Scheu, Bettina

The degassing kinetics of ascending magma strongly affect eruption dynamics. The kinetics are in turn influenced by magma properties. The investigation of the relationship between magma properties and eruption dynamics is a key element in revealing the processes characterizing magmatic flows within the shallow conduit. To explore the effects of physical properties on degassing in basaltic eruptive systems, we have designed and carried out experiments on the slow decompressive response of analogue magmas, composed of silicone-oil-based suspensions, using a shock-tube apparatus. Four series of experiments were performed: 1) particle-free silicone oils with viscosity ranging from 1 to 1000 Pa s were used to constrain the liquid response; 2) silicone oils with variable proportion of suspended micrometric spherical particles were employed to assess the effect of different crystal fractions; 3) suspensions of elongated particles in silicone oils were used to investigate the role of crystal shape; 4) the effects of saturation time and pressure were examined. The rheology of both spherical- and elongated-particle-bearing suspensions were characterized by concentric cylinder rotational rheometry. The flow dynamics of the bubbly fluid, from the process of bubble nucleation up to the development of a permeable bubble network, were constrained using image analysis. Different fluid regimes were distinguished: (i) nucleation, (ii) foam build-up and (iii) foam oscillation. By comparing results obtained from the different series of experiments, we were able to assess the primary role played by the presence of particles on the evolution of the gas volume fraction within the samples. Particle fraction has a dominant role at high concentration, affecting the motion of the fluid. Finally, particle shape influences the long-term degassing efficiency of the fluid. Using scaling considerations, such observations are applied to mafic to intermediate systems. The results of our experimental investigation contribute to constraining vesiculation processes in magmas of various crystallinities at shallow depths.

Solfatara crater is locatedwithin the Campi Flegrei caldera to the west of Naples (Italy). It is one of the largest fumarolic manifestations known, and the rocks hosting the hydrothermal system are affected by intense hydrothermal alteration. Alteration can result in changes of degassing behavior, and in the formation of a cap rock thereby increasing the probability of phreatic eruptions. Here, we investigate the effects of alunitic (solfataric) alteration on the mineralogy, the physical properties (porosity, density, permeability) and the mechanical properties (strength) of the rocks involved, aswell as its influence on fragmentation and ejection behavior. Our results showthat the pristine mineralogy of deposits fromthe vicinity of the Solfatara cryptodome and from Pisciarelli is almost completely replaced by amorphous silica and alunite. The differences in the degree of alteration among the samples series are reflected in the investigated properties and behavior aswell as in the analysis of the experimentally generated particles. Alunitic alteration increases porosity and permeability,whereas it reduces density, elastic wave velocity and strength leading to higher fragmentation and ejection speeds for the sample series examined in this study. Our results also show that alteration results in the generation of a high fraction of fines (particle sizes b10 μm) during fragmentation, mainly composed of alunite crystals. Due to their potential for inducing chronic disease, dispersion of such material should represent a serious health hazard on a local scale and the evaluation of precautions should be considered.

Experimental volcanology is a powerful tool to reconstruct the dynamics of magmatic fluids within the conduit. More specifically analogue models, allow constraining the conduit dynamics by independently examine physical variables and their reciprocal relationships. Accurate scaling of the experiments to the natural systems is necessary to derive quantitative information on the studied processes. Here we present a suite of experiments investigating the decompressive response of magma analogues with different properties (i.e. fluid viscosity, suspended particle shape and/or content) and their scaling to the natural basaltic systems. In the experiments Ar-saturated silicone oils with different viscosities are used as proxies for volatile-bearing mafic magmas. Varying percentages of micrometric particles are added to the fluid to investigate the role of crystals content as well as crystal shape on the dynamics of the expanding flow. Through decompression, the degassing mixture is characterized by a regime of periodical oscillations of the bubbly front determined by phases of foam collapse and renewal. We find that time-scale of these oscillations has important implications for understanding the cyclical eruptive behaviour observed at basaltic volcanoes. Applicability of the experimental results to natural mafic systems has been verified in the scaling by using a set of a-dimensional numbers. The experimental dataset has been finally used to validate a numerical code implemented in the Openfoam framework. The original compressible multiphase solver twoPhaseEulerFoam was implemented to take into account the multicomponent nature of the fluid mixtures (liquid and gas) and their phase transition, as also reproduced in the experiments. Decompression experiments and their scaling to volcanic system provided fundamental information on the dynamics of volatiles within the shallow conduit. Furthermore, they are an invaluable tool to validate complex numerical codes for multiphase multicomponent mixtures.

Products of magma fragmentation can pose a severe threat to health, infrastructure, environment, and aviation. Systematic evaluation of the mechanisms and the consequences of volcanic fragmentation is very difficult as the adjacent processes cannot be observed directly and their deposits undergo transport-related sorting. However, enhanced knowledge is required for hazard assessment and risk mitigation. Laboratory experiments on natural samples allow the precise characterization of the generated pyroclasts and open the possibility for substantial advances in the quantification of fragmentation processes. They hold the promise of precise characterization and quantification of fragmentation efficiency and its dependence on changing material properties and the physical conditions at fragmentation. We performed a series of rapid decompression experiments on three sets of natural samples from Unzen volcano, Japan. The analysis comprised grain-size analysis and surface area measurements. The grain-size analysis is performed by dry sieving for particles larger than 250 Am and wet laser refraction for smaller particles. For all three sets of samples, the grain-size of the most abundant fraction decreases and the weight fraction of newly generated ash particles (up to 40 wt.%) increases with experimental pressure/potential energy for fragmentation. This energy can be estimated from the volume of the gas fraction and the applied pressure. The surface area was determined through Argon adsorption. The fragmentation efficiency is described by the degree of fineparticle generation. Results show that the fragmentation efficiency and the generated surface correlate positively with the applied energy.

For an improvement in the quality of conduit flow and dome-related explosive eruption models, knowledge of the preeruption or precollapse density of the rocks involved is necessary. As close investigation is impossible during eruption, the best substitute comes from quantitative investigation of the eruption deposits. The porosity of volcanic rocks is of primary importance for the eruptive behaviour and, accordingly, a key-parameter for realistic models of dome stability and conduit flow. Fortunately, this physical property may be accurately determined via density measurements. We developed a robust, battery-powered device for rapid and reliable density measurements of dry rock samples in the field. The density of the samples (sealed in plastic bags at 250 mbar) is determined using the Archimedean principle. We have tested the device on the deposits of the 1990–1995 eruption of Unzen volcano, Japan. Short setup and operation times allow up to 60 measurements per day under fieldwork conditions. The rapid accumulation of correspondingly large data sets has allowed us to acquire the first statistically significant data set of clast density distribution in block-and-ash flow deposits. More than 1100 samples with a total weight of 2.2 tons were measured. The data set demonstrates that the deposits of the last eruptive episode at Unzen display a bimodal density distribution, with peaks at 2.0F0.1 and 2.3F0.1 g/cm3, corresponding to open porosity values of 20 and 8 vol.%, respectively. We use this data set to link the results of laboratory-based fragmentation experiments to field studies at recently active lava domes.

The dynamics of Newtonian fluids with viscosities of mafic to intermediate silicate melts (10-1000 Pa s) during slow decompression present multi-time scale processes. To observe these processes we have performed several experiments on silicon oil saturated with Argon gas for 72 hours, in a Plexiglas autoclave. The slow decompression, dropping from 10 MPa to ambient pressure, acting as the excitation mechanism, triggered several processes with their own distinct timescales. These processes generate complex non-stationary microseismic signals, which have been recorded with 7 high-dynamic piezoelectric sensors located along the conduit flanked by high-speed video recordings. The analysis in time and frequency of these time series and their correlation with the associated high-speed imaging enables the characterization of distinct phases and the extraction of the individual processes during the evolution of decompression of these viscous fluids. We have observed fluid-solid elastic interaction, degassing, fluid mass expansion and flow, bubble nucleation, growth, coalescence and collapse, foam building and vertical wagging. All these processes (in fine and coarse scales) are sequentially coupled in time, occur within specific pressure intervals, and exhibit a localized distribution along the conduit. Their coexistence and interactions constitute the stress field and driving forces that determine the dynamics of the conduit system. Our observations point to the great potential of this experimental approach in the understanding of volcanic conduit dynamics and volcanic seismicity.

Volcanic systems can exhibit periodical trends in degassing activity, characterized by a wide range of time scales. Understanding the dynamics that control such periodic behavior can provide a picture of the processes occurring in the feeding system. Toward this end, we analyzed the periodicity of outgassing in a series of decompression experiments performed on analogue material (argon‐saturated silicone oil plus glass beads/fibers) scaled to serve as models of basaltic magma. To define the effects of liquid viscosity and crystal content on the time scale of outgassing, we investigated both: (1) pure liquid systems, at differing viscosities (100 and 1000 Pa s), and (2) particle‐bearing suspensions (diluted and semidiluted). The results indicate that under dynamic conditions (e.g., decompressive bubble growth and fluid ascent within the conduit), the periodicity of foam disruption may be up to several orders of magnitude less than estimates based on the analysis of static conditions. This difference in foam disruption time scale is inferred to result from the contribution of bubble shear and bubble growth to inter‐bubble film thinning. The presence of particles in the semidiluted regime is further linked to shorter bubble bursting times, likely resulting from contributions of the presence of a solid network and coalescence processes to the relative increase in bubble breakup rates. Finally, it is argued that these experiments represent a good analogue of gas‐piston activity (i.e., the periodical rise‐and‐fall of a basaltic lava lake surface), implying a dominant role for shallow foam accumulation as a source process for these phenomena.

Steam-driven eruptions, both phreatic and hydrothermal, expel exclusively fragments of nonjuvenile rocks disintegrated by the expansion of water as liquid or gas phase. As their violence is related to the magnitude of the decompression work that can be performed by fluid expansion, these eruptions may occur with variable degrees of explosivity. In this study we investigate the influence of liquid fraction and rock petrophysical properties on the steam-driven explosive energy. A series of fine-grained heterogeneous tuffs from the Campi Flegrei caldera were investigated for their petrophysical properties. The rapid depressurization of various amounts of liquid water within the rock pore space can yield highly variable fragmentation and ejection behaviors for the investigated tuffs. Our results suggest that the pore liquid fraction controls the stored explosive energy with an increasing liquid fraction within the pore space increasing the explosive energy. Overall, the energy released by steam flashing can be estimated to be 1 order of magnitude higher than for simple (Argon) gas expansion and may produce a higher amount of fine material even under partially saturated conditions. The energy surplus in the presence of steam flashing leads to a faster fragmentation with respect to gas expansion and to higher ejection velocities imparted to the fragmented particles. Moreover, weak and low permeability rocks yield a maximum fine fraction. Using experiments to unravel the energetics of steam-driven eruptions has yielded estimates for several parameters controlling their explosivity. These findings should be considered for both modeling and evaluation of the hazards associated with steam-driven eruptions.

Unravelling the rheological behaviour of magmas is fundamental for hazard assessment. At shallow depth the combined effects of degassing, vesiculation and crystallization are likely to produce dramatic changes in the rheology, hence modulating flow dynamics and eruptive style. The rheological evolution from a low viscosity crystal-poor, bubble-free, water-rich melt to a highly viscous crystal-rich, vesicular magma containing a water-poor melt often occurs in the conduit. To clarify the viscous flow dynamics of rheologically-layered volcanic conduits, we performed decompression experiments using a magma analogue system characterized by a low-viscous Layer L (10 Pas) at the bottom and a high-viscous particle-bearing Layer H (≥1000 Pas) at the top. Silicone oils and spherical glass beads are employed as magma and crystal analogues, respectively. Three sets of experiments address the effects of: 1) decompression rate (ca. 10−2 and 104 MPa/s); 2) crystal content in the high viscosity magma (0, 10, 30 and 70 vol.%); and 3) volume ratio of the two rheological layers (0.6 or 0.3). Our results indicate that decompression rate exerts the most dramatic role, yielding changes in time-scale of outgassing up to two orders of magnitude, and affecting the style of decompression response (permeable outgassing or fragmentation). The solid fraction 1) strongly modulates gas mobility, 2) influences the pervasiveness of fragmentation and 3) affects the extent of mingling in the experimental conduit. These results demonstrate that the properties of a shallow, partially-crystallized portion of the magmatic column and its response to varying ascent rate are primary controls on eruptive style.

The Solfatara area and its fumaroles are the main surface expression of the vigorous hydrothermal activity within the active Campi Flegrei caldera system. At depth, a range of volcanic and structural processes dictate the actual state of the hydrothermal system below the crater. The presence of a large variety of volcanic products at shallow depth (including pyroclastic fallout ash beds, pyroclastic density current deposits, breccias, and lavas), and the existence of a maar-related fault system appears to exert major controls on the degassing and alteration behavior. Adding further to the complexity of this environment, variations in permeability and porosity, due to subsoil lithology and alteration effects, may further influence fluid flow towards the surface. Here, we report results from a field campaign conducted in July 2015 that was designed to characterize the in situ physical (temperature, humidity) and mechanical (permeability, strength, stiffness) properties of the Solfatara crater subsoil. The survey also included a mapping of the surficial hydrothermal features and their distributions. Finally, laboratory measurements (porosity, granulometry) of selected samples were performed. Our results enable the discrimination of four main subsoils around the crater: (1) the Fangaia domain located in a topographic low in the southwestern sector, (2) the silica flat domain on the western altered side, (3) the new crust domain in the central area, and (4) the crusted hummocks domain that dominates the north, east, and south parts. These domains are surrounded by encrusted areas, reworked material, and vegetated soil. The distribution of these heterogeneous subsoils suggests that their formation is mostly related to (i) the presence of the Fangaia domain within the crater and (ii) a system of ring faults bordering it. The subsoils show an alternation between very high and very low permeabilities, a fact which seems to affect both the temperature distribution and surficial degassing. A large range of surface temperatures (from 25 up to 95 °C) has been measured across these surfaces, with the hottest spot corresponding to the mud pools, the area of new crust formation, and the crusted hummocks. In the subsoil, the distribution of temperature is more complex and controlled by the presence of coarser, and more permeable, sandy/pebbly levels. These act as preferential pathways for hot hydrothermal fluid circulation. In contrast, low permeability, fine-grained levels act as thermal insulators that remain relatively cold and hinder fluid escape to the surface. Hot gases reach the surface predominantly along (vertical) fractures. When this occurs, mound-like structures can be formed by a cracking and healing process associated with significant degassing. It is anticipated that the results presented here may contribute to an improved understanding of the hazard potential associated with the ongoing hydrothermal activity within the Solfatara crater. At this site the permeability of the near-surface environment and its changes in space and time can affect the spatial and temporal distribution of gas and heat emission. Particularly, in areas where reduction in permeability occurs, it can produce pore pressure augmentation that may result in explosive events.