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Basaltic phreatomagmatic fissure at 71 Gulch Part 1: sediment magma mingling and eruptive behavior

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Abstract

71 Gulch Volcano, located in the western Snake River Plain, southwestern Idaho (USA), was formed by a basaltic fissure eruption into Pliocene Lake Idaho. Deposits at and below the eruptive surface record the nature of explosive and non-explosive sediment-magma and water-magma interactions. The paleoenvironment and the volcanic plumbing system of 71 Gulch eruption were reconstructed from a detailed study of the now-exposed eruptive and subsurface deposits. Estimated water levels during the eruption range from 1 to 53 m across the entire volcano based on the distribution of pillow lavas. Billowed dikes and fluidal peperites are two types of intrusive features found ≤ 12 m below the syn-eruptive surface that have similar continuous margins representing ductile behavior and emplacement into soft, deformable sediment. In comparison, tabular dikes and blocky peperites occur throughout 41 m thick of exposed deposits below the syn-eruptive surface. A conical, diatreme-like vent structure dominates the subsurface exposure, indicating excavation by phreatomagmatic explosions. Localized spatter within the main subsurface vent suggests temporary exclusion of water and thus a period of brief vent growth above the lake level. Evidence of sediment-magma mingling through blocky and fluidal peperites shows how differing subsurface depths impact the resulting mingling textures.

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Acknowledgments

We appreciate the XRD and SEM support from Joe Nolan, field support from Emma Reynolds, and field support and discussions with Brittany Brand and Richard Hanson. We are grateful to Ulli Kueppers and Karoly Németh for their valuable comments that improved the manuscript, as well as P.-S. Ross for his editorial oversight. We acknowledge that this work was conducted on the traditional territory of the Shoshone-Bannock people.

Funding

This work would not have been possible without the support from the Geological Society of America Graduate Research Grant (KB), the GSA Lipman Research Award (KB), the Association of Earth Science Clubs Research Grant (KB), and the UMKC Research Board (AG).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Global Volcanism Program, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, 10th St. & Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, D.C., 20560, USA

    K. L. Bennis

  2. Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Missouri Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, USA

    A. H. Graettinger

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  1. K. L. Bennis
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Correspondence to K. L. Bennis.

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Editorial responsibility: P-S. Ross

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Bennis, K.L., Graettinger, A.H. Basaltic phreatomagmatic fissure at 71 Gulch Part 1: sediment magma mingling and eruptive behavior. Bull Volcanol 82, 80 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-020-01416-1

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