Submarine pyroclastic deposits formed during the 20th May 2006 dome collapse of the Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat

Trofimovs, Jessica; Foster, Charlie; Sparks, R. S. J.; Loughlin, S. C.; Friant, Anne Le; Deplus, Christine; Porritt, L. A.; Christopher, T.; Luckett, Richard; Talling, Peter J.; Palmer, Martin R.; Bas, Tim Le

doi:10.1007/s00445-011-0533-5

Cited by 52 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…In addition, the combined study of subaerial flow conditions into the ocean with in-situ deposit morphology derived from marine sediment cores during the current eruption has provided valuable insights into submarine pyroclastic flow emplacement dynamics (Trofimovs et al, 2006(Trofimovs et al, , 2008(Trofimovs et al, , 2013Le Friant et al, 2009. Thus, the excellent core coverage around Montserrat and the detailed subaerial eruption history provide a comprehensive background for the study presented here.…”

Section: Montserrat: the Natural Laboratorymentioning

confidence: 93%

“…These include primary processes, which are derived directly from an explosive volcanic eruption, and can be divided into fallout deposits and pyroclastic-density-current derived deposits (e.g. Schneider et al, 2001;Trofimovs et al, 2006;Schindlbeck et al, 2013); and secondary deposits, which do not represent an explosive volcanic eruption (e.g. derived from a range of mass-movements, flows or floods (e.g., Boygle, 1999;Gudmundsdóttir et al, 2011).…”

Section: Rationale and Aimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1). Montserrat is an ideal region for this type of study, because the surrounding seafloor has been extensively surveyed (Le Friant et al, 2004, 2009Lebas et al, 2011;Watt et al, 2012a,b) and cored (Trofimovs et al, 2006(Trofimovs et al, , 2008(Trofimovs et al, , 2013Le Friant et al, 2008, 2009Cassidy et al, 2013Cassidy et al, , 2014, and the subaerial record of volcanism and igneous geochemistry is particularly wellconstrained (Rea, 1974;Roobol and Smith, 1998;Harford et al, 2002;Zellmer et al, 2003;Smith et al, 2007;Cassidy et al, 2012). This earlier work has shown that marine volcaniclastic sedimentation around Montserrat encompasses a rich array of processes, and that the identification of tephra fall deposits within the stratigraphy is not a trivial task.…”

Section: Page |mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Subaerial pyroclastic density currents can (partially) transform into turbidity currents upon entrance into the ocean (Trofimovs et al, 2006;Cassidy et al, 2013), although turbidity currents may also deposit volcaniclastic sediment via a range of other, non-eruptive processes (Schindlbeck et al, 2013). …”

Section: Sedimentology Termsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In making such reconstructions, it is important that explosive eruption deposits are correctly identified, and can be discriminated from volcaniclastic sediments deposited via other mechanisms (e.g. Ruddiman and Glover, 1972;Schneider et al, 2001;Trofimovs et al, 2006;Manville et al, 2009;Hunt et al, 2011) If this can be achieved, and if these tephra deposits are preserved within an environment of continuous sediment accumulation, then subaqueous sediment cores can be used to produce explosive eruption records that are more complete, and which have better age-constraints, than those typically derived from subaerial deposits. Marine and lacustrine sediments can thus provide a medium by which to assess the periodicity of eruptions and potential hazards posed by volcanoes, across a range of temporal and spatial scales (McGuire et al, 1997;Pyle et al, 2006;Carel et al, 2011;Kutterolf et al, 2008Kutterolf et al, , 2013Watt et al, 2013;Van Daele et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Construction of volcanic records from marine sediment cores: A review and case study (Montserrat, West Indies)

Cassidy

Watt

Palmer

et al. 2014

Earth-Science Reviews

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Detailed knowledge of the past history of an active volcano is crucial for the prediction of the timing, frequency and style of future eruptions, and for the identification of potentially at-risk areas. Subaerial volcanic stratigraphies are often incomplete, due to a lack of exposure, or burial and erosion from subsequent eruptions. However, many volcanic eruptions produce widelydispersed explosive products that are frequently deposited as tephra layers in the sea. Cores of marine sediment therefore have the potential to provide more complete volcanic stratigraphies, at least for explosive eruptions. Nevertheless, problems such as bioturbation and dispersal by currents affect the preservation and subsequent detection of marine tephra deposits.Consequently, cryptotephras, in which tephra grains are not sufficiently concentrated to form layers that are visible to the naked eye, may be the only record of many explosive eruptions.Additionally, thin, reworked deposits of volcanic clasts transported by floods and landslides, or during pyroclastic density currents may be incorrectly interpreted as tephra fallout layers, leading to the construction of inaccurate records of volcanism. This work uses samples from the volcanic island of Montserrat as a case study to test different techniques for generating volcanic eruption records from marine sediment cores, with a particular relevance to cores sampled in relatively proximal settings (i.e. tens of kilometres from the volcanic source) where volcaniclastic material may form a pervasive component of the sedimentary sequence. Visible volcaniclastic deposits identified by sedimentological logging were used to test the effectiveness of potential alternative volcaniclastic-deposit detection techniques, including point counting of grain types (component analysis), glass or mineral chemistry, colour spectrophotometry, grain size measurements, XRF core scanning, magnetic susceptibility and X-radiography. This study demonstrates that a set of time-efficient, non-destructive and high-spatial-resolution analyses (e.g. XRF core-scanning and magnetic susceptibility) can be used effectively to detect potential cryptotephra horizons in marine sediment cores. Once these horizons have been sampled, microscope image analysis of volcaniclastic grains can be used successfully to discriminate between tephra fallout deposits and other volcaniclastic deposits, by using specific criteria Page | 3 related to clast morphology and sorting. Standard practice should be employed when analysing marine sediment cores to accurately identify both visible tephra and cryptotephra deposits, and to distinguish fallout deposits from other volcaniclastic deposits.

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Section: Montserrat: the Natural Laboratorymentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Rationale and Aimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Page |mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sedimentology Termsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Construction of volcanic records from marine sediment cores: A review and case study (Montserrat, West Indies)

Cassidy

Watt

Palmer

et al. 2014

Earth-Science Reviews

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Late Pleistocene stratigraphy of IODP Site U1396 and compiled chronology offshore of south and south west Montserrat, Lesser Antilles

Wall-Palmer

Coussens

Talling

et al. 2014

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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Marine sediments around volcanic islands contain an archive of volcaniclastic deposits, which can be used to reconstruct the volcanic history of an area. Such records hold many advantages over often incomplete terrestrial data sets. This includes the potential for precise and continuous dating of intervening sediment packages, which allow a correlatable and temporally constrained stratigraphic framework to be constructed across multiple marine sediment cores. Here we discuss a marine record of eruptive and masswasting events spanning 250 ka offshore of Montserrat, using new data from IODP Expedition 340, as well as previously collected cores. By using a combination of high-resolution oxygen isotope stratigraphy, AMS radiocarbon dating, biostratigraphy of foraminifera and calcareous nannofossils, and clast componentry, we identify five major events at Soufriere Hills volcano since 250 ka. Lateral correlations of these events across sediment cores collected offshore of the south and south west of Montserrat have improved our understanding of the timing, extent and associations between events in this area. Correlations reveal that powerful and potentially erosive density-currents traveled at least 33 km offshore and demonstrate that marine deposits, produced by eruption-fed and mass-wasting events on volcanic islands, are heterogeneous in their spatial distribution. Thus, multiple drilling/coring sites are needed to reconstruct the full chronostratigraphy of volcanic islands. This multidisciplinary study will be vital to interpreting the chaotic records of 3000Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems PUBLICATIONS submarine landslides at other sites drilled during Expedition 340 and provides a framework that can be applied to the stratigraphic analysis of sediments surrounding other volcanic islands.

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Submarine record of volcanic island construction and collapse in the Lesser Antilles arc: First scientific drilling of submarine volcanic island landslides by IODPExpedition 340

Friant

Ishizuka

Boudon

et al. 2015

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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IODP Expedition 340 successfully drilled a series of sites offshore Montserrat, Martinique and Dominica in the Lesser Antilles from March to April 2012. These are among the few drill sites gathered around volcanic islands, and the first scientific drilling of large and likely tsunamigenic volcanic island-arc landslide deposits. These cores provide evidence and tests of previous hypotheses for the composition and origin of those deposits. Sites U1394, U1399, and U1400 that penetrated landslide deposits recovered exclusively seafloor sediment, comprising mainly turbidites and hemipelagic deposits, and lacked debris avalanche deposits. This supports the concepts that i/ volcanic debris avalanches tend to stop at the slope break, and ii/ widespread and voluminous failures of preexisting low-gradient seafloor sediment can be triggered by initial emplacement of material from the volcano. Offshore Martinique (U1399 and 1400), the landslide deposits comprised blocks of parallel strata that were tilted or microfaulted, sometimes separated by intervals of homogenized sediment (intense shearing), while Site U1394 offshore Montserrat penetrated a flat-lying block of intact strata. The most likely mechanism for generating these large-scale seafloor sediment failures appears to be propagation of a decollement from proximal areas loaded and incised by a volcanic debris avalanche. These results have implications for the magnitude of tsunami generation. Under some conditions, volcanic island landslide deposits composed of mainly seafloor sediment will tend to form 420Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems PUBLICATIONS smaller magnitude tsunamis than equivalent volumes of subaerial block-rich mass flows rapidly entering water. Expedition 340 also successfully drilled sites to access the undisturbed record of eruption fallout layers intercalated with marine sediment which provide an outstanding high-resolution data set to analyze eruption and landslides cycles, improve understanding of magmatic evolution as well as offshore sedimentation processes.

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Submarine pyroclastic deposits formed during the 20th May 2006 dome collapse of the Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat

Cited by 52 publications

References 33 publications

Construction of volcanic records from marine sediment cores: A review and case study (Montserrat, West Indies)

Construction of volcanic records from marine sediment cores: A review and case study (Montserrat, West Indies)

Late Pleistocene stratigraphy of IODP Site U1396 and compiled chronology offshore of south and south west Montserrat, Lesser Antilles

Submarine record of volcanic island construction and collapse in the Lesser Antilles arc: First scientific drilling of submarine volcanic island landslides by IODPExpedition 340

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