Comparisons of volcanic eruptions from linear and central vents on Earth, Venus, and Mars (Invited)

Vent geometry (linear versus central) plays a significant role in the ability of an explosive eruption to sustain a buoyant, convective plume. This has important implications for the injection and dispersal of particulates into planetary atmospheres and the ability to interpret the geologic record of planetary volcanism. The approach to modeling linear volcanic vents builds on the original work by Stothers [1], and takes advantage of substantial improvements that have been made in volcanic plume modeling over the last 20 years [e.g., 2,3]. A complete system of equations describing buoyant plume rise requires at least a half dozen differential equations and another half dozen equations for the parameters and constraints within the plume and ambient atmosphere. For the cylindrically axisymmetric system of differential equations given in [2], the control volume is defined as V = πr2dz. The area through which ambient atmosphere is entrained is Ae = 2πr dz, where r is the plume radius and z is vertical distance. The analogous linear vent system has a corresponding control volume, V = 2bLdz and entrainment area, Ae ≈ 2Ldz, where L is the length of the linear plume, 2b is the width of the linear plume, and it is assumed that L >> b. For typical terrestrial boundary conditions (temperature, velocity, gas mass fraction), buoyant plumes from circular vents can be maintained with substantial maximum heights over a wide range of vent sizes. However, linear vent plumes are much more sensitive to vent size, and can maintain a convective plume only over a much more narrow range of half widths. As L increases, linear plumes become more capable of establishing a convective regime over a broad range of bo, similar to the circular vents. This is primarily because as L increases, the entrainment area of the linear plumes increases, relative to the control volume. The ability of a plume to become buoyant is driven by whether or not sufficient air can be entrained (and warmed) to reduce the bulk plume density before upward momentum is exhausted. From mass conservation, linear plumes surpass circular vents in entrainment efficiency approximately when Lo ≥ 3ro. Consistent with other work [3,4], the range of conditions for maintaining a buoyant plume from a circular vent on Venus is very narrow, and the range of linear vent widths is more limited still. Unlike the terrestrial case, linear vents on Venus appear capable of driving a plume to somewhat higher maximum altitudes, with all other things remaining equal. Similar analyses were conducted for current atmospheric conditions on Mars. Results indicate a preference for the formation of pyroclastic flows on Mars from both circular and linear vents, as opposed to widely dispersed airfall deposits. Only the Earth, with its thick wet atmosphere, favors explosive eruptions that can maintain convective plumes reaching 10s of km in altitude over a broad range of eruptive conditions. References: [1] Stothers, R.B. (1989) J Atmos Sci, 46, 2662-2670. [2] Glaze. L.S., Baloga, S. M., and Wilson, L. (1997) JGR, 102, 6099-6108. [3] Glaze, L.S. (1999) JGR, 104, 18,899-18,906. [4] Thornhill, G.D. (1993) JGR, 98, 9107-9111.