Dynamics of deep-submarine volcanic eruptions

Abstract

Deposits from explosive submarine eruptions have been found in the deep sea, 1–4 km below the surface, with both flow and fall deposits extending several km’s over the seafloor. A model of a turbulent fountain suggests that after rising 10–20 m above the vent, the erupting particle-laden mixture entrains and mixes with sufficient seawater that it becomes denser than seawater. The momentum of the resulting negatively buoyant fountain is only sufficient to carry the material 50–200 m above the seafloor and much of the solid material then collapses to the seafloor; this will not produce the far-reaching fall deposits observed on the seabed. However, new laboratory experiments show that particle sedimentation at the top of the fountain enables some of the hot, buoyant water in the fountain to separate from the collapsing flow and continue rising as a buoyant plume until it forms a radially spreading intrusion higher in the water column. With eruption rates of 10$$^6$$ 6 –10$$^7$$ 7 $$\hbox {kg s}^{-1}$$ kg s - 1 , we estimate that this warm water may rise a few 100’s m above the fountain. Some of the finer grained pyroclasts can be carried upwards by this flow and as they spread out in the radial intrusion, they gradually sediment to form a fall deposit which may extend 1000’s m from the source. Meanwhile, material collapsing from the dense fountain forms aqueous pyroclastic flows which may also spread 1000’s m from the vent forming a flow deposit on the seabed. Quantification of the controls on the concurrent fall and flow deposits, and comparison with field observations, including from the 2012 eruption of Havre Volcano in the South Pacific, open the way to new understanding of submarine eruptions.

On particle fountains in a crossflow

“…After sufficient mixing, this flow becomes negatively buoyant and behaves as a multiphase fountain, consisting of a size distribution of pyroclasts and warm water, and the subsequent dynamics of the flow will be affected by the conditions of the ambient water column, such as ocean currents (Head & Wilson 2003; Cas & Simmons 2018; Newland et al. 2022).…”

“…We can utilise the model presented in Newland et al. (2022) to calculate the conditions of an eruption column as it transitions to a negatively buoyant flow and, using the framework presented in this paper, we can describe how the magnitude of ocean currents and the size of pyroclasts may affect the eruption dynamics. In figure 12, using similar source conditions as presented in Murch et al.…”

“…The following source conditions were used in the model presented in Newland et al. (2022) to simulate the conditions found at the Havre eruption of 2012 (Murch et al. 2020): vent km, vent m, initial , magma kg m and magma C.…”

“…The release of particle-laden fluid into the environment occurs in many settings, including both subaerial and subaqueous explosive volcanic eruptions (Head & Wilson 2003; Woods 2010; Newland, Mingotti & Woods 2022; Rowell et al. 2022) and tailings discharge from vessels during deep-sea mining (Mingotti & Woods 2020).…”

“…Using similar experimental techniques, Carazzo, Kaminski & Tait (2015) and Newland et al. (2022) investigated the effect of particle-sedimentation in turbulent fountains on the dynamics of volcanic eruption columns.…”