Abstract
Small-volume concentrated pyroclastic currents (CPCs) are often responsible for unpredicted and deadly overspills from channel confines when they encounter an abrupt change in propagation direction. We present the first results obtained with a new experimental facility, PyroCLAST, built to investigate the mechanisms of such overspills. The apparatus consists of a 5-m-long flume with a 45° valley bend at mid-distance from the source, and whose slope angle varies from 3 to 15°. Glass beads of 45–90-µm diameter are initially fluidized in a reservoir and rapidly released into the flume through a vertical sliding gate. Experiments are recorded using video cameras to measure the temporal evolution of both the parent channelized and overbank flow velocity and discharge rate, using particle image velocimetry. Overspills are generated when the flows interact with the bend, at slope angles of 9 to 15°, generating a front splash and an overbank flow. Results demonstrate that the slope angle favors the formation of overspill by increasing the flow discharge rate, causing a local increase of the flow thickness along the bend (i.e., superelevation) that overtops the channel sidewall. Moreover, under constant initial conditions, a high channel slope angle and discharge rate favor the development of discrete, internal flow pulses, and a positive correlation is found between the runout of the channelized flows and that of overbank deposits. Data collected in this study will also constitute a reference dataset for future benchmarking of CPC numerical models.
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Data collected and analyzed in this study are available on the Ghub platform at: https://theghub.org/groups/v/groups/benchmarking_models.
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Acknowledgements
Financial support was provided by Sylvain Charbonnier’s NSF CAREER grant #17511905, including the experimental development at USF’s experimental facility. We also thank Greg Valentine for his editorial work, as well as E. Bréad and an anonymous reviewer for their thorough review of our manuscript. This is Labex ClerVolc contribution n° 579.
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Editorial responsibility: G.A. Valentine; Deputy Executive Editor: J. Tadeucci
Key points
• Overspilling of channelized pyroclastic currents is a significant threat for populations around volcanoes and remains poorly known.
• First experimental device built to investigate the overspilling of pyroclastic currents.
• We observe two types of overspills at the passage of a bend in the experimental channel.
This paper constitutes part of a topical collection: Pyroclastic current models: benchmarking and validation.
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Gueugneau, V., Charbonnier, S. & Roche, O. PyroCLAST: a new experimental framework to investigate overspilling of channelized, concentrated pyroclastic currents. Bull Volcanol 85, 5 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-022-01623-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-022-01623-y