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The volcanological significance of deep-sea ash layers associated with ignimbrites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

R. S. J. Sparks  and
T. C. Huang
R. S. J. Sparks
Affiliation:
Department Mineralogy and Petrology, University of Cambridge, Downing Place, Cambridge, U.K.
T. C. Huang
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, R.I. 02881, U.S.A.
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Summary

Many volcanic ash layers preserved in deep-sea sediments are the products of large magnitude ignimbrite eruptions. The characteristics of such co-ignimbrite ash-fall deposits are illustrated by two layers from the Eastern Mediterranean: the Minoan ash, Santorini, and the Campanian ash, Italy. These layers are divisible into a coarse lower unit and a fine upper unit in proximal cores. Both layers also show striking bimodal grain size distributions in more distal cores. The coarser mode decreases in median diameter with distance from source whereas the finer mode shows no lateral variation. These features are interpreted in terms of a model for ignimbrite formation by eruption column collapse. Comparable volumes of ignimbrite and associated air-fall ejecta are produced.

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 117 , Issue 5 , September 1980 , pp. 425 - 436
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980

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