detonated in pads composed of layered aggregates in three configurations 1 a single large charge buried near its optimal crater excavation depth 2 three charges each with 1 3 the energy of the first one buried at approximately the same depth with respect to the original pad surface 3 the same three charges buried successively deeper final crater size in the multiple explosion cases is not a good indicator of the energy of individual explosions however crater morphology and ejecta volume and distribution can be good indicators of explosion energy and depth these results directly impact the estimate of the energy released by past maar eruptions and future hazard assessments

maar diatreme phreatomagmatism at hopi buttes navajo nation arizona usa remnants of an extensive maar diatreme volcanic field are magnificently exposed at various depths of erosion in the hopi buttes volcanic field of northeastern arizona field and petrographic studies of both the maar and diatreme elements of a selection of volcanoes within the field show that 1 lower sections of the maar rim sequences are typically rich in sandy mudrock derived from the pre eruptive mio pliocene bidahochi formation and the muddy bidahochi sediment was soft and wet at the time of maar eruptions 2 beds higher within the rims contain generally increased proportions of sandstone clasts from the triassic wingate formation in the diatremes late emplaced breccia has deeper seated lithics than more marginal breccia emplaced earlier and 3 many vents are topped by megacryst enriched scoria and spatter and deep seated xenoliths are known only from upper diatreme and craterfilling tephra these observations show that 1 eruptions at hopi buttes involved interaction of magma with unconsolidated mudrock at shallow levels and the phreatomagmatic processes that provided the bulk of the energy involved in the violent eruptions were driven by the interaction of magma and wet sediment 2 the locus of explosive activity migrated downward as eruptions progressed and 3 the closing stage of many eruptions was characterized by rapid magma rise and relative depletion of water

experimental birth of a maar diatreme volcano abstract maar diatreme eruptions are hazardous to people and infrastructure and are also linked to the formation of the kimberlitic variety of diatremes which is important economically processes occurring in the subsurface diatreme and their relation to surface eruptions are not yet well understood we conducted field scale experiments using analog materials to shed more light on these processes especially the formation of the proto diatreme during the first explosions of a maar eruption specifically a series of buried explosions in a prepared layered substrate pad produced craters extra crater deposits and sub crater deposits analogous to volcanic maar craters tephra rings and incipient diatremes post explosion substrate excavation revealed that single large explosions produce sub crater deposits extending nearly to the crater rim crest the same energy divided into three blasts either co located or at different depths with the same epicenter produced narrower and sometimes deeper sub crater deposits even though the final sizes of the craters were similar to that produced by the single large blast the sub crater deposits have an upper zone with domains from different substrate depths and an underlying zone distinguished primarily by being more loosely packed than the original substrate videos show surface motion extending beyond the post shot crater rim and largely vertical ejection and fallback of material into the footprint of these deposits especially for the explosions that occurred below optimal depth of burial we infer that much of the loosely packed material was disassembled vertically transported to different heights during the explosions then fell back without significant relative lateral movement of grains however subvertical fallback did produce apparent cross cutting structures in shallow sub crater deposits one explosion ejected material from the deepest substrate horizon but it was redeposited only within the crater and is unrepresented in the ejecta rim implications of the experiments for maar diatreme volcanoes including some kimberlite pipes are as follows 1 vertical focusing of deep explosions in the diatreme explains the deficit of deep wallrock lithics observed at maar volcanoes 2 direct vertical fallback is possibly an important process forming diatreme deposits especially during the earliest stages and 3 even in our limited simulation the number and scaled depth of explosions clearly affect proto diatreme size and structure

eruptive history of an alkali basaltic diatreme from elie ness fife scotland the elie ness diatreme fife scotland is an ideal place to study the internal architecture and emplacement processes of diatremes elie ness is one of approximately 100 alkali basaltic diatremes and intrusions in the east fife area emplaced during upper carboniferous to early permian times into an extensive rift system in the northern variscan foreland within the diatreme seven lithofacies and three lithofacies associations lfas 1 3 are recognised field petrographic and geochemical studies demonstrate that the diatreme experienced a protracted history of eruption and infill initially driven by volatile expansion and later by magma water interaction massive lapilli tuffs of lfa 1 contain abundant highly vesicular juvenile scoria and magma coated clasts which are best explained by a magmatic origin for the early explosive eruptions on a large scale the tuffs are well mixed and locally exhibit small scale degassing structures attributed to fluidisation processes occurring within the diatreme fill the occurrence of abundant volcaniclastic autoliths and megablocks within lfa 1 can be explained by subsidence of volcaniclastic strata from the maar crater and upper diatreme during emplacement pyroclastic density current deposits of lfa 2 form a series of continuous sheets across the diatreme some of which may have originated from phreatomagmatic explosions in a neighbouring vent we attribute the overall bedding pattern to a combination of primary volcanic processes and post depositional folding related to movement along an adjacent fault minor steeply inclined breccias and tuffs of lfa 3 cross cut the lfa 2 succession and are interpreted as late stage volcaniclastic dykes and conduits signalling the final phase of eruptive activity at elie ness the study offers new insights into the volcanic evolution of diatremes fed by low viscosity alkali rich magmas

effect of explosion energy and depth on the nature of explosion cloud a field experimental study field explosion experiments using dynamite were carried out to investigate the effect of explosion energy and depth on the nature of explosion cloud the scaling law of explosion was established among the energy depth and the nature of explosion cloud shape height and duration of flow out the shape of explosion cloud changed systematically from funnel type via elongated to short types with increasing the scaled depth of explosion at the shallow scaled depth both scaled height and scaled duration increased with increasing scaled depth both values reached the maximum at 0 003 0 004 m j1 3 of cube root scaled depth and then decreased with increasing scaled depth if the cube root scaled depth was over about 0 01 m j1 3 we could not observe any explosion cloud on the ground surface these experimental results should be applicable to the understanding of volcanic explosions if the buoyant effect of internal heat in the explosion cloud was negligible and ground medium is identical we applied these results to the explosion clouds of usu phreatic explosion at 14 53 h on 17 april 2000 and estimated that the explosion energy and the depth were 4 109 j and 6 m respectively errors caused by uncertainty of scaling factors are less than one order of magnitude for the energy and depth

the importance of the transport system in shaping the growth and form of kimberlite volcanoes transport of kimberlite magma from the mantle to the surface is a complex process that involves many often sudden and dramatic changes in transport style the pace and magnitude of changes in the transport system acclerate as the magma nears the surface culminating in eruptions during which multiple transport events take place simultaneously as well as single transport events that change significantly from their point of origin to final deposition understanding the range of transport styles recorded by kimberlite deposits is key to describing the type and style of eruptions the growth of cones and craters and the distribution geometry and structure of the deposits that make up kimberlite volcanoes in an economic context building a clear picture of the processes that shape deposits is essential for selecting exploration targets and evaluating the grade and value of diamond bearing kimberlites variations in diamond grade reflect differences in the diamond content of different magma parcels erupted during the lifetime of the kimberlite volcano sorting during transport of eruption products or re working of diamonds during crater growth cone collapse and erosion deep transport systems control delivery of magma and diamonds to eruption sites the initial stages of kimberlite transport involve rise of magma in narrow interconnected networks of fluidfilled fractures there is compelling evidence that kimberlite magmas are extracted from their source region and erupted without significant residence times in the crust many single kimberlite volcanoes have significant variations in diamond grade between different kimberlite phases suggesting eruption of distinct perhaps unrelated magma parcels at the same site

the effect of pre existing craters on the initial development of explosive volcanic eruptions an experimental investigation most volcanic eruptions occur in craters formed by previous activity the presence of a crater implies specific confinement geometries variably filled by loose fragmental deposits which are expected to exert a strong yet poorly studied control on the violent gas expansion that drives the eruption here we analyze patterns of ejection from buried explosions in analog experiments in order to investigate how the presence of a crater and changes in explosion depth and intensity may affect the formation of eruptive ejecta jets results show that scaled depth charge burial depth divided by the cubic root of charge energy controls the velocity and partly spread angle of eruptive jets independently of the presence of a pre existing crater conversely for a fixed scaled depth the presence of a pre existing crater limits the development of a laterally expanding annulus of the jet these results are directly applicable to interpretation of volcanic explosions key points analysis of ejection patterns from intra and extra crater buried explosions velocity and spread angle of ejecta jet are sensitive to explosion scaled depth radially expanding annulus of the jet is sensitive to pre existing crater

the role of gas fluidisation in the formation of massive volcaniclastic kimberlite abstract massive volcaniclastic kimberlite mvk deposits are a volumetrically important constituent in most kimberlite diatremes mvks are typically characterised by their uniform texture and homogeneous composition and previous studies suggest that they exhibit little appreciable internal variation however new field results from the venetia k1 diatreme south africa show that mvk displays significant changes over metre scales the textural characteristics and large and small scale structure of the deposits are described and interpreted as being due to fluidisation laboratory experiments of tapered fluidised beds demonstrate how they are heterogeneous with fluidisation and mixing limited to the centre of the bed marginal wedge shaped regions remain unfluidised the unfluidised regions are internally laminated and slip downwards when a high proportion of the bed is fluidised the observations also demonstrate how fluctuations in gas velocity can produce steep internal boundaries between laminated and well mixed regions data consistent with gas fluidisation in mvk deposits includes the massive structure uniform distribution of lithic clasts presence of steep internal contacts dominantly sub vertical crystal fabrics across the vent occurrence of surface derived material along the tapered diatreme walls and the presence of degassing structures we propose that the overall structure of the venetia k1 diatreme fill is consistent with a multi stage fluidised emplacement which involved 1 strong initial fluidisation that caused thorough mixing of juvenile and lithic material 2 a gradual step wise decrease in gas flux that produced nested pipe like sequences and 3 migration of the narrow fluidised column towards the steep eastern diatreme wall the occurrence of 4 degassing structures in mvk deposits across the vent is consistent with an overall rapid transition from high to low degrees of fluidisation towards the end of the eruption

root zone processes in the phreatomagmatic pipe emplacement model and consequences for the evolution of maar diatreme volcanoes abstract the understanding of processes within the root zone of maar diatreme volcanoes is important for the interpretation of the geology volcanology and even hazard assessment of these volcanoes in the phreatomagmatic model of pipe formation the irregularly shaped root zone is the site of the phreatomagmatic explosions and thus functions as the engine for pipe formation in this model the root zone grows over a period of time in a series of many single thermohydraulic i e phreatomagmatic explosions the explosions initially occur close to the surface and with ongoing explosive activity penetrate towards deeper levels the ejection of country rock clasts from the root zone results in a mass deficiency in the root zone that causes the overlying tephra and the adjacent country rocks to subside passively in a sinkhole like fashion into the root zone many phreatomagmatic eruptions consequently result in the formation of a cone shaped diatreme thus with ongoing eruptions the cone shaped diatreme has to grow systematically both in depth and diameter during its growth processes in the lower diatreme levels successively destroy the upper levels of the evolving root zone at the surface the maar crater in turn reacts to the underlying subsidence processes and also grows both in depth and diameter thermohydraulic explosions which fragment both magma and the surrounding country rocks mostly occur within the bottom part of the root zone violent explosions in small pipes may clear the overlying diatreme for a short period of time before tephra fall and collapse of the walls of the new crater refill the small initial diatreme in larger pipes via expansion of the mixture of highly pressurized water vapor juvenile gas phases and explosively produced tephra the confined and expanding eruption cloud has to pierce through the diatreme fill in a feeder conduit in order to erupt diatreme clearing events in large pipes are difficult or impossible to maintain since the explosive force in the root zone is only in exceptional instances strong enough to lift or entrain the entire diatreme tephra knowledge of the genetic relationships between root zones and diatremes is critical to understand pipe growth processes the combination of such processes can lead to substantial variation in volcanic behavior and thus produce fundamentally different volcano and rock types it is the purpose of this paper to outline important features of root zones and suggest their significance for the genesis and evolution of maar diatreme and related volcanoes

maar diatreme volcanoes a review maar diatreme volcanoes are produced by explosive eruptions that cut deeply into the country rock a maar is the crater cut into the ground and surrounded by an ejecta ring while the diatreme structure continues downward and encloses diatreme and root zone deposits here we attempt an evenhanded review of maar diatreme volcanology that extends from mafic to kimberlitic varieties and from historical maar eruptions to deeply eroded or mined diatreme structures we conclude that maar diatreme eruptions are episodic ejecta rings provide invaluable insight into eruption processes and sequence but are incomplete records of diatreme formation deposits within the diatreme structure include in varying proportions lower unbedded deposits sometimes typified by subvertical contacts among domains of debris emplaced sequentially and upper bedded deposits formed by sedimentation on surfaces open to the atmosphere a basal root zone comprises the transition from coherent magmatic feeder dike to clastic deposits formed by fragmentation of magma and enclosing country rock root zones are irregular in form and the clastic deposits are typically intruded by contorted dikes irregular root zone like chaotic breccias cut by contorted dikes are also present within diatreme deposits where they represent intra diatreme fragmentation zones and record changes in the location of the explosion locus during eruption

syn and posteruptive hazards of maar diatreme volcanoes abstract maar diatreme volcanoes represent the second most common volcano type on continents and islands this study presents a first review of syn and posteruptive volcanic and related hazards and intends to stimulate future research in this field maar diatreme volcanoes are phreatomagmatic monogenetic volcanoes they may erupt explosively for days to 15 years above the preeruptive surface a relatively flat tephra ring forms below the preeruptive surface the maar crater is incised because of formation and downward penetration of a cone shaped diatreme and its root zone during activity both the maar crater and the diatreme grow in depth and diameter inside the diatreme which may penetrate downwards for up to 2 5 km fragmented country rocks and juvenile pyroclasts accumulate in primary pyroclastic deposits but to a large extent also as reworked deposits ejection of large volumes of country rocks results in a mass deficiency in the root zone of the diatreme and causes the diatreme fill to subside thus the diatreme represents a kind of growing sinkhole due to the subsidence of the diatreme underneath the maar crater is a subsidence crater and also grows in depth and diameter with ongoing activity as long as phreatomagmatic eruptions continue the tephra ring grows in thickness and outer slope angle syneruptive hazards of maar diatreme volcanoes are earthquakes eruption clouds tephra fall base surges ballistic blocks and bombs lahars volcanic gases cutting of the growing maar crater into the preeruptive ground formation of a tephra ring fragmentation of country rocks thus destruction of area and ground changes in groundwater table and potential renewal of eruptions the main hazards mostly affect an area 3 to possibly 5 km in radius distal effects are comparable to those of small eruption clouds from polygenetic volcanoes syneruptive effects on infrastructure people animals vegetation agricultural land and drainage are pointed out posteruptive hazards concern erosion and formation of lahars inside the crater a lake usually forms and diverse types of sediments accumulate in the crater volcanic gases may be released in the crater compaction and other diagenetic processes within the diatreme fill result in its subsidence this posteruptive subsidence of the diatreme fill and thus crater floor is relatively large initially but will decrease with time it may last millions of years various studies and monitoring are suggested for syn and posteruptive activities of maar diatreme volcanoes erupting in the future the recently formed maar diatreme volcanoes should be investigated repeatedly to understand more about their syneruptive behaviour and hazards and also their posteruptive topographic limnic and biologic evolution and potential posteruptive hazards for future maar diatreme eruptions a hazard map with four principal hazard zones is suggested with the two innermost ones having a joint radius of up to 5 km areas that are potentially endangered by maar diatreme eruptions in the future are pointed out

multiflood and multilayer method for scour rate prediction at bridge piers the sricos method was proposed in 1999 to predict the scour depth versus time curve at a cylindrical bridge pier for a constant velocity flow a uniform soil and a deep water condition in this article the method is extended to include a random velocity time history and a multilayer soil stratigraphy it is called the extended sricos or e sricos the algorithms to accumulate the effects of different velocities and to sequence through a series of soil layers are described the procedure followed by the computer program to step into time is outlined a simplified version of e sricos called s sricos is also presented calculations for the s sricos method can easily be done by hand eight bridges in texas are used as case histories to compare predictions by the two new methods e sricos and s sricos with measurements at the bridge sites

a note on maar eruption energetics current models and their application hydromagmatic eruptions convert thermal into mechanical energy via the expansion of ground and or surface water several models address the energetics of these eruptions based on different physical volcanological approaches here we test different models with two case studies in the colli albani volcanic district central italy the monogenetic prata porci and the polygenetic albano maars test results are mutually consistent and show cumulative mechanical energy releases on the order of 1015 1017 j for single maars the fraction of thermal energy turned into mechanical ranges from 0 45 as calculated from the theoretical maximum mechanical energy through 0 1 calculated from country rock fragmentation crater formation and ballistic ejection to 0 03 derived from magma fragmentation by thermohydraulic explosions it appears that the energy released during the most intense hydromagmatic events may account for a dominant fraction of the total mechanical energy released during the whole maar eruptive histories finally we consider the role of magmatic explosive activity intervening during maar eruptions in causing departures from predictions of the models evaluated

rapid injection of particles and gas into non fluidized granular material and some volcanological implications in diatremes and other volcanic vents steep bodies of volcaniclastic material having differing properties particle size distribution proportion of lithic fragments etc from those of the surrounding vent filling volcaniclastic material are often found it has been proposed that cylindrical or cone shaped bodies result from the passage of debris jets generated after phreatomagmatic explosions or other discrete subterranean bursts to learn more about such phenomena we model experimentally the injection of gas particulate dispersions through other particles analogue materials glass beads or sand and a finite amount of compressed air are used in the laboratory the gas is made available by rapidly opening a valve therefore the injection of gas and coloured particles into a granular host is a brief 1 s discrete event comparable to what occurs in nature following subterranean explosions the injection assumes a bubble shape while expanding and propagating upwards in reaction the upper part of the clastic host moves upward and outward above the bubble forming a dome the doming effect is much more pronounced for shallow injection depths thin hosts with dome angles reaching more than 45 significant surface doming is also observed for some full scale subterranean blasts e g buried nuclear explosions so it is not an artefact of our setup what happens next in the experiments depends on the depth of injection and the nature of the host material with shallow injection into a permeable host glass beads the compressed air in the bubble is able to diffuse rapidly through the roof meanwhile the coloured beads sediment into the transient cavity which is also closing laterally because of inward directed granular flow of the host depending on the initial gas pressure in the reservoir the two phase flow can erupt or not non erupting injections produce cylindrical bodies of coloured beads whereas erupting runs produce flaring upward or conical deposits changing the particle size of the host glass beads does not have a large effect under the size range investigated 100 200 to 300 400 m doubling the host thickness injection depth requires a doubling of the initial gas pressure to produce similar phenomena such injections whether erupting or wholly subterranean provide a compelling explanation for the origin and characteristics of multiple cross cutting bodies that have been documented for diatreme and other vent deposits

some major problems with existing models and terminology associated with kimberlite pipes from a volcanological perspective and some suggestions five significant problems hinder advances in understanding of the volcanology of kimberlites 1 kimberlite geology is very model driven 2 a highly genetic terminology drives deposit or facies interpretation 3 the effects of alteration on preserved depositional textures have been grossly underestimated 4 the level of understanding of the physical process significance of preserved textures is limited and 5 some inferred processes and deposits are not based on actual modern volcanological processes these issues need to be addressed in order to advance understanding of kimberlite volcanological pipe forming processes and deposits the traditional steep sided southern african pipe model class i consists of a steep tapering pipe with a deep root zone a middle diatreme zone and an upper crater zone if preserved each zone is thought to be dominated by distinctive facies respectively hypabyssal kimberlite hk descriptively called here massive coherent porphyritic kimberlite tuffisitic kimberlite breccia tkb descriptively here called massive poorly sorted lapilli tuff and crater zone facies which include variably bedded pyroclastic kimberlite and resedimented and reworked volcaniclastic kimberlite rvk porphyritic coherent kimberlite may however also be emplaced at different levels in the pipe as later stage intrusions as well as dykes in the surrounding country rock the relationship between hk and tkb is not always clear sub terranean fluidisation as an emplacement process is a largely unsubstantiated hypothesis modern in vent volcanological processes should initially be considered to explain observed deposits crater zone volcaniclastic deposits can occur within the diatreme zone of some pipes indicating that the pipe was largely empty at the end of the eruption and subsequently began to fill in largely through resedimentation and sourcing of pyroclastic deposits from nearby vents classes ii and iii canadian kimberlite models have a more factual descriptive basis but are still inadequately documented given the recency of their discovery the diversity amongst kimberlite bodies suggests that a three model classification is an over simplification every kimberlite is altered to varying degrees which is an intrinsic consequence of the ultrabasic composition of kimberlite and the in vent context few preserve original textures the effects of syn to post emplacement alteration on original textures have not been adequately considered to date and should be back stripped to identify original textural elements and configurations applying sedimentological textural configurations as a guide to emplacement processes would be useful the traditional terminology has many connotations about spatial position in pipe and of process perhaps the traditional terminology can be retained in the industrial situation as a general lithofacies mining terminological scheme because it is so entrenched however for research purposes a more descriptive lithofacies terminology should be adopted to facilitate detailed understanding of deposit characteristics important variations in these and the process origins for example every deposit of tkb is different in componentry texture or depositional structure however because so many deposits in many different pipes are called tkb there is an implication that they are all similar and that similar processes were involved which is far from clear

sub surface dynamics and eruptive styles of maars in the colli albani volcanic district central italy protezione civile italy 2004 2006 agreement with istituto nazionale di geofisica e vulcanologia ingv project v3 1

the role of fluidisation in the formation of volcaniclastic kimberlite grain size observations and experimental investigation abstract deep steep sided kimberlite pipes in southern africa are normally partially filled with multiple units of a characteristically massive structureless volcaniclastic rock here termed massive volcaniclastic kimberlite mvk these units can be arranged in a pseudo concentric nested pipes within pipes structure several key observations on typical mvk from the venetia kimberlite pipes south africa indicate that fluidisation may have been an important process during its emplacement these include 1 the thorough mixing together of juvenile components and of lithic components derived from all stratigraphic levels of the country rock and 2 a matrix composed of void filling minerals related to hydrothermal metamorphism mainly diopside and serpentine which indicates that the primary deposit had a high porosity 50 and 3 particle size distributions poor in fine ash 10 cm analogue experiments utilising a sand bed laced with marker horizons were conducted in order to investigate the role of fluidisation in the formation of mvk high pressure gas fed through the bed from a point source resulted in the formation of an upwardly diverging pipe structure of thoroughly mixed fluidised material bounded by undisturbed sand strong upward gas flow along the centre of the pipe is characteristically bubbly and results in internal circulation with downward moving regions at the pipe margins analysis of the experimental results suggests that the gas velocity decreases linearly with height and has a gaussian distribution of vertical velocity in the cross flow direction a decrease in the gas flow rate resulted in the development of nested pipes reminiscent of the pipes within pipes structures in kimberlite pipes the results suggest that fluidisation could be a major control on the structure and sorting of deposits in kimberlite pipes we propose that the fluidisation of particles in a kimberlite pipe occurs during the final stages of the eruption when erupting pyroclasts and incorporated fragmented lithic material can no longer be ejected out of the deep wide conduit this bed is subject to quasi sustained fluidisation by the erupting gas particle flow which imparts on it the distinctive characteristics of a massive well mixed poorly sorted deposit

immense vent complex marks flood basalt eruption in a wet failed rift coombs hills antarctica large lava effusions can have impressive explosive antecedents although our picture of flood basalt is overwhelmingly effusive phreatomagmatic eruptions have preceded quiet effusion of some flood basalts and reflect the same influence of vent architecture and hydrology on eruptive style as seen for small volume eruptions the scale of phreatomagmatic deposits associated with flood basalts can be huge at coombs hills a vast but otherwise typical phreatomagmatic vent complex is exposed over more than 25 km 2 and its features are interpreted to reflect processes of tephra jet eruptions with diatreme development similar vent complexes are probably the source of laharic deposits reported elsewhere in the transantarctic mountains and in the karoo province of south africa

models of maar volcanoes lunar crater nevada usa maar volcanoes are generally understood to be the result of highly energetic explosive interaction between magma and water groundwater or surface water two end member conceptual models have been proposed to explain the dimensions diameter depth of maar craters 1 an incremental growth model where a crater grows due to subsidence and ejection of debris over the course of many explosions and the final size is an integrated result of multiple explosive events 2 a model in which the dimensions of a maar crater are the result of the largest single explosion during the lifetime of the maar major explosion dominated model in the latter case the maar size can be used to estimate the energy and depth of the largest explosion which in turn allows estimation of the magma mass involved this paper describes lunar crater maar nevada usa and tests the two models as explanations for the characteristics of the volcano in particular the major explosion dominated model this model implies magma mass and supply rates that are unrealistic and the tephra at the maar do not contain key features observed in the ejecta at large single explosion craters the incremental growth model seems most suitable based upon geological evidence

in vent column collapse as an alternative model for massive volcaniclastic kimberlite emplacement an example from the fox kimberlite ekati diamond mine nwt canada abstract the origins of massive poorly sorted fragmental kimberlite and kimberlite breccias in the diatremes of kimberlite volcanic pipes is currently poorly understood studies of the textural features of the major infill of the fox kimberlite ekati diamond mine nwt canada show that it may have formed as a result of the collapse of the explosive eruption column above the vent into the deep open pipe during the climactic stage of the eruption as the eruption intensity increased the column became critically overloaded with dense particles and rapidly collapsed onto itself unlike deposits typically preserved from column collapse events such as ignimbrites some portion of the collapsing mass was trapped in the deep pipe forming a distinct type of pyroclastic deposit in vent vent fill column collapse lapilli tuff this deposit has previously been tentatively identified as tuffisitic kimberlite tk or massive volcaniclastic kimberlite mvk based on broadly similar textural characteristics with these lithologies though every individual deposit will have formed under slightly different circumstances mass emplacement from column collapse is proposed as a viable model for massive volcaniclastic kimberlite emplacement based on extrapolation of modern volcanological processes