Paper
Submarine Volcanism: a Review of the Constraints, Processes and Products, and Relevance to the Cabo de Gata Volcanic Succession
Published Oct 1, 2014 · DOI · R. Cas, G. Giordano
Bollettino Della Societa Geologica Italiana
52
Citations
4
Influential Citations
Abstract
Understanding of submarine volcanism still lags behind understandingof subaerial volcanism for the obvious reason that eruptionsare usually not, or only partially visible, and deposits are largelyinaccessible. In addition, our understanding of the effects of theambient water mass and the way in which erupting magma andwater interact, and the ways in which the physical properties of thewater mass control and influence eruption styles, dispersal processesand deposit characteristics, is still at a relatively early stage. In particular,in the past there has been a very simplistic approach to assessingconstraints on eruption styles using only ambient hydrostaticpressure, whereas equally important properties such as bulk modulus,compressibility, deformability, attenuation properties, thermalconductivity, heat capacity, have not been adequately considered.This review summarises our understanding on these issues, andbriefly summarises varying eruption conditions, styles and depositcharacteristics.The origin of pumice deposits preserved in subaqueous settingsneeds to be interpreted with care. They could represent local explosiveevents, but could also represent pumice sourced from distantexplosive events and vents, even subaerial, and deposited by falloutthrough water, the passage of pyroclastic flows into water fromsubaerial vents, long distance rafting of buoyant pumice by currents,reworking and resedimentation, and even non-explosive subaqueousvesiculation and quench fragmentation of subaqueously eruptedlavas in shallow or even deep water.The Miocene Cabo de Gata volcanic succession of southeasternSpain was deposited in shallow marine environments based on interbeddedfossiliferous limestones, which represent periods of volcanichiatus. The volcanic facies are consistent with a shallow marine setting,involving eruption of low volatile bearing magmas to formandesite and dacite lava flows, domes and associated hyaloclastites,as well as eruptions of volatile rich rhyolitic magmas that producedpumice deposits erupted from subaerial vents or vents at waterdepths that were too shallow to suppress explosive eruptionsthrough the effects of hydrostatic pressure, but were then reworkedand resedimented.
Submarine volcanism's influence on eruption styles, dispersal processes, and deposit characteristics is still in its early stages, with factors like bulk modulus, compressibility, deformability, attenuation properties, thermal conductivity, heat capacity, and hydrostatic pressure playing key roles.
Full text analysis coming soon...