sector collapse sedimentation and clast population evolution at an active island arc volcano stromboli italy sciara del fuoco is the subaerial part of a partially filled sector collapse scar that extends to 700 m below sea level on stromboli volcano the collapse occurred 2200 m and 10 km from the shore to the nnw a fan shaped mounded feature comprises debris avalanche deposits 4 km3 from two or more sector collapses volcaniclastic density currents originating from sciara del fuoco follow the topographic margin of the debris avalanche deposits although overbank currents and other unconfined currents widely cover the mounded feature with turbidites historical recorded eruptive activity in sciara del fuoco is considerably less than that which occurred earlier and much of the partial fill may have formed from eruptions soon after the sector collapse it is possible that a mass of eruptive products similar to that in the collapse scar is dispersed as volcanogenic sediment in deep water of the tyrhennian basin evidence that the early post collapse eruptive discharge was greater than the apparent recent flux 2kg s counters suggestions that a substantial part of stromboli s growth has been endogenous the partial fill of sciaria del fuoco is dominated by lava and spatter layers rather than by the scoria and ash layers classically regarded as main constituents of strombolian cinder cones much of the volcanic slope beneath the vents is steeper than the angle of repose of loose tephra which is therefore rapidly transported to the sea delicate pyroclasts that record the magmatic explosivity are selectively destroyed and diluted during sedimentary transport mainly in avalanches and by shoreline wave reworking and thus the submarine deposits do not record well the extent and diversity of explosive activity and associated clast forming processes considerable amounts of dense non vesicular fine sand and silt grains are produced by breakage and rounding of fragments of lava and agglutinate the submarine extension of the collapse scar and the continuing topographic depression to 2200 m below sea level are zones of considerable by passing of fine sand and silt which are transported in turbidity currents evidently volcanogenic sediments dispersed around island volcanoes by density currents are unlikely to record well the true spectrum and relative importance of clast forming processes that occurred during an eruption marine sedimentary evidence of magmatic explosivity is particularly susceptible to partial or complete obliteration unless there is a high rate of discharge of pyroclastic material into the sea

u th ages obtained by mass spectrometry in corals from barbados sea level during the past 130 000 years the study of the sea level record during the last glacial cycle has primarily proceeded indirectly by means of oxygen isotope measurements on foraminifera from deep sea sediments1 2 the direct approach of dating sea level indicators stagnated during the past decade mainly because the samples required to complete our knowledge of the past glaciations are below the present day sea level3 7 using the 14c ages of acropora palmata samples collected by drilling offshore the island of barbados fairbanks8 presented the first detailed chronology for the last deglaciation this radiocarbon chronology is limited to the past 30 kyr because of the short half life of 14c 5 730 yr we must therefore rely on other dating methods to obtain information for the whole last glacial cycle during the past four years 230th 234u dating of corals by thermal ionization mass spectrometry has been shown to be significantly more precise and accurate than the classical counting method9 14 we have used this technique to measure u th ages in coral samples from the barbados collection and from subaerially exposed outcrops see also ref 15 here we present results bearing on the sea level record for the past 130 000 years we conclude that the last deglaciation started 3 000 years earlier than previously thought and confirm that there were two surges in melt water8 at about 11 kyr and 14 kyr bp before present

sector collapse at kick em jenny submarine volcano lesser antilles numerical simulation and landslide behaviour kick em jenny volcano is the only known active submarine volcano in the lesser antilles it lies within a horseshoe shaped structure open to the west northwest toward the deep grenada basin a detailed bathymetric survey of the basin slope at kick em jenny and resulting high resolution digital elevation model allowed the identification of a major submarine landslide deposit this deposit is thought to result from a single sector collapse event at kick em jenny and to be linked to the formation of the horseshoe shaped structure we estimated the volume and the leading edge runout of the landslide to be ca 4 4 km3 and 14 km respectively we modelled a sector collapse event of a proto kick em jenny volcano using volcflow a finite difference code based on depth integrated mass and momentum equations our models show that the landslide can be simulated by either a coulomb type rheology with low basal friction angles 5 5 6 5 and a significant internal friction angle above 17 5 or with better results by a bingham rheology with low bingham kinematic viscosity 0 b 30 m2 s and high shear strength 130 180 m2 s2 the models and the short runout distance suggest that the landslide travelled as a stiff cohesive flow affected by minimal granular disaggregation and slumping on a non lubricated surface the main submarine landslide deposit can therefore be considered as a submarine mass slide deposit that behaved like a slump

the 1995 1998 eruption of the soufriere hills volcano montserrat wi eruption of the soufriere hills volcano began on 18 july 1995 after three years of elevated seismic activity four months of increasingly vigorous phreatic activity culminated in mid november 1995 with the initiation of dome growth growth rates increased unevenly through early march 1996 with fluctuations on time scales from hours to months since march 1996 gravitational collapse of the unstable dome flank has affected an ever increasing area with pyroclastic flows surges and ashfalls major collapse of the eastern flank on 17 september 1996 resulted in a sub plinian explosive eruption later that day by february 1997 the dome had outgrown the confines of the crater and begun to spill into the surrounding valleys a large collapse on 25 june 1997 caused pyroclastic flows and surges on the northern flanks and resulted in the only deaths of the eruption in august september and october 1997 vulcanian explosions followed further collapses on the western and northern flanks the largest event of the eruption occurred on 26 december 1997 with failure of the southwestern flank of the volcano producing a debris avalanche and large dome collapse pyroclastic flows dome growth ceased in early march 1998 but residual volcanic activity has continued and consists of ash venting mild explosions and dome collapse pyroclastic flows

melanges magmatiques a la montagne pelee martinique origine des eruptions de type saint vincent au cours des 40 000 dernieres annees l activite de la montagne pelee a consiste en l emission de coulees de ponces nuees ardentes peleennes et de type merapi mettant en place des produits de composition andesitique a dacitique ainsi que de quelques nuees ardentes de type saint vincent responsables de l emission de produits plus basiques andesites basaltiques basaltes accompagnes par des phenomenes de melanges magmatiques deux eruptions de ce type sv1 et sv2 datees a 25700 1200 et 22300 1200 ans b p ont ete etudiees au point de vue du deroulement de l eruption de la composition chimique des produits et de la mineralogie elles suivent toutes les deux un meme scenario eruptif evoluant depuis un pole andesitique vers un pole plus basique avec un stade intermediaire de melange magmatique les volumes emis sont tres importants de l ordre de 1 km3 ou plus les differences chimiques peu marquees 3 a 6 sio2 les variations moderees et progressives de la mineralogie ainsi que des conditions physiques de cristallisation t 920 930 a 950 970 c indiquent le cogenetisme des differents magmas

hydrothermal circulation beneath mount pelee inferred by self potential surveying structural and tectonic implications abstract self potential sp surveys were made on mount pelee volcano martinique island french west indies in 1991 and 1992 in order to recognize its hydrothermal system the associated groundwater channeling and the main superficial structures of the massif almost 70 km of profiles were carried out with an average sample spacing of 50 m measurements essentially reveal negative sp anomalies down to 1700 mv with high gradients 1 83 mv m due to the infiltration of meteoric water into the massif rims of summit calderas morne macouba and etang sec present sharp negative sp anomalies on the western northern and eastern flanks negative sp anomalies indicate no upward water flow beneath mount pelee summit on the southwestern volcano flank a 3 5 6 km horseshoe shaped structure corresponding to a southwest flank collapse event older than 25 000 years bp is clearly identified by the sp mapping high gradients border the inner southern rim from morne calebasse to st pierre town and the caribbean sea along the northern rim of the horseshoe shaped structure the negative sp anomalies give place to a positive sp anomaly up to 200 mv of sw ne trend this zone covers the area of two active hot springs sources chaudes and puits chaud 40 65 c marine magnetic surveys and bathymetry show that the horseshoe shaped structure spreads into the caribbean sea up to about 10 km from the coast buried structural discontinuities are evidenced inside the flank collapse structure the upper one deviates the groundwater flow coming from the summit toward the south flank where the flow finds an indentation to expand again downwards this discontinuity is either an old hypothetical caldera rim partly destroyed by the collapse of the south southwestern flank and covered by recent pyroclastic deposits or more probably the trace of a bulge landslide a circulation model of the hydrothermal waters is proposed rainfall 5 6 m year is partly drained inside the summital calderas and the flank collapse zone through pyroclastic flows down to an impermeable basement there the groundwater constitutes perched aquifers at the contact of the bulge landslide or of the hypothetical old caldera rim along the inner northern border of the flank collapse structure the phreatic water is reheated warm groundwater flows along the northern avalanche structure rim and discharges near the coast in ground and marine outcrops of medium temperature finally the main part of the meteoric water is channeled along the old caldera rim or along the bulge landslide towards the south flank of mount pelee where some gaps in the rim exist there the groundwater finds again a subhorizontal gravitational circulation along mount pelee slopes into the caribbean sea

a model for the analysis of rapid landslide motion across three dimensional terrain a new numerical model for the dynamic analysis of rapid flow slides debris flows and avalanches has been developed the model is an extension of an earlier algorithm and is implemented using a nu

cyclic eruptions and sector collapses at monowai submarine volcano kermadec arc 1998 2007 1 repeated multibeam bathymetric surveys at monowai cone a shallow submarine basaltic volcano and part of the monowai volcanic center in the northern kermadec arc were conducted in 1998 2004 and 2007 these surveys document dramatic depth changes at the volcano including negative changes up to 176 m from two sector collapses and positive changes up to 138 m from volcanic reconstruction near the summit and debris avalanche deposits downslope of the slide scars one sector collapse occurred on the se slope between 1998 and 2004 with a volume of 0 09 km3 and another occurred on the sw slope between 2004 and 2007 with a volume of 0 04 km3 the volume of positive depth change due to addition of volcanic material by eruption is of the same order 0 05 km3 between 1998 and 2004 and 0 06 km3 between 2004 and 2007 during these time intervals monitoring by the polynesian seismic network detected frequent t wave swarms at monowai indicative of explosive eruptive activity every few months an unusual t wave swarm on 24 may 2002 was previously interpreted as the collapse event between the 1998 and 2004 surveys but no similarly anomalous t waves were detected between 2004 and 2007 probably because the polynesian seismic network stations were acoustically shadowed from the second slide event we interpret that the sector collapses on monowai are caused by the unstable loading of fragmental erupted material on the summit and steep upper slopes of the volcano 20 moreover there appears to be a cyclic pattern in which recurrent eruptions oversteepen the cone and periodically lead to collapse events that transport volcaniclastic material downslope to the lower apron of the volcano volumetric rate calculations suggest that these two processes may be more or less in equilibrium the repeated collapses at monowai are relatively modest in volume involving only 0 1 0 5 of the edifice volume have occurred much more frequently than is estimated for larger debris avalanches at subaerial volcanoes and may be characteristic of how persistently active shallow submarine arc volcanoes grow

the off shore continuation of an active basaltic volcano piton de la fournaise reunion island indian ocean structural and geomorphological interpretation from sea beam mapping abstract in 1984 a sea beam survey of the submarine east flank of piton de la fournaise was performed with r v jean charcot three main types of volcanic or volcano tectonic features have been identified 1 1 the subaerial ne and se volcanic rift zones of piton de la fournaise do not extend more than about five kilometers offshore unlike typical hawaiian rift zones which form narrow 2 4 km ridges extending tens of kilometers from the summit the active rift zones of piton de la fournaise widen downslope attaining more than 10 km at their front 2 2 the submarine extension of the grand brule slide is larger than the subaerial portion the entire slide forms a 7 24 km scar bounded by two ramparts to the north and south the slumped material may have moved as a debris flow forming a large talus downslope of the slide however the submarine counterpart of the south area of the grand brule seems to be composed by a slumped block whose structure is apparently not disturbed 3 3 another prominent feature is a conspicuous topographic high that occupies nearly all the center of the surveyed zone this cast flank submarine plateau cannot be associated with any active structure of piton de la fournaise its surface generally dips gently 2 3 and its northern and southern flanks are extensively cut by landslides cones of variable dimensions are observed on the plateau and farther to the east three hypotheses are examined to account for the origin of this morphology a remnant flank of an ancestral fournaise volcano associated with a large buried intrusion found by drilling beneath the grand brule b distinct volcanic massif or c material of a huge and ancient landslide the geophysical data show that the western part of this submarine plateau is reversely magnetized and associated with a moderate positive gravity anomaly this confirms that as suggested by the bathymetric analysis this part of the plateau is relatively coherent conversely the eastern portion of the plateau appears to be poorly magnetized and composed of low density material probably chaotic materials derived from landslides the reversed magnetization of the western part shows that the whole structure is older than 0 7 ma these results show that the volcanic history of piton de la fournaise is more complex than previously thought

caldera or flank collapse in the fogo volcano what age consequences for risk assessment in volcanic islands abstract the target of this study is the fogo island in cape verde where the hazards caldera and or flank collapse and the timing 120 ka or younger are still controversial using high resolution dem field geological and structural analysis and high precision k ar dating we produced an age calibrated volcanic stratigraphy of fogo s summit cha das caldeiras for the last ca 220 ka from this we infer the following evolution and associated processes 1 the fogo volcano formed during seven stages of construction and partial destruction 2 three flank collapses can be recognised the biggest of which occurred between 60 and 43 ka 3 this collapse occurred retrogressively producing at least two distinct collapse blocks 4 the innermost collapse was only partial forming a flat step where a new volcano pico do fogo grew and formed the cha das caldeiras literally flat of the calderas 5 the removal of the buttressing eastern flank by the outermost collapse can be responsible for the seemingly caldera structure 6 the growing load of the young volcano can produce a new flank failure following the innermost fault 7 the young and closely spaced collapse ages here reported indicate a significant risk for the inhabitants of fogo in particular and for the whole cape verde archipelago and atlantic seaboard if a tsunami is produced by a future catastrophic flank collapse

morne patates volcano southern dominica lesser antilles mornes patates is the youngest volcano in dominica occupying a depression on the southwestern flank of a larger stratovolcano morne plat pays within the depression an arcuate ridge apparently of acid andesite lavas has been cored and largely buried by the explosive emplacement of two acid andesite domes and their associated pyroclastic deposits mainly block and ash flow deposits a basaltic scoria horizon exposed on the northern side of the depression has a 14 c age of 28450 1500 years b p and is not seen on the volcano itself which suggests that the domes and pyroclastic rocks are younger than this a 14 c age of 450 90 years b p from a block and ash flow deposit from the morne patates dome apparently confirms this and the youthful morphology also suggests a young age the angular shape of the depression and the steep submarine slopes are consistent with an origin as a lateral gravity slide rather than a caldera collapse vigorous fumarolic activity and swarms of local earthquakes suggest that magma exists at depth several kilometres beneath the morne patates morne plat pays area

submarine landslides around the canary islands the morphology and structure of the submarine flanks of the canary islands were mapped using the gloria long range side scan sonar system bathymetric multibeam systems and sediment echosounders twelve young 2 ma giant landslides have been identified on the submarine flanks of the canary islands up to now older landslide events are long buried under a thick sediment cover due to high sedimentation rates around the canary islands most slides were found on the flanks of the youngest and most active islands of la palma el hierro and tenerife but young giant landslides were also identified on the flanks of the older 15 20 ma but still active eastern islands large scale mass wasting is an important process during all periods of major magmatic activity the long lived volcanic constructive history of the islands of the canary archipelago is balanced by a correspondingly long history of destruction resulting in a higher landslide frequency for the canary islands compared to the hawaiian islands where giant landslides only occur late in the period of active shield growth the lower stability of the flanks of the canaries is probably due to the much steeper slopes of the islands a result of the abundance of highly evolved intrusive and extrusive rocks another reason for the enhanced slope instability is the abundance of pyroclastic deposits on canary islands resulting from frequent explosive eruptions due to the elevated volatile contents in the highly alkalic magmas dike induced rifting is most likely the main trigger mechanism for destabilization of the flanks flank collapses are a major geological hazard for the canary islands due to the sector collapses themselves as well as triggering of tsunamis in at least one case a giant lateral blast occurred when an active magmatic or hydrothermal system became unroofed during flank collapse

large scale flank collapse events during the activity of montagne pelee martinique lesser antilles 1 a horseshoe shaped structure already identified on the southwestern flank of montagne pelee martinique lesser antilles arc was previously interpreted as resulting of a flank collapse event but no debris avalanche deposits were observed at the time new offshore high resolution bathymetry and geophysical data aguadomar cruise december 1998 to january 1999 r v l atalante lead us to identify three debris avalanche deposits on the submarine western flank of montagne pelee extending down to the grenada basin they display morphological fronts and hummocky morphology on bathymetric data speckled pattern on backscatter data and hyperbolic facies on 3 5 khz and seismic profiles new on land geological studies lead us to identify two other horseshoe shaped structures on the same flank of the volcano the three submarine deposits have been traced back to the structures identified on land which confirms the occurrence of repeated flank collapse events during the evolution of montagne pelee the ages of the last two events are estimated at 9 ka and 25 ka on the basis of 14c and 238u 230th dates every flank collapse produced debris avalanches which flowed down to the caribbean sea we propose that the repeated instabilities are due to the large asymmetry of the island with western aerial and submarine slopes steeper than the eastern slopes the asymmetry results from progressive loading by accumulation of volcanic products on the western slopes of the volcano and development of long term gravitational instabilities meteoric and hydrothermal fluid circulation on the floor of the second flank collapse structure also creates a weakened hydrothermalized area which favors the recurrence of flank collapses

slope failures on the flanks of the western canary islands abstract landslides have been a key process in the evolution of the western canary islands the younger and more volcanically active canary islands el hierro la palma and tenerife show the clearest evidence of recent landslide activity the evidence includes landslide scars on the island flanks debris deposits on the lower island slopes and volcaniclastic turbidites on the floor of the adjacent ocean basins at least 14 large landslides have occurred on the flanks of the el hierro la palma and tenerife the majority of these in the last 1 million years with the youngest on the northwest flank of el hierro as recent as 15 thousand years in age older landslides undoubtedly occurred but are difficult to quantify because the evidence is buried beneath younger volcanic rocks and sediments landslides on the canary island flanks can be categorised as debris avalanches slumps or debris flows debris avalanches are long runout catastrophic failures which typically affect only the superficial part of the island volcanic sequence up to a maximum thickness of 1 to 2 km they are the commonest type of landslide mapped in contrast slumps move short distances and are deep rooted landslides which may affect the entire thickness of the volcanic edifice debris flows are defined as landslides which primarily affect the sedimentary cover of the submarine island flanks some landslides are complex events involving more than one of the above end member processes individual debris avalanches have volumes in the range of 50 500 km3 cover several thousand km2 of seafloor and have runout distances of up to 130 km from source overall debris avalanche deposits account for about 10 of the total volcanic edifices of the small relatively young islands of el hierro and la palma some parameters such as deposit volumes and landslide ages are difficult to quantify the key characteristics of debris avalanches include a relatively narrow headwall and chute above 3000 m water depth on the island flanks broadening into a depositional lobe below 3000 m debris avalanche deposits have a typically blocky morphology with individual blocks up to a kilometre or more in diameter however considerable variation exists between different avalanche deposits at one extreme the el golfo debris avalanche on el hierro has few large blocks scattered randomly across the avalanche surface at the other icod on the north flank of tenerife has much more numerous but smaller blocks over most of its surface with a few very large blocks confined to the margins of the deposit icod also exhibits flow structures longitudinal shears and pressure ridges that are absent in el golfo the primary controls on the block structure and distribution are inferred to be related to the nature of the landslide material and to flow processes observations in experimental debris flows show that the differences between the el golfo and icod landslide deposits are probably controlled by the greater proportion of fine grained material in the icod landslide this in turn relates to the nature of the failed volcanic rocks which are almost entirely basalt on el hierro but include a much greater proportion of pyroclastic deposits on tenerife landslide occurrence appears to be primarily controlled by the locations of volcanic rift zones on the islands with landslides propagating perpendicular to the rift orientation however this does not explain the uneven distribution of landslides on some islands which seems to indicate that unstable flanks are a weakness that can be carried forward during island development this may occur because certain island flanks are steeper extend to greater water depths or are less buttressed by the surrounding topography and because volcanic production following a landslide my be concentrated in the landslide scar thus focussing subsequent landslide potential in this area landslides are primarily a result of volcanic construction to a point where the mass of volcanic products fails under its own weight although the actual triggering factors are poorly understood they may include or be influenced by dyke intrusion pore pressure changes related to intrusion seismicity or sealevel climate changes a possible relationship between caldera collapse and landsliding on tenerife is not in our interpretation supported by the available evidence

radiometric dating of three large volume flank collapses in the lesser antilles arc abstract it is now recognised that flank collapses are a recurrent process in the evolution of the lesser antilles arc volcanoes large magnitude debris avalanche deposits have been identified off the coast of dominica martinique and st lucia with associated volumes up to 20 km 3 deplus c le friant a boudon g komorowski j c villemant b harford c segoufin j cheminee j l 2001 submarine evidence for large scale debris avalanches in the lesser antilles arc earth planet sci lett 192 145 157 we present new radiometric dating of three major events using the k ar cassignol gillot technique in the qualibou depression of st lucia a collapse has been constrained by dome emplacement prior to 95 2 ka in dominica where repetitive flank collapse events have occurred le friant a boudon g komorowski j c deplus c 2002 l ile de la dominique a l origine des avalanches de debris les plus volumineuses de l arc des petites antilles c r geoscience 334 235 243 the plat pays event probably occurred after 96 2 ka inside the depression caused by this event scotts head which is interpreted as a proximal megabloc from the subsequent soufriere avalanche event has been dated at 14 1 ka providing an older bound for this event on martinique three different domes within the carbets structure dated at 337 5 ka constrain the age of this high magnitude event finally these results obtained from three of the most voluminous flank collapses provide constraints to estimate the recurrence of these events which represent one of the major hazards associated with volcanoes of the lesser antilles arc

combinations of volcanic flank and seafloor sediment failure offshore montserrat and their implications for tsunami generation recent seafloor mapping around volcanic islands shows that submarine landslide deposits are common and widespread such landslides may cause devastating tsunamis but accurate assessment of tsunami hazard relies on understanding failure processes and sources here we use high resolution geophysical data offshore from montserrat in the lesser antilles to show that landslides around volcanic islands may involve two fundamentally different sources of sediment island flank and larger seafloor sediment failures and can occur in multiple stages a combination of these processes produces elongate deposits with a blocky centre associated with island flank collapse surrounded by a smoother surfaced deposit that is dominated by failed seafloor sediment the failure of seafloor sediment is associated with little marginal accumulation and involves only limited downslope motion submarine landslide deposits with similar blocky and smooth surfaced associations are observed in several locations worldwide but the complex emplacement processes implied by this morphological relationship can only be revealed by high resolution geophysical data such complexity shows that the volume of landslide deposits offshore of volcanic islands cannot simply be used in tsunami models to reflect a single stage collapse of primary volcanic material by applying predictive equations for tsunami amplitude to investigate general scenarios of volcanic island landslide generation we show that the tsunami hazard associated with volcanic island collapse remains highly significant volcanic flank failures even if relatively small may generate large local tsunamis but associated seafloor sediment failures even if they have a much greater volume have a substantially lower potential for tsunami generation

new insights into the recent eruptive and collapse history of montagne pelee lesser antilles arc from offshore marine drilling site u1401a iodp expedition 340 abstract marine tephrochronology provides a good alternative to study the eruptive history of volcanic islands and overcome the problem of poorly preserved on land outcropping here we provide new observations on the recent volcanological evolution

the giant submarine alika debris slide mauna loa hawaii probably represent multiple subsidence events before during and after the debris avalanches lower slopes of the slide contain distinctive lobate terraced deposits that are interpreted as having been emplaced more slowly prior to the debris avalanches estimated thicknesses of 50 200 m suggest volumes of 200 600 km 3 for the two lobes the combined volume of the entire slide and slump terrane is probably 1500 2000 km 3 the slide deposits predate a 13 ka coral reef and probably postdate the block faulted ninole basalt roughly dated as a few hundred thousand years old the alika slide or a similar deposit recognized on gloria images further north along the hawaiian ridge probably triggered a giant wave that washed 325 m high on lanai at about 100 ka slumping on mauna loa has been most intense adjacent to the large arcuate bend in its southwest rift zone as the rift zone migrated westward away from the growing kilauea volcano slumping events were probably triggered by seismic activity accompanying dike injection along the rift zone such massive slumps landslides and distal submarine turbidity flows appear to be widespread on the flanks of hawaiian volcanoes

flank failure directed blast eruption at soufriere guadeloupe french west indies a 3 000 yr old mt st helens an extensive apparently monogenic debris flow deposit in the basse terre st claude area of southern guadeloupe is contemporaneous with pyroclastic surge deposits that cover an area of at least 60 km2 these 3 000 yr old deposits were emplaced by the avalanching of a sector of soufriere volcano and an associated directed blast similar to the 1956 bezymianni and the may 18 1980 mt st helens eruptions

late quaternary sedimentation in the lesser antilles island arc investigation of patterns and processes of late quaternary sedimentation in the lesser antilles island arc indicates that the major components of deep water sediment are volcaniclastic silt and clay redeposited shallow water carbonate mainly aragonite and high mg calcite pelagic carbonate mainly low mg calcite and windblown dust from africa although sediment derived from the adjacent south american continent is included in accreted trench deposits marine deposition of this sediment within the arc is insignificant except at the south end of the forearc distribution of sedimentary components within the lesser antilles arc is controlled primarily by arc volcanism a miocene shift in the locus of volcanism which caused the arc to bifurcate created two sedimentologic regimes in the southern part of the arc which is characterized by volcanically active islands with high relief deep water sediment is dominantly volcaniclastic in contrast in the northern part of the arc where a broad arc platform separates high relief active volcanoes from low relief extinct volcanoes surrounded by wide carbonate shelves deep water sediment is composed mainly of redeposited shallow water carbonate pelagic carbonate and eolian transported saharan dust superposed on the facies patterns determined by arc volcanism is a subtle but distinct record of quaternary climate change glacial interglacial periods are recorded in deep water sediment by variations in sedimentation rate composition and texture volcaniclastic sedimentation responded to lowstands of sea level by increased sedimentation rates and thicker and or more frequent turbidites reflecting intensified currents in interisland passages and increased erosion of exposed insular shelves deep water carbonate sedimentation records decreased carbonate productivity on exposed shelves and in the open ocean during glacial lowstands as well as variations in carbonate preservation associated with changes in ocean circulation deposition of saharan dust increased during glacial periods because of intensified wind strengths

the past 5 000 years of volcanic activity at mt pelee martinique f w i implications for assessment of volcanic hazards the history of mt pelee martinique was subdivided into three stages based on field geology and 14c data the two first stages constructed an ancient mt pelee and an intermediate cone between 0 4 m y and 19 500 y b p the third or present stage started 13 500 years ago after a repose of 6 000 years this paper focuses on the activity of mt pelee during the past 5 000 years as a means to assess and zone volcanic hazards of the 23 magmatic eruptions during the past 5 000 years the ages of 21 eruptions of this period are based on 75 new 14c dates the types of phenomena and distribution of pyroclasts relate to four main types of activity the first type consists of pumice and ash flows that are not preceded by a plinian fall two eruptions named p6 and p4 illustrate this type for which the mixture of gas ash and pumice simply overflow the vent and flood several valleys the second type differs from the first by the occurrence of a preliminary moderate plinian fall stage four eruptions p5 p31 p2 and p1 illustrate this type two eruptions p32 and p33 experienced cataclysmic plinian explosions and pumiceous surges the third type is related to dome growth with the rise of viscous spines and the production of related block and ash flows five eruptions 1929 sept 1902 1904 npm nab2 and nmp illustrate this type the fourth type is characterized by violent ejection of more or less heterogeneous nuees ardentes the direction of the blast dictated by the morphology of the crater has been towards the south several times at mt pelee four eruptions may 1902 nab1 nrp2 and nrp3 belong to this type future magmatic eruptions at mt pelee will very likely belong to one of these four types assessment of hazards at mt pelee is based upon the behavior of the volcano during the past 5 000 years because 1 recognition of past magmatic eruptions is quite complete and well dated and 2 no structural change has occurred in the volcano a probabilistic and statistical approach has been tentatively followed stochastic models of wickman indicate a the chance that contemporary abnormal seismic and or phreatic activity at the volcano would signal an impending magmatic eruption is 20 percent b mt pelee exhibits a complex loading time behavior that may be related to the buffering effect of a magma chamber time is needed following a single or several closely spaced eruptions to establish conditions to initiate a new eruption and c if the 1929 event can be regarded as the last episode of the major 1902 eruption the volcano could remain in a dormant stage with respect to magmatic events for another century

a giant landslide on the north flank of tenerife canary islands the extent of mass wasting along the north flank of tenerife has been mapped using swath bathymetry gloria side scan sonar and 3 5 khz echo sounder data the marine surveys show that north of tenerife a giant landslide is exposed over an area of 5500 km2 of the seafloor more than twice the surface area of the island the landslide truncates an older ridge and valley topography that is associated with the shield building basalts on tenerife we interpret the ridge and valley topography as the result of subaerial erosion the landslide is estimated to have a length of 100 km a width of up to 80 km and a volume of about 1000 km3 it extends onshore into the orotava and icod valleys which have been interpreted as of landslide origin k ar dating of basaltic flows in the steep headwall of orotava suggests an age of formation for the valley is younger than 0 78 ma and may even be younger than 0 27 ma the icod valley is located immediately to the north of the most recent volcano on tenerife las canadas and has been associated with the collapse of its caldera between 1 2 and 0 2 ma a young age for the landslide is supported by the 3 5 khz echo sounder data which show that the landslide is draped by a thin 10 m layer of younger sediment the landslide did not form however during a single catastrophic event but represents the amalgamation of a number of separate landslides the occurrence of the ridge and valley topography in water depths of up to 2 5 km suggests that the shield building basalts have subsided by at least this amount since they formed 3 3 8 0 ma we speculate that this subsidence is caused by some form of stress relaxation that occurs in the underlying lithosphere the giant landslide imaged in our sonar data is associated with the late stages in the development of the most recent volcano on tenerife las canadas which only began at about 1 8 ma thus landsliding may be a particular feature of the time soon after emplacement when because of incomplete isostatic adjustment oceanic volcanoes have their greatest elevations above sea level and therefore are most susceptible to slope failure

a new model for the evolution of la reunion volcanic complex from complete marine geophysical surveys results from recent marine geophysical surveys offer a new perspective for characterizing the evolution processes of volcanic islands in 2006 cruises forever and eroder 1 investigated the submarine flanks and the surrounding abyssal plain of la reunion indian ocean to obtain for the first time a complete geophysical survey of the area combined analyses of these data reveal major differences in the evolution of the two emerged volcanoes piton des neiges and piton de la fournaise we show that debris avalanche deposits extend on the abyssal plain only offshore the active piton de la fournaise volcano attesting the occurrence of large flank collapse events the absence of such deposits offshore piton des neiges and the presence of compressive structures within the sedimentary unit below the edifice support a mechanism of slow deformation of this volcano such as sliding or spreading the slow deformation of piton des neiges has led to numerous secondary submarine slope instabilities and favored some unconfined turbidity flows which generated large sediment waves running downward all around the island this study proposes a new model using the most complete marine data set available slow deformation controls the evolution of piton des neiges whereas piton de la fournaise formed on the flanks of a pre existing edifice experienced catastrophic large flank collapse events

the relative importance of gravity induced versus current controlled sedimentation during the quaternary along the mideast u s outer continental margin revealed by 3 5 khz echo character abstract a detailed echo character map based on more than 50 000 km of 3 5 khz echograms reveals the relative importance of contour currents turbidity currents and mass wasting processes for the upper 50 100 m of sea floor sediments along the u s continental margin between southern georges bank and cape hatteras nineteen individual echo types are mapped and interpreted as deposits produced either by current controlled or gravity induced processes based on echo type distribution analysis of selected sediment core samples and the published results of other workers turbidity currents and mass wasting have apparently been the primary depositional agents throughout 60 of the region in contrast contour currents alone appear to have influenced only 10 of the region however combined processes i e non separable interaction between downslope and parallel to contour processes have influenced an estimated 25 of the margin the remaining 5 of the study area constitutes the outermost continental shelf echo types here reflect the influence of fluvial deltaic and shallow marine sedimentary processes changes in the relative distributions of various echo types with sea floor depth indicate that the dominant sedimentary processes change downslope and are significantly different within each physiographic province deposits formed by mass wasting dominate the continental slope where 50 of the sea floor is eroded and gullied by slides slumps and the heads of debris flows deposits developed under the influence of combined processes are most wide spread on the upper continental rise and cover 40 of the sea floor primarily in the form of deep sea channel levees modified by contour currents on the lower continental rise turbidites form more than 50 of the sea floor deposits the downslope deposits turbidity currents slumps debris flows etc were emplaced primarily during the pleistocene glacioeustatic sea level lowering moved beaches and rivers across the exposed continental shelf to the shelf edge where massive fluxes of terrigenous sediment could be delivered to the continental slope and rise by turbidity currents significant amounts of this sediment were transported through submarine canyons and leveed deep sea channels to the lower continental rise and formed the lower continental rise terrace a flat turbidite basin ponded behind the hatteras outer ridge southwest of the wilmington channel this glacially derived influx was diminished however depositional patterns indicate that downslope processes continued to be dominant at least as far south as cape hatteras where rapid deposition on the continental slope and uppermost continental rise created instabilities slope failure produced slumps slides and debris flows and provided an additional volumetrically important redistribution of sediment downslope the influence of contour currents is clearly observed only in those areas topographically shielded from the masking effects of downslope processes in particular along the seaward side of the buried chesapeake drift and the hatteras outer ridge

the primitive volcano of mount pelee its construction and partial destruction by flank collapse abstract the geology of mount pelee the active volcano of martinique lesser antilles has been actively studied during the past decade this paper reviews the current knowledge about the oldest least well known part of the volcano here called paleo pelee and the relations between paleo pelee and the mont conil volcanic complex paleo pelee consists mostly of volcanic breccias with a few lava flows it differs in this respect from neighbouring active volcanoes such as the grande decouverte soufriere in guadeloupe and the soufriere in st vincent the oldest products of which are mainly lava flows paleo pelee initially formed a regular cone which was comparable in size with the present edifice it is now largely eroded and its products form prominent radial ridges on the western flank of mount pelee these are buried under younger deposits on the eastern flank the uniformly andesitic breccias of paleo pelee are for the most part brecciated lava flows it is inferred that the activity of mount pelee was less explosive at this stage than during following periods neo pelee the paleo pelee formations overlap those of mont conil the geology of mont conil is poorly known however its lowest exposed products are submarine andesitic breccias cut by many dikes this contrasts with paleo pelee where all breccias are of subaerial origin pleistocene limestones are interbedded within the mont conil breccias between 120 and 150 m above sea level though mont conil seems to be closely linked to mount pelee on the basis of available petrological data a major uplift must have occurred sometime during or after the construction of mont conil and forms a recognizable geological boundary between the two volcanic systems the paleo pelee edifice was partially destroyed by a flank collapse event that occurred on the southwest flank during the early stage 40 000 20 000 y b p of neo pelee this event is evidenced by a large 6 2 5 km horseshoe shaped structure which is limited by well preserved morphological scarps on land and by a 300 m offshore scarp as shown by seabeam bathymetry paleo pelee breccias and lava flows are truncated by the boundary of the collapse structure lava domes occupied the upslope part of the structure at a later time these domes are intersected by the present crater etang sec which has probably been the active vent for at least 2000 years the active crater is located at the intersection between the flank failure depression and an older caldera formed at the paleo pelee stage but probably enlarged later the flank failure structure appears as a major structure of the volcano and creates a strong structural asymmetry in the edifice this fact should be considered when dealing with such various aspects as the hydrogeology of the volcano the structural control of past and future eruptions and the volcanic hazards

lateral collapses and active sedimentary processes on the northwestern flank of stromboli volcano italy abstract the marine volcaniclastic system extending to 3 km water depth on the northwest flank of stromboli volcano has been surveyed using seismo acoustic profiling multibeam bathymetry deep towed long range side scan sonar imaging and box core sampling deposits and sea floor topography record repeated flank collapses that have occurred during the last 13 ka and created the present sciara del fuoco scar an extensive 170 km2 debris avalanche deposit characterized by subdued hummocks megablocks is buried by turbidites formed from gravity currents that originated in sciara del fuoco the currents were mainly deflected along the margin of the avalanche deposit but also spilt over onto it the turbidites reflect topographic flow stripping and their thinning towards slightly steeper slopes indicates that some material that settled there drained further downslope as secondary higher concentration flows the estimated volume of the entire fan shaped bulge amounts to 12 2 5 km3 about 3 5 km3 of which is attributed to the post collapse sedimentation the remaining 8 5 2 5 km3 is in the order of the volume computed for the material removed by the multiple sector collapses that affected the nw stromboli flank two units are identified in the distal part of the bulge through the recognition of their fronts and these indicate a layered structure for successive debris avalanche deposits granulometric and particle type characterization of seabed samples shows clast population evolution with sedimentary transport distance from the main entrance point of debris in sciara del fuoco to the confluence with the stromboli canyon and into the marsili basin some 45 km from the island changes in particle populations are due to selective sedimentation and also mixing with a wide range of terrigenous detritus brought by currents that descended the main stromboli canyon from the continental shelf abundant fine sand and silt is produced at the volcano and occurrence of mainly coarse grained material along the channel to the marsili basin indicates that a considerable volume of volcaniclastic material from stromboli lies in the sedimentary succession accumulating on the distal basin floor where a deep sea fan is growing

causal link between quaternary paleoclimatic changes and volcanic islands evolution 1 giant landslides and resulting tsunamis represent the main geologic hazards linked to volcanic island evolution from offshore and onland studies flank failures have been identified around numerous islands in most geodynamic contexts however the triggering conditions are still poorly understood and several causes may act simultaneously to reach a critical threshold here we show that most large volume 10 km3 landslides occur at glacial stages termination and we propose that a causal relationship between flank collapse of volcanic islands and global climatic changes has existed at least since 900 kyr moreover ages reported here favour the hypothesis that major collapses occurred during the onset of glacial to interglacial transitions when sudden influx of melt water from polar ice caps causes rapid sea level rise we propose that rapid sea level rise induces enhanced coastal erosion and sudden changes of pore pressure conditions within basal layers which favour edifice failure

flank instability assessment at kick em jenny submarine volcano grenada lesser antilles a multidisciplinary approach using experiments and modeling kick em jenny kej located ca 8 km north of the island of grenada is the only active submarine volcano of the lesser antilles volcanic arc previous investigations of kej revealed that it lies within a collapse scar inherited from a past flank instability episode to assess the likelihood of future collapse we employ here a combined laboratory and modeling approach lavas collected using a remotely operated vehicle rov provided samples to perform the first rock physical property measurements for the materials comprising the kej edifice uniaxial and triaxial deformation experiments showed that the dominant failure mode within the edifice host rock is brittle edifice fractures such as those at champagne vent will therefore assist the outgassing of the nearby magma filled conduit favoring effusive behavior these laboratory data were then used as input parameters in models of slope stability first relative slope stability analysis revealed that the sw to n sector of the volcano displays a deficit of mass volume with respect to a volcanoid ideal 3d surface slope stability analysis using a limit equilibrium method lem showed that kej is currently stable since all values of stability factor or factor of safety fs are greater than unity the lowest values of fs were found for the sw nw sector of the volcano the sector displaying a mass volume deficit although currently stable kej may become unstable in the future instability severe reductions in fs could result for example from overpressurization due to the growth of a cryptodome our modeling has shown that instability induced flank collapse will most likely initiate from the sw nw sector of kej therefore mobilizing a volume of at least ca 0 7 km3 the mobilization of ca 0 7 km3 of material is certainly capable of generating a tsunami that poses a significant hazard to the southern islands of the west indies

calderas or gravity slide structures in the lesser antilles island arc abstract large arcuate depressions up to about 10 km in diameter on the back arc side of st lucia dominica and st vincent in the lesser antilles arc are discussed the qualibou depression on st lucia has been previously described as a caldera partly because it was believed to be the source of ignimbrites on the island remapping and stratigraphic studies of these ignimbrites show they were not erupted from the depression but from central vents in the highland rainforests and are much younger dominica is geologically similar and has two scarped depressions at the southern end of the island soufriere volcano st vincent has a prominent arcuate scarp opening to the west the southern half of which has been buried under the youngest volcanic products of the volcano we interpret these structures as the root zones of gravity slides perhaps eruption related and triggered by magmatic inflation post slide activity lava domes and fumaroles has occurred within them due to reduction in lithostatic load and pressure release on the flanks of these island volcanic complexes the presence of these structures only on the western coasts is correlated with the steeper 9 slopes into the grenada basin in contrast to the 1 submarine slopes of the atlantic side

geomorphological evolution of montserrat west indies importance of flank collapse and erosional processes analysis of topography and new swath bathymetry as well as geophysical data provides information about aerial and submarine morphological features and mass transfer processes on montserrat the island has a characteristic shallow c 4000 years ago or the boxing day event during the current eruption 26 december 1997 montserrat9s older volcanic centres the centre hills and silver hills illustrate the third stage of evolution extinction and erosion magma production long term erosion and total sedimentation rates on montserrat have been estimated as 0 17 km 3 ka 1 0 0125 km 3 ka 1 and 0 11 km 3 ka 1 i e 1 1 cm ka 1 respectively

chlorine isotopes of thermal springs in arc volcanoes for tracing shallow magmatic activity the evaluation of the status of shallow magma body i e from the final intrusion stage to quiescence and back to activity one of the key parameters that trigger and sustain volcanic eruptions has been challenging in modern volcanology among volatile tracers chlorine cl uniquely exsolves at shallow depths and is highly hydrophilic consequently cl enrichment in volcanic gases and thermal springs has been proposed as a sign for shallow magmatic activities however such enrichment could also result from numerous other processes e g water evaporation dissolution of old chloride mineral deposits seawater contamination that are unrelated to magmatic activity here based on stable isotope compositions of chloride and dissolved inorganic carbon as well as previous published 3he 4he data obtained in thermal springs from two recently erupted volcanoes la soufriere in guadeloupe and montagne pelee in martinique in the lesser antilles arc we show that the magmatic cl efficiently trapped in thermal springs displays negative 37cl values 0 65 0 65 consistent with a slab derived origin but distinct from the isotope compositions of chloride in surface reservoirs e g seawater local meteoric waters rivers and cold springs displaying common 37cl values of around 0 using this 37cl difference as an index of magmatic cl we further examined thermal spring samples including a 30 year archive from two thermal springs in guadeloupe covering samples from its last eruption in 1976 1977 to 2008 and an island wide sampling event in martinique in 2008 to trace the evolution of magmatic cl in the volcanic hydrothermal systems over time the results show that magmatic cl can be rapidly flushed out of the hydrothermal systems within 30 to 80 years after the eruption much quicker than other volatile tracers such as co2 and noble gases which can exsolve at greater depths and constantly migrate to the surface because arc volcanoes often have well developed hydrothermal systems where magmatic cl is easily transferred to the surface following its exsolution from shallow magma body we suggest that 37cl has great potential to be a unique proxy to monitor the cessation and revival of infrequent arc volcanoes particularly at centennial time scales

construction and destruction of mont pelee volcano volumes and rates constrained from a geomorphological model of evolution this study presents long term volumes and construction rates for the mont conil mont pelee volcano and rate estimates at which volcanic activity creates relief an algorithm shapevolc is used to numerically model topographic surfaces volcano morphology is analyzed using current digital elevation model in combination with mapped geology to produce 10 paleotopographies at the end of four constructional stages and three destructional events volumes of each constructional stage were estimated at about 35 2 km3 26 2 km3 8 3 km3 and 2 5 km3 for a total cumulative erupted volume of 72 2 km3 we estimate that mont pelee accounted for about 10 of the lesser antilles arc production in the last 100 kyr the volcano has been built at an average rate of 0 13 km3 kyr during the last 550 kyr during that time construction rates varied by a factor of 15 from 0 04 km3 kyr in early stages up to 0 52 km3 kyr after the second flank collapse volumes displaced by each flank collapse were estimated at 14 7 km3 8 8 km3 and 3 5 km3 thus about 37 of the total constructed volume integrated over the volcano s lifetime the rate at which flank collapses removed material off the island is 0 15 km3 kyr in contrast long term erosion rates outside collapsed areas are estimated at about 0 05 0 7 km3 kyr or 11 km3 of material removed this latter rate is not negligible which strengthens the importance of taking into account recurrent small erosional events on the geomorphological evolution of a volcanic island in a tropical context

diagenesis in tephra rich sediments from the lesser antilles volcanic arc pore fluid constraints we present sediment pore fluid and sediment solid phase results obtained during iodp expedition 340 from seven sites located within the grenada basin of the southern lesser antilles volcanic arc region these sites are generally characterized as being low in organic carbon content and rich in calcium carbonate and volcanogenic material in addition to the typical reactions related to organic matter diagenesis pore fluid chemistry indicates that the diagenetic reactions fall within two broad categories 1 reactions related to chemical exchange with volcanogenic material and 2 reactions related to carbonate dissolution precipitation or recrystallization for locations dominated by reaction with volcanogenic material these sites exhibit increases in dissolved ca with coeval decreases in mg we interpret this behavior as being driven by sediment water exchange reactions from the alteration of volcanic material that is dispersed throughout the sediment package which likely result in formation of mg rich secondary authigenic clays in contrast to this behavior sediment sequences that exhibit decreases in ca mg mn and sr with depth suggest that carbonate precipitation is an active diagenetic process affecting solute distributions the distributions of pore fluid 87sr 86sr reflect these competitive diagenetic reactions between volcanic material and carbonate which are inferred by the major cation distributions from one site where we have solid phase 87sr 86sr site u1396 the carbonate fraction is found to be generally consistent with the contemporaneous seawater isotope values however the 87sr 86sr of the non carbonate fraction ranges from 0 7074 to 0 7052 and these values likely represent a mixture of local arc volcanic sources and trans atlantic eolian sources even at this site where there is clear evidence for diagenesis of volcanogenic material carbonate diagenesis appears to buffer pore fluid 87sr 86sr from the larger changes that might be expected given the high abundance of tephra in these sediments part of this carbonate buffering at this site as well as throughout the region derives from the fact that the sr concentration in the non carbonate fraction is generally low 200 ppm whereas the carbonate fraction has sr concentrations approaching 1000 ppm

a study of pleistocene and holocene hyaena coprolites abstract hyaena coprolites from a diachronic series of archaeological sites in israel were examined and compared with recent faecal material from striped hyaena dens and zoos three methods were applied in the analysis of all samples gross morphometrical attributes x ray diffraction and petrological thin sections this last method is an innovation in the field of coprolite studies and facilitates the long term preservation of the original textural characteristics and fabric of sections of the coprolite the combination of these three approaches facilitated among other things the assessment of hyaena diet in the past as well as in the present and determination of local environmental factors affecting the composition of the coprolite we also obtained some indication of changes related to ageing of the material

uth fractionation by fluids in k rich magma genesis the vico volcano central italy abstract the 230th 238u disequilibrium method has been applied to the potassic volcanic series of vico latium central italy the 3 main events of the recent volcanic activity have been dated using whole rock isochrons the lava flows of the main cone were erupted between 260 and 180 ky pyroclastic flows are dated around 90 ky and the final effusive activity mte venere around 60 ky these results are in good agreement with previous k ar ages the intense th u fractionation th u varying from 3 2 to 11 is apparently not related to processes of partial melting and crystal fractionation the th u fractionation is the most intense in basic terms of the first episode and is due to the percolation of a deep hydrothermal fluid which impoverishes u in different batches of primary magmas more limited th u fractionations in highly differentiated magma are due to u accompanied by sb and alkalies enrichments in the shallow magma chambers a time integrated model is proposed for the evolution of the 230th 232th ratio in the mantle source of vico it shows that th u and th ta fractionations are probably related to the bulk k u and th enrichment of the mantle of the roman province around 300 ky ago a metasomatic enrichment by a silicate melt is proposed to explain the anomalously high th u and th ta fractionations

conditions for the growth of a long lived shallow crustal magma chamber below mount pelee volcano martinique lesser antilles arc 1 the compositional homogeneity of silicic andesites emitted during the 13 500 year long last eruptive cycle of mount pelee suggests that the physical state of the magma chamber was largely unmodified during this period experimental phase equilibria on mount pelee recent products indicate that pre eruptive magma temperatures and pressures were in the range of 875 900 c and 2 0 5 kbar respectively the estimated average eruption rate was 7 5 10 4 km3 a with an average volume of about 0 3 km3 per eruption an analytical model for a spherical magma chamber indicates that a magma flux of 4 5 10 4 km3 a can maintain a magma chamber of 0 3 km3 above 875 c below mount pelee however observations of plutons suggest that magma chambers may grow by addition of sheet like intrusions with numerical simulation we show that a minimum sheet accretion rate of a few centimeters per year is required to grow a persistently active magma chamber independently of the intruded volumetric flux this minimum injection rate is higher if the heat transfer is enhanced by convection processes the limited ability of an arc crust to extend and accommodate dikes suggests that magma injections are sills or if they are dikes that most of the volume injected in the magma chamber is eventually erupted in a conductively cooling igneous body formed by sills injected at a rate of a few centimeters per year most of the injected magma completely solidifies and only a small part of the body about 10 20 is above 875 c and able to feed eruptions

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

a sliding consolidation model for flow slides a model is proposed for the behaviour of flow slides in loose cohesionless materials in which the debris spreads out as a uniform sheet excess pore fluid pressures are assumed to be generated for example by undrained loading arising from the collapse of metastable structure in the source area of the flow slide under the influence of these the leading element of the debris moves downslope by basal sliding consolidating as it does so by single upward drainage as a result the pore pressure at the base of the element eventually decays to a value that brings the element to rest hence defining the run out of the flow slide the model is applicable in principle to subaqueous and subaerial flow slides and to pore fluids consisting of water gas or both of these the predictions of the model are tested against the observed behaviour and measured properties of the 1966 flow slide at aberfan south wales the results show that a sliding consolidation model provides a possible mechanism for that event

recurrence of major flank landslides during the last 2 ma history of reunion island new detailed swath bathymetry and backscatter data corroborate the existence of four large bulges on the submarine flanks of reunion island these fan shaped promontories are 20 25 km wide at the coastline and 70 150 km across the seafloor 40 50 km offshore their surfaces are characterized by a speckle sonar pattern indicating the presence of large blocks up to several hundred meters across each bulge results from the superposition of multiple landslide deposits whose older ones are dissected and delimited by erosive channels as much as 200 m deep and 20 km long the submarine flanks of reunion island are thus mostly built by accumulation of debris avalanche fans morphologic and geologic evidence define large subaerial source areas for these mass wasting events in particular inferred headwalls of most landslides having affected the piton des neiges massif generally coincide with the boundaries of its cirques mafate salazie and cilaos whereas recurrent landslides have resulted in the formation of large concentric amphitheatre structures through the piton de la fournaise massif thus about 15 slide events accompanied growth of the reunion island shield since 2 ma