Aeolian Remobilisation of the 2011-Cordón Caulle Tephra-Fallout Deposit: Example of an Important Process in the Life Cycle of Volcanic Ash

• Autores: Dominguez, Lucia; Bonadonna, Costanza; Forte, Pablo Brian; Jarvis, Paul Antony; Cioni, Raffaello; Mingari, Leonardo Alejandro; Bran, Donaldo Mauricio; Panebianco, Juan Esteban
• Año de publicación: 2020
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Materia: LITHOMETEOR CLASSIFICATION; TEPHRA FALLOUT; TRANSPORT AND DEPOSITION PROCESSES; VOLCANIC ASH LIFE CYCLE; WIND REMOBILISATION
• Institución: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Although volcanic eruptions represent short periods in the whole history of a volcano, the large amount of loose pyroclastic material produced, combined with aeolian processes, can lead to continuous, long-lasting reworking of volcanic products. Driven by wind, these processes significantly influence the geomorphology and prolong the impacts of eruptions on exposed communities and ecosystems. Since such phenomena are of interest to scientists from a range of disciplines (e.g., volcanology, atmospheric and soil sciences), a well-defined, common nomenclature is necessary to optimise the multidisciplinary characterisation of both processes and deposits. We, therefore, first describe ash wind-remobilisation processes and provide definitions for appropriate terms consistent with the World Meteorological Organisation’s (WMO’s) classification of lithometeors. Second, we apply these definitions to investigate aeolian remobilisation of the 2011 Cordón Caulle (Chile) tephra-fallout deposit, which has strongly impacted rural communities in the Argentinian Patagonia steppe. We combine field observations and a physical characterisation of systematically collected ground and airborne material in order to identify the secondary deposits associated with: (i) non-erodible surface roughness elements (e.g., vegetation and rocks) and (ii) pre-existing mounds or similar erodible bedforms. Grainsize analysis shows that wind-remobilised particles have a specific size range, from <0.4 to 500 μm, with a 95% of the material between 1 and 255 μm, median values of 25–135 μm and modes of 30–95 μm. We find that 15–40% of the remobilised material ranges from 63–125 μm, coinciding with the size range which minimises the wind threshold friction velocity. Interestingly, particle shape analysis shows that for this size fraction, remobilised particles display the largest differences in shape descriptors (convexity, solidity and circularity) with respect to the primary ash, indicating abrasion and rounding due to saltation. Although particle (size and shape) and deposit features (morphology and structures) alone are insufficient to interpret transport mechanisms, their combination suggests that whilst saltation is the most common particle transport mechanism, suspension and creep also play an important role. As well as inferring transport mechanisms from this combined approach, we also demonstrate how the correlation of the primary volcanic source with the associated remobilised deposits is fundamental to our understanding of the life cycle of volcanic ash.
Fil: Dominguez, Lucia. Universidad de Genova; España
Fil: Bonadonna, Costanza. Universidad de Genova; España
Fil: Forte, Pablo Brian. Johannes Gutenberg Universitat Mainz; Alemania. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Geología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Jarvis, Paul Antony. Universidad de Genova; España
Fil: Cioni, Raffaello. Università degli Studi di Firenze; Italia
Fil: Mingari, Leonardo Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Bran, Donaldo Mauricio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Panebianco, Juan Esteban. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa; Argentina