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Title: The relationship between eruptive activity, flank collapse, and sea level at volcanic islands: A long-term (> 1 Ma) record offshore Montserrat, Lesser Antilles

Journal Article · · Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GC006053· OSTI ID:1480727
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [4];  [5];  [3];  [3];  [6];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [7];  [8];  [9];  [10];  [11];  [12];  [9];  [7] more »;  [13];  [14];  [15] « less
  1. Univ. of Southampton, Southampton (United Kingdom)
  2. Plymouth Univ., Plymouth (United Kingdom)
  3. National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (United Kingdom)
  4. Johannes Gutenberg Univ. Mainz, Mainz (Germany)
  5. National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (United Kingdom); Univ. of Tasmania, Hobart (Tasmania)
  6. Univ. of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA (United States)
  7. Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite (France)
  8. Univ. of Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan)
  9. Niigata Univ., Niigata (Japan)
  10. Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States)
  11. Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
  12. Geological Survey of Japan (AIST), Ibaraki (Japan)
  13. Univ. of Tokyo, Tokyo (Japan)
  14. Tufts Univ., Medford, MA (United States)
  15. Montserrat Volcano Observatory, Flemmings (Montserrat); Univ. of the West Indies, St. Augustine (Trinidad and Tobago)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Hole U1395B, drilled southeast of Montserrat during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 340, provides a long (> 1 Ma) and detailed record of eruptive and mass-wasting events (> 130 discrete events). This record can be used to explore the temporal evolution in volcanic activity and landslides at an arc volcano. Analysis of tephra fall and volcaniclastic turbidite deposits in the drill cores reveals three heightened periods of volcanic activity on the island of Montserrat (~930 to ~900 ka, ~810 to ~760 ka, and ~190 to ~120 ka) that coincide with periods of increased volcano instability and mass-wasting. The youngest of these periods marks the peak in activity at the Soufrière Hills volcano. The largest flank collapse of this volcano (~130 ka) occurred toward the end of this period, and two younger landslides also occurred during a period of relatively elevated volcanism. These three landslides represent the only large (> 0.3 km3) flank collapses of the Soufrière Hills edifice, and their timing also coincides with periods of rapid sea level rise (> 5 m/ka). Available age data from other island arc volcanoes suggest a general correlation between the timing of large landslides and periods of rapid sea level rise, but this is not observed for volcanoes in intraplate ocean settings. We furthermore infer that rapid sea level rise may modulate the timing of collapse at island arc volcanoes, but not in larger ocean-island settings.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1480727
Journal Information:
Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, Vol. 17, Issue 7; ISSN 1525-2027
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 27 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (8)

Database of giant landslides on volcanic islands—first results from the Atlantic Ocean journal February 2018
A comprehensive global database of giant landslides on volcanic islands journal August 2019
Mass‐transport complexes (MTCs) document subsidence patterns in a northern Gulf of Mexico salt minibasin journal January 2020
Complex and Cascading Triggering of Submarine Landslides and Turbidity Currents at Volcanic Islands Revealed From Integration of High-Resolution Onshore and Offshore Surveys journal December 2018
Submarine Depositional Terraces at Salina Island (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea) and Implications on the Late-Quaternary Evolution of the Insular Shelf journal January 2018
A decade of volcanic construction and destruction at the summit of NW Rota-1 seamount: 2004-2014: VOLCANIC EVOLUTION OF NW ROTA-1 SUMMIT journal January 2017
The Evolution of the Silver Hills Volcanic Center, and Revised 40 Ar/ 39 Ar Geochronology of Montserrat, Lesser Antilles, With Implications for Island Arc Volcanism: EVOLUTION OF SILVER HILLS VOLCANISM journal February 2018
Complex and cascading triggering of submarine landslides and turbidity currents at volcanic islands revealed from integration of high-resolution onshore and offshore surveys preprint September 2018

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58 GEOSCIENCES
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