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Structural analysis of the early stages of catastrophic stratovolcano flank-collapse using analogue models

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Abstract

Many major volcanic flank collapses involve the failure of low-angle strata in or under the edifice. Such failures produce voluminous, destructive debris avalanches that are a major volcanic hazard. At Socompa, Las Isletas-Mombacho and Parinacota volcanoes, field studies have shown that during catastrophic flank collapse a significant segment of their substrata was detached and expelled from beneath the volcanic edifice and formed a mobile basal layer on which the sliding flanks were transported. Previous studies have proposed that gravitational flank spreading was likely involved in the onset of sudden substrata failure. The early stages of this particular type of flank collapse can be modelled under laboratory conditions using analogue models. This allows us to study the development of structures accommodating early deformation of the sliding flank during catastrophic collapse. In the experiments, the detached substratum segment (low-viscosity basal layer) was modelled with a silicone layer, and the overlying stratovolcano with a layered sand cone. The first structure developed in the models is a graben rooted in the low-viscosity basal layer. This graben forms the limits of the future avalanche-amphitheatre and divides the sliding flank into a ‘toreva’ domain (upper sliding flank) and a ‘hummock’ domain (lower sliding flank). These domains display distinctive structural patterns and kinetic behaviour. Normal faults develop in the toreva domain and inside the graben, while the hummock domain is characterised by transtensional structures. The hummock domain also over-thrusts the lower amphitheatre sides, which allows subsequent sideways avalanche spreading. Measurements show that horizontal speeds of the hummock domain are always higher than that of the toreva domain during model collapse. The main role played by the low-viscosity basal layer during this type of collapse is to control the size, shape and structural complexity of the sliding flank; it also transmits mass and momentum from the toreva to the hummock domain.

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Acknowledgements

D. Andrade was supported by the Secretaría Nacional para la Ciencia y la Tecnología (SENACYT-Ecuador), the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the French Embassy in Ecuador, and the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD, France). We thank Benjamin Bernard, Alberto de la Fuente and the reviewers William Chadwick and Tim Davies for their critical remarks on the original manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNRS, IRD, Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, OPGC—Université Blaise Pascal, UMR 6524, 5 rue Kessler, 63000, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    S. Daniel Andrade & Benjamin van Wyk de Vries

  2. Instituto Geofísico, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, A.P. 17-2759, Quito, Ecuador

    S. Daniel Andrade

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  1. S. Daniel Andrade
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  2. Benjamin van Wyk de Vries
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Correspondence to S. Daniel Andrade.

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Editorial responsibility S. Nakada

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Andrade, S.D., van Wyk de Vries, B. Structural analysis of the early stages of catastrophic stratovolcano flank-collapse using analogue models. Bull Volcanol 72, 771–789 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-010-0363-x

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