A major lava tube system from Undara Volcano, North Queensland

Atkinson, Alan; Griffin, T. J.; Stephenson, Philip

doi:10.1007/bf02597832

Cited by 47 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The crests of both Bear Trap and Undara are currently marked by a linear arrangement of collapse structures and skylights, some of which have been shown to have sourced magma flows down the flanks of the ridges to form a series of basaltic terraces (Atkinson et al 1975;Greeley 1982). The lower slopes of both Bear Trap and Undara have basaltic terraces sourced by magma tubes branching from the master tube beneath the ridge crest (Atkinson et al 1975;Greeley 1982), again consistent with the interpretation described above for Fig. 7.…”

Section: Hyaloclastites and Subaerial Lava Flowssupporting

confidence: 65%

“…However, the lower terraces provide little evidence for being fed by surface flows and appear to be more consistent with being sourced from the region of the ridge axis via magma tubes. At the limits of resolution, a number of approximately 100 m diameter features form- The above features appear consistent with an interpretation as a tube fed inflation ridge broadly similar to the Bear Trap magma tube, Idaho (Greeley 1982) or the Undara magma tube/ridge, Queensland (Atkinson et al 1975). The Bear Trap feature (Greeley 1982) forms a 21 km long topographic swell covering approximately 60 km 2 , and although not explicitly stated by Greeley (1982), this indicates to an average width of around 3 km.…”

Section: Hyaloclastites and Subaerial Lava Flowssupporting

confidence: 65%

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Volcanic features of the North Rockall Trough: application of visualisation techniques on 3D seismic reflection data

Thomson

2004

Bull Volcanol

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Understanding the volcanic processes operating during continental break-up is hampered by the subsequent burial of the majority of the volcanic pile beneath thick sedimentary sequences currently located in bathymetrically deep offshore regions. Although portions of these volcanic systems are currently exposed on land, a full understanding of the volcanic structure, the eruptive styles and their evolution is not possible as these localities have been partially eroded. Furthermore, as the onshore exposure represents a volumetrically minor part of the entire system, the documented eruptive styles may not be representative. The increasing availability of 3D seismic reflection data has the potential to significantly enhance our understanding of break-up related volcanism, as it allows direct access to detailed information from the buried volcanic succession. However, conventional seismic interpretation methodologies cannot determine lava flow morphologies, and as a result, eruptive styles and their evolution are still largely based on extrapolation from the accessible onshore outcrop data. New 3D seismic volume visualisation techniques allow the buried basalt morphologies to be examined for the first time in a manner similar to outcrop, aerial photographic or satellite-based observations. Applying this new approach for 3D seismic data to the North Rockall Trough, U.K. Atlantic margin, demonstrates that a range of volcanic features indicative of eruptive style can be determined. The data reveal a complex terrain containing lava flows originating from discrete volcanic centres, contemporaneous normal faults, linear fissures a few kilometres long, radial fissures and inflation ridges. Lava flow morphologies that are indicative of tube-fed inflated sheetflows, intracanyon flows and elongate subaerial flows that enter water downslope to produce a large hyaloclastite delta are observed.

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Section: Hyaloclastites and Subaerial Lava Flowssupporting

confidence: 65%

Section: Hyaloclastites and Subaerial Lava Flowssupporting

confidence: 65%

Volcanic features of the North Rockall Trough: application of visualisation techniques on 3D seismic reflection data

Thomson

2004

Bull Volcanol

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“…Pahoehoe flows emanating from small shields have been known to travel for more than 100 km when the paleotopography is favourable (e.g. the Undara flow in the McBride Province; Atkinson et al 1975). Thus it is likely that at least some Steens flows travelled considerable distances but this needs to be evaluated in the context of the probability of polycentric eruptions.…”

Section: Pahoehoe Flowsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological and textural diversity of the Steens Basalt lava flows, Southeastern Oregon, USA: implications for emplacement style and nature of eruptive episodes

Bondre

2007

Bull Volcanol

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This study focuses on Middle Miocene tholeiitic flood basalt lava flows from the Oregon Plateau, northwestern USA (Steens Basalt), and is the first to comprehensively document and evaluate their morphology. Field observations of flows from several sections within and proximal to the main exposures at Steens Mountain have been supplemented with textural and geochemical data, and are used to offer preliminary insights into their emplacement. Compound pahoehoe flows of variable thickness appear to be common throughout the study area, laterally and vertically. These tend to be plagioclase phyric and the morphology and disposition of constituent flow lobes are quite similar to those from other provinces such as Hawaii and the Snake River Plain. Classic a'a flows with brecciated upper and basal crusts are not abundant, but by no means uncommon. Flows with characters different from typical pahoehoe and a'a are also common. Such flows display a range in morphology; flows with preserved upper crusts but brecciated basal crusts, as well as those displaying well-developed flow-top breccias and preserved basal crusts (rubbly pahoehoe) are observed. The Steens Basalt appears to display greater morphological and textural diversity at the outcrop scale than that described for some other flood basalt provinces. The abundant compound pahoehoe flows (often rich in plagioclase phenocrysts) were likely emplaced during slow but sustained eruptive episodes; their constituent lobes show clear evidence for endogenous growth. The relatively aphyric flows with brecciated surfaces (including a'a) hint at higher strain rates and/or higher viscosity, probably caused by higher effusion rates. A couple of sections are characterized by compositionally similar, but morphologically different flows that were possibly part of the same eruption. While differences in pre-eruptive topography could explain this, it is also possible that certain physical parameters changed substantially and abruptly during eruption and that such changes were accompanied by differentiation processes within the plumbing system. It is possible that such observations indicate temporal fluctuations within complex magmatic and eruptive systems, and deserve closer scrutiny.

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“…2). The vent is 425 m wide, has a summit crater 330 meters across and 60 m deep, but the vent only rises 10-40 m above the surrounding plain (Atkinson et al, 1975;Stephenson et al, 1998). Lavas flowed in several directions, with the western branch of Undara exceeding 160 km from the source crater, while a second branch flowed 90 km north, and a third branch spread east; the entire flow covers about 1550 km 2 (Fig.…”

Section: Geology Of the Long Lava Flows In North Queenslandmentioning

confidence: 99%

Holocene-Neogene volcanism in northeastern Australia: Chronology and eruption history

Cohen

Mark

Fallon

et al. 2017

Quaternary Geochronology

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Quaternary and late Neogene volcanism is widespread in northeastern Australia, producing at least 397 eruptions covering more than 20,000 km 2 , including at least 20 flows over 50 km long. Despite this abundance of young volcanism, before this study numerous eruptions had tentative ages or were undated, and the area requires a comprehensive evaluation of eruption patterns through time. To help address these issues we applied multi-collector ARGUS-V 40 Ar/ 39 Ar geochronology to determine the age of four of the younger extensive flows: Undara (160 km long, 189 ± 4/4 ka; 2σ, with full analytical/external uncertainties), Murronga (40 km long, 153 ± 5/5 ka), Toomba (120 km long, 21 ± 3/3 ka), and Kinrara (55 km long, 7 ± 2/2 ka). Verbal traditions of the Gugu Badhun Aboriginal people contain features that may potentially describe the eruption of Kinrara. If the traditions do record this eruption, they would have been passed down for 230 ± 70 generations -a period of time exceeding the earliest written historical records. To further examine north Queensland volcanism through time we compiled a database of 337 ages, including 179 previously unpublished K-Ar and radiocarbon results. The compiled ages demonstrate that volcanic activity has occurred without major time breaks since at least 9 Ma. The greatest frequency of eruptions occurred in the last 2 Ma, with an average recurrence interval of <10-22 ka between eruptions. Activity was at at times likely more frequent than these calculations indicate, as the geochronologic dataset is incomplete, with undated eruptions, and intraplate volcanism is often episodic. The duration, frequency, and youthfulness of activity indicate that north Queensland volcanism should be considered as potentially still active, and there are now two confirmed areas of Holocene volcanism in eastern Australia -one at each end of the continent. More broadly, our data provides another example of 40 Ar/ 39 Ar geochronology applied to Holocene and latest Pleistocene mafic eruptions, further demonstrating that this method has the ability to examine eruptions and hazards at the youngest volcanoes on Earth.

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A major lava tube system from Undara Volcano, North Queensland

Cited by 47 publications

References 13 publications

Volcanic features of the North Rockall Trough: application of visualisation techniques on 3D seismic reflection data

Volcanic features of the North Rockall Trough: application of visualisation techniques on 3D seismic reflection data

Morphological and textural diversity of the Steens Basalt lava flows, Southeastern Oregon, USA: implications for emplacement style and nature of eruptive episodes

Holocene-Neogene volcanism in northeastern Australia: Chronology and eruption history

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