Contrasting lithofacies architecture in ring-plain deposits related to edifice construction and destruction, the Quaternary Stratford and Opunake Formations, Egmont Volcano, New Zealand

Abstract

The early constructional and destructional history of ancestral Egmont Volcano is recorded by variations in lithofacies assemblages and architecture in volcaniclastic deposits making up the southern ring plain. Eruptive periods and edifice construction are recorded by aggradational sequences of debris-flow deposits on the ring plain and numerous tephra deposits preserved on the lower flanks of the volcano. The aggradational sequences represent fairly long-term periods of accumulation when a succession of lahars delivered coarse-grained sediment to the ring plain. Edifice destruction is recorded on the ring plain by deposits of debris-avalanches and associated debris flows. Individual deposits represent rapid (as much as 2.6 km 3), but episodic, sedimentation over large areas (up to 500 km 2) of the ring plain. Sedimentation following these events was slow, with reworked tephra and lignite accumulating over most of the ring plain. Episodes of edifice destruction usually marked the beginning of long-term quiescent intervals or periods of low-frequency eruptive activity. Tephra deposits on the flanks of the volcano are not as abundant as in stratigraphic intervals representing periods of edifice construction.