Beschreibung: The 〉800-m-thick, Oligocene Ohanapecosh Formation records voluminous sedimentation of volcanic clasts in the Ancestral Cascades arc (Washington State, USA). Most volcaniclastic beds are dominated by angular pumice clasts and fiamme of andesitic composition, now entirely devitrified and altered. All beds are laterally continuous and have uniform thickness; fine sandstone and mudstone beds have features typical of deposits from low-density turbidity currents and suspension settling. Erosion surfaces, cross-beds, and evidence of bi-directional oscillatory currents (i.e., wave ripples and swaley and hummocky cross-stratification) are almost entirely absent. We infer that the setting was subaqueous and below wave base. The abundance of angular pumice clasts, crystals and dense volcanic clasts, and the extreme thickness of several facies, suggest they were derived from magmatic volatile-driven explosive eruptions. The extremely thick beds are ungraded or weakly graded, and lack evidence of hot emplacement, suggesting deposition from subaqueous, water-supported, high-concentration volcaniclastic density currents. Some of the thickest beds contain coarse, rounded, dense clasts at their base and are interbedded with accretionary lapilli–bearing mudstone; these beds are interpreted to be deposits from subaqueous density currents fed by subaerial pyroclastic flows that crossed the shoreline. Shallow basaltic intrusions and mafic volcanic breccia composed of scoria lapilli indicate the presence of intra-basinal scoria cones that may have been partly subaerial. The range in facies in the Ohanapecosh Formation is typical of below-wave-base, continental (lacustrine) basins that form in proximity to active volcanic arcs, and includes eruption-fed and resedimented facies. Extreme instantaneous aggradation rates are related directly to explosive eruptions, and sediment pathways reflect the locations of active volcanoes, in contrast to conventional sedimentation processes acting in non-volcanic environments.

Beschreibung: The 46-million-ounce Ladolam gold deposit, the largest alkalic epithermal gold deposit in the world in terms of contained gold, is composed of four ore zones: Minifie, Lienetz, Kapit, and Coastal. This detailed lithofacies study of the Minifie ore zone recognized three evolutionary stages: (1) volcanosedimentary strata (part of an alkalic composite volcanic island), (2) a porphyry-style breccia dike, and (3) epithermal-style breccias. The Plio-Pleistocene volcanosedimentary stratigraphy reflects the transition from subaerial deposition of pyroclastic surge deposits close to vent to a subaqueous, quiet depositional environment into which a cryptodome was emplaced. The stratigraphy is predominantly composed of polymictic, matrix-supported breccia and sandstone interbedded with lavas and shallow intrusions. The Minifie strata have a shallow southward dip as a result of Quaternary uplift. Overprinting the volcanosedimentary stratigraphy are three hydrothermally cemented breccia facies—one deposited in the porphyry environment and two deposited in the epithermal environment. Porphyry-style alteration assemblages and a 3- to 5-m-wide biotite-K-feldspar-calcite-anhydrite–cemented breccia dike are focused around the central "Minifie shear" fault. The porphyry alteration assemblages are overprinted by shallow-level and deeper-level epithermal-style features. The deeper-level (below the present mining surface; 〉140 m below sea level) epithermal vein stockwork is composed of quartz-calcite-adularia-anhydrite–cemented breccias and shallowly northward to near-horizontal dipping veins that have gold grades of 1 to 〉60 g/t Au. Shallow-level epithermal facies (adularia-quartz-pyrite–cemented breccias, veins, and associated alteration) host the bulk mineable gold ore, and typically yield 〉4 g/t Au over 12-m blast hole samples.

Beschreibung: The Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ), New Zealand is a region of voluminous and frequent rhyolitic volcanism and widespread geothermal activity. Additionally, the hydrothermal systems of the TVZ contain relatively high concentrations of base and precious metals. Here we present an extensive dataset of major element, volatile, and trace element (including Pb, Zn, As, Mo, Cu) abundances in melt inclusions, pumice glasses and minerals from eight eruptions within the Okataina Volcanic Center (OVC) of the TVZ to investigate the behavior of metals during melt evolution. The high-SiO 2 rhyolites of the OVC contain high concentrations of volatiles (≤6 wt % H 2 O, ≤0·25 wt % Cl) and underwent significant degassing prior to and during eruption. The OVC melts contain moderate concentrations of metals (11–24 ppm Pb, 20–50 ppm Zn, 2–7 ppm As, 〈2·5 ppm Mo, 〈~5 ppm Cu). Ferromagnesian minerals (amphibole, biotite and orthopyroxene) in the OVC pumice have high concentrations of Zn (≤1500 ppm), and plagioclase and biotite contain moderate amounts of Pb (≤11 ppm). The melt inclusion and pumice glass trace element data reveal complex histories of magma mixing and mingling prior to eruption; however, discrete melt batches are easily identified based on trace element geochemistry. Variations in incompatible trace elements within these melt batches suggest that the OVC rhyolites underwent at least ~20–25% fractional crystallization during quartz crystallization and melt inclusion entrapment (at pressures of ~100–200 MPa) and little to no crystallization (≤5%) during ascent and eruption. Comparison of melt inclusion metal and incompatible element (e.g. U) concentrations reveals that melt Pb, Mo and As increase, whereas melt Zn decreases, during fractional crystallization at depth (~100–200 MPa). These observations can be explained by minor partitioning of the metals Pb, Mo and As into the fractionating minerals and stronger partitioning of Zn into the ferromagnesian phases, supported by calculated metal D values and analyzed metal concentrations in OVC minerals. Interestingly, throughout both deep, vapor-saturated crystallization and during extensive degassing during magma ascent and eruption (as recorded by pumice glasses), the metals analyzed here do not appear to partition appreciably into the vapor. We propose that the lack of volatility of the metals analyzed in this study can be attributed to a combination of several factors. First, vapor–melt partitioning requires the presence of ligands—commonly Cl, S and OH—with which the metals may complex. Given the low Cl/H 2 O ratios in the OVC melts and the extensive degassing of H 2 O compared with Cl, it seems likely that the rhyolites would have exsolved H 2 O-rich vapor with insufficient Cl to transport metals (in particular Pb and Zn) into the vapor phase, either at depth or during magma ascent. Second, the overall small volumes of vapor present during crystallization at pressures of 100–200 MPa would have impeded significant vapor–melt partitioning of the metals. Finally, the estimated very rapid ascent of the OVC melts from depths of 4–8 km suggests that there was insufficient time at low pressure for diffusion of metals out of the melt. These results imply that there may be an indirect connection between the rhyolites and the metals of the hydrothermal systems of the TVZ. As the metals, and other species such as Cl, remain in the rhyolitic magmas upon eruption, they are available in the large volumes of rhyolite emplaced in the upper crust of the TVZ for leaching by heated meteoric waters.

Beschreibung: The Milos, Christiana-Santorini-Kolumbo (CSK) and Kos-Yali-Nisyros (KYN) volcanic complexes of the Aegean Volcanic Arc have repeatedly produced highly explosive eruptions from at least ∼360 ka into historic times and still show recent unrest. We present the marine tephra record from an array of 50, up to 7.4 m long, sediment cores along the arc collected in 2017 during RV Poseidon cruise POS513, which complements earlier work on distal to ultra-distal eastern Mediterranean sediment cores. A unique set of glass-shard trace element (LA-ICPMS) compositions complements our major element (EMP) data on 220 primary ash layers and 40 terrestrial samples to support geochemical fingerprinting for correlations with 19 known tephras from all three volcanic complexes and with the 39 ka Campanian Ignimbrite from the Campi Flegrei, Italy. The correlations include eleven eruptions from CSK (Kameni, Kolumbo 1650, Minoan, Cape Riva, Cape Tripiti, Upper Scoriae 1 and 2, Middle Pumice, Cape Thera, Lower Pumice, Cape Therma 3). We identify a previously unknown widespread tephra from a plinian eruption on Milos (Firiplaka Tephra). Near the KYN we correlate marine tephras with the Kos Plateau Tuff, the Yali 1 and Yali 2 tephras, and the Upper and Lower Pumice on Nisyros. Between these two major tephras, we found two tephras from Nisyros not yet observed on land. The four Nisyros tephras form a systematic trend toward more evolved magma compositions. In the companion paper we use the tephrostratigraphic framework established here to constrain new eruption ages and magnitudes as a contribution to volcanic hazard assessment.

Beschreibung: We use the tephrostratigraphic framework along the Aegean Volcanic Arc established in part 1 of this contribution to determine hemipelagic sedimentation rates, calculate new tephra ages, and constrain the minimum magnitudes of (sub)plinian eruptions of the last 200 kyrs. Hemipelagic sedimentation rates range from ∼0.5 cm/kyr up to ∼40 cm/kyr and vary laterally as well as over time. Interpolation between dated tephras yields an eruption age of ∼37 ka for the Firiplaka tephra, showing that explosive volcanism on Milos is ∼24 kyrs younger than previously thought. The four marine Nisyros tephras (N1 to N4) identified in part 1 (including the Upper (N1) and Lower (N4) Pumice) have ages of ∼57 ka, ∼63 ka, ∼69 ka, and ∼76 ka, respectively. Eruption ages for the Yali-1 and Yali-2 tephras are ∼55 ka and ∼34 ka, respectively. The Yali-2 tephra comprises two geochemically and laterally distinct marine facies. The southern facies is identical to the Yali-2 fall deposit on land but the western facies has slightly less evolved glass compositions. Overall, erupted plinian and co-ignimbrite fall tephra volumes range from 〈1 to 56 km3 (excluding possible caldera fillings and ignimbite volumes), and 80% of the eruptions had magnitude 5.5〈M≤7.2 (M=log(m)-7; m = erupted magma mass in kg). Twenty percent of the tephras represent 3.2〈M〈5.5 eruptions. The long-term average tephra magma mass flux through highly explosive eruptions of Santorini is estimated at ∼40 kg/s. The analogous data for the Kos-Yali-Nisyros volcanic complex is less-well constrained but similar to Santorini.

Beschreibung: The 2012 submarine eruption of Havre volcano in the Kermadec arc, New Zealand, is the largest deep-ocean eruption in history and one of very few recorded submarine eruptions involving rhyolite magma. It was recognized from a gigantic 400-km 2 pumice raft seen in satellite imagery, but the complexity of this event was concealed beneath the sea surface. Mapping, observations, and sampling by submersibles have provided an exceptionally high fidelity record of the seafloor products, which included lava sourced from 14 vents at water depths of 900 to 1220 m, and fragmental deposits including giant pumice clasts up to 9 m in diameter. Most (〉75%) of the total erupted volume was partitioned into the pumice raft and transported far from the volcano. The geological record on submarine volcanic edifices in volcanic arcs does not faithfully archive eruption size or magma production.