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Diatreme evolution during the phreatomagmatic eruption of the Songaksan tuff ring, Jeju Island, Korea

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Abstract

The Songaksan tuff ring, Jeju Island, Korea, which erupted ca. 3.7 ka BP in a coastal setting, provides an unusual opportunity to study the processes of phreatomagmatic eruption and the formation of a diatreme because of the exceptionally well-preserved ejecta beds and well-known subsurface geology. The tuff sequence can be divided into four units (A to D), which have distinctly different accidental componentry (quartz-rich vs. quartz-poor), grain surface features (abraded and ash-coated vs. unabraded and uncoated), and chemical compositions of juvenile particles. The basal tephra bed of unit A, which probably erupted after the removal of the relatively hard shallow-level (<120 m deep) substrate by initial cratering, comprises only unabraded and uncoated grains and contains abundant relatively deep-derived (>120 m deep) accidental grains, suggesting that the early erupted tephra had not yet experienced recycling and pre-eruption mixing in the diatreme. On the other hand, the overlying tephra beds of units A, B, and D contain an abundance of abraded and ash-coated juvenile/accidental grains, suggesting that the tephra comprised significant proportions of “recycled” or “premixed” materials from previous eruptions or subsurface explosions, which participated in the explosion-driven mixing in the diatreme before eventual ejection from the diatreme. Unit C is unusual in that it comprises extremely rare accidental grains and ash-coated juvenile/accidental grains. We interpret that the supply of solid materials, either accidental or juvenile, to the diatreme was greatly reduced because of temporary stabilization of the diatreme and the reduction in magma flux to the diatreme. The diatreme is therefore envisaged to have been filled with a water-saturated slurry, in which particle abrasion and adhesion were inhibited. We also infer that the diatreme fill was temporarily removed by a powerful explosion before eruption of unit C on the basis of the near absence of the tephra grains from earlier eruptions throughout the tephra beds of unit C. The ratio of tachylite to sideromelane grains generally increases up-section of the tuff sequence with two abrupt drops across the tuff unit boundaries. These variations are coincident with the changes in the chemical composition of juvenile particles, suggesting an overall decrease in magma flux punctuated by brief increases in magma flux associated with the arrival of new magma batches. The textural and compositional variations of the Songaksan tuff ring suggest that there can be significant variability in diatreme processes even during a purely phreatomagmatic eruption of a tuff ring, including removal and renewal of the diatreme fill, and that there is still much room for further investigation of the diatreme processes from the ejecta beds in order to make the current diatreme model more robust.

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Notes

  1. We use terms such as “tuff ring,”“tuff,” and “lapilli tuff” in this paper despite the nearly unconsolidated state of the phreatomagmatic deposits at Songaksan, for convenience and for historical continuity.

  2. Using the classic distinction between maars and tuff rings based on the crater position relative to the pre-eruptive surface, Songaksan is probably a maar. We cannot see the crater floor of the tephra ring at Songaksan because it is filled by later scoria cones and ponded lava. However, the crater must have been cut into the pre-eruption surface near sea level before it was filled by these later volcanic deposits, as evidenced by the sea cliff exposures [see Fig. 3a of Sohn et al. (2002)], which show the inner crater wall of the ejecta ring dipping ∼45° and apparently extending below the pre-eruption surface. The abundance of accidental materials at Songaksan also argues for a maar. However, we still use the term Songaksan tuff ring here, for historical continuity and because we do not consider maars and tuff rings to be distinct volcano types.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Basic Science Research Program (NRF-2014R1A2A1A11053516) through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Education. We thank G. Valentine, an anonymous reviewer, and Associate Editor P.-S. Ross for their thorough and constructive comments on the manuscript.

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Go, S., Kim, G., Jeong, J. et al. Diatreme evolution during the phreatomagmatic eruption of the Songaksan tuff ring, Jeju Island, Korea. Bull Volcanol 79, 23 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-017-1103-2

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