Spectral Age Dating of Volcanic Materials

Abstract:

As part of the HyspIRI preparatory airborne campaign, high spectral resolution data of the Mono-Inyo craters had been collected. The Mono-Inyo Craters are a chain of geologically young craters that have been erupted over the past 40,000 years. We show a spectral variation in the 2.21μm absorption band depth (commonly associated with the Si-OH stretch) between craters of different ages. To explain this we propose the devitrification of the surface of the volcanic materials creating a weathering rind that thickens with age. A definite linear correlation between age and band depth is shown for craters less than 5,000 years old and potential logarithmic correlation for older craters. To help test this, hand samples from the craters were collected from several of the volcanic craters and the weathering rind thickness measured using a scanning electron microprobe. This correlation combined with a HyspIRI like dataset could be used to define volcanic hazards in large or remote regions, such as the Aleutian Island Arc or Kamchatka Peninsula.