the 2005 eruption of sierra negra volcano galapagos ecuador sierra negra volcano began erupting on 22 october 2005 after a repose of 26 years a plume of ash and steam more than 13 km high accompanied the initial phase of the eruption and was quickly followed by a 2 km long curtain of lava fountains the eruptive fissure opened inside the north rim of the caldera on the opposite side of the caldera from an active fault system that experienced an mb 4 6 earthquake and 84 cm of uplift on 16 april 2005 the main products of the eruption were an a a flow that ponded in the caldera and clastigenic lavas that flowed down the north flank the a a flow grew in an unusual way once it had established most of its aerial extent the interior of the flow was fed via a perched lava pond causing inflation of the a a this pressurized fluid interior then fed pahoehoe breakouts along the margins of the flow many of which were subsequently overridden by a a as the crust slowly spread from the center of the pond and tumbled over the pahoehoe the curtain of lava fountains coalesced with time and by day 4 only one vent was erupting the effusion rate slowed from day 7 until the eruption s end two days later on 30 october although the caldera floor had inflated by 5 m since 1992 and the rate of inflation had accelerated since 2003 there was no transient deformation in the hours or days before the eruption during the 8 days of the eruption gps and insar data show that the caldera floor deflated 5 m and the volcano contracted horizontally 6 m the total eruptive volume is estimated as being 150 106 m3 the opening phase tephra is more evolved than the eruptive products that followed the compositional variation of tephra and lava sampled over the course of the eruption is attributed to eruption from a zoned sill that lies 2 1 km beneath the caldera floor

morphometry of terrestrial shield volcanoes abstract shield volcanoes are described as low angle edifices built primarily by the accumulation of successive lava flows this generic view of shield volcano morphology is based on a limited number of monogenetic shields from iceland and mexico and a small set of large oceanic islands hawaii galapagos here the morphometry of 158 monogenetic and polygenetic shield volcanoes is analyzed quantitatively from 90 meter resolution srtm dems using the morvolc algorithm an additional set of 24 lava dominated shield like volcanoes considered so far as stratovolcanoes are documented for comparison results show that there is a large variation in shield size volumes from 0 1 to 1000 km3 profile shape height basal width h wb ratios mostly from 0 01 to 0 1 flank slope gradients average slopes mostly from 1 to 15 elongation and summit truncation although there is no clear cut morphometric difference between shield volcanoes and stratovolcanoes an approximate threshold can be drawn at 12 average slope and 0 10 h wb ratio principal component analysis of the obtained database enables to identify four key morphometric descriptors size steepness plan shape and truncation hierarchical cluster analysis of these descriptors results in 12 end member shield types with intermediate cases defining a continuum of morphologies the shield types can be linked in terms of growth stages and shape evolution related to 1 magma composition and rheology effusion rate and lava pyroclast ratio which will condition edifice steepness 2 spatial distribution of vents in turn related to the magmatic feeding system and the tectonic framework which will control edifice plan shape and 3 caldera formation which will condition edifice truncation

phreatic explosions during basaltic fissure eruptions kings bowl lava field snake river plain usa abstract physical and compositional measurements are made at the 7 km long 2200 years b p kings bowl basaltic fissure system and surrounding lava field in order to further understand the interaction of fissure fed lavas with phreatic explosive events these assessments are intended to elucidate the cause and potential for hazards associated with phreatic phases that occur during basaltic fissure eruptions in the present paper we focus on a general understanding of the geological history of the site we utilize geospatial analysis of lava surfaces lithologic and geochemical signatures of lava flows and explosively ejected blocks and surveys via ground observation and remote sensing lithologic and geochemical signatures readily distinguish between kings bowl and underlying pre kings bowl lava flows both of which comprise phreatic ejecta from the kings bowl fissure these basalt types as well as neighboring lava flows from the contemporaneous wapi lava field and the older inferno chasm vent and outflow channel fall compositionally within the framework of eastern snake river plain olivine tholeiites total volume of lava in the kings bowl field is estimated to be 0 0125 km3 compared to a previous estimate of 0 005 km3 the main central lava lake lost a total of 0 0018 km3 of magma by either drain back into the fissure system or breakout flows from breached levees phreatic explosions along the kings bowl fissure system occurred after magma supply was cut off leading to fissure evacuation and were triggered by magma withdrawal the fissure system produced multiple phreatic explosions and the main pit is accompanied by others that occur as subordinate pits and linear blast corridors along the fissure the drop in magma supply and the concomitant influx of groundwater were necessary processes that led to the formation of kings bowl and other pits along the fissure a conceptual model is presented that has relevance to the broader range of low volume monogenetic basaltic fissure eruptions on earth the moon and other planetary bodies

nonuniform response of the major surface currents in the nordic seas to insolation forcing implications for the holocene climate variability 1 high resolution sediment cores from the voring plateau the north iceland shelf and the east greenland shelf have been studied to investigate the stability of major surface currents in the nordic seas during the holocene results from diatom assemblages and reconstructed sea surface temperatures ssts indicate a division of the holocene into three periods the holocene climate optimum 9500 6500 calendar cal years bp the holocene transition period 6500 3000 cal years bp and the cool late holocene period 3000 0 cal years bp the overall climate development is in step with the decreasing insolation on the northern hemisphere but regional differences occur regarding both timing and magnitude of sst changes sites under the direct influence of the norwegian atlantic current and the irminger current indicate sst cooling of 4 5 c from early holocene to present compared to 2 c recorded under the east greenland current superimposed on the general holocene cooling trend there is a high frequency sst variability which is in the order of 1 1 5 c for the voring plateau and the east greenland shelf and 2 5 3 c on the north iceland shelf

the pattern of circumferential and radial eruptive fissures on the volcanoes of fernandina and isabela islands galapagos maps of the eruptive vents on the active shield volcanoes of fernandina and isabela islands galapagos made from aerial photographs display a distinctive pattern that consists of circumferential eruptive fissures around the summit calderas and radial fissures lower on the flanks on some volcano flanks either circumferential or radial eruptions have been dominant in recent time the location of circumferential vents outside the calderas is independent of caldera related normal faults the eruptive fissures are the surface expression of dike emplacement and the dike orientations are interpreted to be controlled by the state of stress in the volcano very few subaerial volcanoes display a pattern of fissures similar to that of the galapagos volcanoes some seamounts and shield volcanoes on mars morphologically resemble the galapagos volcanoes but more specific evidence is needed to determine if they also share common structure and eruptive style

stratigraphic record of translation down ramps in a passive margin salt detachment abstract ramp syncline basins filled with synkinematic sediments record the incremental translation history and translation rates of strata transported over basement ramps on passive margins movement of strata over a stratabound salt detachment is stratigraphically recorded as an isopach thick on the seaward side of a monoclinal ramp this growth syncline gradually moves seaward down and then off the monocline as if on a conveyor belt this shift creates accommodation space for a new isopach thick to form just landward of the older one repetition of this cycle creates a shingled series of isopach thicks within the ramp syncline basin kinematic forward models and restored cross sections from the kwanza basin angola show that the stratigraphic pattern of ramp syncline basins is most influenced by three factors 1 the relative rates of translation and aggradation control the curvature of the axial trace of the growth synclines 2 bathymetric scarps above basement ramps can create spectacular seaward dipping onlap surfaces 30 km long downdip adjoining ramps generate stacked interfering onlap surfaces 3 salt diapirs or anticlines are commonly shortened at the top of the ramp especially where this coincides with the base of the continental slope diapir shortening provides a buffer to absorb sliding from its landward side and impede sliding on its seaward side this buffering can have a major control on the entire gravity spreading system containing the diapirs

rapid changes of glacial climate simulated in a coupled climate model abrupt changes in climate termed dansgaard oeschger and heinrich events have punctuated the last glacial period approximately 100 10 kyr ago but not the holocene the past 10 kyr here we use an intermediate complexity climate model to investigate the stability of glacial climate and we find that only one mode of atlantic ocean circulation is stable a cold mode with deep water formation in the atlantic ocean south of iceland however a warm circulation mode similar to the present day atlantic ocean is only marginally unstable and temporary transitions to this warm mode can easily be triggered this leads to abrupt warm events in the model which share many characteristics of the observed dansgaard oeschger events for a large freshwater input such as a large release of icebergs the model s deep water formation is temporarily switched off causing no strong cooling in greenland but warming in antarctica as is observed for heinrich events our stability analysis provides an explanation why glacial climate is much more variable than holocene climate

volcano growth mechanisms and the role of sub volcanic intrusions insights from 2d seismic reflection data abstract temporal and spatial changes in volcano morphology and internal architecture can determine eruption style and location however the relationship between the external and internal characteristics of volcanoes and sub volcanic intrusions is often difficult to observe at outcrop or interpret uniquely from geophysical and geodetic data we use high quality 2d seismic reflection data from the ceduna sub basin offshore southern australia to quantitatively analyse 56 pristinely preserved eocene age volcanogenic mounds and a genetically related network of sub volcanic sills and laccoliths detailed seismic mapping has allowed the 3d geometry of each mound to be reconstructed and distinct seismic facies within them to be recognised forty six continental basaltic shield volcanoes have been identified that have average flank dips of 3 parallel seismic reflections within the shield volcanoes are interpreted to represent interbedded volcanic and clastic material suggesting that a series of temporally separate eruptions emanated from a central vent the shield volcanoes typically overlie the lateral tips of sills and we suggest that the intermittent eruption phases correspond to the incremental emplacement of discrete magma pulses within the laterally extensive sill complex eight volcanogenic hydrothermal vents which are also associated with the lateral tips of sills were also recognised and these appear to have formed from the seepage of intrusion related hydrothermal fluids onto the seafloor via emplacement induced fractures this work highlights that deformation patterns preceding volcanic eruptions may i be offset from the eruption site ii attributed to intrusions with complex morphologies and or iii reflect magma movement along pre existing fracture systems these complexities should therefore be considered in eruption forecasting models that link pre eruption ground deformation to subterranean magma emplacement depth and volume more generally our study highlights the key role that seismic reflection data can play in understanding the geometry distribution and evolution of ancient and modern volcanic systems

pahoehoe and aa in hawaii volumetric flow rate controls the lava structure the historical records of kilauea and mauna loa volcanoes reveal that the rough surfaced variety of basalt lava called aa forms when lava flows at a high volumetric rate 5 10 m3 s and the smooth surfaced variety called pahoehoe forms at a low volumetric rate 5 10 m3 s this relationship is well illustrated by the 1983 1990 and 1969 1974 eruptions of kilauea and the recent eruptions of mauna loa it is also illustrated by the eruptions that produced the remarkable paired flows of mauna loa in which aa formed during an initial short period of high discharge rate associated with high fountaining and was followed by the eruption of pahoehoe over a sustained period at a low discharge rate with little or no fountaining the finest examples of paired lava flows are those of 1859 and 1880 1881 we attribute aa formation to rapid and concentrated flow in open channels there rapid heat loss causes an increase in viscosity to a threshold value that varies depending on the actual flow velocity at which when surface crust is torn by differential flow the underlying lava is unable to move sufficiently fast to heal the tear we attribute pahoehoe formation to the flowage of lava at a low volumetric rate commonly in tubes that minimize heat loss flow units of pahoehoe are small usually 1 m thick move slowly develop a chilled skin and become virtually static before the viscosity has risen to the threshold value we infer that the high discharge rate eruptions that generate aa flows result from the rapid emptying of major or subsidiary magma chambers rapid near surface vesiculation of gas rich magma leads to eruptions with high discharge rates high lava fountains and fast moving channelized flows we also infer that long periods of sustained flow at a low discharge rate which favor pahoehoe result from the development of a free and unimpeded pathway from the deep plumbing system of the volcano and the separation of gases from the magma before eruption achievement of this condition requires one or more episodes of rapid magma excursion through the rift zone to establish a stable magma pathway

structure and quantification of processes controlling the evolution of the inverted ne german basin abstract a ne sw reflection seismic transect crossing the entire ne german basin negb was investigated in detail to study the interaction between tectonics and sedimentation during the multiphase evolution of the region by restoring a geological section across the post rotliegend the kinematic evolution was reconstructed and rates of important geological processes such as erosion or basin shortening were quantified the present day structural style of the negb is the result of several major deformation events 1 regional subsidence accompanied by local thin skinned e w extension during the permo triassic jurassic was followed by basin inversions at the 2 jurassic cretaceous and at the 3 cretaceous tertiary boundary zechstein salt played an important role since mobile zechstein evaporites decoupled the supra salt from the sub salt succession and allowed the transmission of deformation over a large distance of major significance to the late cretaceous structural development was the crustal scale upthrusting of the calfoerde block along the gardelegen fault at the southern basin margin the accompanying horizontal shortening has a minimum value of 9 km and led to the development of thrusts and folds within the post zechstein succession

current plate velocities relative to the hotspots incorporating the nuvel 1 global plate motion model nuvel 1 is a new global model of current relative plate velocities demets et al 1990 which differ significantly from those of prior models here we incorporate nuvel 1 into hs2 nuvel1 a new global model of plate velocities relative to the hotspots hs2 nuvel1 was determined from the hotspot data and errors used by minster and jordan 1978 to determine am1 2 which is their model of plate velocities relative to the hotspots am1 2 is consistent with minster and jordan s relative plate velocity model rm2 here we compare hs2 nuvel1 with am1 2 and examine how their differences relate to differences between nuvel 1 and rm2 hs2 nuvel1 plate velocities relative to the hotspots are mainly similar to those of am1 2 minor differences between the two models include the following 1 in hs2 nuvel1 the speed of the partly continental apparently non subducting indian plate is greater than that of the purely oceanic subducting nazca plate 2 in places the direction of motion of the african antarctic arabian australian caribbean cocos eurasian north american and south american plates differs between models by more than 10 3 in places the speed of the australian caribbean cocos indian and nazca plates differs between models by more than 8 mm yr although 27 of the 30 rm2 euler vectors differ with 95 confidence from those of nuvel 1 only the am1 2 arabia hotspot and india hotspot euler vectors differ with 95 confidence from those of hs2 nuvel1 thus substituting nuvel 1 for rm2 in the inversion for plate velocities relative to the hotspots changes few euler vectors significantly presumably because the uncertainty in the velocity of a plate relative to the hotspots is much greater than the uncertainty in its velocity relative to other plates

reconstruction of sea surface conditions at middle to high latitudes of the northern hemisphere during the last glacial maximum lgm based on dinoflagellate cyst assemblages abstract a new calibration database of census counts of organic walled dinoflagellate cyst dinocyst assemblages has been developed from the analyses of surface sediment samples collected at middle to high latitudes of the northern hemisphere after standardisation of taxonomy and laboratory procedures the database comprises 940 reference data points from the north atlantic arctic and north pacific oceans and their adjacent seas including the mediterranean sea as well as epicontinental environments such as the estuary and gulf of st lawrence the bering sea and the hudson bay the relative abundance of taxa was analysed to describe the distribution of assemblages the best analogue technique was used for the reconstruction of last glacial maximum lgm sea surface temperature and salinity during summer and winter in addition to sea ice cover extent at sites from the north atlantic n 63 mediterranean sea n 1 and eastern north pacific n 1 three of the north atlantic cores from the continental margin of eastern canada revealed a barren lgm interval probably because of quasi permanent sea ice six other cores from the greenland and norwegian seas were excluded from the compilation because of too sparse assemblages and poor analogue situation at the remaining sites n 54 relatively close modern analogues were found for most lgm samples which allowed reconstructions the new lgm results are consistent with previous reconstructions based on dinocyst data which show much cooler conditions than at present along the continental margins of canada and europe but sharp gradients of increasing temperature offshore the results also suggest low salinity and larger than present contrasts in seasonal temperatures with colder winters and more extensive sea ice cover whereas relatively warm conditions may have prevailed offshore in summer from these data we hypothesise low thermal inertia in a shallow and low density surface water layer

extensive perched aquifer and structural implications revealed by 3d resistivity mapping in a galapagos volcano abstract due to the complexity of geological formations and limited subsurface data in volcanic islands hydrogeological conceptual models can differ from one island to another and for the same island the galapagos islands like most inhabited volcanic islands face important water resource problems which might have a major impact on their unique and pristine ecosystems endanger world heritage list june 2007 the scarcity of geological and hydrological data combined with the difficulty of access for field measurements lead to a poor understanding of the island hydrogeology and unconvincing interpretation of traditional geophysical data here we present three dimensional 3 d resistivity maps for the supposedly waterless santa cruz island obtained by using the skytem device a helicopter borne transient electromagnetic method the latter is non invasive and measurements over inaccessible terrain were of vital importance we show that even in high relief terrain with extreme subsurface resistivity contrasts 1 6 000 ohm m the method is sensitive to low resistivity layers of hydrogeological interest 50 200 ohm m to a depth of approximately 300 m the unique spatial resolution and 3 d view of the subsurface resistivity structures allow identification of two zones of hydrogeological importance a previously unknown extensive perched aquifer 50 km 2 on the southern mountain side and the geometry of the salt water wedge in the basal aquifer located with an accuracy of a few meters this finding supports the existence of hidden perched aquifers on basaltic islands until now only inferred from hydrogeological studies it is seen to be affected by faulting beyond the vital implications for water resource and ecosystem management in the unique yet severely threatened galapagos islands some conceptual flow models of volcanic islands have to be reconsidered the presence of such structures in a volcanic edifice recognized as low strength layer may help to explain the origin of potentially catastrophic landslides

extension and uplift at alba patera mars insights from mola observations and loading models high resolution mars orbiter laser altimeter mola profiles of the large shield volcano alba patera call for a critical reexamination of models for the growth and evolution of this volcanic edifice an extensive system of graben cuts across alba patera extending from ceraunius fossae to the south to tantalus fossae to the northeast in the vicinity of the edifice the otherwise generally north south orientations of these graben are deflected to circumferential directions mola topography reveals that the circumferential graben are located well up the flanks of alba patera both the type extensional and location midflank of faulting on alba patera are inconsistent with the state of stress predicted for purely surface loaded flexure models to constrain the conditions governing the evolution of alba patera we employ finite element models for the volcano and lithospheric stress field under a combination of loading mechanisms buoyant sublithospheric loads representing underplated magma low density mantle residuum or dynamic support from mantle convection and intralithospheric displacements representing sills trapped by horizontal compressive stresses in the upper lithosphere can generate the observed midflank slope breaks and circumferential extensional fault zones at radial distances comparable to that of the subsurface load s characteristic radial extent both mechanisms moderate stresses in the upper lithosphere in favor of continued magma ascent however bottom loading requires a disk like load geometry and an elastic lithosphere thickness te sufficiently small to allow the load s shape to be apparent in the surface deformation te 32 km such low te is inconsistent with mars global surveyor mgs gravity and topography data in contrast intralithospheric sill complexes can produce the observed topography and faulting at te values consistent with those inferred from gravity and topography 50 te 100 km for these conditions principal stress orientations on the lower flanks are also consistent with the orientations of lower flank graben provided that faulting was induced by dike intrusion or tensile failure rather than shear failure

development of large volcanoes on venus constraints from sif gula and kunapipi montes abstract sif gula and kunapipi montes are large volcanoes on venus they have differing morphologies reflecting their different eruptive histories and plumbing systems all have a steeper upper cone surrounded by more shallowly sloping flanks interpreted as resulting from histories of more frequent shorter lower effusion rate summit eruptions accompanied by infrequent more voluminous flank eruptions all three volcanoes have multiple flow field types digitate sheet and fan which probably reflect variations in effusion rate eruption duration and vent geometry sif mons summit has a large caldera gula mons has summit calderas at either end of a summit rift and the summit of kunapipi mons is composed of two volcanic centers on a summit plateau the summit morphologies of sif gula and kunapipi montes are interpreted to reflect differences in magma chamber location over time and differing internal plumbing we find no positive evidence that neutral buoyancy has governed magma chamber position instead magma chambers at the three volcanoes appear to have changed position over time with lithospheric stresses as well as neutral buoyancy affecting chamber location all three volcanoes have had episodes of diking at their summits followed by episodes of extrusion we interpret this to be caused by variations in either magma supply rate or magma volatile content or both over time fractures on the flows of the volcano indicate that dike intrusion has occurred throughout the visible history of the volcanoes indicating that the local stress field within the volcano favored intrusion as well as extrusion over much of its history the overall shape and history of the venusian volcanoes is similar to the histories of terrestrial volcanoes however some aspects of these volcanoes including the rift at gula the large size and very long flows differ significantly from terrestrial volcanoes

the engines of gravity driven movement on passive margins quantifying the relative contribution of spreading vs gravity sliding mechanisms movement of gravity driven systems on passive margins is fuelled by the loss of gravitational potential energy two end member modes gravity spreading and gravity gliding are defined by whether the potential energy loss is due to deformation and movement towards the base of the system spreading or by movement parallel to the base of the system gliding most natural systems consist of a mixture of the two processes hitherto use of these concepts has been limited or equivocal due to lack of a quantitative measure in some cases characterisation of gliding vs spreading systems based on secondary attributes has resulted in controversy because there is a lack of consensus as to which of these are truly diagnostic this paper presents a new simple quantitative method based on vector analysis providing a numerical measure of the relative contribution of spreading vs gliding the method is applied to synthetic examples where deformation can be tracked and to natural examples where a valid palinspastic reconstruction is available the results confirm that most natural examples exhibit mixed mode behaviour and that some have been mischaracterized much of the angola margin is dominated by spreading the method can also provide an estimate of the absolute amount of gravitational potential energy released in the movement and the energy contribution made by gliding vs spreading determining the dominant process has implications for predicting the development of seafloor topography and stratal architecture

volcanic development of small oceanic central volcanoes on the flanks of the east pacific rise inferred from narrow beam echo sounder surveys abstract narrow beam bathymetric surveys of about 30 volcanoes on young crust of the cocos plate were collected in order to help determine the origin and evolution of oceanic central volcanoes the volcanoes are located on ocean crust 1 5 7 5 m y in age and range in size from to 600 km 3 these volcanoes differ greatly in shape development of linear features small scale morphologic characteristics and crater development we conclude that these large differences in morphologic characteristics are due to the complex interaction of many factors in their development such as conduit geometry magma ascent rates eruption rate history tectonic activity crater formation and filling and others elongation directions of individual volcanoes and clear linear bathymetric features near these volcanoes are among the lines of evidence that strongly suggest these volcanoes originate and evolve on and near oceanic fracture zones their origin and morphologic evolution is thus closely tied to the tectonic processes and thermal regimes at fractures we speculate that these volcanoes on fast spreading lithosphere are generated by episodic pulses of melt production beneath ridge crests in the vicinity of fracture zones petrologic evidence shows that these volcanoes cannot be fed from sub axial magma chambers beneath the east pacific rise instead they tap the same mantle source as the ridge crest at mantle depth

evidence for early warming and cooling in north atlantic surface waters during the last interglacial in depth analysis of planktic foraminiferal census data paired with 18o records of specific indicator species provides new insight into the surface ocean evolution of the northeast atlantic during the previous interglacial warm period oxygen isotope stage ois 5e full interglacial conditions existed at the study site for a maximum of only 8 kyr between 125 and 117 ka highest sea surface temperatures ssts occurred during early ois 5e concomitant with high summer insolation but after the main phase of ice sheet melting of the preceding glaciation saalian this early peak sst interval is marked by the appearance of tropical subtropical species and lasted for 4 kyr until 121 ka as corroborated by a major change in planktic 18o relative stability in global ice volume continued for another 3 4 kyr before ssts dropped further toward the next stadial during early ois 5e the situation of the surface water vertical structure appears to have been different from the early holocene for ois 5e it is therefore suggested that the particular melting history of late saalian ice had a long lasting and profound effect on both postdeglacial surface water mass configuration in the north atlantic and heat moisture transfer into europe

timing and characteristics of the archean subaqueous blake river megacaldera complex abitibi greenstone belt canada abstract the archean blake river group of the abitibi greenstone belt represents a megacaldera complex which evolved over 8 11 m y from approximately 2704 to 2696 ma the early misema caldera developed from a series of amalgamated shield volcano complexes identified by the remnants of mafic dyke and sill systems these remnants are found in the jevis clericy montsabrais renault clifford tannahill and colnet regions where summit calderas are delineated by circular ring dyke structures the secondary 330 trending new senator caldera formed within the envelope of the misema caldera and exhibits a box work graben type structure finally the felsic dominated 070 striking noranda caldera well known for its vms endowment represents the final collapse of the megacaldera complex deformation has overprinted the calderas but structural patterns can be used in order to reconstruct the pre existing volcanic architecture structures such as mafic ring dyke complexes and rhyolitic dome flow complexes have nucleated fold geometries and synvolcanic fractures were reactivated within zones of ductile deformation precise u pb geochronological analyses were conducted in selected areas with specific emphasis on the misema and new senator calderas felsic volcanism progressed throughout the evolution of the megacaldera complex and intermediate to felsic units have been dated to limit this evolution the misema caldera formed between 2704 and 2702 ma via the amalgamation of shield volcanoes that were probably active prior to 2704 ma the new senator caldera was generated between 2702 and 2700 ma during paroxysmal felsic volcanism followed by the collapse of the noranda caldera culminating between 2700 2696 ma the misema caldera was generated by a gravitational stress field consistent with the formation of ring and radial dyke architecture whereas the se trending new senator caldera is more compatible with a sw trending principal compression direction related to oblique convergence in the abitibi belt the noranda caldera is interpreted as a ne rift structure that formed in the final stages of megacaldera evolution

the 2008 eruptive unrest at cerro azul volcano galapagos revealed by insar data and a novel method for geodetic modelling

slopes of western galapagos volcanoes from airborne interferometric radar the distribution of slopes on the six basaltic shield volcanoes in the western galapagos islands is investigated using a digital elevation model derived from airborne interferometric radar topsar data these measurements have a spatial sampling of 10 m pixel a vertical accuracy of 3 to 5 m and constitute the highest resolution most complete topographic data set available for the islands volcano heights are determined to range from 1 124 m sierra negra to 1 710 m wolf over extensive areas of each volcano slopes exceed 25 with the highest slopes being 37 on wolf and 36 on fernandina we confirm that two morphologic subgroups exist cerro azul fernandina and wolf with deep calderas depth between 40 60 of the subaerial height of the volcano and steep 20 maximum slopes at elevations between 60 and 80 of the volcano height and alcedo darwin and sierra negra with shallow calderas depth 25 of subaerial height and slopes that remain 15 until 90 of the total height is reached our data show that steep slopes are not uniquely correlated with the occurrence of arcuate fissures at the summit leaving the origin of the steep slopes unresolved

last interglacial surface water conditions in the eastern nordic seas inferred from dinocyst and foraminiferal assemblages marine sediments from the voring plateau norwegian sea have been studied for their dinoflagellate cyst dinocyst and foraminiferal content in order to reconstruct sea surface conditions in the eastern norwegian sea during marine isotope stage mis 5e in combination with stable oxygen isotope and ice rafted detritus ird data the variations in foraminiferal and dinocyst assemblage composition reflect a stepwise transition from the final phase of deglaciation termination ii into typical interglacial conditions this stepwise change is repeated subsequently during the cooling conditions of glacial inception towards mis 5d the interval studied is characterized by relatively high abundances of bitectatodinium tepikiense in comparison to present day values in the area indicating a larger seasonal temperature amplitude with enhanced surface water stratification during mis 5e the important occurrence of the warm temperate dinocyst spiniferites mirabilis s l concurrent with subpolar foraminifers turborotalita quinqueloba globigerina bulloides and globigerinita glutinata reveals that most pronounced interglacial marine conditions prevailed in the area just prior to the transition towards mis 5d the late stratigraphic position of this phase in the interglacial is verified by comparison with dinocyst data from south of iceland manifesting its over regional implication besides the good agreement in dinocyst and foraminiferal assemblage changes the variations in and between both fossil assemblages also point to the existence of some significant surface water variability in the eastern norwegian sea during mis 5e

physical volcanology and structural development of cerro azul volcano isabela island galapagos implications for the development of galapagos type shield volcanoes erupted from circumferential vents near the summit these flows are nearly an order of magnitude smaller in volume than the predominantly aa flows erupted from radial eruptive fissures near the break in slope 0 06 0 1 km3 the differences in volume and flow morphology with altitude are due to slower eruption rates from summit vents than from flank vents which in turn are attributable to the different heights the magmas must ascend from shallow reservoirs these observations support the contention that the steep upper flanks were constructed by the buildup of short lava flows rather than by the structural deformation of originally gently dipping flanks in addition to the higher eruption rates a subdued lower flank geometry is promoted by the deposition of lava deltas onto the shallow galapagos platform on the western northern and eastern flanks of the volcano 40ar 39ar geochronology and volume estimates show that despite their morphologic differences the growth of the western galapagos shields has been nearly synchronous precluding an evolutionary model for their development the wide variations in elevation volume area and the distribution of slope angles among the western volcanoes can be linked instead to different long term eruption rates and to a lesser degree the position of each volcano relative to the edge of the galapagos platform

growth and persistence of hawaiian volcanic rift zones hawaiian volcanic rift zones are modeled by representing the rifts and adjacent volcano flanks as long ridges with the geometry of flattened triangular prisms the intrusion of dikes along the axis of a rift requires a mechanism to generate the appropriate dike trapping stress field within the prism possible factors that affect the state of stress in the prism include multiple dike intrusion along the ridge axis faulting and gravitational sagging of the topography in extreme models with very steep slopes and high poisson s ratio corresponding to the gelatin models of rift zones by fiske and jackson 1972 results of finite element calculations indicate that gravity induced stresses are sufficient to trap a dike into propagating within the prism and parallel to the rift zone as proposed by fiske and jackson however the mechanism does not work for gently sloping flanks or a more acceptable poisson s ratio of about 0 25 additionally trapping stresses in the gravity loading and density stratification models will not persist after a few dike injection episodes therefore in mature hawaiian rift zones with possibly thousands of dikes additional processes must act to control the stresses that permit continued dike intrusion and rift persistence it is proposed that accommodation to dike emplacement occurs by slip on deep faults possibly of the type proposed for the 1975 kalapana hawaii earthquake as suggested by others for this earthquake the faults could coincide with the contact of the volcano with the seafloor within the weak seafloor sediments such faulting not only provides a means for the flanks to adjust continuously to intrusions but also generates the stress patterns needed to constrain future dikes to propagate along the rift axis other possible faulting mechanisms such as shallow gravity slides and normal faulting of the flanks do not appear to favor rift zone persistence in this model the horizontal stress generated by a standing column of magma at the time of dike emplacement the stresses in the ridges and the fault strength are coupled this results in a feedback between the maximum height that magma can rise along the rift fault friction and fault width through this feedback the slope of the volcano flank is controlled by the fault friction when applied to kilauea volcano the model yields an estimate for the coefficient of fault friction as high as 0 39 assuming normal hydrostatic pore fluid pressure an implication of this model supported by other studies is that rift intrusion and lateral spreading could be major contributors to volcano growth

susceptibility of mid ocean ridge volcanic islands and seamounts to large scale landsliding 1 with a view to assessing the incidence of large scale landsliding a morphologic database was created for volcanic islands and seamounts on young oceanic lithosphere the database included 44 mid ocean ridge seamounts jasper seamount and the islands of ascension bouvet guadalupe and several of the galapagos and azores islands supplemented with published reports from a further five volcanic edifices the data reveal that major landslides are common on edifices taller than 2500 m but are rare in shorter edifices implying a threshold of instability at around 2500 m a number of causes of this threshold are discussed for example many structures taller than 2500 m are or were originally volcanic islands and therefore their flanks probably include extensive weak hyaloclastite built up from lava sea interactions around coasts compaction of hyaloclastites in larger edifices lead to regions of low permeability which may help to explain the more deeply seated slope failures it is intriguing that the threshold also coincides with the edifice height at which volcanic ridges become observable a stage at which dike intrusion is probably common because slope oversteepening or excess pore pressure associated with dike intrusions have been proposed elsewhere as landslide triggers the current indications of landsliding reveal no observable relation to rainfall as landslides occur equally in wet and dry climates and no relation to tectonic setting as there are relatively few major landslides in the seismically active azores group

edifice growth deformation and rift zone development in basaltic setting insights from piton de la fournaise shield volcano reunion island abstract the overall morphology of basaltic volcanoes mainly depends on their eruptive activity effusive vs explosive the geometry of the rift zones and the characteristics of both endogenous and exogenous growth processes the origin of the steep geometry of the central cone of piton de la fournaise volcano which is unusual for a basaltic effusive volcano and its deformation are examined with a combination of a detailed morphological analysis field observations gps data from the piton de la fournaise volcano observatory and numerical models the new caldera walls formed during the april 2007 summit collapse reveal that the steep cone is composed of a pyroclastic core inherited from an earlier explosive phase overlapped by a pile of thin lava flows this suggests that exogenous processes played a major role in the building of the steep central cone magma injections into the cone which mainly occur along the n25 30 and n120 rift zones lead to an asymmetric outward inflation concentrated in the cone s eastern half this endogenous growth progressively tilts the southeast and east flanks of the cone and induces the development of a dense network of flank fractures finally it is proposed that intrusions along the n120 rift zone are encouraged by stresses induced by magma injections along the n25 30 rift zone

laufey regio a newly discovered topographic rise on venus 1 laufey regio is a 0 5 km high elongate topographic rise measuring 1000 by 2000 km located within northern navka planitia venus it is dominated by two large volcanoes var and atanua montes and numerous coronae with associated flow deposits the area has been geologically mapped showing that large scale edifice formation focused at var and atanua montes and overlapped in time with the formation of smaller coronae several coronae and volcanoes have had complex and protracted histories with multiple episodes of volcanism and tectonism supporting a nondirectional history for this region the broad topography of the rise is surrounded by a concentric set of wrinkle ridges interpreted to have formed after the onset of centralized volcanism admittance studies indicate both bottom and top loading but lithospheric parameters are not well constrained top loading models give a range of 0 48 km for elastic thickness te and 35 115 km for crustal thickness we interpret the te range as most likely indicating isostatic compensation bottom loading models yield lower bounds of 30 75 km for te and 32 74 km for the apparent depth of compensation adc the combination of the large te and low topography indicates that the plume is no longer active bottom loading and a small adc may indicate that a layer of low density residuum produced by pressure release melting in the now extinct plume is partially supporting the topography on the basis of its broad regional topography abundant volcanism and gravity signature we interpret laufey to be a volcano dominated rise in a late stage of evolution

upper mantle magma storage and transport under a canarian shield volcano teno tenerife spain we use clinopyroxene liquid thermobarometry aided by petrography and mineral major element chemistry to reconstruct the magma plumbing system of the late miocene largely mafic teno shield volcano on the island of tenerife outer rims of clinopyroxene and olivine phenocrysts show patterns best explained by decompression induced crystallization upon rapid ascent of magmas from depth the last equilibrium crystallization of clinopyroxene occurred in the uppermost mantle from 20 to 45 km depth we propose that flexural stresses or alternatively thermomechanical contrasts create a magma trap that largely confines magma storage to an interval roughly coinciding with the moho at 15 km and the base of the long term elastic lithosphere at 40 km below sea level evidence for shallow magma storage is restricted to the occurrence of a thick vitric tuff of trachytic composition emplaced before the teno shield volcano suffered large scale flank collapses the scenario developed in this study may help shed light on some unresolved issues of magma supply to intraplate oceanic volcanoes characterized by relatively low magma fluxes such as those of the canary madeira and cape verde archipelagoes as well as hawaiian volcanoes in their postshield stage the data presented also support the importance of progressive magmatic underplating in the canary islands

reflection of scandinavian ice sheet fluctuations in norwegian sea sediments during the past 150 000 years the record of glacier fluctuations in western scandinavia as reconstructed from continental data has been correlated with records of ice rafted detritus ird from well dated sediment cores from the norwegian sea covering the past 150 000 yr b p the input of ird into the ocean is used as a proxy for ice sheet advances onto the shelf and thus for the calibration of a glaciation curve the marine results generally support land based reconstructions of glacier fluctuations and improve the time control on glacial advances the saalian ice sheet decayed very rapidly approximately 125 000 yr b p in the early weichselian a minor but significant ird maximum indicates the presence of icebergs in isotope substage 5b especially between 95 000 and 83 000 yr b p reduced amounts of calcareous nannofossils indicate that surface waters were influenced by meltwater discharges during isotope substages 5d and 5b an extensive build up of inland ice began again during isotope stage 4 but maximum glaciation was reached only in early stage 3 58 000 53 000 yr b p marine sediments have minimum carbonate content indicating strong dilution by lithogenic ice rafted material generally the ird accumulation rate was considerably higher in stages 4 2 than in stage 5 a marked peak in ird accumulation rates from 47 000 to 43 000 yr b p correlates well with a second middle weichselian ice sheet advance dated by the laschamp olby paleomagnetic event minimum ice extent during the alesund interstade 38 500 32 500 yr b p and several glacial oscillations during the late weichselian are also seen in the ird record of several late weichselian glacial oscillations on the shelf at least four correspond to the north atlantic heinrich events ice sheet behavior was either coupled or linked by external forcing during these events whereas internal ice sheet mechanisms may account for the noncoherent fluctuations

paleoceanography of the eastern equatorial pacific over the past 4 million years and the geologic origins of modern galapagos upwelling abstract an isolated volcanic archipelago at the confluence of several major ocean currents the galapagos archipelago ga is among the most biologically diverse places on earth there remain many open questions concerning evolution and speciation in the ga with the details of the geologic formation of the islands over the past millions of years representing a key source of uncertainty paleoceanographic sea surface temperature sst proxy records from the far eastern equatorial pacific eep indicate that the modern gradient of sst across the ga the cross island sst gradient or ci t emerged relatively abruptly 1 6 ma as the modern ci t is the result of a blockage and subsequent upwelling of the equatorial undercurrent euc by the ga we infer from these paleoceanographic data that the modern period during which the ga is arranged such that the islands constitute a significant topographic barrier to the euc began 1 6 ma an extensive suite of ocean circulation model experiments new and previously published confirms that the sign and magnitude of the change in ci t captured in paleoceanographic records can be explained by the islands impinging upon the euc implications for the geologic history of the galapagos and related biogeographical questions are discussed additionally these results suggest that investigations of the pan pacific sst gradient pp t should use one of the available proxy sites in the eep that is not influenced by regional geologically forced oceanographic changes such an analysis supports recent suggestions of a more gradual development of the modern pp t over the plio pleistocene

chronology and phenomenology of the 1982 and 2015 wolf volcano eruptions galapagos archipelago abstract the 1982 and 2015 eruptions were the first at wolf volcano galapagos archipelago with eyewitness accounts and satellite imagery both eruptions were characterized by a rapid and intense initial phase with multiple eruptive vents leading to the formation of large a lava fields and scarce p hoehoe mostly associated with the waning phases the 1982 eruption started on 28 august from an intra caldera vent that produced high lava fountains as well as a radial fissure on the se flank the whole eruption lasted for at least 9 days and generated 52 5e 6 m3 dre dense rock equivalent of lava the 2015 eruption started on 25 may from a circumferential fissure that produced high lava fountains and deposited reticulite scoria on the flanks of the volcano for the first time since the onset of volcano monitoring in galapagos we report cryptotephra from the 2015 eruption reaching and depositing in mainland ecuador 1400 km away from the source lava from the 2015 circumferential vents covered 18 5 km2 on the se and e flanks on 13 june 2015 the eruption switched to an intra caldera vent that was active until 30 june and produced lava flows that covered most of the caldera floor the 2015 eruption lasted 36 days and produced 87e 6 m3 dre of lava making it the fourth largest eruption in galapagos since the eruption of sierra negra in 1979 we use combined ground based geophysical surveillance remote sensing eyewitness accounts and detailed field work to constrain the eruptive dynamics of this remote volcano our approach allows quantification of eruption rates which are critical for understanding volcanic systems and for hazard assessment first order rheological calculations permit us to further constrain the eruption dynamics and emplacement of the lava fields

geochemical and structural studies of the lamont seamounts seamounts as indicators of mantle processes abstract a chain of seamounts located just west of the east pacific rise epr axis at 09 55 n herein called the lamont seamounts have been investigated using sea marc i and sea beam sonar surveys alvin submersible dives deep sea camera tows and dredging the most recently active volcanic vents on the summits of these volcanoes are located at the periphery of each caldera or crater rim or at the margins of caldera floors the distribution of recent volcanic vents and the morphology of the summit plateaus suggest the possible existence of ring fractures on these seamounts ring fractures could be important in focusing post caldera collapse eruptions around summit craters and building summit plateaus structural and morphological data and the petrology of recovered lavas suggest that calderas in the lamont seamounts probably formed by collapse associated with magma withdrawal into large primary vertical magma conduit systems rather than by repeated inflation deflation cycles associated with steady state shallow level magma chambers calderas in the lamont seamounts have evolved through coalescence of adjoining craters and the plan view shape and morphology of each caldera suggest that primary magma conduits have migrated beneath the summit of each seamount through time compared to lavas from the adjacent epr the majority of lamont seamount and cone lavas are more primitive depleted in incompatible elements and compositionally heterogeneous variations in light rare earth elements relative to major elements e g tio 2 na 2 o na 2 o cao and radiogenic isotopes cannot be ascribed to differences in the amount of partial melting of a single n type morb source rather it appears that lamont seamount lavas were derived from heterogeneous mantle sources variably depleted in highly incompatible elements comparison with lavas from the adjacent ridge crest suggests that magma plumbing and ascent mechanisms beneath the lamont seamounts are separate from those along the epr in particular seamount magmas appear to reflect near primary melting events in the mantle whereas epr lavas are the products of shallow level crystallization and mixing in crustal magma chambers absence of long lived magma chambers within the lamont seamounts may account for the low level of hydrothermal activity observed throughout the chain furthermore because of the tight control on sample location and the recovery of lavas having distinct parents from individual volcanoes as well as the lamont chain as a whole we propose that the scale of mantle chemical heterogeneities is less than 5 km

submarine fernandina magmatism at the leading edge of the galapagos hot spot new multibeam and side scan sonar surveys of fernandina volcano and the geochemistry of lavas provide clues to the structural and magmatic development of galapagos volcanoes submarine fernandina has three well developed rift zones whereas the subaerial edifice has circumferential fissures associated with a large summit caldera and diffuse radial fissures on the lower slopes rift zone development is controlled by changes in deviatoric stresses with increasing distance from the caldera large lava flows are present on the gently sloping and deep seafloor west of fernandina fernandina s submarine lavas are petrographically more diverse than the subaerial suite and include picrites most submarine glasses are similar in composition to aphyric subaerially erupted lavas however these rocks are termed the normal series and are believed to result from cooling and crystallization in the subcaldera magma system which buffers the magmas both thermally and chemically these normal series magmas are extruded laterally through the flanks of the volcano where they scavenge and disaggregate olivine gabbro mush to produce picritic lavas a suite of lavas recovered from the terminus of the sw submarine rift and terraces to the south comprises evolved basalts and icelandites with mgo 3 1 to 5 0 wt this evolved series is believed to form by fractional crystallization at 3 to 5 kb involving extensive crystallization of clinopyroxene and titanomagnetite in addition to plagioclase high k lavas were recovered from the southwest rift and are attributed to hybridization between normal series basalt and evolved series magma the geochemical and structural findings are used to develop an evolutionary model for the construction of the galapagos platform and better understand the petrogenesis of the erupted lavas the earliest stage is represented by the deep water lava flows which over time construct a broad submarine platform the deep water lavas originate from the subcaldera plumbing system of the adjacent volcano after construction of the platform eruptions focus to a point source building an island with rift zones extending away from the adjacent buttressing volcanoes most rift zone magmas intrude laterally from the subcaldera magma chamber although a few evolve by crystallization in the upper mantle and deep crust

flexure and seismicity beneath the south flank of kilauea volcano and tectonic implications we present a refined model for the tectonic behavior of kilauea volcano s south flank including flexure calculations and microearthquake data supportive of the model in our model the south flank moves seaward over the downwardly flexed ocean crust in a manner analogous to an accretionary prism in a subduction zone the flank is driven seaward by the gravitational stresses inherent in its shape this driving force is augmented by high density material in kilauea s rift zones elastic flexure calculations predict a configuration for the downwardly flexed crust which agrees with previous seismic refraction and gravity modeling this configuration in turn is consistent with the hypothesis that many earthquakes occur along the volcanic pile ocean crust interface focal mechanisms for these events predominantly indicate southeastward directed overthrusting we also propose a relationship between rift zone intrusion and south flank displacement including a suggestion that the decollement configuration controls the relative activity of kilauea s east and southwest rift zones

imaging rapidly deforming ocean island volcanoes in the western galapagos archipelago ecuador using local body wave arrival time tomography methods to determine 3 d seismic velocity structure we imaged the plumbing system of sierra negra volcano galapagos this hot spot volcanic chain includes some of the fastest deforming volcanoes in the world making this an ideal location to study shield volcano plumbing systems we inverted p and s wave arrivals recorded on a 15 station temporary array between july 2009 and june 2011 using an a priori 1 d velocity model constrained by offshore refraction studies with local seismicity from nearby volcanoes as well as the ring fault system the model resolution is good between depths of 3 and 15 5 km the propagation of s waves throughout this volume argues against any large high melt accumulations although a shallow melt sill may exist above 5 km we image a broad low velocity region 25 km laterally below sierra negra at depths 8 15 km no large regional velocity increase is found within the limits of good resolution suggesting that crust is thicker than 15 km beneath the western galapagos archipelago our results are consistent with crustal accretion of mafic cumulates from a large volume magma chamber that may span the boundary between preplume and accreted crust the similarity between our results and those of hawaii leave open the possibility that the crust has also been thickened by under plating

constructional volcanic edifices on mercury candidates and hypotheses of formation mercury a planet with a predominantly volcanic crust has perplexingly few if any constructional volcanic edifices despite their common occurrence on other solar system bodies with volcanic histories using image and topographical data from the mercury surface space environment geochemistry and ranging messenger spacecraft we describe two small 15 km diameter prominences with shallow summit depressions associated with volcanically flooded impact features we offer both volcanic and impact related interpretations for their formation and then compare these landforms with volcanic features on earth and the moon though we cannot definitively conclude that these landforms are volcanic the paucity of constructional volcanic edifices on mercury is intriguing in itself we suggest that this lack is because volcanic eruptions with sufficiently low eruption volumes rates and flow lengths suitable for edifice construction were highly spatiotemporally restricted during mercury s geological history we suggest that volcanic edifices may preferentially occur in association with late stage post impact effusive volcanic deposits the esa jaxa bepicolombo mission to mercury will be able to investigate further our candidate volcanic edifices search for other as yet unrecognized edifices beneath the detection limits of messenger data and test our hypothesis that edifice construction is favored by late stage low volume effusive eruptions

transition from circular to stellate forms of submarine volcanoes large volcanic islands and guyots have stellate forms that reflect the relief of radiating volcanic rift zones multiple volcanic centers and embayments due to giant flank failures small mid ocean ridge volcanoes in contrast are commonly subcircular in plan view and show only embryonic rift zones in order to characterize the transition between these two end members the morphology of 141 seamounts and guyots was studied using the shape of the depth contour at half the height of each edifice irregularity was characterized by measuring perimeter distance elongation and moment of inertia of the contours assuming an ideal edifice is circular the analysis reveals a general transition over 2 4 km edifice height best transition estimate 3 km while some large edifices 4 5 km high show no major embayments or ridges suggesting considerable variation in the effectiveness of mechanisms that cause flank instability and growth of rift zones the various origins of the transition are discussed and the upper limit of magma chambers many of which lie above the basement of the larger edifices is proposed to affect the morphologic complexity via a number of mechanisms and is an important factor affecting the mode of growth the origins of the truncated cone shape of mid ocean ridge volcanoes are also discussed of the eruption mechanisms that have been proposed to explain their flat summits the most likely mechanisms involve eruption from small ephemeral magma bodies lying within the low density upper oceanic crust the discussion includes speculations on factors affecting the depths of magma chambers beneath oceanic volcanoes supporting table is available via web browser or via anonymous ftp from ftp kosmos agu org directory append username anonymous password guest subdirectories in the ftp site are arranged by paper number information on searching and submitting electronic supplements is found at http www agu org pubs csupp about html

surface and deep water changes in the subpolar north atlantic during termination ii and the last interglaciation to reconstruct the history of water mass exchange between the ne atlantic and the nordic seas sediment cores from 2 km water depth were studied across termination ii tii and through the last interglaciation mis5e during early tii the sudden appearance of the low latitude planktonic foraminifera beella megastoma is noted in both regions along with a steep decrease in benthic foraminiferal 18o since other proxies indicate that surface waters were cold and stratified because of meltwater conditions which prevented near surface thermohaline circulation and vertical convection in the nordic seas water mass exchange between the two areas occurred at the subsurface during later tii surface conditions changed and this subsurface circulation style was eventually replaced by vertical convection in the nordic seas b megastoma vanished from the record together with ice rafted debris ird at the end of tii while subpolar foraminiferal abundance rose peak interglacial conditions with intensive vertical convection now fully developed generating a bottom water temperature gradient of 4 c between the two areas however surface water temperatures deteriorated in the nordic seas already notably before ird recurred and 18o increased at the end of mis5e

volumetric characteristics of lava flows from interferometric radar and multispectral satellite data the 1995 fernandina and 1998 cerro azul eruptions in the western galapagos we have used a suite of remotely sensed data numerical lava flow modeling and field observations to determine quantitative characteristics of the 1995 fernandina and 1998 cerro azul eruptions in the western galapagos islands flank lava flow areas volumes instantaneous effusion rates and average effusion rates were all determined for these two eruptions for which only limited syn eruptive field observations are available using data from spot topsar ers 1 and ers 2 we determined that the 1995 fernandina flow covers a subaerial area of 6 5 106 m2 and has a subaerial dense rock equivalent dre volume of 42 106 m3 field observations atsr satellite data and the flowgo numerical model allow us to determine that the effusion rate declined exponentially from a high of 60 200 m3 s 1 during the first few hours to 5 m3 s 1 prior to ceasing after 73 days with a mean effusion rate of 4 16 m3 s 1 integrating the atsr derived exponentially declining effusion rate over the eruption duration produces a total subaerial submarine dre volume of between 27 and 100 106 m3 the range in values being due to differing assumptions about heat loss characteristics only values in the higher part of this range are consistent with the independently derived subaerial volume using spot topsar ers 1 and ers 2 data we determine that the 1998 cerro azul flow is 16 km long covers 16 km2 and has a dre volume of 54 106 m3 flowgo produces at vent velocity and effusion rate values of 11 m s 1 and 600 m3 s 1 respectively the velocity value agrees well with the 12 m s 1 estimated in the field the mean effusion rate total dre volume duration was 7 47 m3 s 1 dike dimensions fissure lengths and pressure gradients along the conduit based on magma chamber depth estimates of 3 5 km produce mean effusion rates for the two eruptions that range over nearly four orders of magnitude the range being due to uncertainty in the magma viscosity dike dimensions and pressure gradient between magma chamber and vent although somewhat consistent with mean effusion rates from other techniques their wide range makes them less useful the exponentially declining effusion rates during both eruptions are consistent with release of elastic strain being the driving mechanism of the eruptions our results provide independent input parameters for previously published theoretical relationships between magma chamber pressurization and eruption rates that constrain chamber volumes and increases in volume prior to eruption as well as time constants of exponential decay during the eruption the results and theoretical relationships combine to indicate that at both volcanoes probably 25 30 of the volumetric increase in the magma chamber erupted as lava onto the surface in both eruptions the lava flow volumes are less than 1 of the magma chamber volume

emplacement and inflation of pahoehoe sheet flows observations and measurements of active lava flows on kilauea volcano hawaii inflated pahoehoe sheet flows have a distinctive horizontal upper surface which can be several hundred meters across and are bounded by steep monoclinal uplifts the inflated sheet flows we studied ranged from 1 to 5 m in thickness but initially propagated as thin sheets of fluid pahoehoe lava generally 20 30 cm thick individual lobes originated at outbreaks from the inflated front of a prior sheet flow lobe and initially moved rapidly away from their source velocities slowed greatly within hours due to radial spreading and to depletion of lava stored within the source flow as the outward flow velocity decreases cooling promotes rapid crustal growth at first the crust behaves plastically as pahoehoe toes form after the crust attains a thickness of 2 5 cm it behaves more rigidly and develops enough strength to retain incoming lava thus increasing the hydrostatic head at the flow front the increased hydrostatic pressure is distributed evenly through the liquid lava core of the flow resulting in uniform uplift of the entire sheet flow lobe initial uplift rates are rapid flows thicken to 1 m in 1 2 hours but rates decline sharply as crustal thickness increases and as outbreaks occur from the margins of the inflating lobe one flow reached a final thickness of nearly 4 m after 350 hr inflation data define power law curves whereas crustal cooling follows square root of time relationships the combination of data can be used to construct simple models of inflated sheet flows as the flow advances preferred pathways develop in the older portions of the liquid cored flow these pathways can evolve into lavatube systems within a few weeks formation of lava tubes results in highly efficient delivery of lava at velocities of several kilometers per hour to a flow front that may be moving 1 2 orders of magnitude slower if advance of the sheet flow is terminated the tube remains filled with lava that crystallizes in situ rather than draining to form the cave like lava tubes commonly associated with pahoehoe flows inflated sheet flows from kilauea and mauna loa are morphologically similar to some thick icelandic and submarine sheet flows suggesting a similar mechanism of emplacement the planar sheet like geometry of flood basalt flows may also result from inflation of sequentially emplaced flow lobes rather than nearly instantaneous emplacement as literal floods of lava

lava effusion rate definition and measurement a review measurement of effusion rate is a primary objective for studies that model lava flow and magma system dynamics as well as for monitoring efforts during on going eruptions however its exact definition remains a source of confusion and problems occur when comparing volume flux values that are averaged over different time periods or spatial scales or measured using different approaches thus our aims are to 1 define effusion rate terminology and 2 assess the various measurement methods and their results we first distinguish between instantaneous effusion rate and time averaged discharge rate eruption rate is next defined as the total volume of lava emplaced since the beginning of the eruption divided by the time since the eruption began the ultimate extension of this is mean output rate this being the final volume of erupted lava divided by total eruption duration whether these values are total values i e the flux feeding all flow units across the entire flow field or local i e the flux feeding a single active unit within a flow field across which many units are active also needs to be specified no approach is without its problems and all can have large error up to 50 however good agreement between diverse approaches shows that reliable estimates can be made if each approach is applied carefully and takes into account the caveats we detail here there are three important factors to consider and state when measuring giving or using an effusion rate first the time period over which the value was averaged second whether the measurement applies to the entire active flow field or a single lava flow within that field and third the measurement technique and its accompanying assumptions

implications of stratigraphic and paleoclimatic records of the last interglaciation from the nordic seas climatic reconstruction of glacial to interglacial episodes from oxygen isotopes in sediment cores from the nordic seas is complicated by strong local meltwater contributions to the oxygen isotope changes combination of benthic and planktic foraminiferal isotope data with foraminiferal abundances and ice rafted debris ird allows separation of local and global effects and subdivision of the marine oxygen isotope events 6 2 5 4 which include the last interglaciation into 1 a meltwater phase after glacial stage 6 recorded by large amounts of ird and low foraminiferal abundance indicating surface water warming 2 an ird free period with high deposition rates of subpolar foraminifera and other caco3pelagic components recognized here as the full interglaciation and 3 a phase with the recurrence of ird and the demise of subpolar species comparison of ice core records and marine data implies that the global climate during the last full interglaciation and that during the postdeglacial holocene were similar the records show no significantly different variations in the proxy data in contrast the oxygen isotopes of planktic foraminifera and ice cores indicate significant differences during each of the deglacial transitions terminations i and ii that preceded these two interglaciations these suggest that during termination ii the climatic evolution in the nordic seas was less affected by abrupt changes in ocean atmosphere circulation than during the last glacial to interglacial transition

1998 eruption at volcan cerro azul galapagos islands i syn eruptive petrogenesis the 1998 eruption of volcn cerro azul in the galpagos islands produced two intra caldera vents and a flank vent that erupted more than 1 0 10 8 m 3 of lava lava compositions changed notably during the 5 week eruption and contemporaneous eruptions in the caldera and on the flank produced different compositions lavas erupted from the flank vent range from 6 3 to 14 1 mgo nearly the entire range of mgo contents previously reported from the volcano on site monitoring of eruptive activity is linked with petrogenetic processes such that geochemical variations are evaluated in a temporal con text lavas from the 1998 eruption record two petroge netic stages characterized by progressively more mafic lavas as the eruption proceeded crystal compositions whole rock major and trace element compositions and isotope ratios indicate that early lavas are the product of mixing between 1998 magma and remnant magma of the 1979 eruption intra caldera lavas and later lavas have no 1979 signature but were produced by the 1998 mag ma incorporating olivine and clinopyroxene xenocrysts thus early magma petrogenesis is characterized by mix ing with the 1979 magma followed by the magma pro gressively entraining wehrlite cumulate mush

wolf volcano galapagos archipelago melting and magmatic evolution at the margins of a mantle plume wolf volcano an active shield volcano on northern isabela island in the galapagos archipelago has undergone two major stages of caldera collapse with a phase of partial caldera refilling between wolf is a typical galapagos shield volcano with circumferential vents on the steep upper carapace and radial vents distributed in diffuse rift zones on the shallower sloping lower flanks the radial fissures continue into the submarine environment where they form more tightly focused rift zones wolf s magmas are strikingly monotonous estimated eruptive temperatures of the majority of lavas span a total of only 22 c this homogeneity is attributed to buffering of magmas as they ascend through a thick column of olivine gabbroic mush that has been deposited from a thin shallow 2 km deep subcaldera sill that is in a thermochemical steady state wolf s lavas have the most depleted isotopic compositions of any historically active intraplate ocean island volcano on the planet and have isotopic compositions except for he he indistinguishable from midocean ridge basalt erupted from the galapagos spreading center gsc 250 410 km away from the peak of influence of the galapagos plume wolf s lavas are enriched in incompatible trace elements and have systematic major element differences relative to gsc lavas however wolf s magmas result from lower extents of melting deeper melt extraction and a greater influence of garnet compared with gsc magmas but wolf and the gsc share the same sources these melt generation conditions are attributed to melting in a thermal and mechanical boundary layer of depleted asthenosphere at the margins of the galapagos plume the lower degrees of melting and extraction from deeper levels result from a thicker lithospheric cap at wolf than exists at the gsc

submarine volcanic morphology of the western galapagos based on em300 bathymetry and mr1 side scan sonar 1 a compilation of high resolution em300 multibeam bathymetric and existing mr1 side scan sonar data was used to investigate the volcanic morphology of the flanks of the western galapagos islands the data portray an assortment of constructional volcanic features on the shallow to deep submarine flanks of fernandina isabela and santiago islands including rift zones and groups of cones that are considered to be the primary elements in constructing the archipelagic apron ten submarine rift zones were mapped ranging in length from 5 to 20 km comparable in length to western canary island rift zones but significantly shorter than hawaiian submarine rift zones a detailed analysis of the northwestern fernandina submarine rift including calculated magnetization from a surface towed magnetic study suggests that the most recent volcanism has focused at the shallow end of the rift small submarine volcanic cones with various morphologies e g pointed cratered and occasionally breached are common in the submarine western galapagos both on rift zones and on the island flanks where no rifts are present at depths greater than 3000 m large lava flow fields in regions of low bathymetric relief have been previously identified as a common seafloor feature in the western galapagos by geist et al 2006 however their source s remained enigmatic the new em300 data show that a number of the deep lava flows originate from small cones along the mid lower portion of the nw submarine rift of fernandina suggesting that the deep flows owe their origin at least in part to submarine rift zone volcanism

morphology of piton de la fournaise basaltic shield volcano la reunion island characterization and implication in the volcano evolution the topography of piton de la fournaise volcano pdf differs from the classic view of basaltic shield volcanoes as it is characterized by 1 several steep slope zones on its flanks and 2 a large u shaped caldera the enclos grand brule structure egbs most of these structures were previously interpreted as the scars of lateral landslides the deposits of which cover the submarine flanks of pdf we carried out a detailed analysis of the morphology of pdf which reveals that the steep slope zones form two independent circumferential structures that continue into the caldera the development of circumferential steep slopes on volcano flanks may have several origins constructive destructive and deformation processes we interpret those processes acting on pdf as caused by the spreading of the volcanic edifice above a weak hydrothermal core leading to outward displacements and a summit extensive stress field the continuity of the steep slope on both sides of the egbs escarpments suggests that this structure was not caused by a 4 5 ka old giant landslide as it is usually proposed but is due to a mainly vertical collapse the recent debris avalanche deposits east of the island indicate that this event likely destabilized part of the submarine flank we propose that the collapse of the grand brule the lower half of the egbs was due to the downward drag related to the dense intrusive complex of the alizes volcano which is located 1 km below the grand brule the collapse of the enclos is interpreted as the consequence of the deformation of the hydrothermal system of the pre enclos volcano although the continuity of the geological and morphological structures between the enclos and the grand brule suggests a narrow link between these two collapse events their chronology and relationship are still uncertain finally we hypothesize that the persistence of the ne and se rift zones during the last 150 ka despite the large changes of the topography related to the recurrent flank destabilizations is linked to a deep sources which can be either underlying crustal faults or the continuous downward subsidence of the alizes intrusive complex

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

the great west african tertiary coastal uplift fact or fiction a perspective from the angolan divergent margin 1 we explore exhumation in the coastal kwanza basin by combining analyses of tertiary hiatuses and apatite fission tracks planktonic biozones show five major hiatuses in the oligo miocene and plio pleistocene between gaps oligo miocene strata accumulated under marine conditions a marine setting refutes the idea of a massively raised coastal plateau in the mid tertiary marine conditions continued until 5 ma fission track data suggest three thermal events 150 ma during rifting and volcanism 100 70 ma during shortening and volcanism and 20 10 ma during exhumation tertiary uplift was spatially highly variable for the kwanza basin we infer that tertiary uplift on the west african margin is indeed a fact but that estimates of uplift timing and size are unreliable when extrapolated to adjoining areas massive uplift 2000 4000 m of the precambrian craton had little structural effect in the outer basin instead minor uplifts on the shelf drove late tertiary deformation on the slope

geometry and kinematics of salt detached ramp syncline basins abstract ramp syncline basins rsbs are characterized by asymmetric depocentres formed by translation above salt detachments with basal steps recognition of these minibasins allows quantification of the magnitude and rates of overburden translation above a deforming salt layer 3d seismic data from the sao paulo plateau santos basin brazil image a series of rsbs formed above thick salt and distributed above and or basinward of pronounced base salt steps the rsbs are composed of landward dipping and gently folded sigmoidal strata recording 28 32 km of se directed translation during the late cretaceous and paleocene at an average rate of 0 8 0 9 mm year we present several examples of rsbs in addition to results from numerical forward models to analyse the 3d kinematics of rsbs and their interaction with base salt structures the rsbs form not only by translation above basinward dipping ramps but also over landward dipping ramps translation over stepped ramps generates stacked rsbs thickness maps show translation is higher at the centre of rsbs and that depocentres become progressively more affected by diapirism as they evolve this study presents the first analysis of the 3d kinematics of ramp syncline basins and the first documentation of their occurrence above thick salt in the santos basin brazil it applies realistic numerical models that treat the detachment as a volume of viscous material improving our understanding of these systems rsbs are important to understand slope and deep basin tectono stratigraphic architecture of supra salt units and can also guide the identification of pre salt structures thus contributing to the exploration of salt basins

prodigious submarine landslides on the hawaiian ridge the extensive area covered by major submarine mass wasting deposits on or near the hawaiian ridge has been delimited by systematic mapping of the hawaiian exclusive economic zone using the side looking sonar system gloria these surveys show that slumps and debris avalanche deposits are exposed over about 100 000 km2 of the ridge and adjacent seafloor from kauai to hawaii covering an area more than 5 times the land area of the islands some of the individual debris avalanches are more than 200 km long and about 5000 km3 in volume ranking them among the largest on earth the slope failures that produce these deposits begin early in the history of individual volcanoes when they are small submarine seamounts culminate near the end of subaerial shield building and apparently continue long after dormancy consequently landslide debris is an important element in the internal structure of the volcanoes the dynamic behavior of the volcanoes can be modulated by slope failure and the structural features of the landslides are related to elements of the volcanoes including rift zones and fault systems the landslides are of two general types slumps and debris avalanches the slumps are slow moving wide up to 110 km and thick about 10 km with transverse blocky ridges and steep toes the debris avalanches are fast moving long up to 230 km compared to width and thinner 0 05 2 km they commonly have a well defined amphitheater at their head and hummocky terrain in the lower part oceanic disturbance caused by rapid emplacement of debris avalanches may have produced high level wave deposits such as the 365 m elevation hulopoe gravel on lanai that are found on several islands most present day submarine canyons were originally carved subaerially in the upper parts of debris avalanches subaerial canyon cutting was apparently promoted by the recently steepened and stripped slopes of the landslide amphitheaters

structure of the upper water column in the northwest north atlantic modern versus last glacial maximum conditions 1 during the last glacial maximum the northwestern north atlantic constituted a major conduit for labrador and greenland ice sheet meltwaters vertical density gradients in its upper water masses have been reconstructed by combining information from transfer functions based on dinocysts and from oxygen isotope measurements 18o in planktonic foraminifera transfer functions yield temperature and salinity and thus potential density for the warmest august and coldest february months in the photic zone the 18o values in different size fractions of epipelagic globigerina bulloides and mesopelagic neogloboquadrina pachyderma left coiled npl foraminifera allow us to assess gradients through the pycnocline between surface and intermediate waters based on the calibration of a versus 18o relationship from transfer function reconstructions the size and density of npl shells provide further constraints on these gradients the results show the development of a very strong pycnocline during the lgm with a difference of about 3 summer to 1 5 winter units between surface and underlying waters they indicate conditions unfavorable for vertical convection and support the hypothesis of the spreading of a shallow low salinity buoyant layer over the northern north atlantic this layer depicted a strong e w gradient with maximum seasonal contrast and minimum absolute values westward

results from new gps and gravity monitoring networks at fernandina and sierra negra volcanoes galapagos 2000 2002 gps and gravity networks were established on sierra negra and fernandina volcanoes in 2000 and remeasured in 2001 and 2002 after a decade in which the caldera inflated by over 2 5 m sierra negra s caldera began to subside between 2000 and 2002 at a rate of about 9 cm a neither inflation nor deflation was accompanied by eruption simple elastic modeling indicates that the deformation at sierra negra can be attributed to volumetric contraction of a 2 1 km deep sill beneath the caldera caused by either movement of magma out of the sill or loss of bubbles through degassing precise gravity measurements support but do not prove the former mechanism fernandina volcano is in a phase of slow refilling of the summit reservoir after the 1995 eruption causing lateral expansion of the caldera rim by about 3 cm a our estimate for the depth of the shallowest part of the fernandina magma chamber is 1 to 2 km neither volcano shows evidence of flank spreading

distribution patterns of dinoflagellate cysts and other organic walled microfossils in recent norwegian greenland sea sediments dinoflagellate cysts and other organic walled microfossils have been studied in recent surface sediments from the entire norwegian greenland sea more than 30 taxa have been recognized of which only few show a distinct distribution pattern and allow description of four assemblages the occurrence of most taxa is related to the relatively warmer waters of the norwegian sea algidaspaeridium minutum s 1 brigantedinium simplex and impagidinium pallidum are the only species showing a preference for colder water masses two species i pallidum and nematosphaeropsis labyrinthus are mainly restricted to the oceanic environment whereas the other species have also been reported from neritic environments in previous studies due to the limited knowledge of the ecological and sedimentological factors influencing the occurrence of dinoflagellate cysts in oceanic environments their distribution in recent sediments can be only related to surface water masses in a broad sense although the distribution of assemblages correlates with specific surface water masses comparison with assemblages recovered from sediment traps deployed basinwide in the norwegian greenland sea dale and dale 1992 revealed some major discrepancies in species composition and percentage abundances the differences cannot be explained with certainty at the moment although there is some evidence that transport of dinoflagellate cysts and other fossilizable microplankton in water masses by currents in sea ice and sediments may modify the assemblages found in recent oceanic surface sediments from the norwegian greenland sea

insar observations of the 1995 fogo cape verde eruption implications for the effects of collapse events upon island volcanoes 1 fogo volcano cape verde islands erupted in april 1995 after 43 years of dormancy about 46 106 m3 of lava erupted during 7 5 weeks from vents on the sw flank of pico do fogo into cha das caldeiras interferograms obtained from 1993 1998 ers sar data show ground deformation due to the feeder dike but lack evidence for any volcano wide deformation related to volume changes of a shallow magma reservoir this suggests that fogo is fed from a relatively deep mantle lithospheric source 16 5 km depth consistent with petrological data this supports the concept that cha das caldeiras is the fill of a collapse scar created by a giant landslide and not a collapse caldera overlying a central shallow magma chamber the disturbance of the magmatic system by giant landslides may explain why some oceanic island volcanoes with high magma supply rates currently lack well developed shallow reservoirs

volcano load control on dyke propagation and vent distribution insights from analogue modeling 1 the spatial distribution of eruptive vents around volcanoes can be complex and evolve as a volcano grows observations of vent distribution at contrasting volcanoes from scoria cones to large shields show that peripheral eruptive vents concentrate close to the volcano base we use analogue experiments to explore the control of volcano load on magma ascent and on vent location results show that the local loading stress field favors eruption of rising magma away from the volcano summit if a central conduit is not established or is blocked two sets of scaled experiments are developed with contrasting rheological properties to analyze similarities and differences in simulated magma rise below a volcano 1 golden syrup magma analogue is injected into a sand plaster mixed layer crust analogue under a cone 2 water or air magma analogues is injected into gelatin under a sand cone rising dykes approaching the cone stress field are stopped by the load compressive stress with continued intrusion dyke overpressure builds up dykes extend laterally until their tips are able to rise vertically again and to erupt in the flank or at the base of the volcano lateral offset of the extrusion point relative to the edifice summit depends on substratum thickness volcano slope and dyke overpressure the 3d geometry of golden syrup intrusions varies with experimental parameters from cylindrical conduits to dyke and sill complexes experimental results are compared with illustrative field cases and with previously published numerical models this comparison enables applications and limitations of the analogue models to be highlighted and allows us to propose a conceptual model for the evolution of vent distribution with volcano growth

variations in surface water mass conditions in the norwegian sea evidence from holocene coccolith and dinoflagellate cyst assemblages coccolith and dinoflagellate cyst assemblages have been investigated in five sediment cores from the norwegian sea and fram strait both fossil groups are characterized by similar patterns of composition the assemblages contain high proportions of single species the coccolith flora is of low diversity and consists almost entirely of coccolithus pelagicus and emiliania huxleyi the dinoflagellate cysts are generally dominated by operculodinium centrocarpum and nematosphaeropsis labyrinthus other species especially bitectatodinium tepikiense peridinium faeroense and impagidinium pallidum sometimes contribute considerably to the assemblages based on the abundance of the assemblages and the ratio change between the dominating species it has been possible to establish three intervals of distinct major changes in surface water mass conditions sparse occurrences of coccoliths and dinoflagellate cysts have been observed before 10 000 yrs b p indicating harsh environmental conditions with a distinct influence of meltwater and temporarily very slight inflow of atlantic water the modern surface water circulation pattern was reinitiated during termination ib the assemblages suggest slightly cooler and probably less saline surface water conditions than are present today until 7500 yrs b p solar insolation may have caused a first temperature peak which is responsible for the early holocene productivity maximum a considerable change in the composition of dinocyst and coccolith assemblages occurs corresponding approximately to the onset of the holocene climatic optimum this change was most probably linked to an almost synchronous reorganization of the hydrographic properties in the entire north atlantic realm after the ice sheets had vanished since 6000 yrs b p the norwegian current with its modern oceanographic and ecological properties has been fully established