Recent Two Distinct Eruptions at Sinabung and Kelud, Indonesia

Abstract:

Two distinct eruptions occurred in 2014 at Sinabung and Kelud volcanoes in Indonesia. Lava dome-forming eruption started at Sinabung volcano, N Sumatra, in the end of 2013, which was preceded by the phreatic events since 2010 and shallow inflation with high seismicity since 3 months before eruption. The 2010 eruption was the first historic eruption, and the latest eruption geologically recorded occurred in the 9 to 10th Century. The eruption had continued in a nearly constant rate of magma effusion as of the summer of 2014. The lava complex extended on the SE slope (~2.5 km long from the source), frequently generating pyroclastic flows. The volume of erupted magma reached about 0.1 km3 in the 2014 summer. The lava is porphyritic andesite (SiO2 ~57%). The existence of mafic blobs in rocks and plagioclase microlites more calcic than the phenocryst rims, and the absence of breakdown rim on hornblende phenocrysts suggest magma mixing prior to eruption and relatively fast magma ascent. On the other hand, the Plinian eruption began at Kelud volcano, W Java on the evening of February 13, 2014, which had declined almost within about 6 hours. The eruption cloud rose to 18-25 km in altitude, and tephra deposited on extensive areas. The precursory seismic activity started two weeks before eruption and the intensity increased with time. This short but explosive eruption was one of recent large eruptions (VEI 4) at Kelud, which had repeated every ~20 years. A lava dome of 0.035 km3 was accidentally (?) formed within the crater in 2007-2008. The total volume of tephra of the 2014 eruption is 0.2-0.3 km3 in DRE. The magma is crystal-rich basaltic andesite (SiO2 ~56%; phenocryst proportion of ~60%). The petrological characteristics are close to the 2007-2008 dome lava except higher crystallinity in the latter. Mobilization of crystal-rich chamber magma probably was brought by intrusion of new magma. Thus, these recent examples in Indonesia are less-explosive and explosive eruptions, respectively. The eruption rates were 5 m3/s and 2~4x10^4 m3/s for Sinabung and Kelud, respectively. Although magma mixing may have occurred as the trigger of these eruptions in the both, the critical difference between the two is not the magnitude of eruption but the eruption rate (probably magma ascent speed) with the magma viscosity.