Cryospheric Impacts on Volcano-Magmatic Systems

Edwards, Benjamin R.; Russell, James K.; Pollock, Meagen

doi:10.3389/feart.2022.871951

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 88 publications

(157 reference statements)

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“…Distinguishing between seawater and glacial meltwater can be achieved in favorably exposed instances by examining the lithofacies and architecture of tuff cones. Because of the buttressing effects of coeval ice during glaciovolcanic eruptions, the tephra products rapidly infill the englacial (meltwater-filled) vault and bank up against the enclosing ice walls (Smellie, 2018, in press;Edwards et al, 2022). This leads to a distinctive edifice morphology with a high aspect ratio (i.e., limited lateral extent) and an internal architecture comprising gently dipping strata at all elevations around the margins of englacial tuff cones.…”

Section: Tuff Conesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Volcanoes erupt in various environmental settings, including subaerial, subaqueous (lacustrine, marine), and subglacial. Each environment differently influences the erupting magma, resulting in varied eruptive styles and different types of edifices constructed (Cas and Simmons, 2018;Edwards et al, 2022). For example, notwithstanding localized explosivity due to induced fuel-coolant interaction (IFCI) of magmas highly strained during the eruption (Dürig et al, 2020), under deep water conditions, volatile exsolution is largely inhibited, molten fuel-coolant interactions (MFCI) are suppressed, and lava effusion dominates, usually as pillow lava (Kokelaar, 1986;Schmincke and Bednarz, 1990;Clague and Paduan, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, the eruptive setting imposed by local environmental conditions can exert a dominating influence on eruption dynamics and edifice construction. Interpreting the eruptive setting can therefore be used as a dipstick to reconstruct past environments and thereby document climate change (Smellie, 2018;Edwards et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Controlling influence of water and ice on eruptive style and edifice construction in the Mount Melbourne Volcanic Field (northern Victoria Land, Antarctica)

2023

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The Mount Melbourne Volcanic Field (MMVF) is part of the West Antarctic Rift System, one of Earth’s largest intra-continental rift zones. It contains numerous small, compositionally diverse (alkali basalt–benmoreite) flank and satellite vents of Late Miocene–Pliocene age (≤12.50 Ma; mainly less than 2.5 Ma). They demonstrate a wide range of morphologies and eruptive mechanisms despite overlapping compositions and elevations, and they occur in a relatively small area surrounding the active Mount Melbourne stratovolcano. The volcanic outcrops fall into several main categories based on eruptive style: scoria cones, tuff cones, megapillow complexes, and shield volcanoes. Using the analysis of lithofacies and appraisal of the internal architectures of the outcrops, we have interpreted the likely eruptive setting for each center and examined the links between the environmental conditions and the resulting volcanic edifice types. Previous investigations assumed a glacial setting for most of the centers but without giving supporting evidence. We demonstrate that the local contemporary environmental conditions exerted a dominant control on the resulting volcanic edifices (i.e., the presence or absence of water, including ice or snow). The scoria cones erupted under dry subaerial conditions. Products of highly explosive hydrovolcanic eruptions are represented by tuff cones. The water involved was mainly glacial (meltwater) but may have been marine in a few examples, based on a comparison of the contrasting internal architectures of tuff cones erupted in confined (glacial) and unconfined (marine, lacustrine) settings. One of the glaciovolcanic tuff cones ceased activity shortly after it began transitioning to a tuya. The megapillow complexes are highly distinctive and have not been previously recognized in glaciovolcanic successions. They are subglacial effusive sequences emplaced as interconnected megapillows, lobes, and thick simple sheet lavas. They are believed to have erupted at moderately high discharge and reduced cooling rates in partially drained englacial vaults under ice, probably several hundred meters in thickness. Finally, several overlapping small shield volcanoes crop out mainly in the Cape Washington peninsula area. They are constructed of previously unrecognized multiple ‘a‘ā lava-fed deltas, erupted in association with a thin draping ice cover c. 50–145 m thick. Our study highlights how effectively water in all its forms (e.g., snow, ice, and any meltwater) or its absence exerts a fundamental control on eruption dynamics and volcano construction. When linked to published ages and 40Ar/39Ar dates produced by this study, the new environmental information indicates that the Late Pliocene–Pleistocene landscape was mainly an icefield rather than a persistent topography-drowning ice sheet. Ice thicknesses also generally increased toward the present.

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Section: Tuff Conesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Controlling influence of water and ice on eruptive style and edifice construction in the Mount Melbourne Volcanic Field (northern Victoria Land, Antarctica)

2023

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“…Future volcanic activity and landslides may be increasingly viewed through the lens of modern-day climate change. To positively affect public and media responses to these potential hazards, a comprehensive understanding of the links between volcanism and the cryosphere should be targeted (Edwards et al, 2022).…”

Section: Future Outlookmentioning

confidence: 99%

An assessment of potential causal links between deglaciation and eruption rates at arc volcanoes

Conway

Pure²,

Ishizuka

2023

Front. Earth Sci.

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One of the fundamental questions that underpins studies of the interactions between the cryosphere and volcanism is: do causal relationships exist between the ice volume on a volcano and its eruption rate? In particular, it is critical to determine whether the decompression of crustal magma systems via deglaciation has resulted in enhanced eruption rates along volcanic arcs in the middle to high latitudes. Evidence for such a feedback mechanism would indicate that ongoing glacier retreat could lead to future increases in eruptive activity. Archives of eruption frequency, size, and style, which can be used to test whether magma generation and eruption dynamics have been affected by local ice volume fluctuations, exist in the preserved eruptive products of Pleistocene-Holocene volcanoes. For this contribution, we have reviewed time-volume-composition trends for 33 volcanoes and volcanic groups in arc settings affected by glaciation, based on published radiometric ages and erupted volumes and/or compositions of edifice-forming products. Of the 33 volcanic systems examined that have geochronological and volumetric data of sufficient resolution to compare to climatic changes since ∼250 ka, increases in apparent eruption rates during post-glacial periods were identified for 4, with unclear trends identified for a further 12. Limitations in the geochronological and eruption volume datasets of the case studies make it difficult to test whether apparent eruption rates are correlated with ice coverage. Major caveats are: 1) the potential for biased preservation and exposure of eruptive materials within certain periods of a volcano’s lifespan; 2) the relative imprecision of geochronological constraints for volcanic products when compared with high-resolution climate proxy records; 3) the reliance on data only from immediately before and after the Last Glacial Termination (∼18 ka), which are rarely compared with trends throughout the Pleistocene to test the reproducibility of eruptive patterns; and 4) the lack of consideration that eruption rates and magma compositions may be influenced by mantle and crustal processes that operate independently of glacial advance/retreat. Addressing these limitations will lead to improvements in the fields of geochronology, paleoclimatology, and eruption forecasting, which could make valuable contributions to the endeavours of mitigating future climate change and volcanic hazards.

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“…Glaciovolcanism creates global-scale records of paleoenvironmental conditions (Smellie and Edwards, 2016;Smellie, 2018) and magmatic-climatic system interactions. Dramatic glaciovolcanic eruptions in Iceland (Gjálp in 1996 andEyjafjallajökull in 2010) have driven research on glaciovolcanism over the past 2 decades (Smellie and Edwards, 2016), yielding firsthand observations of the effects of the cryosphere on volcanic products (Edwards et al, 2022). Those products are used in paleoclimate studies to constrain the extent and thickness of past glaciers and ice sheets on Earth (e.g., Lescinsky and Fink, 2000;Smellie, 2008;Tuffen et al, 2010;Edwards et al, 2011) and on Mars (cf.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The complex construction of a glaciovolcanic ridge with insights from the 2021 Fagradalsfjall Eruption (Iceland)

Pollock

Edwards²,

Judge³

et al. 2023

Front. Earth Sci.

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Glaciovolcanic landforms provide global-scale records of paleoenvironmental conditions and yield insights into subglacial eruption processes. Models for the formation of glaciovolcanic ridges, or tindars, are relatively simple, proposing a monogenetic eruption and a fairly uniform stratigraphy with or without a single transition from effusive pillow lavas to explosive fragmental deposits. Others have suggested that tindars are more complicated. To build a more robust model for tindar formation, we conducted a field and geochemical study of Undirhlíðar ridge on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwestern Iceland. We show that the ridge was built through a complex sequence of eruptive and intrusive events under dynamically changing ice conditions. Quarry walls expose a continuous cross-section of the ridge, revealing multiple pillow and fragmental units. Pillow lava orientations record the emplacement of discrete pillow-dominated lobes and the migration of volcanic activity between eruptive vents. Volatile contents in glassy pillow rinds show repeated pulses of pillow lava emplacement under glaciostatic conditions, with periods of fragmentation caused by depressurization. Variations in major elements, incompatible trace element ratios, and Pb-isotopes demonstrate that the eruption was fed from separate crustal melt reservoirs containing melts from a compositionally heterogeneous mantle source. A shift in mantle source signature of pillow lavas suggests that the primary ridge-building phase was triggered by the injection of magma into the crust. Within the growing edifice, magma was transported through dykes and irregularly shaped intrusions, which are up to 20% by area of exposed stratigraphy sequences. The model for tindar construction should consider the significant role of intrusions in the growth of the ridge, a detail that would be difficult to identify in natural erosional exposures. The 2021–22 eruptions from the adjacent Fagradalsfjall vents allow us to draw parallels between fissure-fed eruptions in subaerial and ice-confined environments and test hypotheses about the composition of the mantle underlying the Reykjanes Peninsula. Both Fagradalsfjall and Undirhlíðar ridge eruptions may have occurred over similar spatial and temporal scales, been triggered by mixing events, erupted lavas with varying mantle source signatures, and focused volcanic activity along migrating vents. Differences in composition between the two locations are not related to systematic lateral variations in the underlying mantle. Rather, the Undirhlíðar ridge and Fagradalsfjall eruptions capture complex interactions among the crustal magma plumbing system, mantle source heterogeneity, and melting conditions for a moment in time.

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Cryospheric Impacts on Volcano-Magmatic Systems

Cited by 3 publications

References 88 publications

Controlling influence of water and ice on eruptive style and edifice construction in the Mount Melbourne Volcanic Field (northern Victoria Land, Antarctica)

Controlling influence of water and ice on eruptive style and edifice construction in the Mount Melbourne Volcanic Field (northern Victoria Land, Antarctica)

An assessment of potential causal links between deglaciation and eruption rates at arc volcanoes

The complex construction of a glaciovolcanic ridge with insights from the 2021 Fagradalsfjall Eruption (Iceland)

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