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Architecture and emplacement of flood basalt flow fields: case studies from the Columbia River Basalt Group, NW USA

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Abstract

The physical features and morphologies of collections of lava bodies emplaced during single eruptions (known as flow fields) can be used to understand flood basalt emplacement mechanisms. Characteristics and internal features of lava lobes and whole flow field morphologies result from the forward propagation, radial spread, and cooling of individual lobes and are used as a tool to understand the architecture of extensive flood basalt lavas. The features of three flood basalt flow fields from the Columbia River Basalt Group are presented, including the Palouse Falls flow field, a small (8,890 km2, ∼190 km3) unit by common flood basalt proportions, and visualized in three dimensions. The architecture of the Palouse Falls flow field is compared to the complex Ginkgo and more extensive Sand Hollow flow fields to investigate the degree to which simple emplacement models represent the style, as well as the spatial and temporal developments, of flow fields. Evidence from each flow field supports emplacement by inflation as the predominant mechanism producing thick lobes. Inflation enables existing lobes to transmit lava to form new lobes, thus extending the advance and spread of lava flow fields. Minimum emplacement timescales calculated for each flow field are 19.3 years for Palouse Falls, 8.3 years for Ginkgo, and 16.9 years for Sand Hollow. Simple flow fields can be traced from vent to distal areas and an emplacement sequence visualized, but those with multiple-layered lobes present a degree of complexity that make lava pathways and emplacement sequences more difficult to identify.

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Acknowledgments

S. Self and T. Barry were funded by NERC grant NER/A/S/2003/00444. C. Vye-Brown acknowledges the studentship funding from The Open University and fieldwork funding from the Daniel Pidgeon Award (Geological Society of London), the Mineralogical Society, and the Peter Francis Bursary Fund. C. Vye-Brown publishes with permission of the Executive Director of the British Geological Survey (Natural Environment Research Council). Scott Bryan and Magadalena Oryaëlle Chevrel are thanked for their constructive reviews which resulted in improvements to this paper. The authors would also like to thank Steve Reidel and Rich Brown for useful discussions on an early version of this manuscript.

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  1. C. Vye-Brown

    Present address: British Geological Survey, Murchison House, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3LA, UK

  2. T. L. Barry

    Present address: Department of Geology, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK

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  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK

    C. Vye-Brown, S. Self & T. L. Barry

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Features of flow fields and reference localities for all logs. (XLSX 12 kb)

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Vye-Brown, C., Self, S. & Barry, T.L. Architecture and emplacement of flood basalt flow fields: case studies from the Columbia River Basalt Group, NW USA. Bull Volcanol 75, 697 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-013-0697-2

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