Microfracture development and foam collapse during lava dome growth
Abstract
The ability of a volcano to degas effectively is regulated by the collapse of the foam during lava dome growth. As a lava dome extrudes and cools, it will begin to collapse under its own weight, leading to the closure of bubbles and the eventual blockage of the permeable foam network. A reduction in the lavas permeability hinders gas movement and increases internal bubble pressure, which may eventually lead to failure of the bubble walls, and ultimately to explosive fragmentation of the dome. However, the behaviour of lava dome material under compression is poorly understood. Here we present the results of low-load, uniaxial, high temperature (850oC) compression experiments on glassy, rhyolitic dome material from Ngongotaha (~200ka, following collapse of Rotorua Caldera) and Tarawera (1314AD, from dome collapse generated block and ash flow) domes in New Zealand. The development of textures and microstructures was tracked using neutron computed tomography at incremental stages of strain. Porosity and permeability measurements, using pycnometry and gas permeability, before and after each experiment quantified the evolution of the permeable bubble network. Our results show that uniaxial compression of vesicular lava leads to a systematic reduction of porosity on a timescale comparable to volcanic eruptions (hours - days). The closure of bubbles naturally decreases permeability parallel and perpendicular to the applied load, and at high strains fractures begin to initiate in phenocrysts and propagate vertically into the glass. These microfractures result in localised increases in permeability. Crystallinity and initial vesicularity of each sample affects the rate of bubble collapse and the evolution of permeability. The most highly compressed samples (60%) show textures similar to samples collected from the centre of Tarawera Dome, thought to have suffered from collapse shortly after dome emplacement. However, structures and porosities in the deformed Ngongotaha samples differ from the natural collapsed dome material. The interior of Ngongotaha Dome shows complex deformed flow banding, indicating that shearing during emplacement was a major component during collapse of the permeable foam. Understanding the development of the porous permeable network during lava dome growth is key to predicting the behaviour of an erupting volcano, and the assessing the likelihood of pressure build-up leading to a catastrophic explosive eruption.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2012
- Bibcode:
- 2012AGUFM.V13E..07A
- Keywords:
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- 8414 VOLCANOLOGY / Eruption mechanisms and flow emplacement;
- 8425 VOLCANOLOGY / Effusive volcanism;
- 8429 VOLCANOLOGY / Lava rheology and morphology;
- 8445 VOLCANOLOGY / Experimental volcanism