Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Origin and evolution of the Deception Island caldera (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica)

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Bulletin of Volcanology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Deception Island has been interpreted variously as a classical ring fault caldera, as a tectonically controlled collapse caldera or as a tectonic depression. Review of previous studies combined with new fieldwork has allowed us to obtain a more precise model of the formation and internal structure of the Deception Island caldera. It formed as a result of the explosive eruption of basaltic-to-andesitic magmas, mostly as pyroclastic density currents representing in total a bulk volume of the order of 90 km3. Caldera collapse occurred rapidly along a polygonal structural network consisting of several pre-existing major normal faults. These faults, which originated as a result of regional tectonics, controlled pre- and post-caldera volcanism on the island. The formation of the caldera generated a very active geothermal system inside its depression, which is responsible for most of the present-day seismic activity and may also have a significant influence on the observed surface deformation. Our results do not support the hypothesis that there is a large but shallow, active magma chamber beneath the current caldera; instead we suggest that recent eruptions have been fed by small batches of deeper-sourced magmas. The intrusive remains of these eruptions and probably of other minor intrusions that have not reached the surface provide the main heat source that sustains the current geothermal system.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acocella V (2010) Coupling volcanism and tectonics along divergent plate boundaries: collapsed rifts from central Afar. Ethiopia Geol Soc Am Bull 122:1717–1728. doi:10.1130/B30105.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aguirre-Díaz GJ, Labarthe-Hernández G, Tristán-González M, Nieto-Obregón J, Gutiérrez-Palomares I (2008) The ignimbrite flare-up and graben caldera of the Sierra Madre Occidental, Mexico. In: Gottsmann J, Martí J (eds) Caldera volcanism: analysis, modeling and response. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 143–174

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ashcroft WA (1972) Crustal structure of the South Shetland Islands and Bransfield Strait, 1st edn. British Antarctic Survey, London, 43 p., 1 fold. leaf p

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker P E, McReath I, Harvey, MR, Roobol MJ, Davies, TG (1975) The geology of the South Shetland Islands: volcanic evolution of Deception Island. British Antarctic Survey Scientific Reports 78: 81 pp

  • Baraldo A, Rinaldi CA (2000) Stratigraphy and structure of Deception Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Jour South Am Earth Sci 13:785–796

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barclay AH, Wilcock WSD, Ibañez JM (2009) Bathymetric constraints on the tectonic and volcanic evolution of Deception Island Volcano, South Shetland Islands. Antarctic Sci 21:153–167. doi:10.1017/S0954102008001673

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ben-Zvi T, Wilcock WSD, Barclay A, Zandomeneghi D, Ibáñez JM, Almendros J (2009) The P wave velocity structure of Deception Island, Antarctica, from two-dimensional seismic tomography. Jour Volcanol Geotherm Res 180:67–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berrocoso M et al (2008) Geodetic research on Deception Island and its environment (South Shetland Islands, Bransfield Sea and Antarctic Peninsula) during Spanish Antarctic campaigns 1987–2007. In: Capra A, Dietrich R (eds) Geodetic and geophysical observations in Antarctica. Springer, Berlin, pp 97–123. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-74882-3_6

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Birkenmajer K (1992) Volcanic succession at Deception Island, West Antarctica: a revised lithoestratigraphic standard. Studia Geologica Polonica 101:27–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Branney MJ, Kokelaar BP (1994) Volcanotectonic faulting, soft-state deformation, and rheomorphism of tuffs during development of a piecemeal caldera, English Lake District. Geol Soc Am Bull 106:507–530

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carmona E, Almendros J, Peña JA, Ibáñez JM (2010) Characterization of fracture systems using precise array locations of earthquake multiplets: an example at Deception Island volcano, Antarctica. J Geophys R 115, B06309. doi:10.1029/2009JB006865

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper APR, Smellie JL, Maylin J (1998) Evidence for shallowing and uplift from bathymetric records of Deception Island. Antarctica Antarctic Sci 10:455–461

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalziel, I.W.D. (1984) Tectonic evolution of a ForearcTerrane. Southern Scotia Ridge, Antarctica. Geol. Soc. Am. Pec. Pap. 200, 32 pp.

  • Fernández-Ibañez F, Perez-Lopez R, Martinez-Diaz JJ, Paredes C, Giner-Robles JL, Caselli AT, Ibañez JM (2005) Costa Recta beach, Deception Island, West Antarctica: a retreated scarp of a submarine fault? Antarctic Sci 17:418–426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Folch A, Martí J (1998) Generation of overpressure in felsic magma chambers by replenishment. Earth Planet Sci Lett 163:301–314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Folch A, Codina R, Martí J (2001) Numerical modelling of magma withdrawal during caldera-forming eruptions. J Geophys Res 106:16163–16175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fretzdorff S, Smellie JL (2002) Electron microprobe characterization of ash layers in sediments from the central Bransfield basin (Antarctic Peninsula): evidence for at least two volcanic sources. Antarct Sci 14(4):412–421

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geyer A, Martí J (2008) The new worldwide collapse caldera database (CCDB): a tool for studying and understanding caldera processes. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 175:334–354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geyer A, Martí J (2009) Stress fields controlling the formation of nested and overlapping calderas: implications for the understanding of caldera unrest. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 181:185–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • González-Casado JM, López-Martínez J, Giner J, Duran JJ, Gumiel P (1999) Analsis de la microfracuración en la Isla Decepción. Antártida Occidental Geogaceta 26:27–30

    Google Scholar 

  • González-Ferrán O, Katsui Y (1970) Estudio integral del volcanismo cenozoico superior de las Islas Shetland del Sur, Ant/mica. Instituto Antártico Chileno Serie Científica 1:123–174

    Google Scholar 

  • Gracia E, Canals M, Farran ML, Prieto MJ, Sorribas J (1997) Morphostructure and evolution of the Central and Eastern Bransfield Basins (NW Antarctic Peninsula). Marine Geophys Res 18:429–448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grad M, Guterch A, Sroda P (1992) Upper crustal structure of Deception Island area, Bransfield Strait, West Antarctica. Antarctic Sci 4:469–476

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkes, D.D. (1961) The geology of the South Shetland Islands: II. The geology and petrology of Deception Island. Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey Scientific Reports, 27, 43 pp.

  • Ibañez J, Almendros J, Carmona E, Martínez-Arévalo C, Abril M (2003) The recent seismo-volcanic activity at Deception Island volcano. Deep-Sea Res II 50(2003):1611–1629

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jefffers JD, Anderson JNB (1990) Sequence stratigraphy of the Bransfield Basin, Antarctica: implications for tectonic history and hydrocarbonpotentia1. In: St. John B (ed) Antarctica as an exploration frontier: hydrocarbon potential, geology and hazards. Am Ass Petrol Geol Stud Geol 31:13–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Keller RA, Fisk MR, White WM, Birkenmajer K (1991) Isotopic and trace element constraints on mixing and melting models of marginal basin volcanism, Bransfield Strait, Antarctica. Earth Planet Sci Lett 111:287–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawver LA, Sloan BJ, Barker DHN, Ghidella M, Von Herzen RP, Keller RA, Klinkhammer GP, Chin CS (1996) Distributed, active extension in Bransfield Basin, Antarctic Peninsula: evidence from multibeam bathymetry. GSA Today 6:1–6

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipman PW (1976) Caldera-collapse breccias in the western San Juan Mountains, Colorado. Geol Soc Am Bull 87:1397–1410

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Livermore R, Balanyá JC, Maldonado A, Martínez JM, Rodríguez-Fernández J, Sanz de Galdeano C, Galindo Zaldívar J, Jabaloy A, Barnolas A, Somoza L, Hernández-Molina J, Suriñach E, Viseras C (2000) Autopsy on a dead spreading center: the Phoenix Ridge, Drake Passage. Antarctica Geol 28:607–610

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luzón F, Almendros J, García-Jerez A (2011) Shallow structure of Deception Island, Antarctica, from correlations of ambient seismic noise on a set of dense seismic arrays. Geophys J Int 185:737–748

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maestro A, Somoza L, Rey J, Martinez-Frias J, Lopez-Martinez J (2007) Active tectonics, fault patterns, and stress field of Deception Island: a response to oblique convergence between the Pacific and Antarctic plates. Jour South Am Earth Sci 23:256–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martí J (1991) Caldera-like structures related to Permo-Carboniferous volcanism of the Catalan Pyrenees (NE Spain). J Volcanol Geotherm Res 45:173–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martí J, Baraldo A (1990) Pre-caldera pyroclastic deposits of Deception Island (South Shetland Islands). Antarctic Sci 2:345–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martí J, Diez-Gil JL, Ortiz R (1991) Conduction model for the thermal influence of lithic clasts in mixtures of hot gases and ejecta. J Geophys Res 96(B13):21879–21885

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martí J, Vila J, Rey J (1996) Deception Island (Bransfield Strait, Antarctica): an example of volcanic caldera developed by extensional tectonics. In: McGuiere WC, Jones AP, Neuberg J (eds) Volcano instability on the Earth and other planets. Geol Soc London Spec Pub. 110, pp. 253–265

  • Martí J, Folch A, Macedonio G, Neri A (2000) Pressure evolution during caldera forming eruptions. Earth Planet Sci Lett 175:275–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martí, J., Geyer, A., Folch, A. (2009) A genetic classification of collapse calderas based on field studies, analogue and theoretical modelling. In: Thordarson T, Self S, Larsen G, Rowland SK and Hoslkuldsson A. (eds) Volcanology: the legacy of GPL Walker. Geol Soc London Spec Publ IAVCEI 2, pp. 249–266

  • Pallàs R, Smellie JL, Casas JM, Calvet J (2001) Using tephrochronology to date temperate ice: correlation between ice tephras on Livingston Island and eruptive units on Deception Island volcano (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica). Holocene 11(2):149–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paredes C, Pérez-López R, Giner-Robles J, De La Vega R, García- García A, Gumiel P (2006) Distribución espacial y zonificación tectónica de los morfolineamientos en la Isla Decepción (Shetland del Sur, Antártida). Geogaceta 39:75–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Paredes C, De La Vega R, Pérez-López R, Giner-Robles JL, Martínez-Díaz JJ (2007) Descomposición fractal en subdominios morfotectónicos del mapa de lineamientos morfológicos. Bol Geol Min 118:775–787

    Google Scholar 

  • Pedrera A, Ruiz-Consta A, Heredia N, Galindo-Zaldivar J, Bohoyo F, Marin-Lechado C, Ruano P, Somoza L (2013) The fracture system and the melt emplacement beneath the Deception Island active volcano, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Antarctic Sci 24:173–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pérez-López R, Giner-Robles JL, Martínez-Díaz JJ, Rodríguez-Pascua MA, Bejar M, Paredes C, and González-Casado JM (2007) Active tectonics on Deception Island (West-Antarctica): a new approach by using the fractal anisotropy of lineaments, fault slip measurements and the caldera collapse shape. In: AK Cooper and CR Raymond et al. (eds) Antarctica: a keystone in a changing world. Online Proceedings of the 10th ISAES, USGS Open-File Report 2007–1047, Short Research Paper 086, 4 p.; doi:10.3133/of2007-1047.srp086.

  • Putirka KD (2008) Thermometers and barometers for volcanic systems. Rev Mineral Geochem 69:61–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rey J, Somoza L, Hernandez-Molina FJ (1992) Formas de los sedimentos submarinos superficiales en el Puerto Foster, Isla Decepci6n, Islas Shetland delSur. In: Martínez-López J (ed) Geología de la Antártida Occidental Simposios T 3. III Congreso Geológico de España y VIII Congreso Latinoamericano de Geologia, Salamanca, pp 163–172

    Google Scholar 

  • Rey J, Somoza L, Martinez-Frias J (1995) Tectonic, volcanic and hydrothermal event sequence on Deception Island (Antarctica). GeoMarine Lett 15:1–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Rey J, Maestro A, Somoza L, Smellie JL (2002) Submarine morphology and seismic stratigraphy of Port Foster. In: Smellie JL, López-Martínez J (eds) Geology and geomorphology of Deception Island. British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, pp 40–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Risso C, Aparicio A (2002) Plutonic xenoliths in Deception Island (Antarctica). Terra Antartica 9:95–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Smellie JL (1988) Recent observations on the volcanic history of Deception Island, South Shetland Islands. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin 81:83–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Smellie JL (1989) Deception Island. In: Dalzieli WD (ed) Tectonics of the Scotia Arc, Antarctica. 28th International Geological Congress, Field Trip Guidebook T180. American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, pp 146–153

    Google Scholar 

  • Smellie JL (1999) The upper Cenozoic tephra record in the south polar region: a review. Glob Planet Chang 21:51–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smellie JL (2001) Lithostratigraphy and volcanic evolution of Deception Island, South Shetland Islands. Antarctic Sci 13:188–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smellie JL, Hofstetter A, Troll G (1992) Fluorine and boron geochemistry of an ensialic marginal basin volcano: Deception Island, Bransfield Strait, Antarctica. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 49:255–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smellie JL, López-Martínez J et al (2002) Text and geological and geomorphological maps. BAS GEOMAP series, Sheets 6-A and 6-B, Scale 1:25 000. In: Smellie JL L-MJ, Thomson JW, Thomson MRA (eds) Geology and geomorphology of Deception Island. British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, 77p. + 3 folded maps

    Google Scholar 

  • Valencio A, Mendía E, Vilas JF (1979) Palaeomagnetism and K-Ar age of Mesozoic and Cenozoic igneous rocks from Antarctica. Earth Planet Sci Lett 45:61–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vila J, Martí J, Ortiz R, Garcia A, Correig AM (1992) Volcanic tremors at Deception Island (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica). J Volcanol Geotherm Res 53:89–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaun A, Robertson Maurice SD, Wiens DA, Panza GF (2005) Crustal and upper mantle S-wave velocity structure beneath the Bransfield Strait (West Antarctica) from regional surface. Tectonophysics 397:241–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker GPL (1972) Crystal concentration in ignimbrites. Contrib Mineral Petrol 36:135–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker GPL (1984) Downsag calderas, ring faults, caldera sizes and incremental caldera growth. J Geophys Res 89:8407–8416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zandomeneghi D, Barclay A, Almendros J, Ibáñez JM, Wilcock WSD, Ben-Zvi T (2009) The crustal structure of Deception Island Volcano from P wave seismic tomography: tectonic and volcanic implications. J Geophys Res 11:B06310. doi:10.1029/ 2008JB006119

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by MICINN grants CTM2009-05919-E and CGL2010-22022-C02-02. AG had a Juan de la Cierva Grant (JCI-2010-06092). We warmly thank José Manuel Lupiani and all the military staff of the Antarctic Base Gabriel de Castilla for their logistic support and constant help, without which this research would have been impossible. We would also like to thank the Associate Editor Steve Self and John Smellie and Joachim Gottsmann for their detailed and constructive reviews.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra Jaume Almera, CSIC, LLuis Solé Sabaris s/n, 08028, Barcelona, Spain

    Joan Martí & Adelina Geyer

  2. Centro de Geociencias, Campus UNAM-Juriquilla, Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro, CP 76230, Mexico

    Gerardo Aguirre-Diaz

Authors
  1. Joan Martí
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Adelina Geyer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gerardo Aguirre-Diaz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joan Martí.

Additional information

Editorial responsibility: S. Self

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Martí, J., Geyer, A. & Aguirre-Diaz, G. Origin and evolution of the Deception Island caldera (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica). Bull Volcanol 75, 732 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-013-0732-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-013-0732-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation