RAPID: RUI: Constraints on Fragmentation and Lava-Ice Contact From Ongoing 2010 Eyjafjallajokull Eruption, Southcentral Iceland

Dickinson College, Carlisle PA

Investigators

Abstract

This RAPID was co-sponsored by the Petrology & Geochemistry program of the Division of Earth Sciences (GEO) and the Europe and Eurasian Program in the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE). Starting 20 March and continuing to the present, Eyjafjallajökull central volcano has experienced two different types of eruptions: initial strombolian and hawaiian eruptions of alkaline basalt from the northeastern flank (Fimmvörthuháls), producing lava-snow interactions, and starting 14 April, after a short temporal hiatus, the eruption was renewed beneath the summit caldera of the volcano (Eyjafjallajökull summit). The summit eruption has been much more explosive, and preliminary analyses show that the magma is more silicic in composition. This RAPID is to investigate several important aspects of the eruption during the next twelve months that will results in better knowledge and methodologies for interpreting ancient glaciovolcanic deposits, and also better prepare society for future glaciovolcanic eruptions from Iceland or from western North America. This is the first documented glaciovolcanic eruption of trachyandesite and alkaline basalt in at least the past two hundred years, and represents a unique opportunity to improve our knowledge of glaciovolcanic eruption processes, which have become critical paleo-climate proxies for linking Pleistocene oceanic and continental climate signals. It is proposed to investigate several important aspects of the eruption during the next twelve months, including (1) textures of lavas now interaction at Fimmvörthuháls, (2) changes in fragmentation processes as documented in stratigraphically constrained samples of ash at proximal and distal locations from the volcano, and (3) changes in magma chemistry during the course of the eruption. In order to obtain the best samples for this work, it is critical to investigate high elevation lava-snow contacts and collect ash samples before deposits are either hydrothermally altered/palagonitized near the vent; reworked by secondary slope transport that will destroy stratigraphic/temporal information; eroded by seasonal rain; or covered by snow/ice during winter 2010-2011. The proposed research will enable the PI and one Dickinson College undergraduate to partner and collaborate with several Icelandic scientists (e.g., Steinunn Hauksdöttir, Birgir Oskarsson) in the pursuit of the research goals.