Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Coupled caldera subsidence and stirring inferred from analogue models

Nature Geoscience volume 1, pages 385–389 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Caldera-forming eruptions can be explosive and lead to the eruption of phenomenal volumes of magma that can devastate the global environment1. Such eruptions involve ground subsidence related to catastrophic sinking of a magma chamber roof, accompanied by buoyant flow of magma through a ring conduit around the sinking roof 2. Previous work points to a feedback between subsidence and eruption: eruption initiates subsidence of the chamber roof, which in turn drives the ongoing eruption3. Although subsidence-driven eruption dominates caldera evolution4, the coupled dynamics of subsidence and magma flow are poorly understood. Here, we use analogue models to show that, under most conditions, caldera subsidence is spatially and temporally variable, leading to complicated and vigorous magma stirring and mixing. On the basis of the experimental results and a scaling analysis, we construct a regime diagram that helps demonstrate how the coupled flow and subsidence are influenced by the fluid dynamics and geometry of the system. The vigorous stirring we infer can considerably modify the style of subsidence and can explain textural, petrological and geochemical variation in deposits that have been related to caldera-forming eruptions.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Details of experimental apparatus and scaling.
Figure 2: Experimental results for low (4.8×102), intermediate (1.9×103) and high (1.3×105) Re.
Figure 3: Photograph from the side of a two-block high-Re experiment.
Figure 4: Regime diagrams.

References

  1. Rampino, M. & Self, S. Volcanic winter and accelerated glaciation following the Toba super-eruption. Nature 359, 50–52 (1992).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Fouqué, F. Santorin et ses Eruptions (Masson, Paris, 1879).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Druitt, T. & Sparks, R. S. J. On the formation of calderas during ignimbrite eruptions. Nature 310, 679–681 (1984).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Hildreth, W. & Wilson, C. Compositional zonation in the Bishop Tuff. J. Petrol. 48, 951–999 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Druitt, T. H. & Bacon, C. R. Petrology of the zoned calcalkaline magma chamber of Mount Mazama, Crater Lake, Oregon. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 101, 245–259 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Simkin, T. & Howard, K. A. Caldera collapse in the Galápagos Islands, 1968. Science 169, 429–437 (1970).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Kumagi, H. et al. Very-long-period seismic signals and caldera formation at Miyake Island, Japan. Science 293, 687–690 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Folch, A., Codina, R. & Marti, J. Numerical modeling of magma withdrawal during explosive caldera-forming eruptions. J. Geophys. Res. 106, 16163–16175 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Trial, A. F., Spera, F. J., Greer, J. & Yuen, D. A. Simulations of magma withdrawal from compositionally zoned bodies. J. Geophys. Res. 97, 6713–6733 (1992).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Acocella, V. Understanding caldera structure and development: An overview of analogue models compared to natural calderas. Earth Sci. Rev. 85, 125–160 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Allen, J. J. & Chong, M. S. Vortex formation in front of a piston moving through a cylinder. J. Fluid Mech. 416, 1–28 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Blake, S. & Ivey, G. N. Magma mixing and the dynamics of withdrawal from stratified reservoirs. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 27, 153–178 (1986).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Blake, S. & Campbell, I. H. The dynamics of magma-mixing during flow in volcanic conduits. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 94, 72–91 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Koyaguchi, T. Magma mixing in a conduit. J. Volcanol. Geotherm Res. 25, 365–369 (1985).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Ottino, J. The Kinematics of Mixing: Stretching, Chaos and Transport (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1989).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Muira, D. Effects of changing stress states on the development of caldera-bounding faults: Geological evidence from Kumano caldera, Japan. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 144, 89–103 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Tucker, D. et al. Geology and complex collapse mechanisms of the 3.72 M Hannegan caldera, North Cascades, Washington, USA. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 119, 329–343 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Yoshida, T. Tertiary Ishizuki, cauldron, southwestern Japan arc: Formation by ring fracture subsidence. J. Geophys. Res. 89, 8502–8510 (1984).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Kennedy, B. & Stix, J. Magmatic processes associated with caldera collapse at Ossipee ring dike, New Hampshire. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 119, 3–17 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Sparks, R. S. J. Petrology and geochemistry of the Loch Ba ring-dyke, Mull (N.W. Scotland): An example of the extreme differentiation of tholeiitic magmas. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 100, 446–461 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. McDonnell, S. et al. Intrusive history of the Slieve Gullion ring dyke, Ireland: Implications for the internal structure of silicic sub-caldera magma chambers. Mineral. Mag. 68, 725–738 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. White, F. M. Viscous Fluid Flow (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1991).

    Google Scholar 

  23. Heiken, G. et al. The Valles/Toledo caldera complex, Jemez Volcanic field, New Mexico. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 18, 27–53 (1990).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Druitt, T. H. Vent evolution and lag breccia formation during the Cape Riva eruption of Santorini, Greece. J. Geol. 93, 439–454 (1985).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Wolff, J. A., Woerner, G. & Blake, S. Gradients in physical parameters in zoned felsic magma bodies; Implications for evolution and eruptive withdrawal. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 43, 37–55 (1990).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Petford, N., Kerr, R. C. & Lister, J. R. Dike transport of granitoid magmas. Geology 21, 845–847 (1993).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Wilson, C. J. N. & Hildreth, W. H. The Bishop Tuff; new insights from eruptive stratigraphy. J. Geol. 105, 407–439 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Wallace, P. J., Anderson, A. T. & Davies, A. M. Gradients in H2O, CO2, and exsolved gas in a large-volume silicic magma system: Interpreting the record preserved in melt inclusions from the Bishop Tuff. J. Geophys. Res. 104, 20097–20122 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Bryan, S. Petrology and geochemistry of the quaternary caldera-forming, Phonolitic Granadilla Eruption, Tenerife (Canary Islands). J. Petrol. 47, 1557–1589 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Dreher, S. T., Eichelberger, J. C. & Larsen, J. F. The petrology and geochemistry of the aniakchak caldera-forming Ignimbrite, Aleutian Arc, Alaska. J. Petrol. 46, 1747–1768 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank R. Breger, T. Barton, A. Peterson, G. Robert and S. Wiingaard for their assistance with experiments. Support was provided to B.M.K. from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill University, from GEOTOP, Université du Québec à Montréal and from the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. A.M.J. acknowledges support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and the Marsden Fund. J.S. acknowledges support from the Natural Sciences and Research Council of Canada and from le Fonds Quebecoise de la Research sur la Nature et les Technologies.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia, 6339 Stores Road Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Ben M. Kennedy & A. Mark Jellinek

  2. Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill University, 3450 University Street, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 2A7, Canada

    John Stix

Authors
  1. Ben M. Kennedy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. Mark Jellinek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. John Stix
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

B.M.K., A.M.J. and J.S. all contributed to carrying out experiments and analysing data, as well as writing, planning and editing this manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ben M. Kennedy.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kennedy, B., Mark Jellinek, A. & Stix, J. Coupled caldera subsidence and stirring inferred from analogue models. Nature Geosci 1, 385–389 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo206

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo206

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing