Collaborative Research: Crystal- and Lithic-rich Fallout at Quilotoa Volcano, Ecuador: Vent Processes During Short-Lived Hiatuses in Violent Eruptions

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Volcanologists commonly focus on predicting when a volcano will erupt and, if it does, what that eruption will do. However, another problem that faces volcanologists is distinguishing between the true end of an eruption and a short-lived pause in eruptive activity. In this project, it is proposed to address this question through a detailed study of an unusual crystal-rich fallout deposit from Quilotoa volcano, Ecuador. Quilotoa erupted violently about 800 years ago in a style very similar to that of the 1991 Pinatubo eruption, which devastated Clark US Air Force base in the Philippines. Quilotoa, however, repeated the paroxysmal eruption twice, with a short (days to weeks?) hiatus between the two eruptions. Why did the first eruption end when there was sufficient magma to drive a second event a short time later? What happened in the vent at that time? How might the vent area have appeared during the hiatus, and could we recognize the signs that a second huge eruption was imminent? This study will examine the deposits from the vent-clearing explosions that began the second eruption, as they contain the material that appears to have been clogging the vent during the hiatus and thus should give us the most information on its condition during that period.The team will focus on a basal well-sorted subplinian or vulcanian fall deposit that contains a few surge deposits near its base in proximal localities. The explosions distributed an ash that was already well sorted and had had all glass separated from the crystals. Very limited sorting with distance, together with the concentration of 'clean' crystals, suggest that some process milled and/or dissolved the grains prior to eruption. It is hypothesized that the source of crystals and lithic clasts was either material that clogged the vent after the first eruptive episode or juvenile magma that re-filled the conduit between events. In either case, it appears that the source was subjected to strong acidic gas jetting that milled and etched the material, elutriated the vitric portion, and left a crystal- and lithic-rich mass clogging the vent. Phreatic or phreatomagmatic explosions must have then ejected the vent clog. In this project, the investigators will test this hypothesis by conducting a detailed field survey and collection of the deposits of interest. They will characterize the samples for grain size (and, separately, crystal size), componentry (including phenocryst proportions), crystal and lithic shapes, and surface textures (by SEM, to look for evidence of abrasion and/or pitting that would provide evidence of either physical or chemical preparation). They will also analyze the crystals for major elements and both melt inclusions and adhering groundmass glass for major elements and volatile components (using EPMA and FTIR). The textural (crystal size distribution) and compositional data will then be compared with existing data for components of the other deposits of the eruption, as well as with older deposits exposed in the caldera walls. Together these techniques will allow the characterization of the conduit conditions during the hiatus as well as the processes that reinitiated the eruption. This project will result in improved understanding of complex silicic eruptions, particularly with regard to conditions within magma conduits that might lead to temporary terminations and resumptions of explosive activity. This project is a collaboration with Ecuadorian, French, and Italian colleagues and students involved in the project will benefit from these interactions as well as the collaboration between Northern Arizona University and University of Oregon.