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Mixed-magma pyroclastic surge deposits associated with debris avalanche deposits at Colima volcanoes, Mexico

Abstract:

The transition between the terminal cones and the ancestral edifices of Nevado de Colima and Fuego de Colima volcanoes is marked by the deposits of gigantic volcanic debris avalanches of the Mount St. Helens (MSH) or Bezymianny type. Unusual mafic juvenile fragments and cauliflower bombs as well as juvenile fragments of mixed and more evolved composition are abundant in dune-bedded pyroclastic-surge deposits directly associated with these catastrophic events at both volcanoes. At Nevado, these mafic juvenile fragments represent the most primitive magma ever erupted by the volcano (SiO2∼52.50%). The lavas directly preceding and following the debris-avalanche event are silicic andesites (SiO2∼59%). At Fuego these juvenile fregments have ∼56% SiO2. The lavas from the upper parts of the caldera wall are dacites (∼65% SiO2), whereas the terminal cone is composed of andesites (57% to 62% SiO2). At Nevado, petrologic evidence for interaction of mafic magma with andesitic or dacitic magma in a high-level magma chamber, just before the eruption of pyroclastic surge deposits, consists of: (1) banded juvenile bombs of intermediate composition; (2) the range of composition of these bombs from SiO2∼52% to ∼58%; (3) the presence of highly magnesian olivine with reaction rims; (4) inverse zoning in clinopyroxene with strong Mg enrichment towards the rim; (5) resorption of plagioclase; and (6) significant compositional heterogeneity in the vitric phase. Volcanic debris-avalanche events at Nevado and Fuego de Colima may thus correspond with major breaks in the petrological evolution of the volcanoes and the start of a new magmatic cycle. Injection of mafic magma into the presently perched viscous surface dome of the active Fuego cone, as occurred in 1818 and 1913, could enhance the likelihood of southward collapse of the flank of an already unstable edifice, and it must be considered in future hazard assessment of this active volcano. Risk to life and property for the entire Colima region associated with such catastrophic phenomena would be immeasurably greater in comparison with hazards related to the last explosive outburst in 1913, which resulted in emplacement of pyroclastic flows over uninhabited areas of the upper flanks of the volcano. © 1990 Springer-Verlag.