ALBERT

Description: The 2004–2008 eruption of Mount St. Helens produced seven dacite spines mantled by cataclastic fault rocks, comprising an outer fault core and an inner damage zone. These fault rocks provide remarkable insights into the mechanical processes that accompany extrusion of degassed magma, insights that are useful in forecasting dome-forming eruptions. The outermost part of the fault core consists of finely comminuted fault gouge that is host to 1- to 3-mm-thick layers of extremely fine-grained slickenside-bearing ultracataclasite. Interior to the fault core, there is an ~2-m-thick damage zone composed of cataclastic breccia and sheared dacite, and interior to the damage zone, there is massive to flow-banded dacite lava of the spine interior. Structures and microtextures indicate entirely brittle deformation, including rock breakage, tensional dilation, shearing, grain flow, and microfaulting, as well as gas and fluid migration through intergranular pores and fractures in the damage zone. Slickenside lineations and consistent orientations of Riedel shears indicate upward shear of the extruding spines against adjacent conduit wall rocks. Paleomagnetic directions, demagnetization paths, oxide mineralogy, and petrology indicate that cataclasis took place within dacite in a solidified steeply dipping volcanic conduit at temperatures above 500 °C. Low water content of matrix glass is consistent with brittle behavior at these relatively high temperatures, and the presence of tridymite indicates solidification depths of 〈1 km. Cataclasis was coincident with the eruption’s seismogenic zone at 〈1.5 km. More than a million small and low-frequency "drumbeat" earthquakes with coda magnitudes (M d ) 〈2.0 and frequencies 〈5 Hz occurred during the 2004–2008 eruption. Our field data provide a means with which to estimate slip-patch dimensions for shear planes and to compare these with estimates of slip patches based on seismic moments and shear moduli for dacite rock and granular fault gouge. Based on these comparisons, we find that aseismic creep is achieved by micron-scale displacements on Riedel shears and by granular flow, whereas the drumbeat earthquakes require millimeter to centimeter displacements on relatively large (e.g., ~1000 m 2 ) slip patches, possibly along observed extensive principal shear zones within the fault core but probably not along the smaller Riedel shears. Although our field and structural data are compatible with stick-slip models, they do not rule out seismic and infrasound models that call on resonance of steam-filled fractures to generate the drumbeat earthquakes. We suggest that stick-slip and gas release processes may be coupled, and that regardless of the source mechanism, the distinctive drumbeat earthquakes are proving to be an effective precursor for dome-forming eruptions. Our data document a continuous cycle of deformation along the conduit margins beginning with episodes of fracture in the damage zone and followed by transfer of motion to the fault core. We illustrate the cycle of deformation using a hypothetical cross section of the Mount St. Helens conduit, extending from the surface to the depth of magmatic solidification.

Description: Calderas are formed by the collapse of large magma reservoirs and are commonly elliptical in map view. The orientation of elliptical calderas is often used as an indicator of the local stress regime; but, in some rift settings, pre-existing structural trends may also influence the orientation. We investigated whether either of these two mechanisms controls the orientation of calderas in the Kenyan Rift. Satellite-based mapping was used to identify the rift border faults, intra-rift faults and orientation of the calderas to measure the stress orientations and pre-existing structural trends and to determine the extensional regime at each volcano. We found that extension in northern Kenya is orthogonal, whereas that in southern Kenya is oblique. Elliptical calderas in northern Kenya are orientated NW–SE, aligned with pre-existing structures and perpendicular to recent rift faults. In southern Kenya, the calderas are aligned NE–SW and lie oblique to recent rift faults, but are aligned with pre-existing structures. We conclude that, in oblique continental rifts, pre-existing structures control the development of elongated magma reservoirs. Our results highlight the structural control of magmatism at different crustal levels, where pre-existing structures control the storage and orientation of deeper magma reservoirs and the local stress regime controls intra-rift faulting and shallow magmatism. Supplementary material: Details of the Standard Deviation Ellipse function and statistical methods are available at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18849

Description: Experiments simulating magma decompression allow the textures of volcanic rocks to be calibrated against known eruptive conditions. Interpretation of natural samples may be complicated, however, by both the decompression path and the composition of exsolving volatiles, which affect the time evolution of crystal textures. Here we present the results of decompression experiments at elevated temperature and pressure designed to assess the effects of degassing path on crystallization of Mount St. Helens rhyodacite. Three families of experiments were employed to simulate varied P H 2 O– t trajectories: single-step, H 2 O-saturated decompression (SSD); continuous, H 2 O-saturated decompression (CD); continuous, H 2 O–CO 2 -saturated decompression. Quantitative textural data (crystal abundance, number density, and size) are used to calculate plagioclase nucleation and growth rates and assess deviations from equilibrium in run products. These are the first experiments to quantify feldspar nucleation and growth rates during H 2 O–CO 2 -saturated decompression. We find that reducing the initial melt water content through addition of CO 2 increases nucleation rates relative to the pure water case, an effect most pronounced at low d P /d t. Moreover, these early formed textural distinctions persist at the lowest pressures examined, suggesting that deep H 2 O–CO 2 fluids could leave a lasting textural ‘fingerprint’ on erupted magmas. Crystals formed prior to decompression during the annealing process also modulate sample textures, and growth on pre-existing crystals contributes significantly to added crystallinity at a wide range of experimental conditions. The phase assemblage itself is a dynamic variable that can be used in conjunction with textural data to infer conditions of magma ascent and eruption. Finally, quantitative textural data from experimental samples are compared with those of natural pyroclasts erupted during the summer 1980 explosive–effusive transition at Mount St. Helens. This comparison supports a model of magma ejected from multiple storage regions present in the upper crust following the May 18 Plinian eruption, such that subsequent eruptions tapped magmas that experienced varied decompression and degassing histories.

Description: Over the past 25 years, our understanding of the physical processes that drive volcanic eruptions has increased enormously thanks to major advances in computational and analytical facilities, instrumentation, and collection of comprehensive observational, geophysical, geochemical, and petrological data sets associated with recent volcanic activity. Much of this work has been motivated by the recognition that human exposure to volcanic hazard is increasing with both expanding populations and increasing reliance on infrastructure (as illustrated by the disruption to air traffic caused by the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland). Reducing vulnerability to volcanic eruptions requires a thorough understanding of the processes that govern eruptive activity. Here, we provide an overview of our current understanding of how volcanoes work. We focus particularly on the physical processes that modulate magma accumulation in the upper crust, transport magma to the surface, and control eruptive activity.

Description: To assess the complexity of eruptive activity within mafic volcanic fields, we present a detailed geologic investigation of Holocene volcanism in the upper McKenzie River catchment in the central Oregon Cascades, United States. We focus on the Sand Mountain volcanic field, which covers 76 km 2 and consists of 23 vents, associated tephra deposits, and lava fields. We find that the Sand Mountain volcanic field was active for a few decades around 3 ka and involved at least 13 eruptive units. Despite the small total volume erupted (~1 km 3 dense rock equivalent [DRE]), Sand Mountain volcanic field lava geochemistry indicates that erupted magmas were derived from at least two, and likely three, different magma sources. Single units erupted from one or more vents, and field data provide evidence of both vent migration and reoccupation. Overall, our study shows that mafic volcanism was clustered in space and time, involved both explosive and effusive behavior, and tapped several magma sources. These observations provide important insights on possible future hazards from mafic volcanism in the central Oregon Cascades.

Description: Magma systems that supply volcanoes can extend throughout the crust and consist of mush (melt within a crystalline framework) together with ephemeral magma accumulations. Within a crystal-rich mush, slow processes of melt segregation and heat loss alternate with fast processes of destablisation and magma transport. Magma chambers form by two mechanisms: incremental magma intrusion into sub-solidus rocks or the segregation and rapid merging of melt-rich layers within mush regions. Three volcanic states reflect alternations of slow and fast processes: dormancy, unrest and eruption. Monitoring needs to detect processes of melt and fluid movements in the lower and middle crust during destabilisation to improve forecasting.