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We present petrological evidence of the shallow magmatic processes that may have supplied heat and gas to the eruption of Mount Ontake, Japan, on 27 September 2014, which resulted in 63 fatalities. Ash from the eruption comprises primarily hydrothermally altered, white-toned rock fragments. However, the ash contains trace amounts (2) with rounded quartz, chalcedony-free vesicles, and reversely zoned plagioclase (cores = 47 mol% An; rims = 70 mol% An), indicating magma re-heating. Crystalline LAPs have a groundmass-like texture that suggests eutectic crystallization at shallow depths. Thermodynamic calculations indicate that the pre-eruptive temperatures of the glassy and crystalline LAPs were 700–1300 °C and ~ 700 °C, respectively, and that the storage depth was

This study reports the chemical and isotopic compositions of hot-spring waters and fumarolic gases sampled in the Jigokudani Valley of Tateyama Volcano (central Japan) in 2015 and 2016 to reveal the state of the underlying hydrothermal system. We discuss the cause of temporal variations in geochemical data in terms of temperature change in the hydrothermal system and clarify the relationship between hot-spring waters and fumarolic gases. The volcanic gas supplied from deep-seated magma was separated into liquid and vapor phases when it reached a shallow depth. Each phase formed the following three types of hot-spring water: (1) high anion concentrations and isotopic compositions similar to magmatic water, (2) lower isotopic compositions compared to type-1 waters and large variations in Cl−/SO42−, and (3) low Cl− and total anion concentrations. The formation of type-1 and type-2 hot springs was influenced by magmatic components such as HCl and SO2. We consider that type-1 hot springs are derived from the liquid phase while type-2 hot springs are derived from the vapor phase of the two-phase zone. The temporal variations in Cl−/SO42− are considered to result from temperature changes in the reservoir where liquid and vapor separated, as the HCl partitioning coefficient between the vapor and liquid phases is strongly dependent on temperature. Type-3 hot springs are derived from the vapor phase, which is depleted in HCl and SO2. We propose that the Cl− concentration of type-2 hot springs could be a measure of volcanic activity because it reflects the thermal state of the shallow two-phase zone where phreatic eruptions occur.

Volume estimations for discrete plumes accompanying short-lived eruptions are potentially possible using infrasound signals. Plumes emitted during short-lived (discrete) eruptions have been modeled as discrete thermals or rooted thermals. Based on the one-dimensional model for the rise of a discrete thermal, the initial buoyancy, F0, of a spherical thermal can theoretically be estimated from the maximum plume height and a vertical profile of ambient air density. We here examine the relationship between infrasound-derived volume, Vinf, and the buoyancy-derived volume, Vb, as derived from F0, which depends on gravity acceleration, and the difference in density between the thermal and surrounding air, to understand how Vinf relates to the dynamics of the eruption plume. We analyze infrasound data accompanying Vulcanian and phreatic eruptions at Aso, Shinmoedake, and Lokon-Empung volcanoes to estimate Vinf, and consider Vinf from other volcanoes. We obtain a representative ratio of Vb/Vinf of 16 by examining 53 events. Because the analyzed infrasound signals share a prominent pressure pulse at the onset, we regard Vinf as the volume of the plume at initiation, i.e., as a jet. Instead, we consider Vb as the thermal volume when it has entrained a sufficient amount of the surrounding air and obtains F0. Comparison of the bulk density of the jet and the discrete thermal yields a rate of volume change between both regimes by a factor of 1.8–32, which is consistent with the ratio of Vb/Vinf. Our result provides an effective index to constrain erupted plume volume using infrasound data with real-time monitoring systems.

Phreatic eruptions are possibly the most dramatic surface expressions of hydrothermal activity, and they remain poorly understood. The near absence of precursory signals makes phreatic eruptions unpredictable with respect to both time and magnitude. The Valley of Desolation (VoD), Dominica, located close to the Boiling Lake, the second largest high-temperature volcanic crater lake in the world, hosts vigorous hydrothermal activity with hot springs, mud pools, fumaroles, and steaming ground. A phreatic or phreatomagmatic eruption from this site is considered to be the most likely scenario for future volcanic activity on Dominica. Yet there is little information regarding the trigger mechanisms and eruption processes of explosive events at this active hydrothermal center, and only a very small number of studies have investigated hydrothermal activity in the VoD. We therefore conducted two field campaigns in the VoD to map hydrothermal activity and its surficial phenomena. We also investigated alteration processes and their effects on degassing and phreatic eruption processes. We collected in situ petrophysical properties of clay-rich unconsolidated samples, and together with consolidated rock samples, we investigated the range of supergene and hydrothermal alteration in the laboratory. In addition, we performed rapid decompression experiments on unconsolidated soil samples. Our results show that alteration leads to an increasing abundance of clay minerals and a decrease in both strength and permeability of the rocks. In the immediate vicinity of degassing acid-sulfate fluids, advanced argillic alteration yields a mineral zoning which is influenced by meteoric water. The water-saturated basal zone is dominated by kaolinite run 0whereas alunite formation is favored at and above the groundwater table where atmospheric oxidation of H2S to H2SO4 occurs (e.g., steam-heated alteration). Alteration effects may in turn inhibit degassing at the surface, increasing the potential for pressurization in the subsurface and thus lead to phreatic eruptions. Rapid decompression experiments, together with ballistic trajectory calculations, constrain estimates of the conditions prior to the 1997 small-scale phreatic event in the VoD. The results presented here may serve as a contribution to the understanding of the hazard potential of ongoing hydrothermal activity within the VoD. On a broader perspective, our results will help evaluate hydrothermal activity in similar areas worldwide which might also have the potential for phreatic eruptions, for instance Poas (Costa Rica) or Tongariro and Waimangu (New Zealand).

The 1914 Taisho eruption of Sakurijima volcano was Japan’s highest intensity and magnitude eruption of the twentieth century. After a 35-year period of quiescence, the volcano suddenly rewoke a few days before the eruption, when earthquakes began to be felt on Sakurajima Island. The eruption began on January 12, 1914, from two fissures located on opposite sides of the volcano, and was characterized by a complex time evolution and changes in eruptive styles. The eruption began with a subPlinian explosive phase in which two convective columns rose from the two fissures. Both plumes were sustained for at least 2 days. This resulted in deposition of a widely dispersed tephra sequence. After this phase, the eruption evolved to a final, waning phase, shifting toward effusive activity that lasted until April 1914. During the first weeks, effusive activity was also accompanied by ash emission. The complex sequence of events, characterized by contemporaneous explosive and effusive activity, is typical of several recently observed mid-intensity eruptions, such as during the 2011 eruption of Cordon Caulle, Chile. The stratigraphic sequence of the eruptive deposits from the Taisho eruption comprises alternating coarse-to-fine lapilli beds with ash beds dispersed toward the ESE and SE. These deposits can be subdivided into three lapilli-bearing units (Units T1, T2 and T3, which correspond to the subPlinian phase) and one ash-bearing unit (Unit T4, which corresponds to the final ash venting, accompanying the first day/weeks of lava flow activity). Grain size analyses from each unit reveal a marked polymodal distribution generally described by the sum of two or three Gaussian subpopulations. Both the modes and the relative amounts of the coarse subpopulations vary with distance from vent, with those of the fine subpopulation remaining nearly constant. Within the vertical sequence, component analysis shows a progressive increase in lithic fragments, suggesting that conduit enlargement continued until the final stages of the eruption. The estimated volume of the tephra deposit of the subPlinian phase of the eruption is 0.33 ± 0.11 km3 (dense rock equivalent (DRE) volume = 0.09 ± 0.03 km3). The height of the eruption column was also assessed by using four different isopleth maps compiled based on different strategies for the characterization of the largest clasts. The maximum height attained by the eruption column is estimated at 15.0 ± 1.2 km above the vent, resulting in a maximum mass discharge rate of 3.6 ± 1.2 × 107 kg s−1 (calculated taking into account the strong effect of wind advection). Finally, different classification schemes were applied to classify the eruption, which generally straddles the fields between Plinian and subPlinian.

The Cerro Prieto Volcanic Complex (CPVC), located in northwestern Mexico, is the only surface manifestation of the Cerro Prieto Geothermal Field, the third largest producer of geothermal energy in the world. This geothermal field and the Salton Sea in the USA sit in a pull-apart basin that belongs to the trans-tensional tectonic zone that includes the San Andreas Fault system and the Salton Trough basin to the NW and the East Pacific Rise to the SE. In spite of its strategic importance in the generation of geothermal energy, the origin of Cerro Prieto and its relationship with the geothermal reservoir were unknown. In this contribution, we discuss the origin, evolution, and mechanisms of formation of this small monogenetic volcano and the magmas that fed the system. The volcanic complex is located on top of the Cerro Prieto left lateral fault to the northwest of the Cerro Prieto Geothermal Field. The complex consists of a lava cone and a series of domes (∼0.15 km3) protruding from Tertiary sandstones and recent unconsolidated sediments of the alluvial plain of the Colorado River. The Cerro Prieto Volcanic Complex consists of seven stratigraphic units emplaced in a brief time span around 78–81 ka. Its activity began with the extrusion of a dacitic lava that came into contact with water-saturated sediments, causing brecciation of the lava. The activity continued with the emplacement of dacitic domes and a dyke that were destroyed by a phreatic explosion emplacing a lithic-rich breccia. This phreatic explosion formed a 300-m-wide and 40-m-deep circular crater. The activity then migrated ∼650 m to the SW where three dacitic lava domes were extruded and ended with the emplacement of a fissure-fed lava flow. Subsequent remobilization of the rocks in the complex has generated debris and hyperconcentrated flow deposits interbedded with fluviatile sediments in the surrounding terrain. All rocks of the CPVC are dacites with phenocrysts of plagioclase, orthopyroxene, and Fe-Ti oxides and minor quartz. Gabbro-dioritic dykes intruded in Tertiary sandstones and siltstones of the local basement contain phenocrysts of plagioclase, clinopyroxene, Fe-Ti oxides, and olivine. All CPVC rocks are chemically homogeneous suggesting discrete modifications by crustal assimilation, fractional crystallization, or magma mixing processes during upper crustal residence. Aeromagnetic results suggest that the depth of the magmatic source in the area is located below 3.5 km. CPVC rocks contain chemical anomalies typical of subduction zones, which suggests that all CPVC magmas could have been generated by partial melting of the remains of the subducted Farallon plate.

The last eruption on Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) started on 18 November 1909 from the El Chinyero vent on the northwestern Santiago rift. This fissural eruption was well documented by scientists and eyewitnesses, but there is a lack of data on the high-energy phase that produced the most significant emissions of ash and lapilli at the onset of the eruption. Here, we review historical documents (e.g. newspapers, dispatches, telegrams); eyewitness accounts and scientific reports were reviewed from a volcanological perspective and integrated with data from the analysis of deposit features, allowing an accurate reconstruction of the eruption and its dynamics. The 1909 eruption of Chinyero was fed by a compositionally discrete magma batch that ascended rapidly within the crust, producing rather violent pulsating Strombolian explosive activity in the early phases of the eruption. This activity produced a ca. 80 m high scoria cone and heavy fallout of lapilli and ash over the entire northern sector of the island of Tenerife. The energy of explosive activity waned after 3 days, giving way to the weak Strombolian explosive activity that contributed to a lesser extent to the buildup of the pyroclastic pile. Eruptions such as those from the Chinyero vent in 1909 are representative of rift activity on Tenerife and constitute a volcanic hazard for present-day inhabitants.

Hekla is one of the most frequently active felsic volcanic systems in the world, with several known pre-historic large Plinian eruptions and 18 historical subplinian to small Plinian eruptions. A common view is that Plinian eruptions of Hekla are relatively short lived and purely explosive events. In detail, these events exhibit subtle differences in terms of deposit characteristics, reflecting significant differences in eruption behaviour. Of the 18 historical eruptions, two had bulk magma compositions with >66 wt% SiO2: a Plinian eruption in ad 1104 and a smaller, less well characterised, but atypical subplinian eruption in ad 1158. The ad 1158 eruption was a relatively sustained, dry (magmatic) eruption with a more powerful opening phase followed by a lower intensity, waning phase accompanied by minor destabilisation and collapse of the conduit walls. We examine here the dynamics of the ad 1158 eruption, focussing on the role of shallow conduit processes in modulating eruption dynamics. Vesicularity data constrain the relative influence of bubble nucleation, growth, and coalescence. The juvenile pyroclasts are composed of two types of microvesicular pumice (white and grey) with contrasting vesicle number density, vesicle-size distribution, and phenocryst and microlite contents. Textural analysis shows that these pumices reflect heterogeneity developed pre- to syn-eruptively in the conduit and that entrainment of longer resident magma by faster ascending magma permitted magma of contrasting maturity to be fragmented simultaneously. In this regard, the mixed melt of the ad 1158 eruption contrasts with the compositionally homogeneous melt phase of the more powerful ad 1104 Plinian event, which was typified by more uniform conduit and eruption dynamics accompanying higher average ascent rates.

Orakei maar and tuff ring in the Auckland Volcanic Field is an example of a basaltic volcano in which the style and impacts of the eruption of a small volume of magma were modulated by a fine balance between magma flux and groundwater availability. These conditions were optimised by the pre-85 ka eruption being hosted in a zone of fractured and variably permeable Plio-Pleistocene mudstones and sandstones. Orakei maar represents an end-member in the spectrum of short-lived basaltic volcanoes, where substrate conditions rather than the magmatic volatile content was the dominant factor controlling explosivity and eruption styles. The eruption excavated a crater ≫80 m deep that was subsequently filled by slumped crater wall material, followed by lacustrine and marine sediments. The explosion crater may have been less than 800 m in diameter, but wall collapse and wave erosion has left a 1,000-m-diameter roughly circular basin. A tuff ring around part of the maar comprises dominantly base surge deposits, along with subordinate fall units. Grain size, texture and shape characteristics indicate a strong influence of magma–water and magma–mud interactions that controlled explosivity throughout the eruption, but also an ongoing secondary role of magmatic gas-driven expansion and fragmentation. The tuff contains >70 % of material recycled from the underlying Plio-Pliestocene sediments, which is strongly predominant in the >2 ϕ fraction. The magmatic clasts are evolved alkali basalt, consistent with the eruption of a very small batch of magma. The environmental impact of this eruption was disproportionally large, when considering the low volume of magma involved (DRE < 0.003 km3). Hence, this eruption exemplifies one of the worst-case scenarios for an eruption within the densely populated Auckland City, destroying an area of ~3 km2 by crater formation and base surge impact. An equivalent scenario for the same magma conditions without groundwater interaction would yield a scoria/spatter cone with a diameter of 400–550 m, destroying less than a tenth of the area affected by the Orakei event.

The February 1963 to January 1964 eruption of Gunung Agung, Indonesia’s largest and most devastating eruption of the twentieth century, was a multi-phase explosive and effusive event that produced both basaltic andesite tephra and andesite lava. A rather unusual eruption sequence with an early lava flow followed by two explosive phases, and the presence of two related but distinctly different magma types, is best explained by successive magma injections and mixing in the conduit or high level magma chamber. The 7.5-km-long blocky-surfaced andesite lava flow of ∼0.1 km3 volume was emplaced in the first 26 days of activity beginning on 19 February. On 17 March 1963, a major moderate intensity (∼4 × 107 kg s−1) explosive phase occurred with an ∼3.5-h-long climax. This phase produced an eruption column estimated to have reached heights of 19 to 26 km above sea level and deposited a scoria lapilli to fine ash fall unit up to ∼0.2 km3 (dense rock equivalent—DRE) in volume, with Plinian dispersal characteristics, and small but devastating scoria-and-ash flow deposits. On 16 May, a second intense 4-h-long explosive phase (2.3 × 107 kg s−1) occurred that produced an ∼20-km-high eruption column and deposited up to ∼0.1 km3 (DRE) volume of similar ash fall and pyroclastic flow deposits, the latter of which were more widespread than in the March phase. The two magma types, porphyritic basaltic andesite and andesite, are found as distinct juvenile scoria populations. This indicates magma mixing prior to the onset of the 1963 eruption, and successive injections of the more mafic magma may have modulated the pulsatory style of the eruption sequence. Even though a total of only ∼0.4 km3 (DRE volume) of lava, scoria and ash fall, and scoria-and-ash pyroclastic flow deposits were produced by the 1963 eruption, there was considerable local damage caused mainly by a combination of pyroclastic flows and lahars that formed from the flow deposits in the saturated drainages around Agung. Minor explosive activity and lahar generation by rainfall persisted into early 1964. The climactic events of 17 March and 16 May 1963 managed to inject ash and sulfur-rich gases into the tropical stratosphere.

Phreatic eruptions occurred at the Meakandake volcano in 1988, 1996, 1998, 2006, and 2008. We conducted geochemical surveillance that included measurements of temperature, SO2 emission rates, and volcanic gas composition from 2003 to 2008 at the Nakamachineshiri (NM), Northwest (NW), and Akanuma (AK) fumarolic areas, and the 96–1 vent, where historical eruptions had occurred. The elemental compositions of the gases discharged from the different areas are similar compared with the large variations observed in volcanic gases discharged from subduction zones. All the gases showed high apparent equilibrium temperatures, suggesting that all these gases originated from a common magmatic gas. The gases discharged from each area also exhibited different characteristics, which are probably the results of differences in the conditions of meteoric water mixing, quenching of chemical reactions, and vapor-liquid separation. The highest apparent equilibrium temperatures (about 500°C) were observed in the case of NW fumarolic gases, despite the low outlet temperature of about 100°C at these fumaroles. Since the NW fumaroles were formed as a result of the 2006 phreatic eruption, the high-temperature gas supply to the NW fumarole suggests that the phreatic eruption was caused by the ascent of high-temperature magmatic gases. The temperatures, compositions, and emission rates of the NM and 96–1 gases did not show any appreciable change after the 2006 eruption, indicating that each fumarolic system had a separate magmatic-hydrothermal system. The temperatures, compositions, and emission rates of the NM fumarolic gases were apparently constant, and these fumaroles are inferred to be formed by the evaporation of a hydrothermal system with a constant temperature of about 300°C. The 96–1 gas compositions showed large changes during continuous temperature decrease from 390° to 190°C occurred from 2003 to 2008, but the sulfur gas emission rates were almost constant at about four tons/day. At the 96–1 vent, the SO2/H2S ratio decreased, while the H2/H2O ratio remained almost constant; this was probably caused by the rock-buffer controlled chemical reaction during the temperature decrease.

Tofua Island is the largest emergent mafic volcano within the Tofua arc, Tonga, southwest Pacific. The volcano is dominated by a distinctive caldera averaging 4 km in diameter, containing a freshwater lake in the south and east. The latest paroxysmal (VEI 5–6) explosive volcanism includes two phases of activity, each emplacing a high-grade ignimbrite. The products are basaltic andesites with between 52 wt.% and 57 wt.% SiO2. The first and largest eruption caused the inward collapse of a stratovolcano and produced the ‘Tofua’ ignimbrite and a sub-circular caldera located slightly northwest of the island’s centre. This ignimbrite was deposited in a radial fashion over the entire island, with associated Plinian fall deposits up to 0.5 m thick on islands >40 km away. Common sub-rounded and frequently cauliform scoria bombs throughout the ignimbrite attest to a small degree of marginal magma–water interaction. The common intense welding of the coarse-grained eruptive products, however, suggests that the majority of the erupted magma was hot, water-undersaturated and supplied at high rates with moderately low fragmentation efficiency and low levels of interaction with external water. We propose that the development of a water-saturated dacite body at shallow (

The youngest dacitic Plinian eruption in west-central Nicaragua, forming the 18 km3 Chiltepe Tephra (CT), occurred about nineteen hundred years ago at Apoyeque stratovolcano, which dominates the Chiltepe volcanic complex 15 km north of the capital Managua, where the CT is 2 m thick. We have traced the CT from its proximal facies at the crater rim, through the medial facies in the lowlands around Apoyeque, and to the distal facies up to 550 km offshore in the Pacific. While medial and distal facies consist of widespread Plinian fall deposits, the proximal facies reveals the complexity of this eruption, which we divide into four phases (I–IV). Interaction of rising magma with a pre-existing crater lake generated the phreatomagmatic opening phase I of the eruption, which produced ash fall with accretionary lapilli. Phase II marked a rapid change to persistent magmatic activity that yielded several large Plinian eruptions, declining through a period of unstable eruption conditions, followed by a short hiatus. Phase III began with unstable conditions, probably as a result of eastward migration and widening of the vent, leading to a second period of Plinian eruptions with three major events reaching magma discharge rates five times larger than those of phase II. Phase III again declined through unstable eruption conditions before magmatic activity terminated. Numerous explosions in the shallow hydrothermal system during the final phase IV resulted in the formation of a phreatic tuff ring on the rim of Apoyeque crater. The white, highly-vesicular, dacitic CT pumice contains plagioclase (An45–68), orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and minor hornblende, apatite and titanomagnetite phenocrysts. A very subordinate fraction of gray pumice has the highest crystal content, the least evolved bulk-rock, but the most evolved matrix-glass composition. The CT dacite has two unusual compositional features: (1) all white dacite has the same melt (matrix-glass) composition such that variations in bulk-rock compositions (64–68 wt% SiO2) simply reflect different phenocryst contents of 10–35%, interpreted as the result of gradual phenocryst settling in the magma chamber. (2) Abundant olivine crystals with a bimodal distribution in Mg# (modes at Mg# = 0.75 and Mg# = 0.8) are dispersed throughout the erupted dacite. These are clearly out of equilibrium with the dacitic melt and are interpreted as xenocrysts derived from the basaltic Nejapa-Miraflores volcanic lineament that intersects the Chiltepe volcanic complex and was contemporaneously active. Thermobarometric estimates place the dacitic CT magma reservoir in the upper crust (

New volcanological studies allow reconstruction of the eruption dynamics of the Pomici di Mercato eruption (ca 8,900 cal. yr B.P.) of Somma-Vesuvius. Three main Eruptive Phases are distinguished based on two distinct erosion surfaces that interrupt stratigraphic continuity of the deposits, indicating that time breaks occurred during the eruption. Absence of reworked volcaniclastic deposits on top of the erosion surfaces suggests that quiescent periods between eruptive phases were short perhaps lasting only days to weeks. Each of the Eruptive Phases was characterised by deposition of alternating fall and pyroclastic density current (PDC) deposits. The fallout deposits blanketed a wide area toward the east, while the more restricted PDC deposits inundated the volcano slopes. Eruptive dynamics were driven by brittle magmatic fragmentation of a phonolitic magma, which, because of its mechanical fragility, produced a significant amount of fine ash. External water did not significantly contribute either to fragmentation dynamics or to mechanical energy release during the eruption. Column heights were between 18 and 22 km, corresponding to mass discharge rates between 1.4 and 6 × 107 kg s−1. The estimated on land volume of fall deposits ranges from a minimum of 2.3 km3 to a maximum of 7.4 km3. Calculation of physical parameters of the dilute pyroclastic density currents indicates speeds of a few tens of m s−1 and densities of a few kg m−3 (average of the lowermost 10 m of the currents), resulting in dynamic pressures lower than 3 kPa. These data suggest that the potential impact of pyroclastic density currents of the Pomici di Mercato eruption was smaller than those of other Plinian and sub-Plinian eruptions of Somma-Vesuvius, especially those of 1631 AD and 472 AD (4–14 kPa), which represent reference values for the Vesuvian emergency plan. The pulsating and long-lasting behaviour of the Pomici di Mercato eruption is unique in the history of large explosive eruptions of Somma-Vesuvius. We suggest an eruptive scheme in which discrete magma batches rose from the magma chamber through a network of fractures. The injection and rise of the different magma batches was controlled by the interplay between magma chamber overpressure and local stress. The intermittent discharge of magma during a large explosive eruption is unusual for Somma-Vesuvius, as well as for other volcanoes worldwide, and yields new insights for improving our knowledge of the dynamics of explosive eruptions.

We present results from a numerical investigation of subaqueous eruptions involving superheated steam released through a lake mimicking the volcanic setting at Mt. Ruapehu. The simulations were conducted using an adaptive mesh, multi-material, hydrodynamics code with thermal conduction SAGE, (Simple Adaptive Grid Eulerian). Parameters investigated include eruption pressure, lake level and mass of superheated vapor. The simulations produced a spectrum of eruption styles from vapor cavities to radial jets that resulted in hazards that ranged from small-scale waves to high amplitude surges that reached and cascaded over the edge of the crater rim. There was an overall tendency for lake surface activity to increase (including wave amplitude) with increasing mass of superheated vapor and eruption pressure. Surface waves were induced by the formation and collapse of a gas cavity. The collapse of the cavity is considered to play a major role in the characteristic features observed during a subaqueous eruption. The additional mass of superheated vapor produced a larger cavity that displaced a larger area of the lake surface resulting in fast moving surges upon the collapse of the cavity. High lake levels (>90 m) appear to suppress the development of explosive jetting activity when eruption pressures are 10 MPa), vertical jets and radial ejections of steam and water can occur in water depths >90 m. Less explosive eruption styles can produce hazardous events such as lahars by the outward movement of surface waves over the crater rim.

The stratigraphic succession of the Pomici di Avellino Plinian eruption from Somma-Vesuvius has been studied through field and laboratory data in order to reconstruct the eruption dynamics. This eruption is particularly important in the Somma-Vesuvius eruptive history because (1) its vent was offset with respect to the present day Vesuvius cone; (2) it was characterised by a distinct opening phase; (3) breccia-like very proximal fall deposits are preserved close to the vent and (4) the pyroclastic density currents generated during the final phreatomagmatic phase are among the most widespread and voluminous in the entire history of the volcano. The stratigraphic succession is, here, divided into deposits of three main eruptive phases (opening, magmatic Plinian and phreatomagmatic), which contain five eruption units. Short-lived sustained columns occurred twice during the opening phase (Ht of 13 and 21.5 km, respectively) and dispersed thin fall deposits and small pyroclastic density currents onto the volcano slopes. The magmatic Plinian phase produced the main volume of erupted deposits, emplacing white and grey fall deposits which were dispersed to the northeast. Peak column heights reached 23 and 31 km during the withdrawal of the white and the grey magmas, respectively. Only one small pyroclastic density current was emplaced during the main Plinian phase. In contrast, the final phreatomagmatic phase was characterised by extensive generation of pyroclastic density currents, with fallout deposits very subordinate and limited to the volcano slopes. Assessed bulk erupted volumes are 21 × 106 m3 for the opening phase, 1.3–1.5 km3 for the main Plinian phase and about 1 km3 for the final phreatomagmatic phase, yielding a total volume of about 2.5 km3. Pumice fragments are porphyritic with sanidine and clinopyroxene as the main mineral phases but also contain peculiar mineral phases like scapolite, nepheline and garnet. Bulk composition varies from phonolite (white magma) to tephri-phonolite (grey magma).

The 1875 rhyolitic eruption of Askja volcano in Iceland was a complex but well-documented silicic explosive eruption. Eyewitness chronologies, coupled with examination of very proximal exposures and historical records of distal deposit thickness, provide an unusual opportunity for study of Plinian and phreatoplinian eruption and plume dynamics. The ∼ 17 hour-long main eruption was characterized by abrupt and reversible shifts in eruption style, e.g., from ‘wet’ to ‘dry’ eruption conditions, and transitions from fall to flow activity. The main eruption began with a ‘dry’ subplinian phase (B), followed by a shift to a very powerful phreatoplinian ‘wet’ eruptive phase (C1). A shift from sustained ‘wet’ activity to the formation of ‘wet’ pyroclastic density currents followed with the C2 pyroclastic density currents, which became dryer with time. Severe ground shaking accompanied a migration in vent position and the onset of the intense ‘dry’ Plinian phase (D). Each of the fall units can be modeled using the segmented exponential thinning method (Bonadonna et al. 1998), and three to five segments have been recognized on a semilog plot of thickness vs. area1/2. The availability of very proximal and far-distal thickness data in addition to detailed observations taken during this eruption has enabled calculations of eruption parameters such as volumes, intensities and eruption column heights. This comprehensive dataset has been used here to assess the bias of volume calculations when proximal and distal data are missing, and to evaluate power-law and segmented exponential thinning methods using limited datasets.

The explosive behavior and the rheology of lavas in basaltic volcanoes, usually driven by differentiation, can also be significantly affected by the kinetics of magma degassing in the upper portion of the feeding system. The complex eruption of 2001 at Mt. Etna, Italy, was marked by two crucial phenomena that occurred at the Laghetto vent on the southern flank of the volcano: 1) intense explosive activity and 2) at the end of the eruption, emission of a lava flow with higher viscosity than flows previously emitted from the same vent. Here, we investigate the hypothesis that these events were driven by the injection of volatile-rich magma into the feeding system. The input and mixing of this magma into a reservoir containing more evolved magma had the twofold effect of increasing 1) the overall concentration of volatiles and 2) their exsolution with consequent efficient vesiculation and degassing. This led to an explosive stage of the eruption, which produced a ~75-m-high cinder cone. Efficient volatile loss and the consequent increase of the liquidus temperature brought about the nucleation of Fe-oxides and other anhydrous crystalline phases, which significantly increased the magma viscosity in the upper part of the conduit, leading to the emission of a high viscosity lava flow that ended the eruption. The 2001 eruption has offered the opportunity to investigate the important role that input of volatile-rich magma may exert in controlling not only the geochemical features of erupted lavas but also the eruption dynamics. These results present a new idea for interpreting similar eruptions in other basaltic volcanoes and explaining eruptions with uncommonly high explosivity when only basic magmas are involved.

Following the 2001 and 2002–2003 flank eruptions, activity resumed at Mt. Etna on 7 September 2004 and lasted for about 6 months. This paper presents new petrographic, major and trace element, and Sr–Nd isotope data from sequential samples collected during the entire 2004–2005 eruption. The progressive change of lava composition allowed defining three phases that correspond to different processes controlling magma dynamics inside the central volcano conduits. The compositional variability of products erupted up to 24 September is well reproduced by a fractional crystallization model that involves magma already stored at shallow depth since the 2002–2003 eruption. The progressive mixing of this magma with a distinct new one rising within the central conduits is clearly revealed by the composition of the products erupted from 24 September to 15 October. After 15 October, the contribution from the new magma gradually becomes predominant, and the efficiency of the mixing process ensures the emission of homogeneous products up to the end of the eruption. Our results give insights into the complex conditions of magma storage and evolution in the shallow plumbing system of Mt. Etna during a flank eruption. Furthermore, they confirm that the 2004–2005 activity at Etna was triggered by regional movements of the eastern flank of the volcano. They caused the opening of a complex fracture zone extending ESE which drained a magma stored at shallow depth since the 2002–2003 eruption. This process favored the ascent of a different magma in the central conduits, which began to be erupted on 24 September without any significant change in eruptive style, deformation, and seismicity until the end of eruption.

This study presents baseline data for future geochemical monitoring of the active Tacana volcano–hydrothermal system (Mexico–Guatemala). Seven groups of thermal springs, related to a NW/SE-oriented fault scarp cutting the summit area (4,100m a.s.l.), discharge at the northwest foot of the volcano (1,500–2,000m a.s.l.); another one on the southern ends of Tacana (La Calera). The near-neutral (pH from 5.8 to 6.9) thermal (T from 25.7°C to 63.0°C) HCO3–SO4 waters are thought to have formed by the absorption of a H2S/SO2–CO2-enriched steam into a Cl-rich geothermal aquifer, afterwards mixed by Na/HCO3-enriched meteoric waters originating from the higher elevations of the volcano as stated by the isotopic composition (δD and δ18O) of meteoric and spring waters. Boiling temperature fumaroles (89°C at ~3,600m a.s.l. NW of the summit), formed after the May 1986 phreatic explosion, emit isotopically light vapour (δD and δ18O as low as −128 and −19.9‰, respectively) resulting from steam separation from the summit aquifer. Fumarolic as well as bubbling gases at five springs are CO2-dominated. The δ13CCO2 for all gases show typical magmatic values of −3.6 ± 1.3‰ vs V-PDB. The large range in 3He/4He ratios for bubbling, dissolved and fumarolic gases [from 1.3 to 6.9 atmospheric 3He/4He ratio (R A)] is ascribed to a different degree of near-surface boiling processes inside a heterogeneous aquifer at the contact between the volcanic edifice and the crystalline basement (4He source). Tacana volcano offers a unique opportunity to give insight into shallow hydrothermal and deep magmatic processes affecting the CO2/3He ratio of gases: bubbling springs with lower gas/water ratios show higher 3He/4He ratios and consequently lower CO2/3He ratios (e.g. Zarco spring). Typical Central American CO2/3He and 3He/4He ratios are found for the fumarolic Agua Caliente and Zarco gases (3.1 ± 1.6 × 1010 and 6.0 ± 0.9 R A, respectively). The L/S (5.9 ± 0.5) and (L + S)/M ratios (9.2 ± 0.7) for the same gases are almost identical to the ones calculated for gases in El Salvador, suggesting an enhanced slab contribution as far as the northern extreme of the Central American Volcanic Arc, Tacana.

Popocatepetl Volcano is located in the central Mexican Volcanic Belt, within a densely populated region inhabited by over 20 million people. The eruptive history of this volcano indicates that it is capable of producing a wide range of eruptions, including Plinian events. After nearly 70 years of quiescence, Popocatepetl reawakened in December 21, 1994. The eruptive activity has continued up until the date of this submission and has been characterized by a succession of lava dome growth-and-destruction episodes, similar to events that have apparently been typical for Popocatepetl since the fourteenth century. In this regime, the episodes of effusive and moderately explosive activity alternate with long periods of almost total quiescence. In this paper we analyze five years of volcano-tectonic seismicity preceding the initial eruption of the current episode. The evolution of the V-T seismicity shows four distinct stages, which we interpret in terms of the internal processes which precede an eruption after a long period of quiescence. The thermal effects of a magma intrusion at depth, the fracturing related to the slow development of magma-related fluid pathways, the concentration of stress causing a protracted acceleration of this process, and a final relaxation or redistribution of the stress shortly before the initial eruption are reflected in the rates of V-T seismic energy release. A hindsight analysis of this activity shows that the acceleration of the seismicity in the third stage asymptotically forecast the time of the eruption. The total seismic energy release needed to produce an eruption after a long period of quiescence is related to the volume of rock that must be fractured so imposing a characteristic threshold limit for polygenetic volcanoes, limit that was reached by Popocatepetl before the eruption.

Sierra Negra volcano began erupting on 22 October 2005, after a repose of 26 years. A plume of ash and steam more than 13 km high accompanied the initial phase of the eruption and was quickly followed by a ~2-km-long curtain of lava fountains. The eruptive fissure opened inside the north rim of the caldera, on the opposite side of the caldera from an active fault system that experienced an mb 4.6 earthquake and ~84 cm of uplift on 16 April 2005. The main products of the eruption were an `a`a flow that ponded in the caldera and clastigenic lavas that flowed down the north flank. The `a`a flow grew in an unusual way. Once it had established most of its aerial extent, the interior of the flow was fed via a perched lava pond, causing inflation of the `a`a. This pressurized fluid interior then fed pahoehoe breakouts along the margins of the flow, many of which were subsequently overridden by `a`a, as the crust slowly spread from the center of the pond and tumbled over the pahoehoe. The curtain of lava fountains coalesced with time, and by day 4, only one vent was erupting. The effusion rate slowed from day 7 until the eruption’s end two days later on 30 October. Although the caldera floor had inflated by ~5 m since 1992, and the rate of inflation had accelerated since 2003, there was no transient deformation in the hours or days before the eruption. During the 8 days of the eruption, GPS and InSAR data show that the caldera floor deflated ~5 m, and the volcano contracted horizontally ~6 m. The total eruptive volume is estimated as being ~150×106 m3. The opening-phase tephra is more evolved than the eruptive products that followed. The compositional variation of tephra and lava sampled over the course of the eruption is attributed to eruption from a zoned sill that lies 2.1 km beneath the caldera floor.

The 18th historic eruption of Hekla started on 26 February, 2000. It was a short-lived but intense event, emitting basaltic andesitic (55.5 wt% SiO2) pyroclastic fragments and lava. During the course of the eruption, monitoring was done by both instruments and direct observations, together providing unique insight into the current activity of Hekla. During the 12-day eruption, a total of 0.189 km3 DRE of magma was emitted. The eruptive fissure split into five segments. The segments at the highest altitude were active during the first hours, while the segments at lower altitude continued throughout the eruption. The eruption started in a highly explosive manner giving rise to a Subplinian eruptive column and consequent basaltic pyroclastic flows fed by column collapses. After the explosive phase reached its maximum, the eruption went through three more phases, namely fire-fountaining, Strombolian bursts and lava effusion. In this paper, we describe the course of events of the eruption of Hekla and the origin of its magma, and then show that the discharge rate can be linked to different style of eruptive activity, which are controlled by fissure geometry. We also show that the eruption phases observed at Hekla can be linked with inferred magma chamber overpressure prior to the eruption.

The 1886 Plinian eruption of Tarawera, New Zealand, is a unique basaltic fissure-fed eruption with exceptionally well preserved fall deposits to within 200 meters of the source vents. These proximal deposits form a series of spatter/cinder half-cones along the northeastern 8-km-long segment of the 1886 fissure. Here we examine these deposits using grain size and clast componentry techniques. We contrast the products of the phreatomagmatic (phases I and III) and Plinian (Phase II) stages of the eruption and examine deposit variability as a function of contrasting eruptive intensity within the climactic phase (II) of the eruption. The opening phreatomagmatic phase I of the eruption involved gas-rich magma interacting with water and fragmenting at least 300 meters below the surface. The deposits of the climactic phase that followed have relatively uniform grain size but marked contrasts in the relative abundance of juvenile and wall rock (lithic) clasts. Deposits linked to vents associated with the high Plinian plume are more uniform than those characterized by a weaker cone-forming eruption style. During the third, and closing, phase of the eruption, magma withdrawal accompanied the onset of decoupling of the exsolved gas phase, leading to fragmentation at increasingly greater depths and significant wall rock collapse into the erupting vents. Variability in eruptive style during phase II along the fissure appears to be a function of shallow seated controls, in particular the variable extent of incorporation of lithic wall rock into the erupting jet, as a consequence of vent wall collapse. Widely dispersed beds centralized around Plinian sources along the fissure have very low lithic content; cone-forming beds at other craters that contain very high lithic contents. This incorporation led to a significant reduction of the velocity and stability of the jet at these latter steep-walled craters, and induced episodicity in the form of vent-clearing explosions. The result is a large reduction of the physical and thermal ability of these vents to contribute to a stable high eruptive plume. Instead large volumes of ejecta were sedimented prematurely from shallow heights at rates an order of magnitude greater than for historical Strombolian, Hawaiian and subPlinian eruptions. This study illustrates that sustained powerful Plinian eruptions can be accompanied by heterogeneities and instabilities of the eruptive jet. At Tarawera, the record of complex proximal transport and deposition processes in the eruptive jet cannot be inferred from the eruption products at distances greater than 400 m from the eruptive fissure. We suggest that study of ultraproximal deposits, as seen at Mt Tarawera, provides the only opportunity to document the complex, dynamic behavior of the jet region of Plinian eruptions.

Field evidence from a basaltic-andesite dyke preserved in the eroded wall of a scoria cone at Red Crater, Tongariro volcano, New Zealand, records a history of up-conduit magma flow during a Strombolian eruption, subsequent drain-back and final cessation of flow. The dyke intrudes pre-Strombolian andesite lavas, and the overlying proximal basaltic-andesite scoria deposits associated with contemporaneous lavas, which are, in turn overlain by laminated lapilli-tuff and large blocks. Textural and kinematic evidence of ductile shear recorded in basaltic andesite at the dyke margins records magma deformation imposed by bypassing movement of magma up the centre of the conduit during the eruption, whereas the basaltic andesite occupying the central part of the lowermost exposures of the dyke preserves ductile flow-folds with the opposite (down-flow) shear sense. The evidence indicates that the downward magma flow followed the eruption, and this draining left the central part of the dyke empty (unfilled) at uppermost levels. We discuss the kinematic constraints in the context of the criteria for up-flow of mafic magma and present the factors most likely to result in a final drain-back event. With reference to experimental and numerical work, we propose a draining model for the end of this eruption, and that magmatic drain-back may feature commonly during closing stages of Strombolian eruptions at mafic volcanoes. Drain-back which leaves large cavities in a volcanic edifice could result in hazardous structural instabilities.

The ∼1000-years BP eruption of Caldeira Volcano (Faial Island) was one of the last major explosive events recorded in the Azores. It produced a complex succession of pyroclastic deposits, known as the C11, divided into three members. At the base is the Brejo Member, a sequence of fine- to coarse-grained parallel-bedded ash layers found in the NW sector of the island. The middle part corresponds to the Inverno Member, a coarse-grained massive pumice fall deposit, restricted to the north flank of Caldeira Volcano. The top is dominated by the Cedros Member which includes massive to diffuse-stratified lapilli-ash and lithic breccias, exposed along the north and east flanks of the volcano. A minimum bulk volume of at least 0.22 km3 (>0.1 km3 dense rock equivalent (DRE)) is estimated for the C11 eruption, although a large portion may have been deposited offshore. The juvenile products are trachytic (59 wt% SiO2) with a homogenous whole-rock composition and mineral assemblage throughout the pyroclastic succession. However, petrographic and groundmass glass analyses indicate magma mingling/mixing processes between two trachytic batches. The C11 eruption history is divided into three phases (following the member division) with distinct eruptive styles: (1) an initial phreatomagmatic phase caused by rising magma (∼950 °C) encountering a crater pond or aquifer, (2) a fall-dominated phase which established a sub-Plinian column up to 14 km high (mass eruption rate (MER) of 1.2 × 107 kg/s) and (3) prolonged pyroclastic fountaining and sustained quasi-steady pyroclastic density current generation followed by summit collapse. The C11 eruption is interpreted as the first stage in the formation of an incremental caldera. This study provides valuable insights for a better understanding of small but complex explosive eruptions and their impact on ocean islands.

Following its plinian eruption on 18 May 1980, Mount St Helens (Washington State, USA) entered a period of intermittent lava-dome extrusion until 1986. Renewed extrusion was frequently preceded by accelerating rates of seismicity, with more precursory seismicity observed prior to eruptions later in the sequence. Here the failure forecasting method (FFM) is used to investigate changes in the observed rate of volcano-tectonic (VT) seismicity. The analysis indicates that: (1) all VT crises resulted in an eruption within 3 weeks (usually less than 10 days), (2) the majority of eruptions had VT precursors, and (3) patterns of precursory seismicity showed fluctuations about the ideal model trend. Thus, although these seismic events could be used to warn of an impending eruption, specific forecasts were subject to an uncertainty of weeks or more. It is proposed that: (1) increased seismicity prior to later eruptions is a result of a larger and more solidified dome acting as a greater impediment to magma ascent; (2) the consistency of seismic swarms resulting in an eruption indicates that stresses high enough to initiate fracturing in the country rock and lava dome carapace were only achieved once the approach to an eruption had already begun; and (3) discrepancies between models of accelerating rock fracture and the observed seismicity may arise due to a significant amount of the rocks deforming through ductile mechanisms rather than seismogenic fracture.

The vesiculation of magma during the 1983 eruption of Miyakejima Volcano, Japan, is discussed based on systematic investigations of water content, vesicularity, and bubble size distribution for the products. The eruption is characterized by simultaneous lava effusion and explosive sub-plinian (‘dry’) eruptions with phreatomagmatic (‘wet’) explosions. The magmas are homogeneous in composition (basaltic andesite) and in initial water content (H2O = 3.9±0.9 wt%), and residual groundmass water contents for all eruption styles are low (H2O 0.5, when bubble connection becomes effective. Low vesicularity and low residual water content of lava and spatter (Φ

Karthala volcano is a basaltic shield volcano with an active hydrothermal system that forms the southern two-thirds of the Grande Comore Island, off the east coat of Africa, northwest of Madagascar. Since the start of volcano monitoring by the local volcano observatory in 1988, the July 11th, 1991 phreatic eruption was the first volcanic event seismically recorded on this volcano, and a rare example of a monitored basaltic shield. From 1991 to 1995 the VT locations, 0.5

The 1998 eruption of Volcan Cerro Azul in the Galapagos Islands produced two intra-caldera vents and a flank vent that erupted more than 1.0×108 m3 of lava. Lava compositions changed notably during the 5-week eruption, and contemporaneous eruptions in the caldera and on the flank produced different compositions. Lavas erupted from the flank vent range from 6.3 to 14.1% MgO, nearly the entire range of MgO contents previously reported from the volcano. On-site monitoring of eruptive activity is linked with petrogenetic processes such that geochemical variations are evaluated in a temporal context. Lavas from the 1998 eruption record two petrogenetic stages characterized by progressively more mafic lavas as the eruption proceeded. Crystal compositions, whole rock major and trace element compositions, and isotope ratios indicate that early lavas are the product of mixing between 1998 magma and remnant magma of the 1979 eruption. Intra-caldera lavas and later lavas have no 1979 signature, but were produced by the 1998 magma incorporating olivine and clinopyroxene xenocrysts. Thus, early magma petrogenesis is characterized by mixing with the 1979 magma, followed by the magma progressively entraining wehrlite cumulate mush.

The 2002–03 Mt Etna flank eruption began on 26 October 2002 and finished on 28 January 2003, after three months of continuous explosive activity and discontinuous lava flow output. The eruption involved the opening of eruptive fissures on the NE and S flanks of the volcano, with lava flow output and fire fountaining until 5 November. After this date, the eruption continued exclusively on the S flank, with continuous explosive activity and lava flows active between 13 November and 28 January 2003. Multi-disciplinary data collected during the eruption (petrology, analyses of ash components, gas geochemistry, field surveys, thermal mapping and structural surveys) allowed us to analyse the dynamics of the eruption. The eruption was triggered either by (i) accumulation and eventual ascent of magma from depth or (ii) depressurisation of the edifice due to spreading of the eastern flank of the volcano. The extraordinary explosivity makes the 2002–03 eruption a unique event in the last 300 years, comparable only with La Montagnola 1763 and the 2001 Lower Vents eruptions. A notable feature of the eruption was also the simultaneous effusion of lavas with different composition and emplacement features. Magma erupted from the NE fissure represented the partially degassed magma fraction normally residing within the central conduits and the shallow plumbing system. The magma that erupted from the S fissure was the relatively undegassed, volatile-rich, buoyant fraction which drained the deep feeding system, bypassing the central conduits. This is typical of most Etnean eccentric eruptions. We believe that there is a high probability that Mount Etna has entered a new eruptive phase, with magma being supplied to a deep reservoir independent from the central conduit, that could periodically produce sufficient overpressure to propagate a dyke to the surface and generate further flank eruptions.

The 13-day-long Gjalp eruption within the Vatnajokull ice cap in October 1996 provided important data on ice–volcano interaction in a thick temperate glacier. The eruption produced 0.8 km3 of mainly volcanic glass with a basaltic icelandite composition (equivalent to 0.45 km3 of magma). Ice thickness above the 6-km-long volcanic fissure was initially 550–750 m. The eruption was mainly subglacial forming a 150–500 m high ridge; only 2–4% of the volcanic material was erupted subaerially. Monitoring of the formation of ice cauldrons above the vents provided data on ice melting, heat flux and indirectly on eruption rate. The heat flux was 5–6×105 W m-2 in the first 4 days. This high heat flux can only be explained by fragmentation of magma into volcanic glass. The pattern of ice melting during and after the eruption indicates that the efficiency of instantaneous heat exchange between magma and ice at the eruption site was 50–60%. If this is characteristic for magma fragmentation in subglacial eruptions, volcanic material and meltwater will in most cases take up more space than the ice melted in the eruption. Water accumulation would therefore cause buildup of basal water pressure and lead to rapid release of the meltwater. Continuous drainage of meltwater is therefore the most likely scenario in subglacial eruptions under temperate glaciers. Deformation and fracturing of ice played a significant role in the eruption and modified the subglacial water pressure. It is found that water pressure at a vent under a subsiding cauldron is substantially less than it would be during static loading by the overlying ice, since the load is partly compensated for by shear forces in the rapidly deforming ice. In addition to intensive crevassing due to subsidence at Gjalp, a long and straight crevasse formed over the southernmost part of the volcanic fissure on the first day of the eruption. It is suggested that the feeder dyke may have overshot the bedrock–ice interface, caused high deformation rates and fractured the ice up to the surface. The crevasse later modified the flow of meltwater, explaining surface flow of water past the highest part of the edifice. The dominance of magma fragmentation in the Gjalp eruption suggests that initial ice thickness greater than 600–700 m is required if effusive eruption of pillow lava is to be the main style of activity, at least in similar eruptions of high initial magma discharge.

The July–August 2001 eruption of Mt. Etna stimulated widespread public and media interest, caused significant damage to tourist facilities, and for several days threatened the town of Nicolosi on the S flank of the volcano. Seven eruptive fissures were active, five on the S flank between 3,050 and 2,100 m altitude, and two on the NE flank between 3,080 and 2,600 m elevation. All produced lava flows over various periods during the eruption, the most voluminous of which reached a length of 6.9 km. Mineralogically, the 2001 lavas fall into two distinct groups, indicating that magma was supplied through two different and largely independent pathways, one extending laterally from the central conduit system through radial fissures, the other being a vertically ascending eccentric dike. Furthermore, one of the eccentric vents, at 2,570 m elevation, was the site of vigorous phreatomagmatic activity as the dike cut through a shallow aquifer, during both the initial and closing stages of the eruption. For 6 days the magma column feeding this vent was more or less effectively sealed from the aquifer, permitting powerful explosive and effusive magmatic activity. While the eruption was characterized by a highly dynamic evolution, complex interactions between some of the eruptive fissures, and changing eruptive styles, its total volume (~25×106 m3 of lava and 5–10×106 m3 of pyroclastics) was relatively small in comparison with other recent eruptions of Etna. Effusion rates were calculated on a daily basis and reached peaks of 14–16 m3 s-1, while the average effusion rate at all fissures was about 11 m3 s-1, which is not exceptionally high. The eruption showed a number of peculiar features, but none of these (except the contemporaneous lateral and eccentric activity) represented a significant deviation from Etna's eruptive behavior in the long term. However, the 2001 eruption could be but the first in a series of flank eruptions, some of which might be more voluminous and hazardous. Placed in a long-term context, the eruption confirms a distinct trend, initiated during the past 50 years, toward higher production rates and more frequent eruptions, which might bring Etna back to similar levels of activity as during the early to mid seventeenth century.

Shishaldin Volcano, Unimak Island Alaska, began showing signs of thermal unrest in satellite images on 9 February 1999. A thermal anomaly and small steam plume were detected at the summit of the volcano in short-wave thermal infrared AVHRR (advanced very high resolution radiometer) satellite data. This was followed by over 2 months of changes in the observed thermal character of the volcano. Initially, the thermal anomaly was only visible when the satellite passed nearly directly over the volcano, suggesting a hot source deep in the central crater obscured from more oblique satellite passes. The "zenith angle" needed to see the anomaly increased with time, presumably as the thermal source rose within the conduit. Based on this change, an ascent rate of ca. 14 m per day for the thermal source was estimated, until it reached the summit on around 21 March. It is thought that Strombolian activity began around this time. The precursory activity culminated in a sub-Plinian eruption on 19 April, ejecting ash to over 45,000 ft. (13,700 m). The thermal energy output through the precursory period was calculated based on geometric constraints unique to Shishaldin. These calculations show fluctuations that can be tied to changes in the eruptive character inferred from seismic records and later geologic studies. The remote location of this volcano made satellite images a necessary observation tool for this eruption. To date, this is the longest thermal precursory activity preceding a sub-Plinian eruption recorded by satellite images in the region. This type of thermal monitoring of remote volcanoes is central in the efforts of the Alaska Volcano Observatory to provide timely warnings of volcanic eruption, and mitigate their associated hazards to air-traffic and local residents.

Shishaldin Volcano, in the central Aleutian volcanic arc, became seismically restless during the summer of 1998. Increasing unrest was monitored using a newly installed seismic network, weather satellites, and rare local visual observations. The unrest culminated in large eruptions on 19 April and 22–23 April 1999. The opening phase of the 19 April eruption produced a sub-Plinian column that rose to 16 km before rapidly dissipating. About 80 min into the 19 April event we infer that the eruption style transitioned to vigorous Strombolian fountaining. Exceptionally vigorous seismic tremor heralded the 23 April eruption, which produced a large thermal anomaly observable by satellite, but only a modest, 6-km-high plume. There are no ground-based visual observations of this eruption; however we infer that there was renewed, vigorous Strombolian fountaining. Smaller low-level ash-rich plumes were produced through the end of May 1999. The lava that erupted was evolved basalt with about 49% SiO2. Subsequent field investigations have been unable to find a distinction between deposits from each of the two major eruptive episodes.

A pronounced volcanic production maximum on the rift zones through Iceland coincided with rapid crustal rebound during and after glacier melting at the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary. At peak glaciation, ice thickness over central Iceland may have reached 1,500–2,000 m, causing 400–500-m depression of the crust. Rapid climatic improvement caused glacier melting and removal of the ice load within about 1,000 years. Low mantle viscosity resulted in rapid crustal rebound which was completed in about 1,000 years, with an average rate of uplift on the order of nearly half a metre per year over central Iceland. High volcanic production rate is documented by tephrachronological dating and volume estimates of several large-volume monogenetic lava shields and polygenetic volcanic centres along the plate boundary. A Plinian rhyolitic eruption, dated at about 10 ka within the Askja caldera in the Dyngjufjoll volcanic centre, left a pumice deposit which serves as a marker horizon during this remarkable, high-intensity period in the history of the volcano. At the time of the eruption, glaciers had retreated from the coastal areas of the country but the central, elevated parts were covered with a thinning glacier. The Plinian eruption (1–2 km3 dense rock equivalent) was triggered by pressure release caused by glacier melting and volatile supersaturation. Distal deposits of rhyolitic pumice are found in soil sections in coastal areas of eastern and northern Iceland where the pumice occurs between tephra layers from other sources which have been dated by independent methods. A few proximal deposits are preserved within the Dyngjufjoll centre. These provide age constraints on major tectonic and volcanic events during the period of crustal rebound, before and after complete glacier removal. The rhyolitic pumice is sandwiched between thick layers of phreatomagmatic basaltic tephra formed in an open melt-water lake. Sharp contacts between the deposits suggest quick succession of events, but lack of mixing between magmas indicates separate vent locations. The vent location for the 10-ka Plinian eruption has been obliterated by later events but available evidence, supported by a gravity survey, suggests its location in the central part of the Dyngjufjoll volcano. The eruption formed a subsidence structure, presently seen as an embayment in the hyaloclastite mountain block in the southern part of the Askja caldera where a second Plinian eruption occurred in 1875 A.D. The Plinian 10-ka eruption occurred while thinning glaciers were still present over central Iceland, but the Askja caldera formed after lavas started to flow over ice-free surfaces. The morphology of the caldera faults suggests non-simultaneous movement, and the tectonics are not easily compatible with conventional caldera models. A model is proposed involving uplift of tectonically well-defined crustal blocks to the north and west of the Askja caldera, combined with downsagging caused by voluminous outpouring of basaltic lava. The southern and eastern borders of the caldera are remnants of a subsidence following the 10-ka Plinian eruption, partly reactivated by the 1875 A.D. Plinian eruption. The model provides a satisfactory explanation for the enigmatic Oskjuop pass, and it is in agreement with a gravity survey of the Dyngjufjoll centre. The uplift coincided with rapid crustal rebound which was amplified by crustal deformation (doming) of the volcanic centre caused by high magmatic pressure in the plumbing system of the volcano. This is supported by emission of very large lava flows produced in the first millennia of the Holocene.

The 2013 eruption of Pavlof Volcano, Alaska began on 13 May and ended 49 days later on 1 July. The eruption was characterized by persistent lava fountaining from a vent just north of the summit, intermittent strombolian explosions, and ash, gas, and aerosol plumes that reached as high as 8 km above sea level and on several occasions extended as much as 500 km downwind of the volcano. During the first several days of the eruption, accumulations of spatter near the vent periodically collapsed to form small pyroclastic avalanches that eroded and melted snow and ice to form lahars on the lower north flank of the volcano. Continued lava fountaining led to the production of clastogenic lava flows that extended to the base of the volcano, about 3–4 km beyond the vent. The generation of fountain-fed lava flows was a dominant process during the 2013 eruption; however, episodic collapse of spatter accumulations and formation of hot spatter-rich granular avalanches was a more efficient process for melting snow and ice and initiating lahars. The lahars and ash plumes generated during the eruption did not pose any serious hazards for the area. However, numerous local airline flights were cancelled or rerouted, and trace amounts of ash fall occurred at all of the local communities surrounding the volcano, including Cold Bay, Nelson Lagoon, Sand Point, and King Cove.

Apoyeque volcano, located 9 km northwest of Managua city, erupted explosively at 12.4 ka. The Plinian eruption deposited a widespread pumice fall deposit known as the Upper Apoyeque Tephra (UAq). The UAq is massive, reversely graded, and consists of white juvenile pumice (~78 vol.%), a variety of cognate lithics and accidental altered lithics. The whole-rock pumice composition is rhyodacitic (SiO2 = 66.9–68.5 wt.%) with a mineral paragenesis of plagioclase, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, amphibole, titanomagnetite, and ilmenite in a rhyolitic glass groundmass (SiO2 = 74.4 ± 0.6 wt.%). The deposit’s dispersal axis is to the south, with the deposit covering a minimum area of 877 km2 within the 50 cm isopach and has a total volume of 3 km3 (dense rock equivalent, 1.15 km3). The eruption column reached a maximum height of ca.28 km. The eruption ejected a total mass of 3 × 1012 kg at an average rate of 2 × 108 kg/s, and based on available models, we infer duration of almost 4 h. Petrographic and geochemical characteristics suggest that the eruption was triggered by magma mixing.

A collapsed caldera, 1.6 km in diameter and 450 m in depth, was formed at the summit of Miyakejima Volcano during the 2000 eruption. The collapsed caldera appeared on 8 July, with a minor phreatic eruption, 12 days after seismic activity and magma intrusion occurred northwest of the volcano. Growth of the caldera took from 8 July to the middle of August, with seismic swarms associated with the continuous intrusion of magma northwest of the volcano. The growth rate of the caldera was about 1.4×107 m3/day, and the final volume of the collapsed caldera was about 6×108 m3. Major phreatomagmatic eruptions produced a total of about 1.6×1010 kg (1.1×107 m3) of volcanic ash after caldera growth. The caldera structure, and the nature of the eruptive materials of the first collapse on 8 July, suggest that the surface subsidence was caused by the upward migration of a steam-filled cavity, with stoping of the roof rock above the magma reservoir. The diameter of the stoping column was estimated to be 600–700 m from circumferential faults that developed in the caldera floor, and the collapse of the caldera wall enlarged the diameter of the caldera to 1.6 km. The total volume of the caldera and the horizontal diameter of the stoping column gave a subsidence of the caldera floor of 1.6–2.1 km.

Sr/86Sr (0.70322) and δ18O ( ∼2.9‰), whereas significantly lower and higher values, respectively, are found in samples from the Bardarbunga volcanic system (0.70307 and 3.8‰). These results strongly indicate that the Gjalp magma originated from the Grimsvotn magma system. The 1996 magma is of an intermediate composition, representing a basaltic icelandite formed by 50% fractional crystallization of a tholeiite magma similar in composition to that expelled by the 1998 Grimsvotn eruption. The differentiation that produced the Gjalp magma may have taken place in a subsidiary magma chamber that last erupted in 1938 and would be located directly beneath the 1996 eruption site. This chamber was ruptured when a tectonic fracture propagated southward from Bardarbunga central volcano, as indicated by the seismicity that preceded the eruption. Our geochemical results are therefore not in agreement with lateral magma migration feeding the 1996 Gjalp eruption. Moreover, the results clearly demonstrate that isotope ratios are excellent tracers for deciphering pathways of magma migration and permit a clear delineation of the volcanic systems beneath Vatnajokull ice sheet.

During the 1944 eruption of Vesuvius a sudden change occurred in the dynamics of the eruptive events, linked to variations in magma composition. K-phonotephritic magmas were erupted during the effusive phase and the first lava fountain, whereas the emission of strongly porphyritic K-tephrites took place during the more intense fountain. Melt inclusion compositions (major and volatile elements) highlight that the magmas feeding the eruption underwent differentiation at different pressures. The K-tephritic volatile-rich melts (up to 3 wt.% H2O, 3000 ppm CO2, and 0.55 wt.% Cl) evolved to reach K-phonotephritic compositions by crystallization of diopside and forsteritic olivine at total fluid pressure higher than 300 MPa. These magmas fed a very shallow reservoir. The low-pressure differentiation of the volatile-poor K-phonotephritic magmas (H2O

Kuju Volcano lies near Aso Caldera at the center of Kyushu Island, western Japan. After a few hundred years of dormancy, a phreatic explosion accompanied by a small ash eruption occurred on 11 October 1995. This study was undertaken to determine the subsurface seismic velocity structure associated with the active magmatic regime in the Kuju volcanic region. The three-dimensional, upper crustal, P-wave velocity structure beneath Kuju Volcano was determined using methods for the simultaneous inversion of P-wave arrival times from local earthquakes in and around the Kuju volcanic region for velocities and hypocentral parameters. Results reveal two shallower low-velocity anomalies located in the northern and southern parts of Kuju Volcano, consistent with the presence of significant negative Bouguer gravity anomalies. In addition, a high-velocity anomaly is located approximately 5 km northwest of Mt. Kuju, one of the domes in Kuju Volcano. Beneath this high-velocity anomaly, a low-velocity anomaly is present. This velocity structure suggests a magmatic regime that has a lid consisting of cooled solid material overlying a chamber of partially molten material.

Many basaltic and andesitic polygenetic volcanoes have cyclic eruptive activity that alternates between a phase dominated by flank eruptions and a phase dominated by eruptions from a central vent. This paper proposes the use of time-series diagrams of eruption sites on each polygenetic volcano and intrusion distances of dikes to evaluate volcano growth, to qualitatively reconstruct the stress history within the volcano, and to predict the next eruption site. In these diagrams the position of an eruption site is represented by the distance from the center of the volcano and the clockwise azimuth from north. Time-series diagrams of Mauna Loa, Kilauea, Kliuchevskoi, Etna, Sakurajima, Fuji, Izu-Oshima, and Hekla volcanoes indicate that fissure eruption sites of these volcanoes migrated toward the center of the volcano linearly, radially, or spirally with damped oscillation, occasionally forming a hierarchy in convergence-related features. At Krafla, terminations of dikes also migrated toward the center of the volcano with time. Eruption sites of Piton de la Fournaise did not converge but oscillated around the center. After the convergence of eruption sites with time, the central eruption phase is started. The intrusion sequence of dikes is modeled, applying crack interaction theory. Variation in convergence patterns is governed by the regional stress and the magma supply. Under the condition that a balance between regional extension and magma supply is maintained, the central vent convergence time during the flank eruption phase is 1–10 years, whereas the flank vent recurrence time during the central eruption phase is greater than 100 years owing to an inferred decrease in magma supply. Under the condition that magma supply prevails over regional extension, the central vent convergence time increases, whereas the flank vent recurrence time decreases owing to inferred stress relaxation. Earthquakes of M≥6 near a volcano during the flank eruption phase extend the central vent convergence time. Earthquakes during the central eruption phase promote recurrence of flank eruptions. Asymmetric distribution of eruption sites around the flanks of a volcano can be caused by local stress sources such as an adjacent volcano.

One of the largest explosive eruptions in the past several thousand years occurred at Tianchi volcano, also known as Changbaishan, on the China–North Korea border. This historically active polygenetic central volcano consists of three parts: a lower basaltic shield, an upper trachytic composite cone, and young comendite ash flows. The Millennium Eruption occurred between 938 and 946 ad, and was preceded by two smaller and chemically different rhyolitic pumice deposits. There has been at least one additional, small eruption in the last three centuries. From 2002 to 2005, seismicity, deformation, and the helium and hydrogen gas contents of spring waters all increased markedly, causing regional concern. We attribute this event to magma recharge or volatile exhalation or both at depth, followed by two episodes of addition of magmatic fluids into the overlying aquifer without a phreatic eruption. The estimated present magma accumulation rate is too low by itself to account for the 2002–2005 unrest. The most serious volcanic hazards are ash eruption and flows, and lahars. The available geological information and volcano monitoring data provide a baseline for comprehensive assessment of future episodes of unrest and possible eruptive activity.

The 1991–1993 eruption was probably the largest on Mt. Etna for 300 years. Since then the volcano has entered an unusually quiescent period. A comprehensive record of gravity and ground deformation changes presented here bracket this eruption and give valuable insight into magma movements before, during and after the eruption. The gravity and deformation changes observed before the eruption (1990–1991) record the intrusion of magma into the summit feeder and the SSE-trending fracture system which had recently been active in 1978, 1979, 1983 and 1989, creating the feeder dyke for the 1991–1993 eruption. In the summit region gravity changes between 1992 and 1993 (spanning the end of the eruption) reflect the withdrawal of magma from the conduit followed more recently (1993–1994) by the re-filling of magma in the conduit up to pre-eruption levels. In contrast, in the vicinity of the fracture zone, gravity has remained at the 1991–1992 level, indicating that no withdrawal has occurred here. Rather, magma has solidified in the fracture system and sealed it such that the 1993–1994 increase in magma level in the conduit was not accompanied by further intrusion into the flanks. Mass calculations suggest that a volume of at least 107 m3 of magma has solidified within the southeastern flank of the volcano.