Basaltic phreatomagmatic fissure at 71 Gulch Part 1: sediment magma mingling and eruptive behavior

Abstract

71 Gulch Volcano, located in the western Snake River Plain, southwestern Idaho (USA), was formed by a basaltic fissure eruption into Pliocene Lake Idaho. Deposits at and below the eruptive surface record the nature of explosive and non-explosive sediment-magma and water-magma interactions. The paleoenvironment and the volcanic plumbing system of 71 Gulch eruption were reconstructed from a detailed study of the now-exposed eruptive and subsurface deposits. Estimated water levels during the eruption range from 1 to 53 m across the entire volcano based on the distribution of pillow lavas. Billowed dikes and fluidal peperites are two types of intrusive features found ≤ 12 m below the syn-eruptive surface that have similar continuous margins representing ductile behavior and emplacement into soft, deformable sediment. In comparison, tabular dikes and blocky peperites occur throughout 41 m thick of exposed deposits below the syn-eruptive surface. A conical, diatreme-like vent structure dominates the subsurface exposure, indicating excavation by phreatomagmatic explosions. Localized spatter within the main subsurface vent suggests temporary exclusion of water and thus a period of brief vent growth above the lake level. Evidence of sediment-magma mingling through blocky and fluidal peperites shows how differing subsurface depths impact the resulting mingling textures.