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Like a cannonball: origin of dense spherical basaltic ejecta

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Abstract

Cannonballs are rare spherical to sub-spherical eruptive products associated with basaltic explosive activity. The origin of cannonballs is still debated and subjected to a wide spectrum of different interpretations. In order to better understand the physicochemical mechanisms controlling the formation of these explosive products, we investigated the textural and chemical features of cannonballs from the Cerro Chopo monogenetic volcano (Costa Rica). These explosive products ubiquitously show a core domain with coalesced bubbles (30–36% porosity) wrapped in a dense rim domain with small, isolated bubbles (20–27% porosity). Both domains are identical in terms of bulk rock composition and mineral chemistry and are portions of the same magma batch. Results from combined petrological and thermodynamic modeling indicate that a low-viscosity (~20 Pa s) melt containing early-formed olivine phenocrysts (~9 vol.%) ascended from storage at a decompression rate of 0.5 MPa s−1 until it reached a depth of 4.5 km (equivalent to a pressure of ~150 MPa). While rising from depth to 4.5 km, the melt underwent rapid decompression (0.5–2.6 MPa s−1) and H2O exsolution, driving late-stage crystallization of the groundmass. The fast ascent velocity (21–110 m s−1) while rising between 4.5 km and the surface induced turbulent (Re >103), annular flow development in the uppermost region of the conduit. We propose that cannonballs represent blebs of fluid magmas that underwent shear-driven detachment from the annulus of magma lining the conduit walls at depths lower than 4.5 km. The formation of such cannonballs is dictated by magma transport dynamics of low-viscosity, phenocryst-poor, and volatile-rich melts that rapidly accelerate within the shallow conduit.

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Acknowledgements

Part of this work was supported by MIUR project - Premiale NORTh (New hORizons of the Technology applied to experimental researches and geophysical and volcanological monitoring, P.I. P. Scarlato). We are grateful to A. Rizzo (INGV-Palermo) for assistance in the field and for covering the costs of bulk rock analysis. P. Scarlato and M. Nazzari are also acknowledged for logistic support and assistance in the use of the micro-analytical facilities of HPHT laboratory of INGV - Rome. The sampling campaign has been carried out in January–February 2015 in the framework of a field trip organized with OVSICORI and ICE. The editor J.D.L. White, L. Gurioli, and an anonymous reviewer provided valuable comments and constructive suggestions that greatly improved the quality of the work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Via di Vigna Murata, 605, 00100, Rome, Italy

    Andrea Di Piazza & Elisabetta Del Bello

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Silvio Mollo

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli Studi di Roma Tre, Largo San Leonardo Murialdo, 1, 00100, Rome, Italy

    Alessandro Vona

  4. Área de Amenazas y Auscultación Sísmica y Volcánica, Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad, Apdo, San José, 10032-1000, Costa Rica

    Guillermo E. Alvarado

  5. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Pisa, Via S. Maria 53, 56126, Pisa, Italy

    Matteo Masotta

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  1. Andrea Di Piazza
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  2. Elisabetta Del Bello
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  4. Alessandro Vona
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Correspondence to Andrea Di Piazza.

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Di Piazza, A., Del Bello, E., Mollo, S. et al. Like a cannonball: origin of dense spherical basaltic ejecta. Bull Volcanol 79, 37 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-017-1121-0

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