Near Surface Controls on Magma Fragmentation and Ash Generation during Contemporaneous Magmatic and Phreatomagmatic Activity: Insights from the 2500BC Hverfjall Fires, Iceland

Abstract:

Magma-water interaction (MWI) influences both eruption style and resulting pyroclast grain size (and transport properties). We explore both the mechanisms and consequences of MWI by examining tephra deposits from the 2500BC Hverfjall Fires within the Krafla fissure system, northern Iceland. Here, contemporaneous fissure vents spanned sub-aerial to shallow lacustrine environments, causing both dry magmatic and variably wet phreatomagmatic activity. As all vents shared the same initial magma composition, the range of pyroclastic (ash fall, wet surge, dry surge and scoria) deposits provides an excellent sample suite to explore fragmentation mechanisms under different near-surface conditions. Sample analysis of the opening phreatomagmatic phase shows that ash components of individual size fractions exhibit a linear increase [from 8% (1φ) to 77% (>4φ)] in the proportion of dense blocky fragments with decreasing size (Figure). The proportion of vesicular particles decreases concurrently, but shards comprise an increasing proportion of the vesicular size fraction [from 6% (1φ) to 70% (>4φ)]. Free crystals, lithic and microcrystalline grains are ~10% of all size classes. We compare these morphological data to (1) bubble size distributions (BSDs) and (2) the spatial distribution of preserved volatiles in matrix glass, which record the degassing history and pressure/rate of quenching, respectively. Measured BSDs for quenched Pele’s tears within the opening phreatomagmatic ash deposit show a modal bubble diameter of 20–30 µm (by number) or 150–200 µm (by volume), comparable to those from Kilauea Iki fire fountains in Hawaii. Elevated dissolved sulphur concentrations (≤ 550 ppm) in phreatomagmatic ash compared to magmatic scoria (~180 ppm), however, suggests either faster quench rates and/or greater fragmentation depths. To discriminate between these alternatives, we analyse BSDs in ash from the magmatic phase, which requires determining the optimal particle size for BSD analysis: small particles do not preserve the volumetrically important large bubbles, while large particles experience post-fragmentation expansion. Finally, comparing BSDs to grain size distributions demonstrates the importance of bubbles in localizing thermal stresses during phreatomagmatic fragmentation.