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Late Quaternary explosive phonolitic volcanism of Petite-Terre (Mayotte, Western Indian Ocean)

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Abstract

We studied four Quaternary volcanic phonolitic explosive edifices on Petite-Terre Island (Mayotte, Comoros Archipelago, Western Indian Ocean) to quantify magma fragmentation processes and eruptive dynamics. Petite-Terre explosive volcanism is the westernmost subaerial expression of a 60-km-long volcanic chain, whose eastern tip was the site of the 2018–2020 submarine eruption of the new Fani Maoré volcano. The persistence of deep seismic activity and magmatic degassing along the volcanic chain poses the question of a possible reactivation on land. Through geomorphology, stratigraphy, grain size, and componentry data, we show that Petite-Terre “maars” are actually tuff rings and tuff cones likely formed by several closely spaced eruptions. The eruptive sequences of each edifice are composed of thin (cm–dm), coarse, lithic-poor pumice fallout layers containing abundant ballistic clasts, and fine ash-rich deposits mostly emplaced by dilute pyroclastic density currents (PDCs). Deposits are composed of vesiculated, juvenile fragments (pumice clasts, dense clasts, and obsidian), and non-juvenile clasts (from older mafic scoria cones, coral reef, the volcanic shield of Mayotte, as well as occasional mantle xenoliths). We conclude that phonolitic magma ascended directly and rapidly from depth (around 17 km) and experienced a first, purely magmatic fragmentation, at depth (≈ 1 km in depth). The fragmented pyroclasts then underwent a second shallower hydromagmatic fragmentation when they interacted with water, producing fine ash and building the tuff rings and tuff cones.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank for fieldwork and analysis funding:

- CNES TOSCA (Terre Solide), grant number 10 3703 “Integration of sample return data and remote sensing for advanced understanding of volcanic ash formation and dispersion” (PI: Lucia Gurioli) for L. Gurioli in December 2018

- CNRS/INSU TELLUS grant « MAYVOLTE » for L. Gurioli and A. Di Muro in May 2019.

- CNRS/INSU TELLUS grant « Importance of phreatomagmatism vs. magmatism fragmentation : case studies from felsic maars » for field work support for T. Lacombe, L. Gurioli, E. Médard and A. Di Muro in July 2021 and April/May 2022.

- Réseau de Surveillance Volcanologique et Sismologique de Mayotte (REVOSIMA), a partnership between the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), the Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM), and the Observatoire Volcanologique du Piton de la Fournaise (OVPF-IPGP), the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and the Institut Français de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER).

This is contribution no. 637 of the ClerVolc program of the International Research Center for Disaster Sciences and Sustainable Development of the University Clermont Auvergne.

The authors would like to acknowledge the editor, Natalia Pardo and the reviewers Marco Brenna and Claus Siebe for their advices and guidance through the review of the manuscript and Frances Van Wyk de Vries for the help and corrections of the English.

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Correspondence to Tristan Lacombe.

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Editorial responsibility: N. Pardo

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Lacombe, T., Gurioli, L., Di Muro, A. et al. Late Quaternary explosive phonolitic volcanism of Petite-Terre (Mayotte, Western Indian Ocean). Bull Volcanol 86, 11 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-023-01697-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-023-01697-2

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