collapse driven large eruptions abstract for a typical poroelastic shallow crustal magma chamber about 0 1 of the mafic magma and about 4 of the felsic magma are erupted and or injected during magma chamber rupture magma chambers with volumes of the order of several tens to several hundred cubic kilometres as are common are thus sufficiently large to supply magma to small or moderate eruptions for large eruptions however a much higher percentage of the magma volume must be squeezed out of the chamber for an ordinary poroelastic chamber the excess pressure in the chamber falls exponentially during the eruption for a large eruption to be possible however the excess pressure must be essentially maintained until the very end of the eruption here i show that caldera collapse can maintain the excess pressure through forced magma chamber volume reduction in which case a resulting large eruption would be the consequence not the cause of the collapse i also show that ring fault dip partly controls the size and intensity volumetric flow or effusion rate of the eruption if the ring fault dips inward a normal fault the displacement is stable the volumetric flow rate intensity remains essentially constant during the collapse and the magma chamber remains active following the collapse by contrast if the ring fault dips outward a reverse fault the displacement is unstable the volumetric flow rate normally increases dramatically during the collapse and the magma chamber may be entirely destroyed during the collapse

eruptive history of earth s largest quaternary caldera toba indonesia clarified single grain laser fusion sup 40 ar sup 39 ar analyses of individual sanidine phenocrysts from the two youngest toba indonesia tuffs yield mean ages of 73 plus minus 4 and 501 plus minus 5 ka in addition glass shards from toba ash deposited in malaysia were dated at 68 plus minus 7 ka by the isothermal plateau fission track technique these new determinations in conjunction with previous ages for the two oldest tuffs at toba establish the chronology of four eruptive events from the toba caldera complex over the past 1 2 m y ash flow tuffs were erupted from the complex every 0 34 to 0 43 m y culminating with the enormous 2500 3000 km sup 3 youngest toba tuff eruption caldera formation and subsequent resurgence of samosir island timing of this last eruption at toba is coincident with the early wisconsin glacial advance the high precision sup 40 ar sup 39 ar age eruption of such magnitude may provide an important marker horizon useful as a baseline for research and modeling of the worldwide climatic impact of exceptionally large explosive eruptions

basaltic calderas collapse dynamics edifice deformation and variations of magma withdrawal 1 the incremental caldera collapses of fernandina 1968 miyakejima 2000 and piton de la fournaise 2007 are analyzed in order to understand the collapse dynamics in basaltic setting and the associated edifice deformation for each caldera the collapse dynamics is assessed through the evolution of the 1 time interval t between two successive collapse increments 2 amount of vertical displacement during each collapse increment and 3 magma outflow rate during the whole collapse caldera process we show from the evolution of t that piton de la fournaise and fernandina were characterized by a similar collapse dynamics despite large differences in the caldera geometry and the duration of the whole collapse caldera process this evolution significantly differs from that of miyakejima where t strongly fluctuated throughout the whole collapse process quantification of the piston vertical displacements enables us to determine the magma outflow rates between each collapse increment displacement data tiltmeter and or gps for piton de la fournaise and miyakejima are used to constrain the edifice overall deformation and the edifice deformation rates these data reveal that both volcanoes experienced edifice inflation once the piston collapsed into the magma chamber such a deformation which lasts during the first collapse increments only is interpreted as the result of larger volume of piston intruded in the magma chamber than magma withdrawn before each collapse increment once the effect of the collapsing rock column vanishes edifice deflates we also determine for each caldera the critical amount of magma evacuated before collapse initiation and compare it to analog models the significant differences between models and nature are explained by the occurrence of preexisting weak zones in nature i e the ring faults that are not taken into account in analog models finally we show that t at piton de la fournaise and fernandina was equally controlled by the frictional resistance along the ring faults and the magma outflow rate in addition to these two parameters the collapse dynamics of miyakejima was also influenced by variations of the magma bulk modulus which changed after the influx of deep gas rich magma into the collapse related magma chamber altogether our results show that the dynamics of caldera collapse in basaltic volcanoes proceeds in two phases phase 1 starting with the first collapse is characterized by the largest collapse amplitude an incremental edifice inflation and a step by step increase of the rate of magma outflow phase 2 shows a rapid decrease of the magma discharge rate to a low level concomitant with the continuous edifice deflation if deep magma is injected into the magma chamber as at miyakejima an additional phase occurs phase 3

dynamics in debris flow activity on a forested cone a case study using different dendroecological approaches dendrogeomorphological analyses of trees affected by debris flows have regularly been used to date past events however this method has always been limited to forested cones where trees registered the impact of previous events the minimum age dating of trees growing in the debris deposits can in contrast provide information on the latest possible moment of past activity in this paper we report on results obtained from a combination of these two approaches on a forested cone in the valais alps switzerland a detailed geomorphic map in a scale of 1 1000 served as a basis for the sampling strategy disturbed larix decidua mill and picea abies l karst trees growing in the deposits allowed reconstruction of 49 events between ad 1782 and 2005 as well as the determination of the spatial extent of events in the debris flow channels where survivor trees are missing we selected the oldest post event trees and assessed their age by counting their growth rings missing rings due to lack of center as well as to sampling height were added so as to determine real tree age the combination of the dendrogeomorphological event reconstruction with the assessment of germination dates of successor trees allowed realistic approximation of the minimum time elapsed since the last debris flow activity in 23 of the 29 channels present on the current day cone surface in general channels in the northern part of the cone and those close to the currently active channel generally show signs of sub recent activity with one last overbank sedimentation event in the 1980s whereas signs of debris flow activity are absent from the channels in the outermost part since the late 19th century as a consequence of the deeply incised channel and the stabilization measures undertaken along the banks signs of debris flows are missing in the tree ring record for the past two decades

formation and mechanics of magma reservoirs in iceland summary provided magma flow in a partially molten layer follows darcy s law of flow in porous media it can be demonstrated that magma in the proposed magma layer beneath iceland flows towards regions of reduced crustal thickness in these regions magma accumulates to form partially molten magma reservoirs which are thus located in the magma layer these reservoirs either give rise to surface eruptions or feed totally molten shallow magma chambers located in the crust that may erupt it is argued that the melt fraction varies throughout a reservoir being highest near the top where the reservoir may be totally molten but that the average is 0 25 it is concluded that for individual eruptions the reservoirs behave on the whole as a poroelastic material it is suggested that formation of crustal magma chambers is facilitated by the occurrence of stress barriers that lead to the formation of thick sills while liquid such sills absorb the magma of all dykes that enter them and may evolve into magma chambers ideal sites for stress barriers and thus for magma chambers are formations where individual layers have different elastic properties i e where the crust behaves as a multilayer denoting the bulk volume of the reservoirs by vb the volume of the crustal chambers by v and the volume of lava and dyke material in individual eruptions by ve it is found that vb 5365ve and v 1850ve using the estimated volumes of exposed plutons as a basis it is found that provided the feeder reservoir does not participate in the eruption the volume of individual eruptions from elastic crustal magma chambers in iceland is less than 0 25 km3 usually less than 0 1 km3 and that typical central volcano eruptions should be about 0 02 km3 for eruptions of the order of 1 km3 or larger the reservoirs must supply magma during the eruption it is concluded that from the point of view of volume historical eruptions of typical size could have come from elastic crustal magma chambers

regional controls on magma ascent and storage in volcanic arcs understanding the controls for magma ascent and storage depth is important for volcanic hazard assessment regional differences in the depths of magma storage between volcanic arcs suggest that the settings of subduction zones and of overriding plates influence how magma ascends through the crust here we use a compilation of data for 70 volcanoes in 15 volcanic regions to better understand the geodynamic controls on magma storage we describe the subduction system which consists of the subducting slab the mantle wedge and the upper plate with 12 parameters encompassing the kinematics of the subduction the structure and geometry of the slab the timing of the subduction the thermal structure of the slab the upper plate crustal structure its stress regimes and its thermal structure we find that the magma reservoir depths correlate with the upper plate crustal structure and with the stress regimes shallow reservoirs 45 km similarly shallow magma reservoirs are 33 69 more common in extensional and strike slip stress regimes that in compressional regimes this illustrates the effect of buoyancy for magma ascent as well as the importance of stress regime and preexisting structures

understanding caldera structure and development an overview of analogue models compared to natural calderas abstract understanding the structure and development of calderas is crucial for predicting their behaviour during periods of unrest and to plan geothermal and ore exploitation geological data including that from analysis of deeply eroded examples allow the overall surface setting of calderas to be defined whereas deep drillings and geophysical investigations provide insights on their subsurface structure collation of this information from calderas worldwide has resulted in the recent literature in five main caldera types downsag piston funnel piecemeal trapdoor being viewed as end members despite its importance such a classification does not adequately examine a the structure of calderas particularly the nature of the caldera s bounding faults and b how this is achieved including the genetic relationships among the five caldera types various sets of analogue models specifically devoted to study caldera architecture and development have been recently performed under different conditions apparatus materials scaling parameters stress conditions the first part of this study reviews these experiments which induce collapse as a result of underpressure or overpressure within the chamber analogue the experiments simulating overpressure display consistent results but the experimental depressions require an exceptional amount of doming seldom observed in nature to form therefore these experiments are not appropriate to understand the structure and formation of most natural calderas the experiments simulating underpressure reveal a consistent scenario for caldera structure and development regardless of their different boundary conditions these show that complete collapse proceeds through four main stages proportional to the amount of subsidence progressively characterized by 1 downsag 2 reverse ring fault 3 peripheral downsag 4 peripheral normal ring fault the second part of this study verifies the possibility that these latter calderas constitute a suitable analogue to nature and consists of a comprehensive comparison of the underpressure experiments to natural calderas this shows that all the experimental structures as well as their progressive development are commonly observed at natural calderas highlighting a consistency between models and nature as the shallow structure of experimental calderas corresponds to a precise architecture at depth it provides a unique key to infer the deeper structure of natural calderas recognizing diagnostic surface features within a caldera will thus allow it to be categorized within a precise structural and evolutionary context the general relationship between the evolutionary stage of a caldera and its d s diameter subsidence ratio allows such a quantification with stage 1 calderas characterized by d s 40 stage 2 by 18 the four stages adequately explain the architecture and development of the established caldera end members along a continuum where one or more end members downsag piston funnel piecemeal trapdoor may correspond to a specific stage while such a continuum is controlled by progressive subsidence specific collapse geometries will result from secondary contributory factors roof aspect ratio collapse symmetry pre existing faults these considerations allow proposing an original classification of calderas incorporating their structural and genetic features

formation and development of normal fault calderas and the initiation of large explosive eruptions the ring fractures that form most collapse calderas are steeply inward dipping shear fractures i e normal faults at the surface of the volcano within which the caldera fault forms the tensile and shear stresses that generate the normal fault caldera must peak at a certain radial distance from the surface point above the center of the source magma chamber of the volcano numerical results indicate that normal fault calderas may initiate as a result of doming of an area containing a shallow sill like magma chamber provided that the area of doming is much larger than the cross sectional area of the chamber and that the internal excess pressure in the chamber is smaller than that responsible for doming this model is supported by the observation that many caldera collapses are preceded by a long period of doming over an area much larger than that of the subsequently formed caldera when the caldera fault does not slip eruptions from calderas are normally small nearly all large explosive eruptions however are associated with slip on caldera faults during dip slip on and doming of a normal fault caldera the vertical stress on part of the underlying chamber suddenly decreases this may lead to explosive bubble growth in this part of the magma chamber provided its magma is gas rich this bubble growth can generate an excess fluid pressure that is sufficiently high to drive a large fraction of the magma out of the chamber during an explosive eruption

magma chamber volume changes associated with ring fault initiation using a finite sphere model application to the aira caldera japan abstract we have derived an analytical solution expressing the magma chamber volume change required for ring fault caldera initiation in terms of a finite sphere model we consider the conditions by which magma chamber contraction volume reduction could contribute to the initiation of a ring fault at the surface above the chamber using the elastic plastic theory of host rock behaviour the model does not consider underpressure pressure less than lithostatic in the chamber but only magma chamber volume reduction or shrinkage the model is heuristic in the sense that we do not explore the detailed mechanical condition for the volume reduction apart from its being related to magma flow out of the chamber but rather focus on the consequences of the reduction for ring fault initiation and dip the solution obtained for the finite sphere model consists of a leading term that is proportional to the cube of the magma chamber depth and a second term that is proportional to the cube of the magma chamber radius the second term reflects explicitly the effects of a finite source radius whereas the first term corresponds to a solution for a point source model this follows because in a point source model the magma chamber radius is zero so that the second term drops out the equation that plays the key role in obtaining this solution is a linear function relating the radius of the caldera to the magma chamber depth the proportionality coefficient of this equation is dimensionless and depends not only on the elastic constants of the medium but also on the depth d and radius a of the magma chamber given by e a d in addition because this coefficient controls a geometric parameter related to the overall form of the ring fault our results indicate that the ring fault shape and size is decided by the magma chamber depth and size as well as by the host rock elastic properties and angle of internal friction the results indicate that the associated ring fault is inward dipping and that the magma chamber radius can be estimated from the fault radius and dip we applied the analytical solution to the ring fault of the aira caldera in southern kyushu japan the calculations indicate that the aira ring fault could have been initiated at the surface as a result of 2 8 reduction in the volume of a magma chamber with a radius of 4 7 km and at a depth of 9 1 km these results agree with independent information on the aira magma chamber we conclude that the present solution yields useful first order information on magma chambers associated with ring faults

catastrophic caldera forming eruptions thermomechanics and implications for eruption triggering and maximum caldera dimensions on earth abstract approximately every 100 000 years the earth experiences catastrophic caldera forming supereruptions that are considered to be one of the most hazardous natural events on earth utilizing new temperature dependent viscoelastic numerical models that incorporate a mohr coulomb failure criterion we find that eruptive failure of the largest magma chambers is a function of the geometry of the overlying roof and the location of the brittle ductile transition in particular the ductile halo created around the hot magma chamber buffers increasing overpressures and prevents pressure relief via magmatic injection from the magma chamber the numerical results indicate that as chamber volume increases the higher temperatures in the host rock and the decrease in the roof aspect ratio cause a shift from reservoir triggered eruption to an external roof triggered mechanism specifically as overpressure increases within the largest magma chambers extensive uplift in the overlying roof promotes the development of through going faults that may trigger eruption and caldera collapse from above we find that for magma chamber volumes 103 km3 and roof aspect ratios depth width

conceptual and numerical models of ring fault formation abstract most ring faults of collapse calderas are primarily shear fractures the initiation and development of which depends on the state of stress in the host rock the state of stress in a volcano is controlled by the loading conditions such as magma chamber geometry and pressure but also by the mechanical properties of its rock units and structures such as existing contacts faults and joints ring fault formation is thus essentially a problem in rock physics field observations show that some ring faults are dip slip whereas others are partly faults shear fractures and partly ring dykes extension fractures although slip on existing ring faults is much more common in basaltic edifices shield volcanoes than in true composite volcanoes in both types of volcanoes most caldera unrest periods do not result in ring fault slip here i present new conceptual and numerical models of caldera formation in volcanoes with shallow spherical circular or oblate ellipsoidal sill like magma chambers in the layered models the host rock above the chamber is composed of 30 comparatively thin layers with stiffnesses young s moduli alternating between 1 gpa and 100 gpa the chamber itself is located in a single thick layer the crustal segment hosting the chamber is either 20 km or 40 km wide but has a constant thickness of 20 km the loading conditions considered are 1 a crustal segment subject to 5 mpa tension 2 crustal segment subject to excess magmatic pressure of 10 mpa at the bottom doming of the volcanic field containing the chamber 3 a combination of tension and doming and 4 chamber subject to underpressure negative excess pressure of 5 mpa the main results are as follows 1 excess pressure and underpressure in a chamber normally favour dyke injection rather than ring fault formation 2 for doming or tension a spherical magma chamber favours dyke injection except when the layer hosting the chamber is very soft 10 gpa or one with recent dyke injections in which case the surface stress field favours ring fault formation 3 for a sill like chamber in a 20 km wide crustal segment a ring fault can be generated by either tension or tension and doming for a 40 km wide segment doming alone is sufficient to generate a ring fault 4 since individual layers in a volcano may develop different local stresses stress field homogenisation through all the layers between the chamber and the surface is a necessary condition for ring fault formation 5 because the mechanical properties of the layers that constitute basaltic edifices are more uniform than those that constitute true composite volcanoes it follows that stress field homogenisation and thus ring fault formation or slip is more commonly reached in basaltic edifices than in composite volcanoes 6 both for basaltic edifices and composite volcanoes the stress fields most likely to initiate ring faults are those generated around sill like chambers subject to tension doming or both

fault and magmatic interaction within iceland s western rift over the last 9 kyr we present high resolution chirp sub bottom profiler data from thingvallavatn a lake in iceland s western rift zone these data are combined with stratigraphic constraints from sediment cores to show that movement on normal faults since 9 ka are temporally correlated with magmatic events indicating that movements were controlled by episodic dyke intrusion sediment depo centres and the focus of subsidence migrated westwards over 3 4 kyr towards the locus of subsequent brittle failure we interpret this subsidence as related to dyke intrusion a few km along strike originating from the hengill volcanic system which occurred prior to major dyking faulting and subsidence within the lake at 1 9 ka

calderas and caldera structures a review abstract calderas are important features in all volcanic environments and are commonly the sites of geothermal activity and mineralisation yet it is only in the last 25 years that a thorough three dimensional study of calderas has been carried out utilising studies of eroded calderas geophysical analysis of their structures and analogue modelling of caldera formation as more data has become available on calderas their individuality has become apparent a distinction between caldera caldera complex cauldron and ring structure is necessary and new definitions are given in this paper descriptions of calderas based on dominant composition of eruptives basaltic peralkaline andesitic dacitic rhyolitic can be used and characteristics of each broad group are given styles of eruption may be effusive or explosive with the former dominant in basaltic calderas and the latter dominant in andesitic dacitic rhyolitic and peralkaline calderas four end member collapse styles occur plate or piston piecemeal trapdoor and downsag but many calderas have multiple styles features of so called funnel and chaotic calderas proposed in the literature can be explained by other collapse styles and the terms are considered unnecessary ground deformation comprises subsidence or collapse essential characteristics of a caldera and uplifting doming and fracturing due to tumescence and or resurgence frequent but not essential collapse may occur on pre existing structures such as regional faults or on faults created during the caldera formation and the shape of the collapse area will be influenced by depth size and shape of the magma chamber the final morphology of a caldera will depend on how the caldera floor breaks up whether collapse takes place in one event or multiple events whether vertical movement is spasmodic or continuous throughout the eruptive sequence and whether blocks subside uniformly or chaotically at one or more collapse centres a meaningful description of any caldera should therefore include number of collapse events presence or absence of resurgence caldera floor coherency caldera floor collapse geometry and dominant composition of eruptives

the new worldwide collapse caldera database ccdb a tool for studying and understanding caldera processes collapse calderas are one of the most important volcanic structures not only because of their hazard implications but also because of their high geothermal energy potential and their association with mineral deposits of economic interest the objective of this work is to describe a new general worldwide collapse caldera database ccdb in order to provide a useful and accessible tool for studying and understanding caldera collapse processes the principal aim of the ccdb is to update the current field based knowledge on calderas merging together the existing databases and complementing them with new examples found in the bibliography and leaving it open for the incorporation of new data from future studies this database does not include all the calderas of the world but it tries to be representative enough to promote further studies and analyses we have performed a comprehensive compilation of published field studies of collapse calderas including more than 200 references and their information has been summarized in a database linked to a geographical information system gis application thus it is possible to visualize the selected calderas on a world map and to filter them according to different features recorded in the database e g age structure the information recorded in the ccdb can be grouped in seven main information classes caldera features properties of the caldera forming deposits magmatic system geodynamic setting pre caldera volcanism caldera forming eruption sequence and post caldera activity additionally we have added two extra classes the first records the references consulted for each caldera the second allows users to introduce comments on the caldera sample such as possible controversies concerning the caldera origin a further purpose of this work is to construct the ccdb web page in this web page where registered users can acquire the current database version as well as to propose corrections or updates and to exchange information with other registered members also involved in the study of caldera collapse processes additionally the ccdb includes a formulary that will facilitate the incorporation of new calderas into the database

thermomechanical behavior of large ash flow calderas the fundamental thermal and mechanical processes that occur within the ash flow caldera magma chamber systems remain largely enigmatic to date the only models of caldera collapse are simple mostly elastic or viscoelastic mechanical models that can predict some of the conditions preceding the collapse they cannot however predict the collapse itself because they are incapable either of reproducing the formation of faults or of accounting for the brittle ductile transitions and fault related thermal anomalies we have constructed analytical and numerical therrnomechanical that account for both elastic plastic ductile rheology and physical properties of the caldera rocks the overpressured magma is evacuated through a central vent and transforms into ash flow units deposited within the forming caldera brittle deformation faulting and subsequent collapse of the structure are reproduced the results show that in the absence of a regional stress field the collapse on both sides will occur only for aspect ratios i e caldera diameter to the depth of the magma chamber exceeding 5 and that internal embedded faults may also appear when the aspect ratio exceeds 10 thermal conductivity contrasts in ash flow calderas give rise to strong heat refraction that localizes deep seated thermal anomalies to the outer sides of the faults in the presence of regional extension the border faulting can be attenuated or disappear and the faults tend to localize around the central part of the chamber roof coupled therrnomechanical modeling suggests that the outer sides of the border faults have high trapping capabilities for hydrothermal fluids the geometry of the brittle ductile transition largely controls that of the fractured zones within and around the chamber roof thus justifying a new mechanical definition of magma chamber geometry

experimental studies of collapse calderas we present experiments to investigate the formation of calderas using inflatable balloons in a medium of fused alumina powder this system provides a model of a magma chamber in an homogeneous elastic media which scales to volcanic systems in terms of geometry and strength of the media three kinds of experiment were performed i the balloon was inflated and then deflated simulating pre emption tumescence and caldera collapse ii the balloon was deflated without prior inflation simulating caldera formation without pre eruption tumescence iii three balloons were inflated and deflated in a line simulating multiple magma chambers the influence of magma chamber shape was investigated using different shaped balloons balloon inflation formed a dome with a surface pattern of shallow polygonal fractures centrally and radial fractures peripherally uplift occurs along deep inward dipping concentric reverse faults deflation generated depressions with an outer set of concentric ring fractures surrounding a central funnel formed by sagging along numerous minor faults some of which formed during doming during collapse the concentric reverse faults were converted to normal faults and the radial normally faulted fractures were converted to reverse faults without prior tumescence an outer set of near vertical ring faults surround a flat central depression due to collapse of a coherent block an inner set of outward dipping reverse ring faults also develop the experimental caldera area increased with balloon size and increased as the balloon depth decreased for a given balloon volume and depth collapse area is significantly smaller if doming had occurred prior to collapse arcuate fractures can provide the pathways for magma ascent during pre emption tumescence smith bailey 1968 but the shallow radial and polygonal fracture systems may also influence vent location changes in fault geometry and sense of movement extension to compression and vice versa occur when subsidence initiates and can account for changes in vent location that occur in many eruptions multiple overlapping collapse calderas are associated with magma chamber migration whereas nested calderas can result from the activity of a single magma chamber

structure petrochemistry and evolution of a sheet swarm in an icelandic central volcano strike dip and thickness were measured for 504 sheets inclined sheets and dykes in the 4 6 ma old hafnarfjall central volcano in southwest iceland the average dip of sheets is 65 80 are less than 1 2 m thick and the thickness tends to decrease with decreasing dip in 0 5 km long traverses perpendicular to the average strike of sheets the percentage of sheets ranges from about 6 to 11 of 140 chemically analysed sheets most are quartz tholeiites a few are intermediate or acid the sheets are chemically more evolved than the host rock and were generated by a shallow crustal magma chamber at a mature stage of the central volcano whereas the host rock was generated earlier before the chamber was established trace element results suggest that the sheet magmas evolved by low pressure fractional crystallization as well as by mixing of primitive magmas and crustal melts a model is proposed where most of the sheets are generated by a growing shallow magma chamber as the chamber grows its shape changes and so does the local stress field associated with it because the sheets follow the stress trajectories of the local stress field the potential pathways of the sheets change with the growth of the chamber which may explain the common occurrence of cross cutting sheets from the evolved chemistry of the sheets as well as from the pattern of the stress trajectories it is concluded that the bulk of the sheets were injected from the upper part of the shallow magma chamber

tectonics of the thingvellir fissure swarm sw iceland abstract the thingvellir fissure swarm dissects 9000 year old pahoehoe lava and contains about 100 fractures of average orientation n29 3e the average length of fractures is 620 m the minimum being 57 m and the maximum 7 7 km the maximum width and throw on a single fracture are 68 m and 40 m respectively most fractures are vertical at the surface and must be the result of an absolute tensile stress the geometry and arrangement of the fractures indicate that they have grown by coalescence of initially offset small fractures it is concluded that most fractures attain depths of the order of several hundred meters or less but that the largest faults attain depths of many kilometers comparison with the vogar fissure swarm on the reykjanes peninsula suggests that the thingvellir swarm may have the greater rate of dilation the total maximum postglacial dilation of the vogar swarm is only 15 m whereas the corresponding figure for the thingvellir swarm is about 100 m

caldera faults capture and deflect inclined sheets an alternative mechanism of ring dike formation the subsurface structures of caldera ring faults are often inferred from numerical and analog models as well as from geophysical studies all of these inferred structures need to be compared with actual ring faults so as to test the model implications here we present field evidence of magma channeling into a caldera ring fault as exhibited at hafnarfjall a deeply eroded and well exposed 5 ma extinct volcano in western iceland at the time of collapse caldera formation over 200 m of vertical displacement was accommodated along a ring fault which is exceptionally well exposed at a depth of approximately 1 2 km below the original surface of the volcano there are abrupt changes in the ring fault attitude with depth but its overall dip is steeply inward several inclined sheets within the caldera became arrested at the ring fault other sheets became deflected up along the fault to form a multiple ring dike we present numerical models showing stress fields that encourage sheet deflection into the subvertical ring fault our findings provide an alternative mechanical explanation for magma channeling along caldera ring faults which is a process likely to be fundamental in controlling the location of post caldera volcanism

pb isotope evidence for contaminant metal dispersal in an international river system the lower danube catchment eastern europe abstract lead isotope signatures 207pb 206pb 208pb 206pb 208pb 204pb 206pb 204pb determined by magnetic sector icp ms in river channel sediment metal ores and mine waste have been used as geochemical tracers to quantify the delivery and dispersal of sediment associated metals in the lower danube river catchment due to a diverse geology and range of ore body ages pb isotope signatures in ore bodies within the lower danube river catchment show considerable variation even within individual metallogenic zones it is also possible to discriminate between the pb isotopic signatures in mine waste and river sediment within river systems draining individual ore bodies lead isotopic data along with multi element data were used to establish the provenance of river sediments and quantify sedimentary contributions to mining affected tributaries and to the danube river data indicate that mining affected tributaries in serbia and bulgaria contribute up to 30 of the river channel sediment load of the lower danube river quantifying relative sediment contributions from mining affected tributaries enables spatial patterns in sediment associated metal and as concentrations to be interpreted in terms of key contaminant sources combining geochemical survey data with that regarding the provenance of contaminated sediments can therefore be used to identify foci for remediation and environmental management strategies

morphology and mechanism of eruption of postglacial shield volcanoes in iceland postglacial icelandic shield volcanoes were formed in monogenetic eruptions mainly in the early holocene epoch shield volcanoes vary in their cone morphology and in the areal extent of the associated lava flows this paper presents the results of a study of 24 olivine tholeiite and 7 picrite basaltic shield volcanoes for the olivine tholeiitic shields the median slope is 2 7 the median height 60 m the median diameter 3 6 km the median aspect ratio height against diameter 0 019 and the median cone volume 0 2 km3 the picritic shield volcanoes are considerably steeper and smaller a shield volcano cone forms from successive lava lake overflows which are of shelly type pahoehoe a widespread apron surrounding the cone forms from tube fed p type pahoehoe the slopes of the cones have a a planar or slightly convex form b a concave form or c a convex concave form a successive stage of a shield volcano is determined on the basis of cone morphology and lava assemblages a shield producing eruption has alternating episodes of lava lake overflows and tube fed delivery to the distal parts of the flow field in the late stages of eruption the cone volume increases in response to the increased amount of rootless outpouring on the cone flanks normally only a small percentage of the total erupted volume of a shield volcano sometimes as little as 1 3 is in the shield volcano cone itself the main volume being in the apron of the shield

the generation of overpressure in felsic magma chambers by replenishment abstract evidence of magma mixing is common in the products of explosive felsic eruptions and it is generally accepted as a common mechanism for triggering such events in order to quantify the potential for magma mixing to trigger explosive eruptions we have developed a simple analytical model based on previous models of magma chamber replenishment which considers the injection of volatile rich mafic magma into a chamber occupied by a homogeneous volatile rich felsic magma we assume that the overpressure caused by the injection of new magma is not sufficient to trigger an eruption for which additional overpressure is required two mixing related mechanisms have traditionally been considered to have the potential to generate the additional overpressure 1 exsolution of volatiles from the felsic magma during forced convection and 2 exsolution of volatiles from the mafic magma by oversaturation during cooling and subsequent crystallization our calculations suggest that exsolution of volatiles from the felsic magma is not an effective mechanism to generate additional overpressure however significant overpressure can be achieved by volatile exsolution from the mafic magma during its cooling and crystallization the time scale between intrusion and eruption considered in our model is of the order of a few days to a few months which coincides with petrological and geophysical evidence obtained from magma mixing related eruptions we also suggest that replenishment of shallow felsic magma chambers by mafic magma in most cases does not lead to large scale mixing as eruption will occur before thermal equilibrium between the two magmas is reached so that density and viscosity contrasts between the two magmas will remain significant

the mechanics of large volcanic eruptions abstract the mechanical conditions for a volcanic eruption to occur are conceptually simple a magma driven fracture normally a dyke must be able to propagate from the source to the surface the mechanics of small to moderate eruptions eruptive volumes less than 10 km3 is reasonably well understood whereas that of large eruptions eruptive volumes of 10 1000 km3 is poorly understood here i propose that while both large and small eruptions are primarily driven by elastic energy and may come from the same magma chambers and reservoirs the mechanisms by which the elastic energy is transformed or relaxed in these eruptions are different more specifically during small to moderate eruptions the excess pressure in the source the primary pressure driving the eruption falls exponentially until it approaches zero whereby the feeder dyke closes at its contact with the source and the eruption comes to an end under normal conditions the ratio of the eruptive and intrusive material of the eruption to the volume of a totally molten shallow basaltic crustal magma chamber at the common depth below the surface of 1 5 km is about 1400 and that of a partially molten deep seated basaltic magma reservoir in the lower crust or upper mantle is about 5000 many magma chambers are partially molten in which case the ratio could be close to that of reservoirs most magma chambers are estimated to be less than about 500 km3 for which the maximum eruptive volume would normally be about 0 4 km3 an eruptive volume of 1 km3 would require a totally molten chamber of about 1400 km3 while chambers of this size certainly exist witness the volumes of the largest eruptions large eruptions of 10 1000 km3 clearly require a different mechanism namely one whereby the excess pressure is maintained during much of the eruption i suggest that the primary excess pressure maintenance mechanism is through caldera subsidence for shallow magma chambers and graben subsidence for deep seated magma reservoirs in this mechanism it is the subsidence of tectonic origin and associated volume reduction shrinkage of the magma source that drives out an exceptionally large fraction of the magma in the source thereby generating the large eruption most explosive eruptions that exceed volumes of about 25 km3 and many smaller are associated with caldera collapses the data presented suggest that many large effusive basaltic eruptions in iceland in the united states and elsewhere are associated with large graben subsidences in terms of the present mechanism successful forecasting of large eruptions requires understanding and monitoring of the volcanotectonic conditions that trigger large caldera and graben subsidences

explosive volcanism vei 6 without caldera formation insight from huaynaputina volcano southern peru through examination of the vent region of volcan huaynaputina peru we address why some major explosive eruptions do not produce an equivalent caldera at the eruption site here in 1600 more than 11 km3 dre vei 6 were erupted in three stages without developing a volumetrically equivalent caldera fieldwork and analysis of aerial photographs reveal evidence for cryptic collapse in the form of two small subsidence structures the first is a small non coherent collapse that is superimposed on a cored out vent this structure is delimited by a partial ring of steep faults estimated at 0 85 by 0 95 km collapse was non coherent with an inwardly tilted terrace in the north and a southern sector broken up along a pre existing local fault displacement was variable along this fault but subsidence of approximately 70 m was found and caused the formation of restricted extensional gashes in the periphery the second subsidence structure developed at the margin of a dome the structure has a diameter of 0 56 km and crosscuts the non coherent collapse structure subsidence of the dome occurred along a series of up to seven concentric listric faults that together accommodate approximately 14 m of subsidence both subsidence structures total 0 043 km3 in volume and are much smaller than the 11 km3 of erupted magma crosscutting relationships show that subsidence occurred during stages ii and iii when 2 km3 was erupted and not during the main plinian eruption of stage i 8 8 km3

downsag and extension at calderas new perspectives on collapse geometries from ice melt mining and volcanic subsidence structures at calderas may form as a result of precursory tumescence subsidence due withdrawal of magmatic support resurgence and regional tectonism structural reactivation and overprinting are common to explore which types of structures may derive directly from subsidence without other factors evidence is reviewed from pits caused by the melting of buried ice blocks mining subsidence scaled subsidence models and from over 50 calderas this review suggests that complex patterns of peripheral deformation with multiple ring and arcuate fractures both inside and outside caldera rims topographic embayments arcuate graben and concentric zones of extension and compression may form as a direct result of subsidence and do not require a complex subsidence and inflation history downsag is a feature of many calderas and it does not indicate subsidence on an inward dipping ring fault as has been inferred previously where magmatic inflation is absent or slight initial arcuate faults formed during collapse are likely to be multiple and dip outwards to vertical associated downsag causes the peripheries of calderas undergo radial centripetal extension and this accounts for some of the complex peripheral fractures arcuate crevasses graben and some topographic moats the structural boundary of a caldera defined here as the outermost limits of subsidence and related deformation including downsag commonly lies outside ring faults and outside the embayed topographic wall it is likely to be funnel shaped i e inward dipping even though ring and arcuate fractures within it may dip outward inward dipping arcuate normal faults at shallow levels and steep inward dipping contacts between a caldera s fill and walls may both occur at a caldera that has initially subsided on outward dipping ring faults they arise due to peripheral surficial extension gravitational spreading and scarp collapse topographic enlargement at some calderas and the formation of embayments may reflect general progressive downsag and localized downsag respectively these processes may occur in addition to surficial degradation of oversteep ring fault scarps

volcanological study of the great tambora eruption of 1815 the 1815 eruption of tambora is one of the largest explosive volcanic events of the past 10 000 yr by a conservative estimate 175 km3 of nepheline normative trachyandesitic pyroclastic material equivalent to about 50 km3 of dense rock was erupted in 24 h major activity began with a brief plinian phase followed by pyroclastic flows much of the ignimbrite that was produced shows evidence of deposition by turbulent flows a 6 7 km caldera about 1 km deep formed at the end of the pyroclastic flow phase caldera volume closely matches that of magma ejected plinian and co ignimbrite ash fall 1 cm thick covered 500 000 km2 of the java sea and surrounding islands accounting for more than two thirds of the magma volume erupted this distal tephra is known only from 1815 reports indicating that some great eruptions especially those from island volcanoes may be virtually undetectable in the geologic record without supporting information such as deep sea core data land based volume estimates may be insufficient to characterize eruption magnitude in many cases

very long period seismic signals and caldera formation at miyake island japan over a period of roughly 40 days starting on 8 july 2000 a caldera structure 1 7 kilometers in diameter developed by means of gradual depression and expansion of the summit crater at miyake island japan at the same time very long period vlp seismic signals were observed once or twice a day source mechanism analyses of the vlp signals show that the moment tensor solutions are smooth step functions over a time scale of 50 seconds with dominant volumetric change components we developed a model to explain the caldera and the vlp signals in which a vertical piston of solid materials in the conduit is intermittently sucked into the magma chamber by lateral magma outflow this model offers potential for making quantitative estimations of the characteristic physical properties of magma systems

on magma chamber evolution during slow effusive eruptions 1 we explore some of the controls on the evolution of a slow effusive eruption imposed by processes in a shallow magma reservoir we envisage that the emplacement of basaltic magma into a shallow evolved crustal reservoir generates sufficient overpressure to trigger the slow effusive eruption of the overlying layer of evolved magma the subsequent evolution of the system then depends on a number of factors including 1 the volatile contents of the two magmas 2 the rate of any continuing influx of basalt 3 the cooling heating rates of the two layers of magma and 4 the eruption rate of the silicic magma where we assume that the crystals and bubbles remain in the layer in which they formed any exsolved volatiles in the magma increase the compressibility of the magma in a waning system this tends to increase the volume of material which needs to be erupted to relieve a given overpressure by an amount of order 10 100 and hence increases the duration of the eruption typical calculations suggest that eruptions from magma chambers of size 1 10 km3 may persist for times of order 1 10 years if the main body of silicic magma is saturated in volatiles in addition cooling of the basalt leads to formation of dense crystals which lowers the pressure however if the magma becomes saturated exsolution of volatile gases occurs tending to increase the pressure again in a waning system this tends to extend the eruption duration and increase the mass erupted from the chamber for chamber volumes of 1 10 km3 cooling rates of 10 6 k s can increase the eruption volume by a factor of order 10 rapid cooling may also lead to an initial increase in the eruption rate while the chamber pressure is controlled by the rate of production of new bubbles if there is an influx of basalt to the chamber which is maintained during the eruption then the evolution of the eruption is primarily dependent on this input rate although the cooling of the basalt may increase the eruption rate to values in excess of this input rate especially at an early stage in the eruption the complex and nonlinear evolution of the eruption rate predicted by our simple model illustrates the sensitivity of the eruption rate to the magma volatile content and magma cooling rates such understanding is key in developing quantitative models for hazard assessments of slow effusive eruptions

a large magmatic sill complex beneath the toba caldera an understanding of the formation of large magmatic reservoirs is a key issue for the evaluation of possible strong volcanic eruptions in the future we estimated the size and level of maturity of one of the largest volcanic reservoirs based on radial seismic anisotropy we used ambient noise seismic tomography below the toba caldera in northern sumatra to observe the anisotropy that we interpret as the expression of a fine scale layering caused by the presence of many partially molten sills in the crust below 7 kilometers this result demonstrates that the magmatic reservoirs of present non eroded supervolcanoes can be formed as large sill complexes and supports the concept of the long term incremental evolution of magma bodies that lead to the largest volcanic eruptions

the las canadas caldera tenerife canary islands an overlapping collapse caldera generated by magma chamber migration abstract the las canadas caldera is one of the most important geological structures of tenerife stratigraphic structural volcanological petrological geochronological and geophysical data suggest that the las canadas caldera resulted from multiple vertical collapse episodes that occurred during the construction of the las canadas edifice upper group three long term 200 ka cycles of phonolitic explosive activity each culminating with a caldera collapse have been identified in the upper group during the construction of the upper group the focus of felsic volcanism migrated from west to east using the results of field observations experimental analogue models and numerical studies we propose that the formation of the overlapping las canadas collapse caldera is related to the migration of the associated magma chamber our model implies that each collapse of this overlapping caldera partly or completely destroyed the feeding magma chamber this destruction led to changes in the local stress field that favoured the formation of a new chamber at one side of the previous one resulting in magma chamber migration the proposed model accounts for the formation of the las canadas caldera in particular it explains the geometrical relationships stratigraphy and chronology of the caldera wall deposits comparison with other overlapping collapse calderas suggests that our model may apply to other overlapping calderas

magma dynamics and collapse mechanisms during four historic caldera forming events 1 four historic caldera forming events were studied to understand the relationship of magma withdrawal processes and caldera subsidence mechanisms two calderas are silicic katmai in 1912 and pinatubo in 1991 and two are basaltic fernandina in 1968 and miyakejima in 2000 all events have sufficient geophysical geologic and petrologic data with which to examine and model magma withdrawal and caldera collapse the data reveal that the magmas erupted at katmai and pinatubo were in a bubbly state in the reservoir immediately before and during caldera collapse the bubbly magma allowed for its efficient extraction from the reservoir causing significant underpressures to develop rapidly particularly in the case of katmai where the erupted rhyolite was voluminous and nearly aphyric and has very low viscosity the rapidly developing underpressures at katmai and pinatubo caused sudden en masse caldera collapse halfway through the climactic eruptions thereby liberating large amounts of seismic energy at fernandina and miyakejima by contrast caldera collapse was initiated early and continued for an extended period of time from weeks to months consisting of a series of discrete subsidence events manifested by large earthquakes at fernandina and by very long period vlp signals at miyakejima systematic changes in earthquake magnitudes and quiescent intervals at both volcanoes reveal changes in friction as collapse took place during extended time intervals

hydrofracturing stress measurements in the iceland research drilling project drill hole at reydarfjordur iceland two independent suites of hydrofracturing stress measurements were conducted in the top 600 m of the iceland research drilling project deep hole at reydarfjordur east iceland as indicated by the continuously extracted drill core the tested section consists of tertiary subaerial tholeiitic lava flows cut by many basaltic dikes the density of the basalt was used to estimate the vertical stress v in megapascals at depth d in meters v 0 027d in the 33 to 270 m depth range the horizontal principal stresses hmax and hmin as calculated from hydrofracturing results increase gradually with depth but at a lower rate than the vertical stress hmin 2 1 0 016d hmax 3 3 0 016d in the 300 to 550 m depth range a major perturbation occurs with both horizontal stress magnitudes rapidly rising between 300 and 400 m and then uniformly decreasing between 400 and 550 m to a level apparently predictable by the relationships obtained in the top 270 m conditions favoring normal faulting v hmax hmin were established in the 540 to 580 m range and are conjectured to persist at greater depths since the vertical stress gradient is higher than that of hmax and hmin this would be in accord with the predominant fault type in east iceland the relative low horizontal stress values and the small difference between them are supportive of ocean floor spreading theories and contradict near surface high compressive stresses previously determined by hast 1973 in east iceland the large increase in horizontal stress in the range of 300 to 500 m depth is not understood a correlation appears to exist between the zone of almost unintruded thick lava flows 200 500 m and that of high stresses an intuitive model suggesting locked in stresses in this zone is proposed the hydrofracturing determined overall mean direction of hmax is n50 e while a more selective sampling of results yields n40 e the measured stress directions appear to be reasonably compatible with the local structure such as dike direction nne and lava dip wsw significantly hmax direction is subparallel to the n20 e trend of the nearest fissure swarms in the axial rift zone this almost coincidence of directions like the measured stress magnitudes is also in agreement with the model of spreading lithospheric plates being pulled apart

a stress controlled mechanism for the intensity of very large magnitude explosive eruptions abstract large magnitude explosive eruptions are the result of the rapid and large scale transport of silicic magma stored in the earth s crust but the mechanics of erupting teratonnes of silicic magma remain poorly understood here we demonstrate that the combined effect of local crustal extension and magma chamber overpressure can sustain linear dyke fed explosive eruptions with mass fluxes in excess of 10 10 kg s from shallow seated 4 6 km depth chambers during moderate extensional stresses early eruption column collapse is facilitated with eruption duration of the order of few days with an intensity of at least one order of magnitude greater than the largest eruptions in the 20th century the conditions explored in this study are one way in which high mass eruption rates can be achieved to feed large explosive eruptions our results corroborate geological and volcanological evidences from volcano tectonic complexes such as the sierra madre occidental mexico and the taupo volcanic zone new zealand

geometrical and mechanical constraints on the formation of ring fault calderas ash flow plate subsidence piston like calderas are bounded by a set of arcuated sub vertical collapse faults named ring faults experimental studies on caldera formation performed mostly using spherical or cylindrical magma chamber geometries find that the resulting ring faults correspond to steeply outward dipping reverse faults and show that pre existing fractures developed during pre eruptive phases of pressure increase may play a major role in controlling the final collapse mechanism a situation that should be expected in small to medium sized ring fault calderas developed on top of composite volcanoes or volcanic clusters on the other hand some numerical experiments indicate that large sill like elongated magma chambers may induce collapse due to roof bending without fault reactivation as seems to occur in large plate subsidence calderas formed independently of pre existing volcanoes also numerical experiments allow the formation of nearly vertical or steeply inward dipping normal ring faults in contrast with most of the analogue models using a thermoelastic model we investigate the geometrical and mechanical conditions to form ring fault calderas in particular the largest ones without needing a previous crust fracturing results are given in terms of two dimensionless geometrical parameters namely and e the former is the chamber extension to chamber depth ratio whereas the latter stands for the chamber eccentricity we propose that the e pair determinates two different types of ring fault calderas with different associated collapse regimes ring fault region a is related to large plate subsidence calderas i e andean calderas or western us calderas for which few depressurisation is needed to set up a collapse initially governed by flexural bending of the chamber roof in contrast ring fault region b is related to small to moderate sized calderas i e composite volcano calderas for which much depressurisation is needed our opinion is that collapse requires in the latter case reactivation of pre existing fractures and it is therefore more complex and history dependent

emplacement of dikes sills and crustal magma chambers at divergent plate boundaries abstract a model of dike emplacement at divergent plate boundaries is developed which predicts that below the uppermost 1 3 km of the oceanic crust the number and lengths of dikes in any particular swarm should increase but that the thickness should decrease with depth in the crust these predictions are supported by field observations it is proposed that rapid injections of dikes at divergent plate boundaries may temporarily alter the normal stress field in such a way that at a certain level in the crust subsequent dikes change into sills such sills may develop into crustal magma chambers either when many nearby sills combine into a large one or when an initial sill absorbs the magma of many dikes that enter it in a rapid succession while the sill is liquid for the fastest spreading ridges the initial thickness of a sill that is to develop into a crustal chamber need only attain 20 m whereas at the slowest spreading ridges the initial thickness must exceed 170 m because thin sills are much more likely to form than thick sills the probability of sills developing into crustal chambers increases with dike intrusion frequency hence with spreading rate furthermore the model predicts first that with increasing spreading rate the length of the chamber along the ridge axis should increase and second that the most likely site for magma chambers is at depths of 2 4 km both these predictions are supported by available data

volcanism and the dynamics of open magma chambers the repeated eruption of many volcanoes is now accounted for by events taking place in a subterranean magma chamber which is open in the sense that the inflow of material to the chamber from below leads to a magma pressure p which exceeds the lithostatic pressure pl by an amount greater than the tensile strength of the chamber walls before the contents of the magma chamber have reached thermodynamic and geochemical equilibrium this is the condition which must be satisfied when an eruption occurs we have now derived a relationship giving the critical volume of added material v required to cause an eruption as a function of magma compressibility and the volume by which the chamber expands

fissure ignimbrites fissure source origin for voluminous ignimbrites of the sierra madre occidental and its relationship with basin and range faulting the sierra madre occidental is mostly composed of middle tertiary large volume ignimbrites from the united states mexico border 318n the sierra madre occidental extends southward to its intersection with the mexican volcanic belt 218n ignimbrites of equivalent age extend into southern mexico as discontinuous outcrops considering the average thickness of 1000 m for these ignimbrites based on representative measured sections a conservative estimate of their total volume is 393 000 km 3 fewer than 15 calderas have been identified in this province and the source of most of these ignimbrites has been an unsolved problem we present geologic evidence indicating that fissures most of them with the regional trend of basin and range faults served as conduits for the ignimbrites these fissures can be several kilometers long and are represented by pyroclastic ignimbrite dikes rhyolitic lava dikes linearly aligned lava domes and elongated coignimbrite lithic lag breccias adjacent to basin and range faults considering that the basin and range extension overlapped in time and space with the ignimbrite flare up we propose a model in which batholith sized magma chambers reached shallow crustal levels and erupted their contents when they reached basin and range normal faults the faults acted as vents and caused fast decompression when the system was opened and large volumes of silicic magmas were explosively erupted finally devolatilized rhyolitic magmas were emplaced as domes or dikes we propose the term fissure ignimbrites for ignimbrites formed in this way

incremental growth of the patagonian torres del paine laccolith over 90 k y the miocene paine granite in the torres del paine intrusive complex southern chile is an extraordinary example of an upper crustal mafic and granitic intrusion the granite intruded as a series of three sheets each one underplating the previous sheet along the top of the basal paine mafic complex high precision u pb geochronology on single zircons using isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry yields distinct ages of 12 59 0 02 ma and 12 50 0 02 ma respectively for the first and last sheet of the laccolith this age relationship is consistent with field observations the zircon ages define a time frame of 90 40 k y for the emplacement of a 2000 m thick granite laccolith these precise u pb zircon ages permit identification of the pulses in a 20 k y range the data obtained for the paine granite fill the gap between 100 k y and 100 1000 yr pulses described in the literature for crustal magma chambers

the 2007 eruptions and caldera collapse of the piton de la fournaise volcano la reunion island from tilt analysis at a single very broadband seismic station seismic records from la reunion island very broadband geoscope station are investigated to constrain the link between the 2007 eruptive sequence and the related caldera collapse of the piton de la fournaise volcano tilt estimated from seismic records reveals that the three 2007 eruptions belong to a single inflation deflation cycle tilt trend indicates that the small volume summit eruption of 18 february occurred during a phase of continuous inflation that started in january 2007 inflation decelerated 24 days before a second short lived small volume eruption on 30 march almost simultaneous with a sudden large scale deflation of the volcano deflation rate which had stabilized at relatively low level increased anew on 1 april while no magma was erupted followed on 2 april by a major distal eruption and on 5 april by a summit caldera collapse long term tilt variation suggests that the 2007 eruptive succession was triggered by a deep magma input

elliptical calderas in active tectonic settings an experimental approach abstract caldera volcanoes form due to collapse of a magma chamber roof into the underlying magma chamber many field theoretical and experimental studies have postulated that calderas are delimited by reverse ring faults and are surrounded by peripheral concentric normal faults in the simplest theoretical scenario circular magma chambers produce circular calderas many calderas however are elliptical in shape particularly those in extensional and compressive tectonic settings several factors may explain elliptical calderas the first is the presence of an elliptical magma chamber established by for instance preferential intrusion along pre existing basement structures or differential spalling of the magma chamber walls the second is the overlap nesting of several discrete calderas to form a single larger elliptical structure the third is asymmetric subsidence the fourth is variable pre collapse topography a fifth possible factor is distortion of the caldera faults by the regional stress field during caldera formation a sixth factor is the post collapse distortion of the caldera structure due to continued regional deformation to better understand relationships between caldera surface expression reservoir geometry and regional tectonic stresses we conducted scaled analogue experiments these experiments examined the impact of regional stress and associated structures on calderas formed during evacuation of reservoirs circular rubber balloons of known dimensions and depths the results show that in principle calderas produced in compression extension experiments are elongated parallel to the direction of minimum horizontal compressive stress despite the chamber beneath being circular in plan view as a consequence model ring fault orientation varied from steeply dipping where striking perpendicular to the minimum horizontal regional compressive stress to shallower dips where striking parallel to the minimum horizontal regional compressive stress this leads us to suggest that the influence of a regional stress field on caldera fault orientation during and or after caldera formation may be significant in the development of elliptical calderas in addition such variation of caldera ring fault dip from steep to relatively shallow could influence location and behaviour of ring fissure eruptions

the role of magma chamber fault interaction in caldera forming eruptions this paper examines the role of the position and orientation of a regional fault in the roof of a magma chamber on stress distribution mechanical failure and dyking using 2d finite element numerical simulations the study pertains to the magma chamber behavior in the relatively short time intervals of several hundreds to thousand of years the magma chamber is represented as an elliptical inclusion eccentricity a b 0 12 at a relative depth h a of 0 9 the fault has a 45 dip and is represented by a frictionless fracture the temperature field in the host rock is calculated assuming a quasisteady state thermal regime that develops through periodic episodes of magma supply the rheology of the surrounding rocks is treated using viscoelasticity with temperature activated strain rate dependent viscosity strain weakening of the rocks in the ductile zone is described within the frame of the dynamic power law model the magma pressure is coupled with the deformation of the rock mass hosting the chamber including the fault the variation of magma pressure in response to magma supply and chamber deformation is calculated in the elastic and viscoelastic regimes the latter corresponds to slow filling while the former represents a filling time much less than the viscous relaxation time scale the resulting equation of state for the magma chamber couples the magma pressure with the chamber volume in the elastic regime and with the filling rate for the viscoelastic regime analysis of stresses is used to predict dyke propagation conditions and the mechanical failure of the chamber roof for different fault positions and magma overpressures results show that an outward dipping fault located on the periphery of the chamber roof hinders the propagation of dykes to the surface causing magma to accumulate under the footwall of the fault at high to moderate overpressures 30 40 mpa the fault causes localized shear failure and chamber roof collapse that might lead to the first stage of a caldera forming eruption

on the variations of flow rate in non explosive lava eruptions abstract a physical model is developed to determine factors which influence the dynamics of non explosive lava eruptions in the model magma rises in a laminar regime from an overpressured chamber surrounded by elastic rock and erupts at the surface where the accumulation of lava may alter the vent pressure in a flow rate versus volume diagram an eruption follows a path which is sensitive to relative changes in flow variables such as viscosity conduit dimensions and thickness of lava over the vent the path does not depend on the unknown elastic properties of the country rock or the chamber dimensions with appropriate volcanological data an observed flow rate versus volume path can be interpreted the approach is applied to three well documented eruptions in each case the eruption rate was partially influenced by decreasing chamber pressure the 1988 1990 eruption of lonquimay chile exhibits an early phase of conduit shrinkage which lasted about 100 days probably due to magma solidification against country rock the 1979 eruption of la soufriere de saint vincent west indies was initially affected by lava dome growth and later passed through a phase possibly caused by constriction of the conduit the 1943 1952 eruption of paricutin mexico was affected by changes of lava level in the cinder cone and magma properties in these three eruptions the pre eruptive chamber overpressures were similar 10 20 mpa even though the erupted volumes differed by as much as two orders of magnitude

onset of caldera collapse during ignimbrite eruptions the rapid depressurisation and discharge of volatile rich silicic magma chamber and the onset of caldera collapse associated with ignimbrite eruption is investigated using combined theoretical and experimental approaches we first present a scaling analysis of the force balance on the roof of a depressurising magma chamber this provides a failure criterion for the chamber roof and shows that the chamber underpressure required to trigger coherent piston collapse along a vertical or steeply outward dipping reverse ring fault increases with the roof aspect ratio r thickness width the failure criterion is validated by a series of experiments that reveal a transition with increasing roof aspect ratio from piston collapse to either 1 no collapse low reservoir underpressure or 2 non coherent collapse high reservoir underpressure then taking into account the failure criterion obtained with the scaling analysis a theoretical model allows calculation of the erupted chamber volume fraction required to trigger caldera collapse we consider a two stage model with an initially overpressured chamber that becomes progressively underpressured as the eruption proceeds the main input parameters are the chamber depth vertical extent and ellipticity in plan view the magma water content the cohesion and coefficient of internal friction of the roof and the ring fault dip in the case of a mechanically homogeneous roof and a single large and rapid eruption the erupted volume fraction required to trigger piston collapse increases with the roof aspect ratio until the chamber is totally emptied before initiation of any collapse at r 1 1 4 the exact value depending mainly on the ring fault dip and to a lesser extent on the coefficient of internal friction of the roof as shown by experiments collapse into reservoirs with r 1 1 4 probably cannot collapse as a piston and if a surface caldera forms at all collapse is more likely to occur non coherently data for the onset of caldera collapse during seven well documented major ignimbrite eruptions are in broad agreement with the model

ascent and emplacement of buoyant magma bodies in brittle ductile upper crust 1 the emplacement of silicic magma bodies in the upper crust may be controlled by density such that there is no buoyancy to drive further ascent or temperature such that surrounding rocks are too cold to deform significantly over geological timescales evidence for the latter control is provided by negative gravity anomalies over many granitic plutons conditions of diapir ascent and emplacement in this case are studied with a numerical model for deformation and heat transport allowing for ductile elastic and brittle behavior a large strain formulation is used to solve for temperature stress strain and strain rate fields as a function of time for a range of diapir sizes density contrasts and background geotherms the method allows for large viscosity contrasts of more than 6 orders of magnitude and determines the dominant deformation mechanism depending on the local values of temperature strain and strain rate emplacement depth and final deformation characteristics depend on diapir size and buoyancy small diapirs less than about 5 km in diameter cannot reach shallow crustal levels and do not involve brittle deformation in the ductile regime the diapir flattens significantly upon emplacement due to stiff roof rocks and to the free surface above late stage deformation proceeds by horizontal spreading with little upward displacement of roof rocks and is likely to be interpreted as ballooning large diapirs more than about 5 km in diameter rapidly rise to shallow depths 1 5 km and induce brittle faulting in the overlying rocks in this regime buoyancy forces may lead to faulting in roof rocks in this case late stage ascent proceeds by vertical intrusion of a plug of smaller horizontal dimensions than the main body buoyant diapirs keep on rising after solidification long after the relatively short lived high temperature magmatic stage this may account for some phases of late caldera resurgence in extinct volcanic systems

widespread uplift and trapdoor faulting on galapagos volcanoes observed with radar interferometry volcanic uplift caused by the accumulation of magma in subsurface reservoirs is a common precursor to eruptions1 2 but for some volcanoes uplift of metres or more has not yet led to an eruption3 here we present displacement maps of volcanoes in the galapagos islands constructed using satellite radar interferometry that might help explain this dichotomy we show that all but one of the seven volcanoes on the islands of isabela and fernandina deformed during 1992 99 cerro azul and fernandina erupted4 5 6 during the observation period and show evidence of inflation co eruptive deflation and shallow dyke intrusion in contrast the largest volcano sierra negra has not erupted yet exhibits spatially and temporally variable deformation with a maximum uplift of 2 7 m between 1992 and 1999 which can be modelled by a shallow inflating sill inflation during 1997 98 however was accompanied by trapdoor faulting on a steeply dipping fracture system within the caldera repeated trapdoor faulting over geological time has formed an arcuate intra caldera ridge within sierra negra and may have acted to relax stresses above the magma chamber inhibiting summit eruptions similar processes may help explain large uplift unaccompanied by eruptive activity at other volcanoes

analogue models of caldera collapse in strike slip tectonic regimes regional scale faulting particularly in strike slip tectonic regimes is a relatively poorly constrained factor in the formation of caldera volcanoes to examine interactions between structures associated with regional tectonic strike slip deformation and volcano tectonic caldera subsidence we made scaled analogue models tabular sill like inclusions of creamed honey in a sand gypsum mix replicated shallow level granitic magma chambers in the brittle upper crust lateral motion of a base plate sited below half the sand gypsum pack allowed simulation of regional strike slip deformation our experiments modelled 1 strike slip deformation of a homogeneous brittle medium 2 strike slip deformation of a brittle medium containing a passive magma reservoir 3 caldera collapse into sill like magma reservoirs without regional strike slip deformation and 4 caldera collapse into sill like magma reservoirs after regional strike slip deformation our results show that whilst the magma chamber shape principally influences the development and geometry of volcano tectonic collapse structures regional tectonic strike slip faults riedel shears and y shears may affect a caldera s structural evolution in two main ways firstly regional strike slip faults above the magma chamber may form a pre collapse structural grain that is exploited and reactivated during subsidence our experiments show that such faults may preferentially reactivate where tangential to the collapse area and coincident with the chamber margins in this case volcano tectonic extension in the caldera periphery tends to localise on regional tectonic faults that lie just outside the chamber margins in addition volcano tectonic reverse faults may link with and reactivate pre collapse regional tectonic faults that lie just inside the chamber margins secondly where regional tectonic strike slip faults define corners in the magma chamber margin they may halt the propagation of volcano tectonic reverse faults the experiments also highlight the potential difficulties in assessing the relative contributions of volcano tectonic and regional tectonic subsidence processes to the final caldera structure seen in the field disruption of the pre collapse surface by regional tectonic faulting was preserved during coherent volcano tectonic subsidence to produce a caldera floor of differentially subsided fault blocks without definitive evidence for syn eruptive growth faulting thickness changes in caldera fill across such regional tectonic fault blocks in nature could be mistaken as evidence for piecemeal volcano tectonic collapse

the toba caldera complex abstract the toba caldera in indonesia is one of the most remarkable volcanic features formed during quaternary geologic time its rich history of research for over a century has yielded important information on the physical volcanology of silicic calderas and super eruptions geochemical evolution of silicic magma bodies and geophysical imaging of active sub volcanic systems during the past 1 3 my the toba area has erupted intermediate composition lavas followed by intermediate pyroclastics three quartz bearing silicic tuffs and most recently intermediate to silicic lavas this pattern represents the incremental assembly and periodic eruption of a crustal magma body of batholithic proportions the apparent migration of activity to the west may have implications for the next toba super eruption

caldera collapse during the 2000 eruption of miyakejima volcano japan a collapsed caldera 1 6 km in diameter and 450 m in depth was formed at the summit of miyakejima volcano during the 2000 eruption the collapsed caldera appeared on 8 july with a minor phreatic eruption 12 days after seismic activity and magma intrusion occurred northwest of the volcano growth of the caldera took from 8 july to the middle of august with seismic swarms associated with the continuous intrusion of magma northwest of the volcano the growth rate of the caldera was about 1 4 107 m3 day and the final volume of the collapsed caldera was about 6 108 m3 major phreatomagmatic eruptions produced a total of about 1 6 1010 kg 1 1 107 m3 of volcanic ash after caldera growth the caldera structure and the nature of the eruptive materials of the first collapse on 8 july suggest that the surface subsidence was caused by the upward migration of a steam filled cavity with stoping of the roof rock above the magma reservoir the diameter of the stoping column was estimated to be 600 700 m from circumferential faults that developed in the caldera floor and the collapse of the caldera wall enlarged the diameter of the caldera to 1 6 km the total volume of the caldera and the horizontal diameter of the stoping column gave a subsidence of the caldera floor of 1 6 2 1 km

implications of incremental emplacement of magma bodies for magma differentiation thermal aureole dimensions and plutonism volcanism relationships abstract field observations and geophysical data indicate that many igneous bodies grow by amalgamation of successive magma pulses that commonly take the shape of horizontal sheets sills emplacement styles and emplacement rates of magma bodies have fundamental implications on magma differentiation country rock metamorphism and assimilation and for the formation of large magma chambers in the upper crust when a magma body begins to grow by slow accretion of sills each successive intrusion solidifies before the injection of the next one when the system is thermally mature sill temperatures equilibrate above the solidus melts accumulate and older sills can re melt the time needed for each magma injection to cool down and equilibrate with its surrounding is short relatively to the total emplacement time of the body the transition from a mafic crystal poor magma to a partially molten rock that retains a highly differentiated melt is fast whereas the resulting evolved residual melt can reside in the crust for protracted periods as long as temperatures in the system are relatively low highly differentiated melts are generated which may explain the bi modal character and the absence of intermediate compositions in some magmatic provinces the level of emplacement of successive magma pulses controls the shape of the thermal anomaly associated with the magma body growth metamorphism partial melting and assimilation of the country rock are favoured if successive magma sheets are emplaced at or close to the country rock magma body boundary if the magma emplacement rate is low the size of the thermal aureole is controlled by the size of one pulse and not by the size of the entire igneous body understanding emplacement of magma bodies is fundamental for our understanding of the plutonism volcanism relationship magma emplacement rates of several centimetres per year are needed for a magma body to evolve into a large magma chamber able to feed large silicic explosive eruptions the time averaged emplacement rates of plutons are lower than this critical emplacement rate eruptions of 100s to 1000s cubic kilometres of silicic products show that such high volumes of magmas can accumulate in the upper crust this suggests that the emplacement of magma bodies is a multi timescale process with the development of large magma chambers corresponding to the highest magma fluxes because they control magmatic processes and the impact of magma intrusion on the country rock future studies should focus on magma emplacement rates and on magma emplacement geometries these studies should integrate field observation on plutons and geophysical data on active magmatic systems coupled with laboratory experiments and numerical simulations

stratigraphic and structural evolution of the middle miocene synvolcanic oregon idaho graben the oregon idaho graben is a newly identified north south trending synvolcanic graben in southeastern oregon and southwestern idaho within the middle miocene backarc rift system that extends 1100 km from southern nevada to southeastern washington the graben formed along the western margin of the north american craton shortly after the largest volumes of tholeiitic flood basalt erupted columbia river basalt group steens pueblo basalt basalt of malheur gorge basalt and latite unit of ekren et al 1981 1 rhyolite flows and ash flow tuffs 16 1 14 0 ma erupted from northeastern oregon dooley volcanics to northern nevada mcdermitt volcanic field shortly after the flood basalt was emplaced subsidence of the oregon idaho graben 15 5 15 3 ma coincides with eruption of rhyolite flows and caldera related ash flow tuffs from vents along the margins and within the graben mafic and silicic intragraben volcanism accompanied sedimentation from about 15 3 to 10 5 ma sedimentary and volcanic rocks from extrabasinal sources especially southwestern idaho were introduced periodically after initial subsidence the evolution of the oregon idaho graben is divided into three stages stage 1 15 3 14 3 ma followed intragraben caldera collapse and was marked by deposition of fluvial and lacustrine sediment across the graben stage 2 14 3 12 6 ma movement on intragraben fault zones divided the graben into distinct subbasins and marked the onset of calc alkalic volcanism fine grained tuffaceous sediment derived from glassy rhyolite and pyroclastic deposits and basalt tuff cones interbedded with rhyolite ash and lapilli fall deposits and locally erupted basalt hydrovolcanic deposits predominated during synvolcanic subsidence synsedimentary hot spring alteration and precious metals mineralization of graben fill were controlled by the same intragraben fault zones that served as magmatic conduits during stage 3 12 6 10 5 ma the subbasins were filled and graben wide fluviatile and lacustrine sedimentation resumed at about the same time renewed rhyolitic volcanism occurred on both flanks and tholeiitic volcanism resumed within the oregon idaho graben subsidence in the oregon idaho graben ceased as west northwest striking faults related to the formation of the western snake river plain became active 1 ref 28

mass and energy budgets of explosive volcanic eruptions analysis of the frequency size relationship of explosive volcanic eruptions for the past 2000 years reveals that the time averaged eruptive mass flux of tephra from subaerial explosive eruptions is 3 104 kg s 1 this mass flux corresponds to a thermal energy release of 4 1010 w half of the long term 10 year mass and thermal energy release from explosive volcanic eruptions is accounted for by eruptions of 10 km of tephra