Ash Fallout Research Articles

The Miocene Galápagos ash layer record of Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Legs 334 and 344: Ocean-island explosive volcanism during plume-ridge interaction

Drilling at Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Site U1381 on the Cocos Ridge offshore Costa Rica recovered 67 primary Miocene (ca. 8 Ma to ca. 16.5 Ma) marine fallout ash layers. Geochemical, volcanological, and geological criteria link these ashes to Plinian eruptions that carried ash to at least 50–450 km from the Galapagos hotspot. These ash layers are the first documentation of highly explosive Miocene Galapagos hotspot volcanism. This volcanism is bimodal with two-thirds of the tephra layers generated by basaltic magmas (glass compositions <57 wt% SiO2) and one-third by rhyolitic magmas. The temporal distribution of the tephra layers, inferred from sediment accumulation rates calibrated by 40Ar/39Ar and biostratigraphic ages, reveals a distinct increase in eruption frequency and hence increased volcanic activity of the Galapagos hotspot after 14 Ma which we interpret in the context of dynamic interaction between the Galapagos plume and spreading ridge.

Ash fall impact on vegetation: a remote sensing approach of the Oldoinyo Lengai 2007–08 eruption

AbstractImpacts from ash fallout on the environment can be widespread and long lasting, even from moderate-size eruptions. Assessing ash impact on vegetation and the indirect impacts for people is often difficult in the field. Here it is assessed how satellite data can help to map vegetation affected by ash and how temporal analysis enables characterization of vegetation recovery rate. The 2007–08 eruption of Oldoinyo Lengai, north Tanzania, is here used as a case study. An 8 year-long (2005–2012) time series of half-monthly average of the Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) is constructed at 250 m spatial resolution from the Moderate Resolution Image Spectro-radiometer (MODIS) sensor. Interpolated rainfall data is used to isolate NDVI values departing from the normal seasonal cycles. Month-to-month NDVI comparison, linear temporal trend analysis and Principal Component Analysis enable to identify a 11 × 4 km area over which ash fallout significantly affected the state of the vegetation. After the eruption’s end, time series of various recovery indices highlight a circumferential pattern in vegetation recovery. The estimated recovery time varies from more than 5 years to less than 6 months with increasing distance from the volcano. A non-linear moderate, but statistically significant, relationship is found between the recovery indices and the spatial variation of ash thicknesses measured in the field. Combining field and remote sensing constraints enable to re-assess the volume of the eruption to ~2 × 107 m3. The spatial pattern of the ash-affected area matches with the spatial contrast in the impact experienced by the local communities. The method applied here opens the scope to document impact and intensity of ash fallout in areas where systematic field work is not possible and to support recovery plans for populations affected by ash fallout.

A GIS-based tool for the management of industrial accidents triggered by volcanic ash fallouts

In this last decade, worldwide attention has been focused on the hazards derived from the interaction between extreme natural phenomena and critical infrastructures and/or chemical and process industry (natural–technological hazards or Na-Tech). Due to the recent occurrence of significant events, great attention has also been given to Na-Tech hazards triggered by volcanic eruptions; in particular, the eruption of the Icelandic volcano alarmed the European community due to the ash fallout over the continent, which caused significant problems for the population, road, rail and air traffic and production activities. This study aims at defining a procedure for the representation of the vulnerability of industrial facilities to potential volcanic ash fallouts. Its implementation on a Geographical Information System has also been executed and a semi-automatic procedure for the vulnerability mapping has been constructed.

The magnitude and impact of the Youngest Toba Tuff super-eruption

Super-eruptions, orders of magnitude larger than eruptions experienced in historic times, have devastated wide areas by pyroclastic flows, covered continent-size areas by ash fallout, and injected large quantities of aerosols into the stratosphere affecting global climate. The Youngest Toba Tuff (YTT) is the largest known super-eruption in the Quaternary. Here we reconstructed the ultra-distal volcanic ash dispersal during this super-eruption using a computational ash dispersal model, which provides insights into the eruption dynamics and the impact of the event. The method uses a 3D time-dependent tephra dispersion model, a set of wind fields, and several tens of thickness measurements of the YTT tephra deposit. Results reveal that the YTT eruption dispersed ~8600 km3 (~3800 km3 dense rock equivalent, DRE) of ash, covering ~40 million km2 with more than 5 mm of ash. These new fallout volume estimations indicate that the total volume of the material erupted (including the massive pyroclastic density current, 1500 km3 DRE, deposits on Sumatra) was ~5300 km3 DRE. Simulation results indicate that the eruption had a very large mass flow rate and that the umbrella cloud, associated with the eruption plume, spread as an enormous gravity current around the neutral buoyancy level. The YTT tephra forms a key chronostratigraphic marker in the sedimentary sequences, and is particularly useful for constraining the age of the palaeoenvironmental and archaeological records, and synchronizing these archives to investigate temporal relationships. These new constraints on the extent of the YTT deposit are therefore particularly useful for cryptotephra studies that aim to find non-visible tephra layers for these chronological purposes. This method used to constrain volcanological parameters of eruptions in the past provides insights into the dispersal processes, and allows the amount of volatiles released to be estimated which is crucial to assessing the impact of such events.

Deposition and generation of multiple widespread fall units from the c. AD 1314 Kaharoa rhyolitic eruption, Tarawera, New Zealand

The c. AD 1314 Kaharoa eruption from Tarawera volcano, North Island, New Zealand, was a complex, long-duration, multi-episode rhyolitic event. Up to 13 discrete sub-Plinian to Plinian-style phases occurred in two stages from at least two different vents along an 8-km-long fissure. The early explosive stage produced seven pumice lapilli fall units dispersed solely to the southeast of the volcano, while a later stage produced six fall units dispersed almost entirely to the north and northwest. The duration of fallout for these 13 lapilli units is estimated to have totaled about 1.5 days. The presence of massive-textured ash layers between many of the lapilli fall units suggests that longer-duration, pyroclastic density-current producing phases and more quiescent fallout intervals occurred between the intense explosive phases of the eruption (total duration of ash fallout ~ 7.5 days). The ash deposition extended the minimum duration of the explosive episodes to at least 9 days, based on settling rates of the ash. Possibly the explosive phase of eruptive activity lasted for ~ 2 weeks, including some brief hiatuses and pyroclastic density-current deposition, and was followed by ~ 4 years of mainly lava-dome-forming activity. At least 15 km3 (> 7.3 km3 dense rock equivalent, DRE) of tephra was erupted during the main explosive episodes, and at least 9.1 km3 DRE during the whole eruption, more than doubling the previous estimate. This may be an underestimate by up to 50 % of the fallout volume. Eruption column heights for the two most widely dispersed fall units are estimated to have ranged from 25–28 km above the vents and durations of individual lapilli fall unit-forming phases ranged from 1.5 to 4 h, but the ash-producing phases lasted much longer (individually up to 30 h) and represent a longer-lived shut-down to each eruptive episode. Time-averaged mass discharge rates are estimated to have varied by more than one order of magnitude during the main Plinian-style phases, from 107 to 108 kg/s. However, the explosive phases were unsteady, as indicated by fluctuating grain-size with stratigraphic height in the lapilli fall units and common capping ash beds. The north-northwesterly dispersal of the later stage fall units, and the possible duration of ~ 4 days for these episodes, indicate an unusual period of southerly to southeasterly winds. Therefore, the main explosive part of the Kaharoa eruption is most likely to have occurred during the austral winter to spring months. The Kaharoa eruption style is also shared by the three previous rhyolite-dominated eruptions that have built Tarawera volcano over the past 22,000 years. Knowledge of the widespread pumice and ash fallout from the Kaharoa eruption is important in quantifying the hazard from this type of extended-duration explosive activity, and has implications for future similar rhyolitic activity in New Zealand.

Occurrence of an unknown Atlantic eruption in the Chaîne des Puys volcanic field (Massif Central, France)

A volcanic ash layer, called MF1, was recently identified in Holocene sediments from the Gourgon and Molhiac peat bogs (Monts du Forez, French Massif Central). This ash layer consists of colorless shards with a heterogeneous trachytic to rhyolitic composition. The trace elements analyzed by Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) attest to a local origin. Radiocarbon dating of peat samples taken within and below the ash layer indicates the best age at 6339±61calyrBP, i.e. an age contemporaneous with the volcanic activity of Montchal, Montcineyre and Pavin volcanoes from the Chaîne des Puys volcanic field. These volcanoes are characterized by basaltic and trachytic products, thus the rhyolitic composition of MF1 tephra suggests that it is likely originated from an unknown eruption. These results again confirm the interest of studying the distal volcanic ash fallouts in order to establish or specify records of past eruptions of volcanic fields. Identification of this new tephra layer also provides an additional tephrochronological marker for Eastern French Massif Central.

United theory of biological evolution: Disaster-forced evolution through Supernova, radioactive ash fall-outs, genome instability, and mass extinctions

We present the disaster-forced biological evolution model as a general framework that includes Darwinian “phylogenic gradualism”, Eldredge-Gould's “punctuated equilibrium”, mass extinctions, and allopatric, parapatric, and sympatric speciation. It describes how reproductive isolation of organisms is established through global disasters due to supernova encounters and local disasters due to radioactive volcanic ash fall-outs by continental alkaline volcanism. Our new evolution model uniquely highlights three major factors of disaster-forced speciation: enhanced mutation rate by higher natural radiation level, smaller population size, and shrunken habitat size (i.e., isolation among the individual populations). We developed a mathematical model describing speciation of a half-isolated group from a parental group, taking into account the population size (Ne), immigration rate (m), and mutation rate (μ). The model gives a quantitative estimate of the speciation, which is consistent with the observations of speciation speed. For example, the speciation takes at least 105 generations, if mutation rate is less than 10−3 per generation per individual. This result is consistent with the previous studies, in which μ is assumed to be 10−3–10−5. On the other hand, the speciation is much faster (less than 105 generations) for the case that μ is as large as 0.1 in parapatric conditions (m ＜ μ). Even a sympatric (m ～ 1) speciation can occur within 103 generations, if mutation rate is very high (μ ～ 1 mutation per individual per generation), and if Ne ＜ 20–30. Such a high mutation rate is possible during global disasters due to supernova encounters and local disasters due to radioactive ash fall-outs. They raise natural radiation level by a factor of 100–1000. Such rapid speciation events can also contribute to macro-evolution during mass extinction events, such as observed during the Cambrian explosion of biodiversity. A similar rapid speciation (though in a much smaller scale) also has been undergoing in cichlid fishes and great African apes in the last several tens of thousand years in the current African rift valley, including the origin of humankind due to the radioactive ash fall-outs by continental alkaline volcanism.

Selective Measurement of Volcanic Ash Flow-Rate

The ash fall-out, following explosive activity of volcanoes, represents a relevant factor of risk for people and a serious hazard for air traffic. Researchers at DIEEI of the University of Catania are facing the challenge of developing a low-cost multisensor system for the monitoring of ash fall-out phenomena with particular regards to average granulometry and ash flow-rate estimation. Moreover, the system must be selective with respect to volcanic ash against other sediments such as dust, sand, or soil. This paper is particularly focused on the methodology adopted for ash flow-rate estimation and discrimination from other types of sediments. The main idea to accomplish the first task is to measure the time interval required to collect a fixed amount of ash inside an instrumented tank. To implement ash selectivity task, the intrinsic paramagnetic property of ash particles is exploited. Main claims and novelties of this paper can be identified in the low-cost adopted sensing methodologies with respect to the traditional instrumentation and the selectivity with respect to volcanic ash. Availability of low-cost multisensor nodes allows for the realization of high-density networks for the early warning of ash fall-out phenomenon. Experimental tests have been performed on the system developed by using ash erupted by the Etna volcano.

Potential Damages of Atmospheric Storage Tanks due to Volcanic Ash Aggregations in Presence of Water

Recent studies of the effects of the volcanic ash fallout on storage tanks have shown the potential causes of failure for both fixed and floating roof tanks. The vulnerability of these facilities has been defined through the estimation of threshold values of the ash load on their roofs and exceedance probabilities of these limits. It has been observed that the amount of the overhead on the roof is much greater when the ash is saturated with rain because of the formation of aggregates. This paper aims to analyse the influence of this phenomenon on the potential damage of tanks located in the area surrounding Mt. Etna.

Middle Stone Age archaeology at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

This paper describes the motivation, procedures, and results of archaeological and geological field survey of the Ndutu Unit, Olduvai Gorge, conducted in June and July of 2013. Survey focused upon the area of Olduvai Gorge between the second fault and the Obalbal depression, although selective survey occurred in other areas in and around the Gorge. Over 72 archaeological find-spots were recorded, and hundreds of Middle Stone Age (MSA) artifacts were recovered, as was a small sample of fauna. Geological observations provisionally suggest that the Ndutu was formed, in part, from a series of pyroclastic density flow and ash fallout events from neighbouring volcanoes; this contrasts slightly with previous interpretations of the deposits in that at least some of the beds are thought to be in primary stratigraphic context. Our initial field findings are conducive to discussions of a number of issues directly relevant to the MSA in East Africa, and overall we conclude that there is strong potential for Olduvai's Ndutu Unit to shed light on the behavior, adaptations, and evolution of Homo sapiens prior to, during, and just after its physical emergence.

백두산 천지 화산의 화산재 확산과 침적 모델링을 위한 개념적 설계

강하화산재는 농업과 기반시설에 다양한 형태의 피해를 발생시킬 수 있는 악명 높은 재해이며, 특별히 항공과 인체 건강에 가장 유해하다. 본 연구는 백두산 화산으로부터 폭발적 분화에 의하여 화산재가 확산되고 퇴적되는 것을 모델링하기 위한 목적으로 개념적인 모델 설계를 논의하고자 한다. 이는 모델의 가정과 경계 조건에 대한 토의와 더불어 개념적인 모델의 상세 다이어그램, 가능한 입력 파라미터, 단위, 방정식에 대한 논의를 포함한다. 모델에 포함되어 있는 두 가지 주요 과정은 화산재의 확산과 퇴적이며, 만약 모델이 설계되면 모델을 실행시켜 얻을 수 있는 것은 분연주에 포함된 미세 화산재의 총량, 화산재의 이동 거리, 지표면에 침적되는 화산재 두께 등이다. Fallout ash is a notorious hazard that can have a variety of damages on agriculture and infrastructure and, most notably to aviation and human health. This study discusses the design of a conceptual model to aid in modeling the dispersal and deposition of ash from Mt. Baekdu volcano. It includes a discussion of assumptions and boundary conditions of the model as well as a detailed diagram of the conceptual model, complete with input parameters, units and equations. The two main processes contained within the model are the dispersal and deposition of ash, the outputs obtained from running the model, if designed, would be the total amount of fine ash contained in the eruption column, distance travelled by ash and ash thickness at surface.

The 36–18 Ma Central Nevada ignimbrite field and calderas, Great Basin, USA: Multicyclic super-eruptions

The 36–18 Ma Central Nevada ignimbrite field and calderas, Great Basin, USA: Multicyclic super-eruptions

Volcanic ash in the air we breathe

Volcanic ash in the air we breathe

Hazard assessment at San Martín volcano based on geological record, numerical modeling, and spatial analysis

The San Martin shield volcano, located in the Los Tuxtlas Volcanic Field, has experienced effusive shield-building activity, as well as explosive eruptions, as evidenced by direct observations during the last eruption in 1793. The threat to the surrounding villages consists principally of lahars, especially because of the tropical climate in the region. Ash fallout and lava flows represent additional hazards. In addition, the surrounding Quaternary monogenetic field includes more than 300 scoria cones and about 40 explosion craters (mainly maars) that also represent a hazard source. In the present study we constructed hazard maps using field data, orthophotos, spatial analysis, and specialized software (LAHARZ and HAZMAP) to deliminate lahar inundation zones, areas that could potentially be affected by ash fallout (including the evaluation of houses prone to roof collapse due to ash load), and the most susceptible areas for hosting future monogenetic vent formation.

The 36–18 Ma Indian Peak–Caliente ignimbrite field and calderas, southeastern Great Basin, USA: Multicyclic super-eruptions

The 36–18 Ma Indian Peak–Caliente ignimbrite field and calderas, southeastern Great Basin, USA: Multicyclic super-eruptions

Vulnerability Assessment for Human Targets due to Ash Fallout From Mt. Etna

The volcanic ash fallouts are able to affect the human health and the integrity of industrial facilities. The study of the effects associated with ash emissions was the objective of the PRIN project carried on by the authors of this paper. The activities of the project allowed to define a simplified procedure for the vulnerability assessment of human and industrial targets, that has been applied to the area surrounding Mt. Etna. Recent several ash fallouts from this volcano have caused significant problems to the resident population, traffic and industrial activities. The application of the study to this territory provided a vulnerability mapping to support the decision making both in terms of the definition of protection measures and of the emergency planning and management.

Use of single-grain geochemistry of cryptic tuffs and volcaniclastic sandstones improves the tephrostratigraphic framework of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

Single-grain geochemical composition of volcaniclastic sandstones can be a potential tool to improve correlations of mixed pyroclastic/epiclastic deposits. To test this, trachytic tuffs of the paleoanthropologically important FLK, FLK N, and FLK NN sites of Pleistocene Olduvai Gorge Bed I (Tanzania) are used as an established tephrostratigraphic framework against which to test volcaniclastic sandstone correlations. Fluvio-lacustrine sandstones and tuff samples were collected from eight archeological trenches between Tuffs IB and ID across a 500-m transect, including Leakey's famous Zinjanthropus (FLK) and OH 7/OH 8 (FLK NN) sites. A previously unknown, thin, fine, mineralogically unique, black trachyandesitic fallout ash was discovered below Tuff IC. Compositions of individual augite, feldspar and titanomagnetite grains from sandstones between Tuffs IB and IC reveal some IB-equivalent material, and a new compositional assemblage distinct from the sandwiching marker tuffs. Mineral compositions of the “tripartite” volcaniclastic sandstone between Tuffs IC and ID are similar to ID. Volcaniclastic sandstone grain fingerprints further refine correlations between fluvio-lacustrine sections within the area, providing support for proposed high-resolution stratigraphic reconstruction of the Zinjanthropus and OH 7/OH 8 land surfaces. This method might be applied to other sections where pyroclastic particles are admixed but distinct tuffs are not preserved.

Late Holocene history of Chaitén Volcano: New evidence for a 17th century eruption

Prior to May 2008, it was thought that the last eruption of Chaiten Volcano occurred more than 5,000 years ago, a rather long quiescent period for a volcano in such an active arc segment. However, increasingly more Holocene eruptions are being identified. This article presents both geological and historical evidence for late Holocene eruptive activity in the 17th century (AD 1625-1658), which included an explosive rhyolitic eruption that produced pumice ash fallout east of the volcano and caused channel aggradation in the Chaiten River. The extents of tephra fall and channel aggradation were similar to those of May 2008. Fine ash, pumice and obsidian fragments in the pre-2008 deposits are unequivocally derived from Chaiten Volcano. This finding has important implications for hazards assessment in the area and suggests the eruptive frequency and magnitude should be more thoroughly studied.

Risks associated with volcanic ash fallout from Mt.Etna with reference to industrial filtration systems

The recent eruption of the Icelandic volcano has focused the worldwide attention on volcanic ash effects for the population, road, rail and air traffic and production activities. This paper aims to study of technological (industrial) accidental scenarios triggered by ash fallout and, more specifically, to define and quantify the potential damage on filtration systems. Malfunctions due to the filter clogging and service interruptions caused by the rupture of the filtering surface have been analysed in order to define the vulnerability of the equipment to such damages. Results are given in terms of threshold values of deposit on the filtering surface and exceedance probability curves of ash concentrations and the duration of the ash emission. This data can be easily implemented in the standard risk assessment with the aim to include the estimation of Natural-Technological (Na-Tech) hazards.

Possible impacts of volcanic ash emissions of Mount Etna on the primary productivity in the oligotrophic Mediterranean Sea: Results from nutrient-release experiments in seawater

Atmospheric deposition of volcanic ash has recently been recognized as an important nutrient source into the surface ocean. Mount Etna (Italy), one of the world's most active volcanoes, is located in the oligotrophic Mediterranean Sea (MedSea). Despite the active volcanism on Mount Etna, the biogeochemical impacts of volcanic ash fallouts on the marine primary productivity (MPP) remain largely unknown. Here we present the results of seawater nutrient release experiments with volcanic ash samples from Mount Etna that have been collected during different eruptive episodes between 2001 and 2007. Our results show that volcanic ash from Mount Etna releases significant amounts of fixed-N (35–855nmol/g), P (7–970nmol/g), Si (3–2060nmol/g), Fe (10–130nmol/g) and Zn (<21nmol/g). We further estimated an example representative of ash-fall from Etna based on the case-study focusing on 4–5 November 2002 activity, by using the general relation between the thicknesses of the ash deposits and the ash depositional areas. Etna explosive eruptions can transport volcanic ash as far as 800km, with ash emissions exceeding the particle flux during dust storm events (of 10g/m2 input) as far as 400km downwind from the volcano. Our results emphasize that Etna ash can provide a significant supply of nutrients, which can favor the MPP in the central MedSea.