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Science 10 July 1992:
Vol. 257. no. 5067, pp. 196 - 201
DOI: 10.1126/science.257.5067.196
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Articles

Subaqueous Explosive Eruption and Welding of Pyroclastic Deposits

Peter Kokelaar 1 and Cathy Busby 2

1 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, United Kingdom
2 Department of Geological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106

Silicic tuffs infilling an ancient submarine caldera, at Mineral King in California, show microscopic fabrics indicative of welding of glass shards and pumice at temperatures >500°C. The occurrence indicates that subaqueous explosive eruption and emplacement of pyroclastic materials can occur without substantial admixture of the ambient water, which would cause chilling. Intracaldera progressive aggradation of pumice and ash from a thick, fast-moving pyroclastic flow occurred during a short-lived explosive eruption of sim26 cubic kilometers of magma in water ge150 meters deep. The thickness, high velocity, and abundant fine material of the erupted gas-solids mixture prevented substantial incorporation of ambient water into the flow. Stripping of pyroclasts from upper surfaces of subaqueous pyroclastic flows in general, both above the vent and along any flow path, may be the main process giving rise to buoyant-convective subaqueous eruption columns and attendant fallout deposits.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The Rhyolite-Hosted Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide District of Cuale, Guerrero Terrane, West-Central Mexico: Silver-Rich, Base Metal Mineralization Emplaced in a Shallow Marine Continental Margin Setting.
T. Bissig, J. K. Mortensen, R. M. Tosdal, and B. V. Hall (2008)
Economic Geology 103, 141-159
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Possible distinguishing characteristics of very deepwater explosive and effusive silicic volcanism.
C. Busby (2005)
Geology 33, 845-848
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Submarine silicic caldera at the front of the Izu-Bonin arc, Japan: Voluminous seafloor eruptions of rhyolite pumice.
R. S. Fiske, J. Naka, K. Iizasa, M. Yuasa, and A. Klaus (2001)
GSA Bulletin 113, 813-824
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Marine emplacement of welded ignimbrite: the Ordovician Pitts Head Tuff, North Wales.
P. Kokelaar, P. KOKELAAR, and S. KONIGER (2000)
Journal of the Geological Society 157, 517-536
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)