Download 5- Volcanism

Volcaniism at spreading ridgees, and volccanic eruptions during the early hhistory of th
he Earth
releasedd gases thatt are thought to have foormed the attmosphere and
a surface waters.
VOLCA
ANISM
Volcaniism refers to
t the proceesses whereeby magma and its associated gasses rise thro
ough the
Earth's crust and are
a extruded
d onto the ssurface or in
nto the atmosphere. Cuurrently, mo
ore than
550 voolcanoes are active th
hat is, theyy have eru
upted during historic time. Welll-known
examples of activve volcanoees include M
Mauna Loaa and Kilau
uea on the island of Hawaii.
Mount Etna on Sicily, Fujiyaama in Japaan, and Mount St. Hellens in Wasshington. Only
O
two
other bodies in the solar system are thought to possess active volcanoes: 10. a moon of
Jupiter. and perhaps Triton, one of Neptune's moons (see Chapter 2 Prologue).
In addition to active volcanoes, numerous dormant volcanoes exist that have not erupted
recently but may do so again. Mount Vesuvius in Italy had not erupted in human memory
until A.D. 79 when it erupted and destroyed the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii. Some
volcanoes have not erupted during recorded history and show no evidence of doing so again;
thousands of these extinct inactive volcanoes are known.
Volcanic Gases
Samples of gases taken from present-day volcanoes indicate that 50 to 80% of all volcanic
gases are water vapor. Lesser amounts of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, sulfur gases, especially
sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, and very small amounts of carbon monoxide, hydrogen,
and chlorine are also commonly emitted. In areas of recent volcanism, such as Lassen
Volcanic National Park in California, gases continue to be emitted. One cannot help but
notice the rotten-egg odor of hydrogen sulfide gas in such areas.
When magma rises toward the surface, the pressure is reduced and the contained gases
begin to expand. In felsic magmas, however, which are highly viscous, expansion is inhibited
and gas pressure increases. Eventually, the pressure may become great enough to cause an
explosion and produce pyroclastic materials such as ash. In contrast, low viscosity mafic
magmas allow gases to expand and escape easily. Accordingly, mafic magmas generally
erupt rather quietly.
The amount of gases contained in magmas varies, but is rarely more than a few percent by
weight. Even though volcanic gases constitute a small proportion of a magma, they can be
dangerous and, in some cases, have had far-reaching climatic effects. Most volcanic gases
quickly dissipate in the atmosphere and pose little danger to humans, but on several
occasions these gases have caused numerous fatalities. In 1783, toxic gases, probably sulfur
dioxide, erupted from Laki fissure in Iceland had devastating effects. About 75% of the
nation's livestock died, and the haze resulting from the gas caused lower temperatures and
crop failures; about 24% of Iceland's population died as a result of the ensuing Blue Haze
Famine. The country suffered its coldest winter in 225 years in 1783~ 1784, with
temperatures 4.8°C below the long term average.
The effects of the 1783 Laki fissure eruption were felt far beyond Iceland. The eruption
produced what Benjamin Franklin called a "dry fog" that was responsible for dimming the
intensity of sunlight in Europe. The severe winter of 1783-1784 in Europe and eastern North
America is attributed to the presence of this "dry fog" in the upper atmosphere.
The particularly cold spring and summer of 1816 are attributed to the 1815 eruption of
Tambora in Indonesia, the largest and most deadly eruption during historic time. The emption
of Mayon volcano in the Philippines during the previous year may have contributed to the
cool spring and summer of 1816 as well. Another large historic eruption that had widespread
climatic effects was the eruption of Krakatau in 1883.
More recently, in 1986. in the African nation of Cameroon 1.746 people died when a cloud
of carbon dioxide engulfed them. The gas accumulated in the waters of Lake Nyos. which
occupies a volcanic crater. No agreement exists on what caused the h'3S to suddenly burst
forth from the lake, but once it did. it Rowed downhill along the surface because It was
denser than air. In fact. the density and velocity of the gas cloud we re great enough to flatten
vegetarian, includiing trees, a few kilom
meters from
m the lake. Unfortunaately, thoussands of
me as fur as 23 km from
m the lake we
w re asphyxxiated.
animalss and many people. som
Lava F
Flows and Pyroclastic
P
Materials
Rows are frequently
f
portrayed iin movies and on teelevision ass fiery streeams of
Lava R
incandeescent rock material posing a greeat danger to humans. Actually. lava Rows are the
least daangerous maanifestation
n of volcaniism. althoug
gh they may destroy bbuildings an
nd cover
agriculttural land. Most
M lava Rows
R
do noot move parrticularly fast. and becaause they are
a fluid,
they folllow existinng low areass. So once a Row eruptts from a vo
olcano. deteermining the path it
will takke is fairly easy,
e
and an
nyone in areeas likely to be affected
d can be evaacuated.
Two types of laava flows, both
b
of whiich were named
n
for Hawaiian
H
fllows, are generally
g
nounced pahh-hoy-hoy) flow has a ropy surfacce almost liike taffy
recogniized. A pahooehoe (pron
(~ Figuure 5-3a). The
T surface of an aa ((pronounced
d ah-ah) flo
ow is charaacterized by
y rough,
jagged angular bloocks and fraagments (Fiigure 5-3b). Pahoehoe flows are leess viscous than aa
Rows; iindeed, the latter are viscous
v
enouugh to breaak up into blocks
b
and move forward as a
wall of rubble.
Colum
mnar jointts are comm
mon in manny lava flow
ws, especiallly mafic fllows. but th
hey also
occur inn other kindds of flows and
a in somee intrusive igneous rock
ks (~ Figuree 5-4). A lav
va
Flow coontracts as it
i cools and
d produces fforces that cause
c
fractures called jooints to open
n up. On
the surfface of a floow, these jo
oints comm
monly form polygonal
p
(often
(
six-siided) crackss. These
cracks also extendd downward
d into the fflow, tannin
ng parallel columns w
with their lo
ong axes
perpenddicular to thhe principall cooling suurface. Exceellent examp
ples of coluumnar jointss can be
seen at Devil's Poostpile Natio
onal Monum
ment in Caalifornia (Figure 5-4), Devil's Tow
wer Na-
tional Monument in Wyoming (see Chapter 4 Prologue), the Giant's Causeway in Ireland,
and many other areas.
Much of the igneous rock in the upper part of the oceanic crust is of a distinctive type; it
consists of bulbous masses of basalt resembling pillows, hence the name pillow lava. It was
long recognized that pillow lava forms when lava is rapidly chilled beneath water, but its
formation was not observed until 1971. Divers near Hawaii saw pillows form when a blob of
lava broke through the crust of an underwater lava flow and cooled almost instantly, forming
a glassy exterior. The remaining fluid inside then broke through the crust of the pillow,
resulting in an accumulation of interconnected pillows (~ Figure 5-5).
Much pyroclastic material is erupted as ash, a designation for pyroclastic particles
measuring less than 2.0 mm (~ Figure 5-6). Ash may be erupted in two ways: an ash fall
or an ash Row. During an ash fall, ash is ejected into the atmosphere and settles to the surface
over a wide area. In 1947. .ash erupted from Mount Hekla in Iceland fen 3,800 km away on
Helsinki, Finland. Ash is also erupted in ash flows. which are coherent clouds of ash and gas
that commonly Row along or close to the land surface. Such Rows can move at more than
100 km per hour, and some of them cover vast areas.
Pyroclastic materials larger than ash are also erupted by explosive volcanoes. Particles
measuring from 2 to 64 mm are known as lapilli and any particle larger than 64 mm is called a
bomb or block depending on its shape. Bombs have twisted, streamlined shapes that indicate
they were erupted as globs of fluid that cooled and solidified during their Right through the
air (~ Figure 5-7). J3Iocks are angular pieces of rock ripped from a volcanic conduit or pieces
of a solidified crust of a magma. Because of their large size, volcanic bomb and block
accumulations are not nearly as widespread as ash deposits; instead, they are confined to the
immediate area of eruption.
Volcan
noes
Conicall mountainss formed aro
ound a ventt where lavaa and pyrocllastic materrials are eru
upted are
volcanooes. Volcannoes, which are named for vulcan, the Romaan deity of ffire, come in
i many
shapes and sizes, but geolog
gists recognnize severall major cattegories eacch of whicch has a
distinctive eruptivee style. Onee must realiize howeveer, that each
h volcano haas a uniquee overall
history of eruptionns and development.
Page 880-81
Lava D
Domes. If thhe upward pressure
p
in a volcanic conduit
c
is great
g
enoughh, the most viscous
magmas move upw
ward and form
f
bulboous, steep-sided lava domes
d
(~ FFigure 5-12
2). Lava
domes are generrally comp
posed of ffelsic lavass although some aree of interrmediate
u
verry slowly; the
t lava
compossition. Becaause such magma is so viscous,, it moves upward
dome thhat formed in Santa Maria
M
volcanno in Guateemala in 19
922 took tw
wo years to grow to
500 Il1 high and 1,200 m accross. Lavaa domes con
ntribute significantly tto many co
omposite
volcanooes. Beginniing in 1980
0, a number of lava dom
mes were em
mplaced in tthe crater of Mount
St. Heleens; most off these weree destroyedd during sub
bsequent eru
uptions. Sinnce 1983, Mount
M
St.
Helens has been chharacterized
d by sporadiic dome gro
owth.
In Junne 1991, a dome
d
in Jap
pan's Unzenn volcano co
ollapsed, caausing a flow
w of debris and hot
ash thaat killed 433 people in
n .a nearby town. Lav
va domes are
a also oftten responssible for
extremely explosive eruptions. In 1902, viscous magma accumulated beneath the summit of
Mount Pelee on the island of Martinique. Eventually, the pressure within the mountain
increased to the point that it could no longer be contained, and the side of the mountain blew
out in a tremendous explosion. When this occurred, a mobile, dense cloud of pyroclastic
materials and gases called a nuee ardente (French for "glowing cloud") was ejected and raced
downhill at about 100 km/hr, engulfing the city of St. Pierre (~ Figure 5-13). This nuee
ardcnte had internal temperatures of 700°C and incinerated everything in its path. Of the
28,000 residents of St. Pierre, only two survived, a prisoner in a cell below the ground surface
and a man on the surface who was terribly burned by the nuee ardente,
Monitoring Volcanoes and Forecasting Eruptions
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, nearly 500 million people live near the
volcanoes on the margins of the Earth's tectonic plates. Many of these volcanoes
have erupted explosively during historic time and have the potential to do so again.
As a matter of fact, volcanic eruptions are not as unusual as one might think; 376
separate outbursts occurred between 1975 and 1985. Fortunately, none of these compared to the 1815 eruption of Tambora; nevertheless, fatalities occurred in several
instances, the worst being in 1985 in Colombia where about 23,000 perished in
mudflows generated by an eruption (Table 5-1). Only a few of these potentially
dangerous volcanoes are monitored, including some in Italy, Japan, New Zealand,
Russia, and the Cascade Range.
Many of the methods for monitoring active volcanoes were developed at the Hawaiian
Volcano Observatory.
These methods involve recording and analyzing various changes in both the physical and
chemical attributes of volcanoes. Tiltmeters are used to detect changes in the slopes of .1
volcano when it inflates as magma is injected into it, while a geodimeter uses a laser beam to
measure horizontal distances, which also change when a volcano inflates (~ Figure 5-14).
Geologists also monitor gas emissions and changes in the local magnetic and electrical fields
of volcanoes.
Of critical importance in volcano monitoring and eruption forecasting are a sudden
increase in earthquake activity and the detection of harmonic tremor. Harmonic tremor is
continuous ground motion as opposed to the sudden jolts produced by earthquakes. It
precedes all eruptions of Hawaiian volcanoes and also preceded the eruption of Mount St.
Helens. Such activity indicates that magma is moving below the surface.
The analysis of data gathered during monitoring is not by itself sufficient to forecast eruption to
past history of a particular volcano must also be known. To determine the eruptive
history of a volcano, the record of previous eruptions as preserved in rocks
must be studied and analyzed. Indeed, prior to 1980, Mount St. Helens was
considered one of the most likely Cascade volcanoes to erupt because
detailed studies indicated that it has had a record of explosive activity for the
past 4,500 years.
For thhe better monitored
m
vo
olcanoes, suuch as thosse in Hawaiii, it is now
w possible to
t make
accuratee short-term
m forecastss of eruptioons. In 1'16
60 the warrning signs of an erup
ption of
Kilaueaa were recoognized soon
n enough too evacuate the residen
nts of a smaall village that
t
was
subsequuently burieed by lava flows.
f
Unfoortunately, current
c
foreccasting is liimited to ju
ust a few
months in the futurre.
m
prediictions. On January
For soome volcannoes little orr no informaation is avaiilable for making
14, 1993, for exam
mple, Colom
mbia's Galeraas volcano erupted witthout warnin
ing, killing (6 of 10
volcanoologists on a field trip
p and threee Colombiaan tourists. Ironically, the volcan
nologists
were atttending a coonference on
o improvinng methods for
f predictin
ng volcanicc eruptions.
Fissuree Eruption
ns
During the Miocenne and Plioccene epochss (between about
a
17 miillion and 5 million yeaar. ago),
2
n Washingtoon and pam
m of Oregon and Idahoo were cov
vered by
some 164,000 km of eastern
overlappping basalt lava flows.. These Collumbia Riveer basalt" ass they art' ccalled, are now
n well
exposedd in the waalls of the canyons ero ded by the Snake and Columbia rivers (~ Figure 515). Thhese lavas, which
w
weree erupted frrom long fissures, were so fluid tthat volcaniic cones
failed to develop. Such fissure eruptions yield flows that spread alit over large areas and form
basalt plateaus (Figure 5-15). The Columbia River basalt flows have an aggregate thickness
of .about 1000 m, and some individual flows cover huge areas-the Roza flow, which is 30 m
thick, advanced along ,I trout about 100 km wide and covered 40,000 km2",
Fissure eruptions and basalt plateaus are not common, .although several large areas with
these features are known. Currently, this type of activity is occurring only in Iceland. A
number of volcanic mountains art' present in Iceland, but the bulk of the island is composed
of basalt flows erupted from fissures. Two large fissure eruptions, one in A.D. 930 and the
other in 1783, account for about half of the magma erupted in Iceland during historic time.
The 1783 emption occurred along the Laki fissure, which is more than 30 km long; lava
flowed several tens of kilometers from the fissure, covering more than 560 km2, and in one
place filled a valley to a depth of about 200 m.
Pyroclastic Sheet Deposits
More than 100 years ago, geologists were aware of vast areas covered by felsic volcanic
rocks a few meters to hundreds of meters thick. It seemed improbable that these could have
formed as vast lava flows, but it also seemed equally unlikely that they were ash £111 deposits.
Based on observations of historic pyroclastic flows, such as the nucc ardcnte erupted by
Mount Pelee in 1902, it now seems probable that these ancient rocks originated as pyroclastic
flows, hence the name pyroclastic sheet deposits. They cover far greater areas than any
observed during historic time and apparently erupted from long fissures rather than from a
central vent. The pyroclastic materials of many of these flows were so hot they fused together
to form welded tuff.
It now appears that major pyroclastic flows issue from fissures formed during the origin of
calderas. The Yellowstone Tuff, for instance, was erupted during the formation of a large
caldera in the area of present-day Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Similarly, the
Bishop Tuff of eastern California appear.; to have been erupted shortly before the formation
of the Long Valley caldera. Interestingly, earthquake activity in the Long Valley caldera and
nearby areas beginning in 1978 may indicate t hat magma is moving upward beneath part of
the caldera. Thus, the possibility of future eruptions in that area cannot be discounted.
DISTRIBUTION OF VOLCANOES
Rather than being distributed randomly around the Earth, volcanoes occur in well-defined
zones or belts. More than 60% of all active volcanoes are in the circum-Pacific belt that
nearly encircles the margins of the Pacific Ocean basin (~ Figure 5-16). This belt includes the
volcanoes along the west coast of South America, those in Central America, Mexico, and the
Cascade Range, and the Alaskan volcanoes in the Aleutian Island arc. The belt continues on
the western side of the Pacific Ocean basin where it extend, through Japan, the Philippines,
Indonesia, and New Zealand. Mount Pinatubo and Mayon volcano, two Philippine volcanoes
that have erupted since June 1991, are in this belt. The circumPacific belt also includes the
southernmost active volcano. Mount Erebus in Antarctica, and a large caldera at Deception
Island that erupted during 1970.
About 20% of all active volcanoes are in the Mediterranean belt (Figure 5-16). Included in
this belt arc the famous
ridges iis the Mid-A
Atlantic Rid
dge, which is near thee middle of the Atlantiic Ocean baasin and
curves aaround the southern tip
p of Africa where it co
ontinues as the Indian R
Ridge. Bran
nches of
the Indiian Ridge extend into the
t Red Seaa and East Africa.
A
Mou
unt Kilimanj
njaro in Afriica is on
this lattter branch (Figure 5-16). Most of the volccanism along the midd-oceanic ridges is
submarine, and muuch of it go
oes undeteccted; but in
n a few placces, such ass Iceland, it occurs
above ssea level.
Volcaanism is occcurring in a few other aareas at preesent, most notably on and near th
he island
of Haw
waii (Figure 5-16). Only
y two volcaanoes are cu
urrently acttive on the island, Mau
una Loa
and Killauea, althoough a subm
marine volccano named
d Loihi exissts about 322 km to the south;
Loihi rises more than 3,000 m above the sea floor, but its summit is still about 940 m below
sea level.
PLATE TECTONICS AND IGNEOUS ACTIVITY
At this point. two questions might be asked regarding volcanoes: (I) What accounts for
the alignment of volcanoes in belts? (2) Why do magmas erupted within ocean basins
and magmas erupted at or near continental margins have different compositions? In
addition, plutons emplaced within the ocean basins are invariably mafic, mostly
gabbro, whereas the vast batholiths emplaced at continental margins are composed of
felsic and intermediate rocks such as granite and diorite. Recall from Chapter I that the
outer part of the Earth is divided into large plates. which are sections of the
lithosphere. Most igneous activity occurs at spreading ridges where plates diverge or
along subduction zones where plates converge.
Igneous Activity at Spreading Ridges
Spreading ridges are areas where new oceanic lithosphere is produced by igneous activity as
plates diverge from one another. Mafic magma originates beneath these spreading ridges:
some of the magma is erupted at the surface as basalt lava flows and/or pyroclastic materials,
but much is simply emplaced at depth as vertical dikes and gabbro plutons (~ Figure 5-17). In
tact, the oceanic crust is composed largely of such mafic rocks.
The fact that volcanism occurs at spreading ridges is undisputed. but how magma originates
beneath the ridges is not fully understood. One explanation is related to the manner in which
the Earth's temperature increases with depth. We know from deep mines and deep drill holes
that a temperature increase, called the geothermal gradient occurs and that, on average. it is
about 25°C/km. Accordingly, rocks at depth are hot, but remain solid because their melting
temperature rises with increasing pressure.
Beneath spreading ridges, the temperature locally exceeds the melting temperature. at least
in part, because pressure decreases. That is, rifting probably causes a decrease in pressure on
the hot rocks at depth, thus initiating melting (~ Figure 5-18a). Furthermore, the presence of
water can also decrease the melting temperature beneath spreading ridges because water aids
thermal energy in breaking the chemical bonds in minerals (Figure 5-18b).
Another explanation for spreading-ridge igneous activity is that localized, cylindrical
plumes of hot mantle material, called mantle plumes, rise beneath ridges and spread outward
in all directions. Perhaps localized concentrations of radioactive minerals within the crust and
upper mantle decay and generate the heat responsible for the melting associated with these
hot mantle plumes.
The lavas erupted at spreading ridges are invariably mafic and cool to form basalt. But the
upper mantle, from which these lavas are derived, is composed of ultramafic rock, probably
peridotite, which consists largely of ferrornagnesian silicates and lesser amounts of
nonferromagnesian silicates. To explain how mafic magma (45-52% silica) originates from
ultramafic rock (≤45% silica), geologists propose that the magma is formed from source rock
that only partially melts. This phenomenon of partial! melting occurs because various minerals
have different melting temperatures. Recall the sequence of minerals in Bowen's reaction
series (Figure 4-5). The order in which these minerals melt is the opposite of their order of
crystallization. Acccordingly, quartz, pottassium feld
dspar, and sodium-ricch plagioclaase melt
before m
most of thee ferromagn
nesian silicaates and thee calcic variieties of plaagioclase. So
S when
ultramaafic rock beegins to meelt, the minnerals richeest in silica melt first followed by
b those
containing less sillica. Accord
dingly, if m
melting is not
n complete, a mafic magma con
ntaining
proportionately moore silica th
han the sourrce rock results. Once this mafic magma is formed,
some off it rises to the
t surface where it is erupted, coo
ols, and cry
ystallizes to form basaltt.
Igneou
us Activity
y at Subdu
uction Zon
nes
Subducction occurss where an oceanic plaate and a continental
c
plate conveerge, or wh
here two
oceanicc plates convverge. In eitther case, a belt of com
mposite volccanoes and pplutons occcurs near
the leadding edge of
o the overrriding platee (~ Figure 5-1.9). As the subduccted plate descends
d
toward the asthenoosphere, it eventually
e
reeaches a depth where the temperat
ature is high
h enough
for parttial meltingg to occur, and magm
ma is generaated. Additiionally, thee wet ocean
nic crust
descendds to a depth at which
h dewaterinng occurs, and
a as the water
w
rises into the ov
verlying
mantle, it enhancess melting an
nd magma fforms (Figu
ure 5-19b).
_ Partiaal melting is one pheenomenon accounting for the taact that mag
agmas generated at
subducttion zones are intermeediate and ffelsic in composition. Recall thatt partial meelting of
ultramaafic rock of the upper mantle
m
yieldds mafic maagma. Likew
wise, partiall melting off oceanic
crust, w
which has a mafic comp
position, maay yield maagma richerr in silica thhan the sourrce rock.
Additioonally, somee of the silicca-rich sediiments and sedimentary
y rocks of ccontinental margins
are probably carried downwaard with th e subducted
d plate and
d contributee their silica to the
magma. Also, maffic magma rising
r
throuugh (he lower continental crust maay be contaaminated
with fellsic materiaals, which ch
hange its coomposition.
Intermeediate and felsic
f
magm
mas are typpically prod
duced at con
nvergent pllate margin
ns where
subducttion occurs.. The interm
mediate maagma that iss erupted is more viscoous than -c magma
and tennds to form composite volcanoes. Much felsiic magma iss intruded iinto the con
ntinental
crust w
where it varrious plutons, especiaally batholiths, but so
ome is eruppted as pyrroclastic
materiaals or emplaaced as lava domes, acccounting forr the explosive eruptionns that charaacterize
converggent plate margins.
m
Intraplate Volca
anism
Mauna Loa and Kilauea
K
on the
t island oof Hawaii and
a Loihi ju
ust to the soouth are wiithin the
interior of a rigid plate far fro
om any sprreading ridg
ge or subduction zone (Figure 5-1
17). It is
postulatted that a mantle
m
plum
me creates a local "ho
ot spot" beneath Haw
waii. The magma is
mafic aand relativelly fluid, so it
i builds up shield volcanoes.
Even though theese Hawaiiaan volcanoees are unreelated to sp
preading riddges or sub
bduction
zones, tthe evolutioon of rhe Hawaiian Islaand. is relatted to plate tectonics. N
Notice in Figure
F
221 that the ages off the rocks composing
c
tthe islands in
i the Hawaaiian chain iincrease tow
ward the
northweest; Kauai formed
f
3.8 to 5.6 milllion years ago,
a
whereaas Hawaii bbegan form
ming less
than onne million yeears ago, an
nd Loihi beggan forming
g even more recently. C
Continuouss motion
of the P
Pacific platee over the "hot
"
spot," nnow beneatth Hawaii, has
h created the variouss islands
in succeession.
Mantlle plumes annd "hot spo
ots" have alsso been prop
posed to explain volcannism in a feew other
areas. A mantle pluume may bee beneath Y
Yellowstone National Park in Wyom
oming. Somee source
of heatt at depth is
i responsib
ble for the present-daay hot sprin
ngs and geeysers such as Old
Faithfull, but manyy geologists think that tthe source of heat is a body of inntruded mag
gma that
has not yet compleetely cooled
d' rather thann a mantle plume.
p
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