Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The architecture and shallow conduits of Laki-type pyroclastic cones: insights into a basaltic fissure eruption

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Bulletin of Volcanology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Pyroclastic cones built along basaltic fissures provide important volcanological information, but it is often difficult to examine the early-erupted products due to burial by later products. Furthermore, it is rare to see the link between the feeder dyke and overlying cone fully exposed. In this study, we detail the architecture of a hybrid spatter cone, scoria half-cone and feeder dyke that has been dissected to below the pre-eruption surface by glacial floods. The cones were constructed during the 6–8 ka Rauðuborgir-Kvensöðul fissure eruption in North Iceland during Hawaiian- and Strombolian-style activities. Widening of their feeder dyke in the shallow sub-surface to produce an upward flaring morphology was accommodated by country rock removal and elastic host rock deformation. Ballistic calculations and stratigraphic relationships indicate that the scoria half-cone was constructed early in the eruption from the deposits of a lava fountain ~100 m high. A decline in fountain height and the generation of abundant welded deposits resulted in the formation of a nested spatter cone within the scoria half-cone. The cones are similar in structure and size to the hybrid scoria and spatter cones produced during the 15-km3 1783 Laki eruption and serve as a valuable window into the construction of pyroclastic edifices during basaltic fissure eruptions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alho P, Russell AJ, Carrivick JL, Käyhkö J (2005) Reconstruction of the largest Holocene jökulhlaup within Jökulsá á Fjöllum, NE Iceland. Quaternary Science Reviews 24:2319–2334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown RJ, Blake S, Thordarson T, Self S (2014) Pyroclastic edifices record vigorous lava fountains during the emplacement of a flood basalt flow field, Roza Member, Columbia River Basalt Province, USA. Geol Soc Am Bull 126:875–891

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown RJ, Thordarson T, Self S, Blake S (2015) Disruption of tephra fall deposits caused by lava flows during basaltic eruptions. B Volcanol 77:1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruce PM, Huppert HE (1989) Thermal control of basaltic fissure eruptions. Nature 342:665–667

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carey S, Sparks R (1986) Quantitative models of the fallout and dispersal of tephra from volcanic eruption columns. B Volcanol 48:109–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carey RJ, Houghton BF, Thordarson T (2008) Contrasting styles of welding observed in the proximal Askja 1875 eruption deposits I: regional welding. J Volcanol Geoth Res 171:1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carracedo JC, Rodriguez Badiola E, Soler V (1992) The 1730–1736 eruption of Lanzarote, Canary Islands: a long, high-magnitude basaltic fissure eruption. J Volcanol Geoth Res 53:239–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Courtillot VE, Renne PR (2003) On the ages of flood basalt events. Comptes Rendus Geoscience 335:113–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crowe B, Self S, Vaniman D, Amos R, Perry F (1983) Aspects of potential magmatic disruption of a high-level radioactive waste repository in southern Nevada. The Journal of Geology; 259-276

  • Fedotov S, Chirkov A, Gusev N, Kovalev G, Slezin Y (1980) The large fissure eruption in the region of Plosky Tolbachik volcano in Kamchatka, 1975–1976. B Volcanol 43:47–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friese N, Bense F, Tanner D, Gústafsson L, Siegesmund S (2013) From feeder dykes to scoria cones: the tectonically controlled plumbing system of the Rauðhólar volcanic chain, Northern Volcanic Zone, Iceland. B Volcanol 75:1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geshi N, Kusumoto S, Gudmundsson A (2010) Geometric difference between non-feeder and feeder dikes. Geology 38:195–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geshi N, Oikawa T (2014) The spectrum of basaltic feeder systems from effusive lava eruption to explosive eruption at Miyakejima volcano, Japan. B Volcanol 76:1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gudmundsson A, Friese N, Galindo I, Philipp SL (2008) Dike-induced reverse faulting in a graben. Geology 36:123–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harp A, Valentine G (2015) Shallow plumbing and eruptive processes of a scoria cone built on steep terrain. J Volcanol Geoth Res 294:37–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Head JW, Wilson L (1989) Basaltic pyroclastic eruptions: influence of gas-release patterns and volume fluxes on fountain structure, and the formation of cinder cones, spatter cones, rootless flows, lava ponds and lava flows. J Volcanol Geoth Res 37:261–271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heliker C, Mattox T (2003) The first two decades of the Pu’u ‘O’o-Kupaianaha eruption: chronology and selected bibliography. US Geol Surv Prof Pap 1676:1–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Heslop SE, Wilson L, Pinkerton H, Head JW III (1989) Dynamics of a confined lava flow on Kilauea volcano, Hawaii. B Volcanol 51:415–432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hintz AR, Valentine GA (2012) Complex plumbing of monogenetic scoria cones: new insights from the Lunar Crater Volcanic Field (Nevada, USA). J Volcanol Geoth Res 239:19–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hjartardóttir AR (2008) The fissure swarm of the Askja central volcano., M.Sc Thesis, University of Iceland

    Google Scholar 

  • Hon K, Kauahikaua J, Delinger R, Mackay K (1994) Emplacement and inflation of pahoehoe sheet flows: observations and measurements of active lava flows on Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii. Geol Soc Am Bull 106:351–370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houghton BF, Schmincke HU (1989) Rothenberg scoria cone, East Eifel: a complex Strombolian and phreatomagmatic volcano. B Volcanol 52:28–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houghton BF, Wilson CJN (1989) A vesicularity index for pyroclastic deposits. B Volcanol 51:451–462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houghton B, Bonadonna C, Gregg C, Johnston D, Cousins W, Cole J, Del Carlo P (2006) Proximal tephra hazards: recent eruption studies applied to volcanic risk in the Auckland volcanic field, New Zealand. J Volcanol Geoth Res 155:138–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johannesson H, Saemundsson K (1998) Geological map of Iceland, 1:500,000. Tectonics. Institute of Natural History, Reykjavik

    Google Scholar 

  • Karhunen R (1988) Eruption mechanism and rheomorphism during the basaltic fissure eruption in Biskupsfell, Kverkfjöll, north-central Iceland., M.Sc thesis, Nordic Volcanological Institute, University of Iceland

    Google Scholar 

  • Keating G, Valentine G, Krier D, Perry F (2008) Shallow plumbing systems for small-volume basaltic volcanoes. B Volcanol 70:563–582

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirkbride MP, Dugmore AJ, Brazier V (2006) Radiocarbon dating of mid-Holocene megaflood deposits in the Jokulsa a Fjollum, north Iceland. The Holocene 16:605–609

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsen G (2000) Holocene eruptions within the Katla volcanic system, south Iceland: characteristics and environmental impact. Jökull 49:1–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Mastin LG (2001) Eject! A simple calculator of ballistic trajectories for blocks ejected during volcanic eruptions. USGS Open-File Report 01-45, USGS, Reston

    Google Scholar 

  • Mauri A, Davis B, Collins P, Kaplan J (2013) The influence of atmospheric circulation on the mid-Holocene climate of Europe: a data-model comparison. Climate of the Past Discussions 9:5569–5592

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Németh K, Risso C, Nullo F, Kereszturi G (2011) The role of collapsing and cone rafting on eruption style changes and final cone morphology: Los Morados scoria cone, Mendoza, Argentina. Cent Eur J Geosci 3:102–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Olsen PE (1999) Enhanced: giant lava flows, mass extinctions, and mantle plumes. Science 284:604–605

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Opheim JA, Gudmundsson A (1989) Formation and geometry of fractures, and related volcanism, of the Krafla fissure swarm, northeast Iceland. Geol Soc Am Bull 101:1608–1622

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parcheta C, Houghton B, Swanson D (2012) Hawaiian fissure fountains 1: decoding deposits—episode 1 of the 1969–1974 Mauna Ulu eruption. B Volcanol 74:1729–1743

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parfitt EA, Wilson L (1999) A Plinian treatment of fallout from Hawaiian lava fountains. J Volcanol Geoth Res 88:67–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pyle DM (1989) The thickness, volume and grainsize of tephra fall deposits. B Volcanol 51:1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rampino MR, Stothers RB (1988) Flood basalt volcanism during the past 250 million years. Science 241:663–668

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riggs NR, Duffield WA (2008) Record of complex scoria cone eruptive activity at Red Mountain, Arizona, USA, and implications for monogenetic mafic volcanoes. J Volcanol Geoth Res 178:763–776

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sánchez MC, Sarrionandia F, Ibarguchi JIG (2014) Post-depositional intrusion and extrusion through a scoria and spatter cone of fountain-fed nephelinite lavas (Las Herrerías volcano, Calatrava, Spain). B Volcanol 76:1–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saunders A, Reichow M (2009) The Siberian Traps and the End-Permian mass extinction: a critical review. Chinese Science Bulletin 54:20–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt A, Leadbetter S, Theys N, Carboni E, Witham CS, Stevenson JA, Birch CE, Thordarson T, Turnock S, Barsotti S, Delaney L, Feng W, Grainger RG, Hort MC, Höskuldsson Á, Ialongo I, Ilyinskaya E, Jóhannsson T, Kenny P, Mather TA, Richards NAD, Shepherd J (2015) Satellite detection, long-range transport, and air quality impacts of volcanic sulfur dioxide from the 2014–2015 flood lava eruption at Bárðarbunga (Iceland). J Geophys Res 18:9739–9757

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheth HC, Ray JS, Kumar A, Bhutani R, Awasthi N (2011) Toothpaste lava from the Barren Island volcano (Andaman Sea). J Volcanol Geoth Res 202:73–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sparks R, Wright J (1979) Welded air-fall tuffs. Geol Soc Am Spec Pap 180:155–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Stothers RB, Wolff JA, Self S, Rampino MR (1986) Basaltic fissure eruptions, plume heights, and atmospheric aerosols. Geophys Res Lett 13:725–728

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sumner JM (1998) Formation of clastogenic lava flows during fissure eruption and scoria cone collapse: the 1986 eruption of Izu-Oshima Volcano, eastern Japan. Bull Volcanol 60:195–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sumner JM, Blake S, Matela RJ, Wolff JA (2005) Spatter. J Volcanol Geoth Res 142:49–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swanson DA (1973) Pahoehoe flows from the 1969–1971 Mauna Ulu Eruption, Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii. Geol Soc Am Bull 84:615–626

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taddeucci J, Edmonds M, Houghton B, James RM, Vergniolle S (2015) Hawaiian and Strombolian eruptions. In: Sigurdsson H (ed) The encyclopedia of volcanoes. Academic Press

  • Tentler T, Mazzoli S (2005) Architecture of normal faults in the rift zone of central north Iceland. J Struct Geol 27:1721–1739

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tentler T, Temperley S (2007) Magmatic fissures and their systems in Iceland: a tectonomagmatic model. Tectonics 26:1994–9194

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas R, Sparks R (1992) Cooling of tephra during fallout from eruption columns. B Volcanol 54:542–553

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thorarinsson S (1959) Some geological problems involved in the hydroelectric development of the Jökulsa a Fjöllum, Iceland. Report to the State Electricity Authority, Reykjavik

    Google Scholar 

  • Thordarson T, Larsen G (2007) Volcanism in Iceland in historical time: volcano types, eruption styles and eruptive history. J Geodynam 43:118–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thordarson T, Miller D, Larsen G, Self S, Sigurdsson H (2001) New estimates of sulfur degassing and atmospheric mass-loading by the 934 AD Eldgjá eruption, Iceland. J Volcanol Geoth Res 108:33–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thordarson T, Rampino M, Keszthelyi LP, Self S (2009) Effects of megascale eruptions on Earth and Mars. Geol Soc Am Spec Pap 453:37–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Thordarson T, Self S (1993) The Laki (Skaftár Fires) and Grímsvötn eruptions in 1783–1785. B Volcanol 55:233–263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thordarson T, Self S, Oskarsson N, Hulsebosch T (1996) Sulfur, chlorine, and fluorine degassing and atmospheric loading by the 1783–1784 AD Laki (Skaftár Fires) eruption in Iceland. B Volcanol 58:205–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valentine GA (2012) Shallow plumbing systems for small-volume basaltic volcanoes, 2: evidence from crustal xenoliths at scoria cones and maars. J Volcanol Geoth Res 223:47–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valentine GA, Cortés JA (2013) Time and space variations in magmatic and phreatomagmatic eruptive processes at Easy Chair (Lunar Crater Volcanic Field, Nevada, USA). B Volcanol 75:1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valentine GA, Gregg TKP (2008) Continental basaltic volcanoes—processes and problems. J Volcanol Geoth Res 177:857–873

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valentine GA, Groves KR (1996) Entrainment of country rock during basaltic eruptions of the Lucero volcanic field, New Mexico. J Geol 104:71–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valentine GA, Krogh KE (2006) Emplacement of shallow dikes and sills beneath a small basaltic volcanic center—the role of pre-existing structure (Paiute Ridge, southern Nevada, USA). Earth Planet Sci Lett 246:217–230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waitt R (2009) Great Holocene floods along Jökulsá á Fjöllum, north Iceland. Flood and megaflood processes and deposits: recent and ancient examples. Int Assoc of Sed Spec Pub 32:37–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolfe WE, Neal AC, Banks GN, Toni DJ (1988) The Puu Oo eruption of Kilauea volcano, Hawaii: episodes 1 through 20, January 3, 1983, through June 8, 1984., U.S Geological Survey Professional Paper 1463

    Google Scholar 

  • Woods AW (1993) A model of the plumes above basaltic fissure eruptions. Geophys Res Lett 20:1115–1118

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Marco Neri and an anonymous reviewer are thanked for reviews. Associate Editor Pierre-Simon Ross is thanked for the professional and thoughtful handling of the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Science Labs, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK

    P. Reynolds, R. J. Brown & E. W. Llewellin

  2. Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, Sturlugata 7, 101, Reykjavík, Iceland

    T. Thordarson

  3. Now at: Centre for Tectonics, Resources and Exploration (TRaX), Australian School of Petroleum, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA, 5000, Australia

    P. Reynolds

Authors
  1. P. Reynolds
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. J. Brown
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. T. Thordarson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. E. W. Llewellin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to P. Reynolds.

Additional information

Editorial responsibility: P-S Ross

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Reynolds, P., Brown, R.J., Thordarson, T. et al. The architecture and shallow conduits of Laki-type pyroclastic cones: insights into a basaltic fissure eruption. Bull Volcanol 78, 36 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-016-1029-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-016-1029-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation