A lower bound on the rheological evolution of magma in the 2021 Fagradalsfjall Fires

Abstract

As magma temperature and composition drift and change, respectively, throughout an eruption, so does its rheology. These changes may span orders of magnitude in magma viscosity and result in orders of magnitude flow velocity changes, as well as transitions in eruptive style. In this study, we present a systematic high precision quantification of the rheological variations that occurred during the 2021 Fagradalsfjall Fires. In the field, we collected a suite of 22 representative samples emplaced between day 2 and 183 of the 2021 eruption. In the laboratory, we measured the melt viscosity of each sample in a concentric cylinder viscometer. Temperatures were initially raised to 1392 °C, and then lowered stepwise to eruptive temperatures as determined through syn-eruptive radiometric measurements. The resulting dataset is analyzed as a time series. An overall trend of viscosity decrease emerges. As the eruption progressed, melt viscosity decreased by 25%, from 40 Pa s to 30 Pa s at a constant temperature of 1200 °C. However, this trend is not monotonous. At least 3 positive spikes in viscosity can be identified, at day 80, 120, and 138 of the eruption. This trend tracks with geochemical variations.