Magma Flow Instability and Cyclic Activity at Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat, British West Indies

Voight, B.; Sparks, R. S. J.; Miller, Angus D.; Stewart, R. C.; Hoblitt, Richard P.; Clarke, A. B.; Ewart, J. A. Jr.; Aspinall, Willy; Baptie, Brian; Calder, E. S.; Cole, Paul; Druitt, T. H.; Hartford, C; Herd, Richard A.; Jackson, Paul; Lejeune, AM; Lockhart, AB; Loughlin, S. C.; Luckett, Richard; Lynch, Lloyd; Norton, G. E.; Robertson, R. E. A.; Watson, I. Matthew; Watts, Rob; Young, S. R.

doi:10.1126/science.283.5405.1138

Cited by 281 publications

(259 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Page | 17 monitored in unprecedented detail, with timing, volume and flow dynamic data all recorded for individual pyroclastic flows Barclay et al, 1998;Sparks et al, 1998Sparks et al, , 2000Young et al, 1998;Cole et al, 1998;Menlik and Sparks, 1999;Voight et al 1999;Couch et al, 2001Couch et al, , 2003Zellmer et al, 2003;Herd et al, 2005). In addition, the combined study of subaerial flow conditions into the ocean with in-situ deposit morphology derived from marine sediment cores during the current eruption has provided valuable insights into submarine pyroclastic flow emplacement dynamics (Trofimovs et al, 2006(Trofimovs et al, , 2008(Trofimovs et al, , 2013Le Friant et al, 2009.…”

Section: Montserrat: the Natural Laboratorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Construction of volcanic records from marine sediment cores: A review and case study (Montserrat, West Indies)

Cassidy

Watt

Palmer

et al. 2014

Earth-Science Reviews

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Detailed knowledge of the past history of an active volcano is crucial for the prediction of the timing, frequency and style of future eruptions, and for the identification of potentially at-risk areas. Subaerial volcanic stratigraphies are often incomplete, due to a lack of exposure, or burial and erosion from subsequent eruptions. However, many volcanic eruptions produce widelydispersed explosive products that are frequently deposited as tephra layers in the sea. Cores of marine sediment therefore have the potential to provide more complete volcanic stratigraphies, at least for explosive eruptions. Nevertheless, problems such as bioturbation and dispersal by currents affect the preservation and subsequent detection of marine tephra deposits.Consequently, cryptotephras, in which tephra grains are not sufficiently concentrated to form layers that are visible to the naked eye, may be the only record of many explosive eruptions.Additionally, thin, reworked deposits of volcanic clasts transported by floods and landslides, or during pyroclastic density currents may be incorrectly interpreted as tephra fallout layers, leading to the construction of inaccurate records of volcanism. This work uses samples from the volcanic island of Montserrat as a case study to test different techniques for generating volcanic eruption records from marine sediment cores, with a particular relevance to cores sampled in relatively proximal settings (i.e. tens of kilometres from the volcanic source) where volcaniclastic material may form a pervasive component of the sedimentary sequence. Visible volcaniclastic deposits identified by sedimentological logging were used to test the effectiveness of potential alternative volcaniclastic-deposit detection techniques, including point counting of grain types (component analysis), glass or mineral chemistry, colour spectrophotometry, grain size measurements, XRF core scanning, magnetic susceptibility and X-radiography. This study demonstrates that a set of time-efficient, non-destructive and high-spatial-resolution analyses (e.g. XRF core-scanning and magnetic susceptibility) can be used effectively to detect potential cryptotephra horizons in marine sediment cores. Once these horizons have been sampled, microscope image analysis of volcaniclastic grains can be used successfully to discriminate between tephra fallout deposits and other volcaniclastic deposits, by using specific criteria Page | 3 related to clast morphology and sorting. Standard practice should be employed when analysing marine sediment cores to accurately identify both visible tephra and cryptotephra deposits, and to distinguish fallout deposits from other volcaniclastic deposits.

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Section: Montserrat: the Natural Laboratorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Construction of volcanic records from marine sediment cores: A review and case study (Montserrat, West Indies)

Cassidy

Watt

Palmer

et al. 2014

Earth-Science Reviews

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“…Examples include Mount St. Helens in the 1980s, where tiltmeters were used to predict effusive eruptions [Dzurisin et al, 1983], and Soufriere Hills Volcano (Montserrat), where tiltmeters revealed remarkable cyclic eruptive activity correlated with seismicity, gas emissions, explosions, and pyroclastic flows [Voight et al, 1998;Watson et al, 2000] and helped place constraints on source processes and boundary conditions on the conduit walls [Green et al, 2006;Widiwijayanti et al, 2005;Voight et al, 1999;Lensky et al, 2008]. Cyclic or repeating behavior on a variety of timescales has also been observed with different types of instruments during other silicic eruptions including Mount St. Helens during the 2004-2008 eruption [Iverson et al, 2006], Pinatubo [Mori et al, 1996], Santiaguito [Bluth and Rose, 2004], and Unzen [Nakada et al, 1999].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cyclic ground tilt associated with the 2004–2008 eruption of Mount St. Helens

2010

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[1] The long-term behavior of the 2004-2008 effusive eruption of Mount St. Helens was characterized by a gradual decline in the rates of seismicity, dome growth, and broad-scale ground deformation, but shallow near-periodic "drumbeat" earthquakes over timescales of minutes indicated episodic short-term behavior. In part to better characterize this behavior and any associated ground deformation, a network of tiltmeters was installed and recorded thousands of cyclic tilt events within the crater. The duration of these events, from minutes to hours, was too long for them to be directly caused by the drumbeat seismicity. Tilt events were characterized by a recoverable, asymmetric pattern of rapid tilt away from the vent followed by a more gradual reversal, were highly correlated between different tiltmeters in the crater, sometimes occurred in association with volcanic seismicity, and ceased at the end of the eruption. Tilt vectors converged on a point just south of the center of the preexisting 1980s lava dome, and the absence of detectable tilt outside the crater suggests a shallow source (<1 km). We examine several models, including cycles of conduit pressurization and plug slip or gas loss and stick-slip behavior on the interface between the ascending plug and the 1980s lava dome. The small number of stations within the crater prevents a unique determination of source type or geometry, but results are consistent with a mechanism involving extrusion of the semisolid dacite plug and/or cycles of conduit pressurization.

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“…The extracted event data were processed further to determine accurate rst Hybrid swarms of shallow origin at SHV were recognized within pressurization 219 cycles, with swarms occurring during in ation when extrusion rates are low 220 and the system is pressurized (Voight et al, 1998(Voight et al, , 1999Sparks and Young, low extrusion rates and in ation as seen in 1997 (Voight et al, 1998). Con- Chouet, B., 1996a.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Seismic hybrid swarm precursory to a major lava dome collapse: 9–12 July 2003, Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat

Ottemöller

2008

Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research

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A swarm of 9500 hybrid earthquakes preceded the 12-13 July 2003 dome collapse at Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat. Most events had nearly identical waveforms and cross-correlation was applied to measure inter-event periods as well as phase arrival times to determine accurate relative location. Hypocenter depths were shallow (< 3 km), and relative locations were con ned to a radius of < 150 m. This small source volume is consistent with the observed waveform similarity. Changes in inter-event periods and energy release, measured from the seismic records, showed that the volcano evolved through several energetic states, possibly linked to cyclic magma movement. Shorter inter-event periods were linked to higher energy release rates and possibly re ect increased pressurization during periods of low extrusion rates.

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Magma Flow Instability and Cyclic Activity at Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat, British West Indies

Cited by 281 publications

References 12 publications

Construction of volcanic records from marine sediment cores: A review and case study (Montserrat, West Indies)

Construction of volcanic records from marine sediment cores: A review and case study (Montserrat, West Indies)

Cyclic ground tilt associated with the 2004–2008 eruption of Mount St. Helens

Seismic hybrid swarm precursory to a major lava dome collapse: 9–12 July 2003, Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat

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