In-conduit capture of sub-micron volcanic ash particles via turbophoresis and sintering.

Ash emission in explosive silicic eruptions can have widespread impacts for human health, agriculture, infrastructure, and aviation. Estimates of the total grainsize distribution (TGSD) generated during explosive magma fragmentation underpins eruption models and ash dispersal forecasts. Conventionally, the TGSD constrained via erupted deposits is assumed to match the TGSD produced at explosive fragmentation. Here we present observations from within the vent of a recent rhyolitic eruption (Cordón Caulle, Chile, 2011-2012), demonstrating that fine (<63 µm diameter) and ultra-fine (<2.5 µm diameter) ash particles are captured and sintered to fracture surfaces, and thus sequestered in the shallow subsurface, rather than emitted. We establish a conceptual model-uniquely contextualised through a combination of syn-eruptive observations and detailed post-eruption field investigation-in which turbophoresis (particle migration towards zones of lower turbulence) and rapid sintering create an inverse relationship between particle size and the probability of its subsurface capture. Such size-dependent capture efficiency preferentially removes submicron-diameter ash from the erupted componentry, decoupling the erupted size distribution from magmatic source conditions and potentially playing an important role in modulating eruption dynamics.

Eruption of ultralow-viscosity basanite magma at Cumbre Vieja, La Palma, Canary Islands.

The viscosity of magma exerts control on all aspects of its migration through the crust to eruption. This was particularly true for the 2021 eruption of Cumbre Vieja (La Palma), which produced exceptionally fast and fluid lava at high discharge rates. We have performed concentric cylinder experiments to determine the effective viscosities of the Cumbre Vieja magma, while accounting for its chemistry, crystallinity, and temperature. Here we show that this event produced a nepheline-normative basanite with the lowest viscosity of historical basaltic eruptions, exhibiting values of less than 10 to about 160 Pa s within eruption temperatures of ~1200 to ~1150 °C. The magma's low viscosity was responsible for many eruptive phenomena that lead to particularly impactful events, including high-Reynolds number turbulent flow and supercritical states. Increases in viscosity due to crystallization-induced melt differentiation were subdued in this eruption, due in part to subtle degrees of silica enrichment in alkaline magma.

Combined effusive-explosive silicic volcanism straddles the multiphase viscous-to-brittle transition.

Magma is a viscoelastic fluid that can support fracture propagation when local shear stresses are high, or relax and flow when shear stresses are low. Here we present experiments to confirm this using synthetic and natural magmatic liquids across eruptive conditions and use Maxwell's linear viscoelasticity to parameterize our results and predict the maximum stresses that can be supported during flow. This model proves universal across a large range of liquid compositions, temperatures, crystallinity and rates of strain relevant to shallow crustal magma ascent. Our results predict that the 2008 Volcán Chaitén eruption resided in the viscous field at the onset of magma ascent, but transitioned to a mixed viscous-brittle regime during degassing, coincident with the observed combined effusive-explosive behaviour during dome extrusion. Taking a realistic maximum effusive ascent rate, we propose that silicic eruptions on Earth may straddle the viscous-to-brittle transition by the time they reach the surface.

Rapid laccolith intrusion driven by explosive volcanic eruption.

Magmatic intrusions and volcanic eruptions are intimately related phenomena. Shallow magma intrusion builds subsurface reservoirs that are drained by volcanic eruptions. Thus, the long-held view is that intrusions must precede and feed eruptions. Here we show that explosive eruptions can also cause magma intrusion. We provide an account of a rapidly emplaced laccolith during the 2011 rhyolite eruption of Cordón Caulle, Chile. Remote sensing indicates that an intrusion began after eruption onset and caused severe (>200 m) uplift over 1 month. Digital terrain models resolve a laccolith-shaped body ∼0.8 km3. Deformation and conduit flow models indicate laccolith depths of only ∼20-200 m and overpressures (∼1-10 MPa) that likely stemmed from conduit blockage. Our results show that explosive eruptions may rapidly force significant quantities of magma in the crust to build laccoliths. These iconic intrusions can thus be interpreted as eruptive features that pose unique and previously unrecognized volcanic hazards.

Exceptional mobility of an advancing rhyolitic obsidian flow at Cordón Caulle volcano in Chile.

The emplacement mechanisms of rhyolitic lava flows are enigmatic and, despite high lava viscosities and low inferred effusion rates, can result in remarkably, laterally extensive (>30 km) flow fields. Here we present the first observations of an active, extensive rhyolitic lava flow field from the 2011-2012 eruption at Cordón Caulle, Chile. We combine high-resolution four-dimensional flow front models, created using automated photo reconstruction techniques, with sequential satellite imagery. Late-stage evolution greatly extended the compound lava flow field, with localized extrusion from stalled, ~35 m-thick flow margins creating >80 breakout lobes. In January 2013, flow front advance continued ~3.6 km from the vent, despite detectable lava supply ceasing 6-8 months earlier. This illustrates how efficient thermal insulation by the lava carapace promotes prolonged within-flow horizontal lava transport, boosting the extent of the flow. The unexpected similarities with compound basaltic lava flow fields point towards a unifying model of lava emplacement.

3D spectral imaging with synchrotron Fourier transform infrared spectro-microtomography.

We report Fourier transform infrared spectro-microtomography, a nondestructive three-dimensional imaging approach that reveals the distribution of distinctive chemical compositions throughout an intact biological or materials sample. The method combines mid-infrared absorption contrast with computed tomographic data acquisition and reconstruction to enhance chemical and morphological localization by determining a complete infrared spectrum for every voxel (millions of spectra determined per sample).

Rapid ascent of rhyolitic magma at Chaitén volcano, Chile.

Rhyolite magma has fuelled some of the Earth's largest explosive volcanic eruptions. Our understanding of these events is incomplete, however, owing to the previous lack of directly observed eruptions. Chaitén volcano, in Chile's northern Patagonia, erupted rhyolite magma unexpectedly and explosively on 1 May 2008 (ref. 2). Chaitén residents felt earthquakes about 24 hours before ash fell in their town and the eruption escalated into a Plinian column. Although such brief seismic forewarning of a major explosive basaltic eruption has been documented, it is unprecedented for silicic magmas. As precursory volcanic unrest relates to magma migration from the storage region to the surface, the very short pre-eruptive warning at Chaitén probably reflects very rapid magma ascent through the sub-volcanic system. Here we present petrological and experimental data that indicate that the hydrous rhyolite magma at Chaitén ascended very rapidly, with velocities of the order of one metre per second. Such rapid ascent implies a transit time from storage depths greater than five kilometres to the near surface in about four hours. This result has implications for hazard mitigation because the rapidity of ascending rhyolite means that future eruptions may provide little warning.