Late Pleistocene and Holocene caldera-forming eruptions of Okmok Caldera, Aleutian Islands, Alaska

Abstract

Okmok volcano, in the central Aleutian arc, Alaska, produced two caldera-forming eruptions within the last ∼12,000 years. This study describes the stratigraphy, composition, and petrology of those two eruptions. Both eruptions initially produced small volumes of felsic magmas, followed by voluminous andesite and basaltic andesite. The Okmok I eruption produced >30 km 3 DRE of material on Umnak Island, and Okmok II ∼15 km 3 . However, a significant proportion of material not accounted for here was deposited into the oceans during both events. The Okmok I pyroclastic flow deposits contain evidence for interaction with snow/ice, particularly along the northern flanks of the caldera. Although both Okmok I and II eruptions involved a phreatomagmatic component, the accumulation of a large volume (>15km 3 ) of volatile-rich, mafic-intermediate magma in the shallow crust may provide the driving force for the catastrophic eruptions. Agglutinate deposits associated with Okmok II indicate energetic lava fountaining simultaneous with caldera-collapse, similar to other descriptions of mafic-intermediate caldera-forming deposits such as in the New Hebrides.