Formation of Subaqueous Felsic Domes and Accompanying Pyroclastic Deposits on the Foça Peninsula (Izmir, Turkey)

Abstract

In western Anatolia, a thick volcanic succession of andesitic to rhyolitic lavas and volcaniclastic rocks crops out extensively. On Foça Peninsula, the westernmost part of the region, a dominantly rhyolitic sequence is exposed where massive rhyolites occur as dome or domelike stubby lava flows. These rhyolite domes vertically and laterally pass into blanketing volcaniclastic sequences. The gradational boundary relations and the facies characteristics of the surrounding volcaniclastic sequences indicate that the silicic domes directly intruded a subaqueous environment and were shattered upon sudden contact with water to form hyaloclastic blankets. In and around these rhyolite domes, we have defined six different volcanic and volcaniclastic facies, consisting of: (1) massive rhyolite; (2) massive perlite; (3) hyaloclastic breccias; (4) rhyolite pumice and lithic fragment-bearing volcaniclastic rocks; (5) subaqueous welded ignimbrites; and (6) brecciated perlite. The massive rhyolite facies have distinct structures from the centers to the peripheries of the domes and stubby lava flows. Massive lava facies gradually pass into hyaloclastic breccias and massive perlite facies, indicating water-magma interaction during the emplacement. Phreatomagmatic explosive activity and doming caused the subaqueous pyroclastic flows on the flanks of the volcanic center. Welding in the upper parts of these pyroclastic flow deposits indicates the high-temperature emplacement of the pyroclastic material and relatively slow cooling caused by the cushioning effect of the gas-vapor mixture and rapid deposition of younger pyroclastic units.