RAPID: RUI: Constraints on Fragmentation and Lava-Ice Contact From Ongoing 2010 Eyjafjallajokull Eruption, Southcentral Iceland

这一快速喷发是由地球科学部(GEO)的岩石学与地球化学计划和国际科学与工程办公室(OISE)的欧洲和欧亚计划共同发起的。从3月20日开始，一直持续到现在，艾亚菲亚德拉中心火山经历了两种不同类型的喷发：最初的闪电喷发和夏威夷碱性玄武岩喷发(Fimmvörthaháls)，产生熔岩-雪相互作用，从4月14日开始，在短暂的短暂中断后，喷发在火山顶端破火山口下重新喷发(艾雅法拉雪峰)。峰顶喷发的爆炸性要大得多，初步分析表明，岩浆的成分更具硅质。这一快速喷发是为了在接下来的12个月内研究火山喷发的几个重要方面，这将导致更好的知识和方法来解释古代冰火山沉积，并更好地为社会准备未来来自冰岛或北美西部的冰火山喷发。这是至少在过去200年来第一次有记录的粗面安山岩和碱性玄武岩的冰火山喷发，这是一个独特的机会，可以提高我们对冰火山喷发过程的认识，这些过程已经成为连接更新世海洋和大陆气候信号的关键古气候指标。建议在接下来的12个月中研究火山喷发的几个重要方面，包括(1)现在Fimmvörtheháls熔岩的结构，(2)火山近端和远端受地层限制的火山灰样品中记录的碎裂过程的变化，以及(3)喷发过程中岩浆化学的变化。为获得这项工作的最佳样品，至关重要的是调查高海拔熔岩-积雪接触并收集火山灰样品，以免沉积物在2010-2011年冬季期间受到喷口附近的热液改变/软岩化作用、二次斜坡搬运作用而破坏地层/时间信息、被季节性降雨侵蚀或被雪/冰覆盖。拟议的研究将使国际和平研究所和迪金森学院的一名本科生能够与几位冰岛科学家(如Steinunn Hauksdöttir、Birgir Oskarsson)合作实现研究目标。

This RAPID was co-sponsored by the Petrology & Geochemistry program of the Division of Earth Sciences (GEO) and the Europe and Eurasian Program in the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE).Starting 20 March and continuing to the present, Eyjafjallajökull central volcano has experienced two different types of eruptions: initial strombolian and hawaiian eruptions of alkaline basalt from the northeastern flank (Fimmvörthuháls), producing lava-snow interactions, and starting 14 April, after a short temporal hiatus, the eruption was renewed beneath the summit caldera of the volcano (Eyjafjallajökull summit). The summit eruption has been much more explosive, and preliminary analyses show that the magma is more silicic in composition. This RAPID is to investigate several important aspects of the eruption during the next twelve months that will results in better knowledge and methodologies for interpreting ancient glaciovolcanic deposits, and also better prepare society for future glaciovolcanic eruptions from Iceland or from western North America.This is the first documented glaciovolcanic eruption of trachyandesite and alkaline basalt in at least the past two hundred years, and represents a unique opportunity to improve our knowledge of glaciovolcanic eruption processes, which have become critical paleo-climate proxies for linking Pleistocene oceanic and continental climate signals. It is proposed to investigate several important aspects of the eruption during the next twelve months, including (1) textures of lavas now interaction at Fimmvörthuháls, (2) changes in fragmentation processes as documented in stratigraphically constrained samples of ash at proximal and distal locations from the volcano, and (3) changes in magma chemistry during the course of the eruption. In order to obtain the best samples for this work, it is critical to investigate high elevation lava-snow contacts and collect ash samples before deposits are either hydrothermally altered/palagonitized near the vent; reworked by secondary slope transport that will destroy stratigraphic/temporal information; eroded by seasonal rain; or covered by snow/ice during winter 2010-2011. The proposed research will enable the PI and one Dickinson College undergraduate to partner and collaborate with several Icelandic scientists (e.g., Steinunn Hauksdöttir, Birgir Oskarsson) in the pursuit of the research goals.