Products of a Subglacial Flood Basalt Eruption

Abstract:

The Snæbýlisheiði unit, SE Iceland, is a ca. 26 km³ elongate, flat-topped ridge of volcaniclastic debris coupled with and intruded by coherent basalt stretching over 34 km from the eruption site perpendicular to the rift fissure source. It formed from a single subglacial flood basalt eruption during a recent glaciation, and its elongation reflects glacial control on dispersal via the hydraulic potential gradient at the glacier's base, which drove towards the glacier terminus the meltwater+debris formed during the eruption by quenching and fragmentation. High magma discharge and outgassing drove segregation of magma into down-flow propagating intrusions. Edifice growth was mediated by the extent of ice melting, extent and efficiency of meltwater+debris drainage, and hydraulic gradients locally favoring meltwater accumulation. Eruption style reflected magma flux, edifice stability, and accessibility of water to the vent area via flooding or infiltration. Deposits reflect these competing factors in their chaotic internal organization and stratigraphy, limited lithofacies continuity, and diverse particle populations from multiple source vents. Linear growth of the ridge down-gradient from the eruption site was driven primarily by propagation and continuous fragmentation of shoaling intrusions that formed an interconnected intrusive complex with extensive peperites. Advance was along gently meandering and locally bifurcating sub-ice conduits within hyaloclastite with sheet-lobe levees and lobate fingered intrusions. Irregular dikes, apophyses, horns, and tendrils extended from the main body and generated voluminous lapilli tuff and contorticlasts while providing additional heat to the system. Prolonged transport and deposition of debris produced complexly bedded volcaniclastic deposits derived from and intruded by the basalt sheet. The bedding and depositional features of volcaniclastic debris and relationship to their adjacent intrusions suggest transport and deposition through a complex network of migrating and converging tunnels evolving with time under multiple flow regimes and sudden outbursts floods, rather than from a single jökulhlaup or within a single tunnel.