Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In this paper, we present new data from 226Ra–230Th dating and archaeomagnetism with the aim of improving the knowledge of the flank eruptions that occurred at Mt Etna during the Greek–Roman and Early Medieval periods, as defined in the new geological map of the volcano. The combination of the two dating techniques demonstrates that three major flank eruptions occurred on the lower north and west flanks during Greek–Roman epochs, producing large scoria cones and extensive lava flows. In particular, the Mt Ruvolo and Mt Minardo events highly impacted the territory of the west flank, notably by damming the Simeto River. The new data of the Millicucco and Due Monti lava flows, on the lower north–east flank, indicate a younger age than their stratigraphic ages quoted in the 2011 geological map, since they occurred around 700 and 500 AD, respectively. None of the large flank eruptions occurring on the lower slopes of Etna during the Early Medieval age are reported in the historical sources. Overall, our paper shows that a comprehensive assessment of eruptions at Mount Etna in the last three millennia can only be achieved through a multidisciplinary approach.
ISSN: 0377-0273

hal-01277929
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01277929
DOI : 10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2015.09.002

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Excess gas phase in magmas erupting explosively is well known worldwide. However, the origin of this gas phase, in excess of what can be dissolved in the erupting magma at depth, and the rate of gas accumulation is less well defined. The 2010 mildly explosive eruption at Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland, produced mingled tephra of benmoreitic and trachytic composition whereas alkali basalt was emitted during preceding flank eruption. Tephra of the first explosive phase are composed of three glass types, alkaline rhyolite, mixed benmoreite, and basalt, which suggests that the basaltic magma intruded a pre-existing rhyolitic magma chamber, and ultimately triggered the eruption. The mixed benmoreitic tephra (erupted on 15 and 17 April 2010) had large 210Po in excess of 210Pb View the MathML source[(Po210/Pb210)0=1.88] at the time of eruption, and possibly a small 210Pb excess over its parent 226Ra. In contrast, the preceding flank eruption produced basalt with View the MathML source(Po210)0=0, upon eruption, and the final trachyte had lost most of its 210Po during open-system degassing. The 210Po excess in the first erupted benmoreites is interpreted to result from 210Po degassing of basaltic magma and the accumulation of 210Po-enriched gas, either in the upper part of the basaltic intrusion, below the rhyolite–basalt interface, or in the pre-existing residual rhyolitic magma chamber. From a simple model of radon and polonium accumulation in the rhyolitic reservoir, the ratio of the mass of basalt magma degassing over the mass of magma accumulating the excess gas decreased from 20 to 15 over 2 days, implying zoned magma reservoir, with the uppermost and gas-richest part erupting first. The duration of pre-eruptive gas accumulation in this model is approximately one year. This corresponds closely to the initiation of a seismic swarm beneath Eyjafjallajökull, early June 2009, which was the first pre-eruptive signal detected. The coincidence between initiation of gas accumulation at relatively shallow depth and deeper seismicity strongly suggests that the excess gas phase originated from a basalt magma batch intruded at depth, and that this gas phase reached the surface approximately a year later.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-01217142
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01217142
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2015.06.054

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Volumes of magma intruded in and emitted by volcanoes through time can be estimated by reconstruction of vol-cano's morphology and time sequence. Classical approaches for quantifying magma volumes on active volcanoes are based on the difference between pre-and post-eruption digital elevation models (DEM), but this kind of approach needs the pre-eruptive surfaces to be available. For old and eroded volcanoes these surfaces are poorly constrained. However, because the geometrical form of many volcanic edifices exhibits a remarkable symmetry we propose, here, a new approach using primary volcanic landforms in order to estimate the amount of the both erupted and eroded material and to locate eruptive centers. A large fraction of composite volcanoes have near constant slope on their flanks and a form that is concave upwards near their summits. But many phenomena can lead to non-symetrical edifices and complex morphologies can result, for example from parasitic centers of volcanism on the flanks, from alternation of short effusive and explosive construction phases, from flank or caldera collapses, or from glacial and other types of erosion. In this study we propose that, on the first order approximation, complex morphologies can be modeled by piling regular cones. In this model, cones centers and slopes are derived by fitting primary volcanic landform with a linear function :elevation=f(distance from center). Such an approach allows to estimate both errors on location of the eruptive center and on the volume of the resulting cones. This model can then be used for quantifying volume of erupted and eroded material, and for quantifying catastrophic events as giant landslides or flank collapse. This approach is tested on four different active volcanoes : Mount Mayon (Philippines), Mount Fuji (Japan), Mount Etna (Sicily) and Mount Teide (Canary Island) to estimate errors in volume between modeled and actual edifices. It is then used on volcanoes of La Réunion hotspot to reconstruct the Piton des Neiges and Piton de la Fournaise volcanoes at its different stages of growing.
EGU 2014
Vienna, Austria

hal-01386609
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01386609

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Piton des Neiges basaltic volcano (La Réunion) has been deeply dissected by erosion, exposing large volumes of debris avalanche deposits. To shed light on the factors that led to volcano flank destabilizations, we studied the structure, the crystallographic and magnetic fabrics of the substratum of a debris avalanche unit. This substratum is a complex of N50 seaward-dipping sills that has been exposed by the avalanche. Structural observations show that the sill plane in contact with the avalanche is one of the latest intrusions in the sill complex. In this uppermost sill, the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) is correlated to the crystallographic preferred orientation of magmatic silicate minerals, allowing us to use AMS as a proxy to infer the magmatic flow. The AMS fabric across the intrusion is strongly asymmetric, which reveals that the contact sill was emplaced with a normal shear displacement of its hanging wall. The shear displacement and the magma flow in the intrusion are both directed toward the NNE, i.e. toward the sea, which is also the direction of the slope and of the debris avalanche runout. Because all the sills in the intrusion complex have a similar dip and dip direction, it is likely that several of them also underwent a cointrusive slip toward the NNE. We conclude that this cointrusive normal slip, repeated over many intrusions of the sill complex, increased the flank instability of the volcano. This incre-mental instability may have ended up into the observed debris avalanche deposit. At Piton de la Fournaise, the active volcano of La Réunion, sill intrusion and cointrusive flank displacement have been inferred from geophys-ical studies for the April 2007 eruption. By providing direct evidence of sheared sills, our study substantiates the idea that repeated sill intrusions may eventually trigger flank destabilizations in basaltic volcanoes.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01351758
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01351758
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01351758/document
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01351758/file/2016-Tectonopgysics-Berthod.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2016.02.017

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Debris avalanches derived from the flanks of volcanic islands are among the largest on Earth. Debris avalanches are rare, catastrophic destabilizations that still keep geologists debating about the mechanisms that initiate them and make them travel huge runout distances. To shed light on the trigger of such destabilizations, we studied the inland scar of a debris avalanche deposit cropping out at Piton des Neiges, a dormant and eroded basaltic volcano of La Réunion Island. The avalanche deposit rests on a pile of 50-70 sill intrusions with a shallow northward dip, i.e. toward the sea. We measured the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility in a transect across the uppermost sill of the pile in contact with the avalanche deposit. This transect reveals a strongly asymmetric magnetic fabric, consistent with a north-directed shear movement of the upper intrusion wall. This suggests that the upper sill induced a co-intrusive shear displacement of the volcano flank toward the sea. The upper sill margin in contact with the avalanche is striated, showing that this intrusion is older than the avalanche. Striae indicate a northward direction of avalanche runout. The upper sill margin also displays a magmatic lineation consistent with a magma flow in the intrusion toward the north. There is thus a striking kinematic consistency between the directions of intrusion propagation and avalanche runout, both oriented toward the sea. From the above results, we propose that repeated sill intrusions, such as observed on Piton des Neiges, increase the instability of a volcanic edifice. Each injection induces an incremental slip of the overlying rock mass, which may eventually end up into a landslide. Sill intrusions associated with seaward displacements of volcano flank, such as inferred for the April 2007 eruption of Piton de la Fournaise (also in La Réunion), should therefore be considered as a potential trigger of debris avalanches.
Fall meeting
San Francisco, United States

hal-01387002
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01387002