The sedimentological characteristics of mass-wasting flow deposits are important for assessing the differences between phenomena and their propagation and emplacement mechanisms. In the present study, nine volcanic debris avalanche deposits and eight lahar deposits are considered, from the literature. Their sedimentology is expressed in the descriptive statistics: median grain size, sand, gravel and finer particle proportion, skewness and sorting. Analysis of the data from the literature confirms that lahars and debris avalanches diverge in their grain size distribution and in their evolution during propagation. Comminution of particles due to interparticle interactions acts in debris avalanches, whereas debulking is enabled in lahars due to water saturation. The findings support previous studies suggesting that debris avalanches can be considered as dense granular flows where the effect of inertial collisions of solid fragments are more important than fluid effects. Therefore, grain size distribution characteristics, such as the percentage of large proportions of fine particles, remains a valid candidate factor for their high mobility.

<p>As demonstrated by the Anak Krakatau eruption-induced flank collapse in 2018 in Indonesia, tsunamis generated by large mass flows like landslides and pyroclastic density currents can have devastating effects in volcanic areas. However, these phenomena are still poorly understood as they are unusual and complex events, largely unpredictable and often poorly constrained. </p><p>Stromboli is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, extensively monitored and studied in the last few decades. Many tsunamigenic landslides (sub-aerial and/or submarine) have taken place; at least seven have occurred in the last 150 years and a devastating one is believed to have reached the coast of Naples, at more than 200 km distance, during the Middle Ages. Because the level of activity of the volcano has remained similar ever since and the likelihood of such disastrous events is not negligible, the hazard related to tsunamigenic mass flows in this area needs to be carefully assessed.</p><p>Associated with the 3<sup>rd</sup> of July 2019 eruption, at least three mass flows were triggered along the Sciara del Fuoco slope; two subaerial Pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) and a submarine landslide. Simultaneously, three buoys registered the height of the resulting tsunami wave ranging from 0.2 m in front of the Ginostra village to 1.5 m in front of the Sciara del Fuoco. Thanks to the dense monitoring network and the accurate bathymetry survey carried out by the IGAG-CNR, these events have been well constrained. </p><p>The tsunami waves studied here are smaller than those that could constitute a threat for the population living in this area, nevertheless they can be used to characterize the behaviour of the tsunamigenic mass flows. Back analysis of these events were undertaken with the two-fluids version of VolcFlow; this is a continuum mechanics model based on the depth-average approximation that has been developed for the simulation of volcanic flows. VolcFlow can take into account several different rheologies for each of the two fluids. In the present case, one fluid was used for the water body and one for simulating the mass flow. For the latter one, a constant retaining stress type of rheology was used (Dade and Huppert, 1998). Backanalysis suggested that it was the PDC which generated the tsunami wave during the events of July 2019 and best fitting simulations identified a constant retaining stress of 7kPa. With these input parameters it has been possible to run a large number of numerical simulations of possible scenarios. This has allowed to assess threshold values of volume and discharge of mass flows which could generate significant and potentially destructive tsunami waves. This constitutes an important input to improve early warning systems and to reduce the risk related to these unpredictable but extremely dangerous phenomena.</p>

Introduction: Volcanic debris avalanches mobilise large volumes and achieve long runouts with high destructive potential. However, the propagation processes that generate them are not currently explained by theoretical or numerical models, which are unable to represent deposit observations. Evaluation of the dynamics represented in deposits is therefore vital for constraining su ch models. The Abona volcanic debris avalanche deposit is located on the southern flank of the island of Tenerife, Spain. The deposit exhibits universal microfracturing and cataclasis. Fluidal features such as fluidal mixing of lithological units and diffuse boundaries, and mixed matrix are observed throughout the deposit.Methods: Field description including sedimentology and facies identification and the evaluation of their distribution have allowed the generation of a new conceptual model for the propagation dynamics of this volcanic debris avalanche, and potentially others with similar properties. The deposit is indurated making the detailed study of its sedimentology difficult, especially clast-size analysis. A novel method utilising structure from motion photogrammetry and photographic sampling was employed.Results: The universal cataclasis of the material and fluidal features suggest that the lack of a major competent material component allowed the mass to fragment and enabled fluidised granular flow behaviour. It is proposed that shear was periodically distributed throughout the body of the avalanche in chaotic temporary shear networks rearranging according to the instantaneous distribution of the mass. Stress and agitation were not temporally or spatially homogenous during propagation. This is also reflected in the unsystematic erosion of the substrate according to the variable basal shear accommodation.Discussion: It is proposed that lithological properties are potentially a determining factor for the propagation mechanisms, stress distribution, and consequently the evolution of a volcanic debris avalanche from the initial collapse to its emplacement. This study highlights the importance of dedicated field examinations of sedimentological, morphological, and structural features for providing constraints for models of volcanic debris avalanche dynamics and the factors dictating them. The novel methodology proposed has the potential of broadening the number of events that can be studied and enhancing the understanding of these complex and hazardous phenomena.

<p>Debris avalanches (DA) are large landslide events characterised by long runouts and high mobility that poses a great hazard to communities close to volcanoes. Although many theories have been proposed to explain the excessive runout phenomenon, the mechanisms enabling the mobility remain unresolved and poorly constrained. As a result, it is still challenging for models and theoretical concepts to encompass DA deposit field observations.</p><p>DA deposits are complex; however, detailed study of their sedimentary architecture can provide information regarding their propagation processes. In this study, the deposits of two DAs in the Canary Islands: Tenteniguada DA, located on the east of Gran Canaria; and Abona DA on the southeast of Tenerife have been examined. Although they are located in nearby volcanic islands they occurred in different environments with different triggering processes, scale, material and their deposits suggest different propagation rheology. A detailed field study of the deposits was carried out in September 2021, mapping their facies and feature distribution and sedimentology. Structure from motion photogrammetry methodology has been used to generate high accuracy 3D models of outcrops and sample windows to quantify facies distribution. The data collected allow for evaluation of the effects of material properties, substrate and its geometry, and to assess aspects of the dynamics of the DAs. Therefore, it was possible to generate conceptual models for the transport and emplacement mechanisms of the two events corresponding to the observations and to relate them to the two debris avalanche distinctive characteristics by comparison.</p><p>In the Tenteniguada DA deposit, the degree of disaggregation is low, with large portions of the original edifice preserved along with their original stratigraphy, although displaced relative to each other by brittle deformation. In contrast, Abona DA is much more disaggregated. Monolithological blocks are microfractured and cataclased, and original stratigraphy is not preserved. There is no evidence of brittle deformation. The highly comminuted material has been elongated in a fluidised spreading flow, achieving a long runout on an erodible pumice substrate. Conversely, the Tenteniguada DA did not fully transition from a slide to a flow and has not generated a long runout while propagating in an active fluvial ravine. These findings suggest that the behaviour and the distribution of stresses was very different during propagation, owing to the properties and volume of the material in the flow and potentially the substrate properties and triggering mechanisms.</p><p>The present study highlights how the field examination of sedimentological, morphological, and structural features is vital in fully understanding DA propagation and emplacement mechanisms.</p>

<p>Debris avalanches and lahars are among the most destructive and hazardous mass flows in volcanic environments making them important to understand from a hazard assessment perspective. Sedimentological characteristics of their deposits are important for assessing their propagation and emplacement mechanisms. Here, we compare the sedimentology of nine volcanic debris avalanches and eight lahars, by the descriptive statistics: median grain size, sand, gravel and finer particle proportion, skewness, and sorting.</p><p>Results suggest that lahars and debris avalanches diverge in their grain size distribution evolution during propagation, even when sourced from the same material. Increasing bimodality, evolution to negative skewness, with decreasing sediment size, accompanied by very poor sorting suggest comminution of particles due to particle-particle interactions in debris avalanches. Instead, preferential deposition of the coarsest particles and improved sorting suggest that the decrease in grain size of lahars is the result of debulking. The divergence is mainly caused by the high water content in lahars, which introduce different processes during propagation. This suggests, in agreement with previous studies, that debris avalanches can be considered as dense granular flows where the effect of inertial collisions of solid fragments are more important than fluid effects.</p><p>Present findings and previous sedimentological studies suggest that both volcanic and non-volcanic debris avalanches exhibit bimodal grain-size distributions, at least locally, in areas of high shear accommodation. Following these results, an experimental campaign has been carried out to test the effect of bimodality on the propagation of granular flows. These experiments are flows of bidisperse granular material on an initial inclined plane, with a horizontal accumulation surface at the bottom.  Findings confirm that the bimodality of the grain size distribution generates a more efficient shearing arrangement, which can increase the mobility of granular flows in the same way recorded in debris avalanche deposits.</p>