Numerical simulation of the 30–45 ka debris avalanche flow of Montagne Pelée volcano, Martinique: from volcano flank collapse to submarine emplacement

<p>Hydrothermal alteration can progressively weaken volcanic flanks, leading to collapses and mass flows with potential hazards affecting communities and infrastructure many kilometres from the collapse source. Through a combination of geomagnetic and hyperspectral remote sensing, with field and laboratory measurements, we have developed an approach to assess and forecast these catastrophic hazards. Inversion of aerial geo-magnetic data is used to identify the subsurface structure and volume of weak (nominally altered) and strong (nominally unaltered) portions of the volcanic edifice of Mt. Ruapehu, New Zealand. Airborne hyperspectral imagery is used to classify the surface expression of hydrothermal alteration, which is combined with laboratory geotechnical measurements of field samples to estimate the strength of identified features. This data is essential to reducing the uncertainty in identifying flank collapse source areas through three-dimensional limit equilibrium modelling.</p><p>However, the range of potential collapse volumes, locations and triggering mechanisms still presents significant difficulties in forecasting the potential impacts of slope failures. Numerical mass flow models can be used to simulate debris avalanches, but it is infeasible to simulate all potential collapse scenarios to estimate the hazard. To ease the computational burden, we have developed a methodology that uses a reduced subset of potential slope failures through dimensional reduction and space-filling sampling techniques. Using debris avalanche simulations of this subset, a comprehensive mapping of debris flow impacts across the entire input space can be developed using statistical techniques. This mapping provides an efficient mechanism for understanding flank collapse hazards across a large spectrum of potential scenarios. This presentation will outline our framework for assessing and forecasting debris avalanche hazards through the integration of remote sensing surveys with geotechnical measurements.</p>

Download Full-text

Potential Flank-Collapse of Soufrière Volcano, Guadeloupe, Lesser Antilles? Numerical Simulation and Hazards

Natural Hazards ◽

10.1007/s11069-005-6128-8 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 39 (3) ◽

pp. 381-393 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Anne Le Friant ◽

Georges Boudon ◽

Jean-Christophe Komorowski ◽

Philippe Heinrich ◽

Michel P. Semet

Keyword(s):

Numerical Simulation ◽

Lesser Antilles ◽

Flank Collapse

Download Full-text

Syn-Eruptive Lateral Collapse of Monogenetic Volcanoes: The Case of Mazo Volcano from the Timanfaya Eruption (Lanzarote, Canary Islands)

10.5772/intechopen.93882 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Carmen Romero ◽

Inés Galindo ◽

Nieves Sánchez ◽

Esther Martín-González ◽

Juana Vegas

Keyword(s):

Canary Islands ◽

Great Part ◽

Volcanic Hazards ◽

Debris Avalanche ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Morphological Data ◽

Flank Collapse ◽

Tectonic Process ◽

Eruptive Style ◽

History Of

The evolution of complex volcanic structures usually includes the occurrence of flank collapse events. Monogenetic cones, however, are more stable edifices with minor rafting processes that remove part of the cone slopes. We present the eruptive history of Mazo volcano (Lanzarote, Canary Islands), including the first detailed description of a syn-eruptive debris avalanche affecting a volcanic monogenetic edifice. The study and characterization, through new geological and morphological data and the analysis of a great number of documentary data, have made it possible to reinterpret this volcano and assign it to the Timanfaya eruption (1730–1736). The eruptive style evolved from Hawaiian to Strombolian until a flank collapse occurred, destroying a great part of the edifice, and forming a debris avalanche exhibiting all the features that define collapsing volcanic structures. The existence of blocks from the substrate suggests a volcano-tectonic process associated with a fracture acting simultaneously with the eruption. The sudden decompression caused a blast that produced pyroclasts that covered most of the island. This study forces to change the current low-hazard perception usually linked to monogenetic eruptions and provides a new eruptive scenario to be considered in volcanic hazards analysis and mitigation strategies development.

Download Full-text

Flank collapse at Mount Wrangell, Alaska, recorded by volcanic mass-flow deposits in the Copper River lowland

Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences ◽

10.1139/e02-032 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 39 (8) ◽

pp. 1257-1279 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Christopher F Waythomas ◽

Kristi L Wallace

Keyword(s):

Debris Flow ◽

Mass Flow ◽

Volcanic Rocks ◽

Debris Avalanche ◽

Sector Collapse ◽

Flow Forming ◽

Flank Collapse ◽

South Central ◽

Flow Deposit ◽

Facies Types

An areally extensive volcanic mass-flow deposit of Pleistocene age, known as the Chetaslina volcanic mass-flow deposit, is a prominent and visually striking deposit in the southeastern Copper River lowland of south-central Alaska. The mass-flow deposit consists of a diverse mixture of colorful, variably altered volcanic rocks, lahar deposits, glaciolacustrine diamicton, and till that record a major flank collapse on the southwest flank of Mount Wrangell. The deposit is well exposed near its presumed source, and thick, continuous, stratigraphic exposures have permitted us to study its sedimentary characteristics as a means of better understanding the origin, significance, and evolution of the deposit. Deposits of the Chetaslina volcanic mass flow in the Chetaslina River drainage are primary debris-avalanche deposits and consist of two principal facies types, a near-source block facies and a distal mixed facies. The block facies is composed entirely of block-supported, shattered and fractured blocks with individual blocks up to 40 m in diameter. The mixed facies consists of block-sized particles in a matrix of poorly sorted rock rubble, sand, and silt generated by the comminution of larger blocks. Deposits of the Chetaslina volcanic mass flow exposed along the Copper, Tonsina, and Chitina rivers are debris-flow deposits that evolved from the debris-avalanche component of the flow and from erosion and entrainment of local glacial and glaciolacustrine diamicton in the Copper River lowland. The debris-flow deposits were probably generated through mixing of the distal debris avalanche with the ancestral Copper River, or through breaching of a debris-avalanche dam across the ancestral river. The distribution of facies types and major-element chemistry of clasts in the deposit indicate that its source was an ancestral volcanic edifice, informally known as the Chetaslina vent, on the southwest side of Mount Wrangell. A major sector collapse of the Chetaslina vent initiated the Chetaslina volcanic mass flow forming a debris avalanche of about 4 km3 that subsequently transformed to a debris flow of unknown volume.

Download Full-text

Numerical simulation of tsunami generation by cold volcanic mass flows at Augustine Volcano, Alaska

Natural Hazards and Earth System Science ◽

10.5194/nhess-6-671-2006 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 6 (5) ◽

pp. 671-685 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

C. F. Waythomas ◽

P. Watts ◽

J. S. Walder

Keyword(s):

Numerical Simulation ◽

North Pacific Ocean ◽

Debris Avalanche ◽

Pyroclastic Flows ◽

Tsunami Generation ◽

Cook Inlet ◽

Kenai Peninsula ◽

Debris Avalanches ◽

Short Period ◽

Mass Flows

Abstract. Many of the world's active volcanoes are situated on or near coastlines. During eruptions, diverse geophysical mass flows, including pyroclastic flows, debris avalanches, and lahars, can deliver large volumes of unconsolidated debris to the ocean in a short period of time and thereby generate tsunamis. Deposits of both hot and cold volcanic mass flows produced by eruptions of Aleutian arc volcanoes are exposed at many locations along the coastlines of the Bering Sea, North Pacific Ocean, and Cook Inlet, indicating that the flows entered the sea and in some cases may have initiated tsunamis. We evaluate the process of tsunami generation by cold granular subaerial volcanic mass flows using examples from Augustine Volcano in southern Cook Inlet. Augustine Volcano is the most historically active volcano in the Cook Inlet region, and future eruptions, should they lead to debris-avalanche formation and tsunami generation, could be hazardous to some coastal areas. Geological investigations at Augustine Volcano suggest that as many as 12–14 debris avalanches have reached the sea in the last 2000 years, and a debris avalanche emplaced during an A.D. 1883 eruption may have initiated a tsunami that was observed about 80 km east of the volcano at the village of English Bay (Nanwalek) on the coast of the southern Kenai Peninsula. Numerical simulation of mass-flow motion, tsunami generation, propagation, and inundation for Augustine Volcano indicate only modest wave generation by volcanic mass flows and localized wave effects. However, for east-directed mass flows entering Cook Inlet, tsunamis are capable of reaching the more populated coastlines of the southwestern Kenai Peninsula, where maximum water amplitudes of several meters are possible.

Download Full-text

Numerical simulation of the December 1997 Debris Avalanche in Montserrat, Lesser Antilles

Geophysical Research Letters ◽

10.1029/2001gl012968 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 28 (13) ◽

pp. 2529-2532 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Ph. Heinrich ◽

G. Boudon ◽

J. C. Komorowski ◽

R. S. J. Sparks ◽

R. Herd ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Numerical Simulation ◽

Debris Avalanche ◽

Lesser Antilles

Download Full-text

Shear localisation, strain partitioning and frictional melting in a debris avalanche generated by volcanic flank collapse

Journal of Structural Geology ◽

10.1016/j.jsg.2020.104132 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 140 ◽

pp. 104132 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Amy Hughes ◽

Jackie E. Kendrick ◽

Guido Salas ◽

Paul A. Wallace ◽

François Legros ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Debris Avalanche ◽

Strain Partitioning ◽

Flank Collapse ◽

Frictional Melting ◽

Shear Localisation

Download Full-text

Revisiting the tsunamigenic volcanic flank collapse of Fogo Island in the Cape Verdes, offshore West Africa

Geological Society London Special Publications ◽

10.1144/sp500-2019-187 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 500 (1) ◽

pp. 13-26 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Rachel Barrett ◽

Elodie Lebas ◽

Ricardo Ramalho ◽

Ingo Klaucke ◽

Steffen Kutterolf ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Debris Avalanche ◽

Volcanic Material ◽

Flank Collapse ◽

Bathymetric Data ◽

Medium Resolution ◽

History Of ◽

Seafloor Sediments ◽

Multi Phase ◽

Mass Transport Deposits

AbstractVolcanic archipelagos are a source of numerous on- and offshore geohazards, including explosive eruptions and potentially tsunamigenic large-scale flank collapses. Fogo Island in the southern Cape Verdes is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, making it both prone to collapse (as evidenced by the c. 73 ka Monte Amarelo volcanic flank collapse), and a source of widely distributed tephra and volcanic material. The offshore distribution of the Monte Amarelo debris avalanche deposits and the surrounding volcaniclastic apron were previously mapped using only medium-resolution bathymetric data. Here, using recently acquired, higher-resolution acoustic data, we revisit Fogo's flank collapse and find evidence suggesting that the deposition of hummocky volcanic debris originating from the failed eastern flank most likely triggered the contemporaneous, multi-phase failure of pre-existing seafloor sediments. Additionally, we identify, for the first time, multiple mass-transport deposits in the southern part of the volcaniclastic apron of Fogo and Santiago based on the presence of acoustically chaotic deposits in parametric echo sounder data and volcaniclastic turbiditic sands in recovered cores. These preliminary findings indicate a long and complex history of instability on the southern slopes of Fogo and suggest that Fogo may have experienced multiple flank collapses.

Download Full-text