Cyclic Explosivity in High Elevation Phreatomagmatic Eruptions at Ocean Island Volcanoes: Implications for Aquifer Pressurization and Volcano Flank Destabilization.

Abstract:

Groundwater heating and pressurization of aquifers trapped between dikes in ocean island volcanoes has been proposed as a mechanism for destabilizing and triggering large-volume flank collapses. Previous modelling has indicated that heat transfer from sustained magma flow through dikes during eruption has the potential to produce destabilizing levels of pressure on time scales of 4 to 400 days, if the aquifers remain confined. Here we revisit this proposal from a different perspective. We examine evidence for pressure variations in dike-confined aquifers during eruptions at high elevation vents on ocean island volcanoes. Initially magmatic, these eruptions change to mostly small-volume explosive phreatomagmatic activity. A recent example is the 1949 eruption on La Palma, Canary Islands. Some such eruptions involve sequences of larger-volume explosive phases or cycles, including production of voluminous low-temperature, pyroclastic density currents (PDC). Here we present and interpret data from the Cova de Paul crater eruption (Santo Antao, Cape Verde Islands). The phreatomagmatic part of this eruption formed two cycles, each culminating with eruption of PDCs. Compositional and textural variations in the products of both cycles indicate that the diatreme fill began as coarse-grained and permeable which allowed gas to escape. During the eruption, the fill evolved to a finer grained, poorly sorted, less permeable material, in which pore fluid pressures built up to produce violent explosive phases. This implies that aquifers adjacent to the feeder intrusion were not simply depressurized at the onset of phreatomagmatic explosivity but experienced fluctuations in pressure throughout the eruption as the vent repeatedly choked and emptied. In combination with fluctuations in magma supply rate, driving of aquifer pressurization by cyclical vent choking will further complicate the prediction of flank destabilization during comparable eruptions on ocean island volcanoes.