Stratigraphic reconstruction of the Víti breccia at Krafla volcano (Iceland): insights into pre-eruptive conditions priming explosive eruptions in geothermal areas

Krafla central volcano in Iceland has experienced numerous basaltic fissure eruptions through its history, the most recent examples being the Mývatn (1724‒1729) and Krafla Fires (1975–1984). The Mývatn Fires opened with a steam-driven eruption that produced the Víti crater. A magmatic intrusion has been inferred as the trigger perturbing the geothermal field hosting Víti, but the cause(s) of the explosive response remain uncertain. Here, we present a detailed stratigraphic reconstruction of the breccia erupted from Víti crater, characterize the lithologies involved in the explosions, reconstruct the pre-eruptive setting, fingerprint the eruption trigger and source depth, and reveal the eruption mechanisms. Our results suggest that the Víti eruption can be classified as a magmatic-hydrothermal type and that it was a complex event with three eruption phases. The injection of rhyolite below a pre-existing convecting hydrothermal system likely triggered the Víti eruption. Heating and pressurization of shallow geothermal fluid initiated disruption of a scoria cone “cap” via an initial series of small explosions involving a pre-existing altered weak zone, with ejection of fragments from at least 60-m depth. This event was superseded by larger, broader, and dominantly shallow explosions (~ 200 m depth) driven by decompression of hydrothermal fluids within highly porous, poorly compacted tuffaceous hyaloclastite. This second phase was triggered when pressurized fluids broke through the scoria cone complex “cap”. At the same time, deep-rooted explosions (~ 1-km depth) began to feed the eruption with large inputs of fragmented rhyolitic juvenile and host rock from a deeper zone. Shallow explosions enlarging the crater dominated the final phase. Our results indicate that at Krafla, as in similar geological contexts, shallow and thin hyaloclastite sequences hosting hot geothermal fluids and capped by low-permeability lithologies (e.g. altered scoria cone complex and/or massive, thick lava flow sequence) are susceptible to explosive failure in the case of shallow magmatic intrusion(s).

Monochromatic Long-Period Seismicity Prior to the 2012 Earthquake Swarm at Little Sitkin Volcano, Alaska

Detection of the earliest stages of unrest is one of the most challenging and yet critically needed aspects of volcano monitoring. We investigate a sequence of five unusual long-period (LP) earthquakes that occurred in the days prior to the onset of a months-long volcano-tectonic (VT) earthquake swarm beneath Little Sitkin volcano in the Aleutian Islands during late 2012. The long-period earthquakes had two distinctive characteristics: their signals were dominated by a monochromatic spectral peak at approximately 0.57 Hz and they had impulsive P and S-wave arrivals on a seismometer located on Amchitka Island 80 km to the southeast of the volcano. In each case, the monochromatic earthquakes ended with a higher-frequency event after approximately 2 min of duration. We find evidence that the five monochromatic LP earthquakes resulted from the resonance of a tabular magma body at middle crustal depths (15 km) on the western side of Little Sitkin. Based on the resonant frequency and quality factor of the monochromatic LP earthquakes, we infer the magma body to have a lateral extent of 500 m and a thickness of 9 m. We interpret that a magmatic intrusion excited the monochromatic LP earthquakes and subsequently increased the stress beneath the volcano, leading to the onset of the shallow (<10 km depth) VT swarm five days later.

Geochemical evidence of volcanic plumbing system processes from fumarolic gases and diffuse CO2 degassing of Taal volcano, Philippines, prior to the January 2020 eruption

<p>Significant temporal variations in the chemical and isotopic composition of Taal fumarolic gas as well as in diffuse CO<sub>2</sub> emission from Taal Main Crater Lake (TMLC) have been observed across the ~12 years of geochemical monitoring (Arpa et al., 2013; Hernández et a., 2017), with significant high CO<sub>2 </sub>degassing rates, typical of plume degassing volcanoes, measured in 2011 and 2017. In addition to these CO<sub>2</sub> surveys at the TCML, soil CO<sub>2</sub> efflux continuous monitoring was implemented at Taal volcano since 2016 and a clear increasing trend of the soil CO<sub>2</sub> efflux in 2017 was also observed. Increasing trends on the fumarolic CO<sub>2</sub>/St, He/CO<sub>2</sub>, CO/CO<sub>2</sub> and CO<sub>2</sub>/CH<sub>4</sub> ratios were recorded during the period 2010-2011 whereas increasing SO<sub>2</sub>/H<sub>2</sub>S, H<sub>2</sub>/CO<sub>2</sub> ratios were recorded during the period 2017-2018. A decreasing on the CO<sub>2</sub>/CH<sub>4</sub> and CO<sub>2</sub>/St ratios was observed for 2017-2018. These changes are attributed to an increased contribution of magmatic fluids to the hydrothermal system in both periods. Observed changes in H<sub>2</sub> and CO contents suggest increases in temperature and pressure in the upper parts of the hydrothermal system of Taal volcano. The <sup>3</sup>He/<sup>4</sup>He ratios corrected (Rc/Ra), and δ<sup>13</sup>C of fumarolic gases also increased during the periods 2010-2011 and 2017-2018 before the eruption onset. During this study, diffuse CO<sub>2</sub> emission values measured at TMCL showed a wide range of values from >0.5 g m<sup>−2</sup> d<sup>−1</sup> up to 84,902 g m<sup>−2</sup> d<sup>−1</sup>. The observed relatively high and anomalous diffuse CO<sub>2</sub> emission rate across the ~12 years reached values of 4,670 ± 159 t d<sup>-1 </sup>on March 24, 2011, and 3,858 ± 584 t d<sup>-1</sup> on November 11, 2017. The average value of the soil CO<sub>2</sub> efflux data measured by the geochemical station showed oscillations around background values until 14 March, 2017. Since then at 22:00 hours, a sharp increase of soil CO<sub>2</sub> efflux from ~0.1 up to 1.1 kg m<sup>-2</sup> d<sup>-1</sup> was measured in 9 hours and continued to show a sustained increase in time up to 2.9 kg m<sup>-2</sup> d<sup>-1</sup> in 2 November, that represents the main long-term variation of the soil CO<sub>2</sub> emission time series. All the above variations might be produced by two episodes of magmatic intrusion which favored degassing of a gas-rich magma at depth. During the 2010-2011 the magmatic intrusion of volatile-rich magma might have occurred from the mid-crustal storage region at shallower depths producing important changes in pressure and temperature conditions, whereas a new injection of more degassed magma into the deepest zone of the hydrothermal system occurring in 2017-2018 might have favored the accumulation of gases in the subsurface, promoting conditions leading to a phreatic eruption. These geochemical observations are most simply explained by magma recharge to the system, and represent the earliest warning precursor signals to the January 2020 eruptive activity.</p><p>Arpa, M.C., et al., 2013. Bull. Volcanol. 75, 747. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-013-0747-9.</p><p>Hernández, P.A., et al.,  2017. Geol. Soc. Lond. Spec. Publ. 437:131–152. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP437.17.</p>

Comment on “Estimating the depth and evolution of intrusions at resurgent calderas: Los Humeros (Mexico)” by Urbani et al. (2020)

A multiple shallow-seated magmatic intrusion model has been proposed by Urbani et al. (2020) for the resurgence of the Los Potreros caldera floor, in the Los Humeros volcanic complex (LHVC). This model predicts (1) the occurrence of localized bulges in the otherwise undeformed caldera floor, and (2) that the faults corresponding to different bulges exhibit different spatial and temporal evolution. Published data and a morphological analysis show that these two conditions are not met at Los Potreros caldera. A geothermal well (H4), located at the youngest supposed bulge (Loma Blanca) for which Urbani et al. (2020) calculated an intrusion depth (425±170 m), does not show any thermal and lithological evidence of such a shallow-seated cryptodome. Finally, published stratigraphic data and radiometric dating disprove the proposed common genesis of Holocene resurgence faulting and viscous lavas extruded in the centre of the caldera. Even if recent shallow intrusions do exist in the area, published data indicate that the pressurization of the LHVC magmatic–hydrothermal system driving resurgence faulting occurs at greater depth. Thus, we suggest that the model and calculation proposed by Urbani et al. (2020) are unlikely to have any relevance to the location, age and emplacement depth of magma intrusions driving resurgence at the Los Potreros caldera.

Mineralogical Characteristics of Early Permian Paragonite-Bearing Coal (No. 3) in the Jinyuan Mine, Tengxian Coalfield, Shandong Province, Eastern China

The Early Permian coal is of great value in the Tengxian Coalfield, Shandon Province, Eastern China. This work deals with the new data focusing on mineralogical characteristics in the Early Permian Shanxi Formation No. 3 coal from the Jinyuan Mine. The Jinyuan coal is a low ash and highly volatile A bituminous coal. Minerals in the No. 3 coal mainly comprise of kaolinite, ankerite, illite, calcite, siderite, and quartz, with varying compositions of trace amounts of pyrite, jarosite, bassanite, anatase, and rutile. According to mineral assemblage in the coal plies, three Types (A to C) can be identified in the No. 3 coal. The dominant minerals in Type A are poorly-ordered kaolinite, illite, quartz, pyrite, and jarosite. Type B is mainly composed of well-ordered kaolinite, illite, siderite, ankerite, and calcite. Type C, with just one sample (JY-3-7c), which contains high proportions of calcite (54%) and ankerite (34%). Terrigenous minerals are elevated in coal plies that typically have relatively high contents of ash yield. The formation of syngenetic pyrite was generally due to seawater, while the sulphate minerals (jarosite and coquimbite) were derived from the oxidation of pyrite. Epigenetic vein-like or fracture-fillings carbonate minerals (ankerite, calcite, and siderite), kaolinite, and pyrite, as well as authigenic quartz were derived from the influx of hydrothermal fluids during different periods, from the authigenic to epigenetic. The paragonite in the coal may have been formed by the precipitated from Na-rich hydrothermal fluids. No effects of magmatic intrusion on mineralogy were investigated in this research.