Volcanic Facies

Volcanic Facies-Defined
• Lateral and/or vertical changes in physical
aspects of rock bodies deposited within a
specific interval of geologic time.
• Volcanic Facies are usually named according to:
– closeness to source (central, proximal, distal)
– Depositional environment (subaerial, shallow
subaqueous, sub-glacial, etc.)
– Within deposit type (pyroclastic flow facies, hyalotuff
facies, dome facies, etc.)
 Subaerial- Stratovolcanoes:
Central Facies
• Range- central vent out to about 2km
• Recognized by:
Lava domes and thick, banded lavas
Abundant dykes and sills
circular to elongate stocks
breccia pipes
coarsely stratified, poorly sorted air fall deposits (blocks and/or bombs
present)
hydrothermally altered rocks
Interlayering of coarse grained tephra and lava flows
Lag-fall breccias of pyroclastic flows
No single feature- combination needed
 Proximal Facies (2-15km)
• Rocks around a volcanic center deposited
from pyf’s, lava flows, debris
flows/avalanches, fallout processes and
their erosional products.
• As distance from source increases within
this facies, there is an increase in amount
of resedimented epiclastic and pyroclastic
debris
 Proximal Facies
• Lahars- angular-sub angular blocks, poorly sorted,
massive, reverse grading at base
• Tephra layers with good bedding and sorting, grain size
coarse ash to lapilli
• Pyroclastic flow units (main body) underlain by surge
deposits (lense-like) and overlain by fine-bedded ash
deposits
• Broad, thick (15m) lava flows
• Block and ash flows from dome collapse-monolithic,
massive, poorly sorted.
• Clastic debris reworked by water
• Debris avalanche deposits-mounds (block facies) and
more normal laharic material.
 Distal facies (>7-15km)
• Base of volcano and beyond
• Rocks here characterized by a much
greater lateral continuity than those of the
proximal and central facies.
 Distal Facies
• Finely bedded tephra composed dominantly of fine-
coarse ash, outward increasing ratio of glass to crystals
• Lahars with blocks that rarely exceed 1 meter in
diameter and have rounded or subrounded particles in
the matrix. Lahars may be interlayered with shallow
water sediments.
• Pyroclastic flows will be thinner than in proximal areas,
no surge deposits, ash fall common above flows. May
find distinct layering caused by concentration of pumice
at tops of flow units.
• Interlayered shallow water sediments
• Rare lava flows-restricted to isolated vents
• Debris avalance mounds
 Tuff Rings and Cones
• Central-Small Lava dome or flows-shallow
water-subaerial
• D/F deposits, reworked volcanic material
(from ring-cone walls)

• Outer-massive-thin bedded deposits,

closer to vent-cross-beds, dunes
• Pepperites and dikes-sills
 Characteristics of Deposits
• Thin beds in tuff cones and rings
– Thickness: few mm to several cm, most <
1cm
– Form by a large number of short eruptive
pulses- Surtsey > 60 per minute
– Characterized by fine ash with the sporadic
occurrence of lapilli and blocks
 Massive Beds
• Composed of coarse to fine ash with
variable lithic and pumice content.
• Beds range from about 1 to 50-60 m thick
and as such may be difficult to id.
• Thick beds may be seperated by thin,
fissile, laminae of fine ash which is a few
mm to 1-2cm thick.
• Cross-bedding and soft sediment
deformational features are rare
 Shield Volcano
• Central Facies (fissure-2km):
– Dykes, sills, small intrusions-mafic
– Thick flows (lava lakes)
– Cinder cones and agglomerates
– Hydrothermal alteration
– Thick sequence of aa and/or pahoehoe flows
 Proximal (2-15km)
• Thinner AA and Pahohoe flows
• Bedded coarse and fine ash
• Landslide breccias
• Shore-shallow water
– Hyalotuffs
– Pillow lavas
– Self peperites and minor peperite
– Hyaloclastites
– Debris flows
– Sediments (limestone, iron formation, volcanic seds)
 Distal (>15km)
• Pillow lavas and hyaloclastite
• Self-peperite
• Debris flows
• Wackes-mudstones
• Water lain ash fall deposits
 Caldera Facies
• Three types:
– Intra-caldera: within caldera, near source
– Caldera margin: adjacent to ring fractures and
walls
– Outflow- outside the caldera, away from
source
 Intra-caldera
• Plinian air fall (popcorn pumice) overlain
by pyroclastic flows that may be 100’s of
meters thick.
• Welded pyroclastic flows
• Meso- and mega breccias
• With resurgence may get cap of lava
flows, cinder or pumice cones, sediments,
debris flow material
 Caldera margin
• Domes, dome breccias, block and ash
flows
• Dykes and sills
• Sediments (moat)
 Outflow
• Pyroclastic flows (thin) which may extend
for ten’s of kms outside caldera
• Coarse to fine ash fall deposits
Subaqueous-Felsic to Intermediate
• Poorly understood, poorly known
• Mostly from volcanic reconstructions in
older volcanic terrains
• Relatively shallow water (explosive
eruptions)
• Central, Proximal, Distal
 Shallow Water-Central (0-2km)
• Dome-hyaloclastite complexes, Syn-
depositional peperites
• Pyroclastic flow deposits- massive-thickly
bedded, base possibly lithic rich, well
vesiculated pumice, heat retention
features?
• Hydrothermal alteration and exhalites
• Hyalotuffs-thick-thin beds, bombs-blocks-
ash
• Intrusive peperites, fluidal shapes
• Dykes and sills, multiple intrusions and
 Proximal (2-5km)
• Well bedded pyroclastic flows (massive basal,
bedded ash top, repetitive), pumice and ash
rich,
• Block and ash flows from domes
• Syndepositional peperites
• Debris flows separated by turbidites
• Finely bedded hyalotuffs, dominantly fine ash
• Sediments-wackes-siltstones, intrusive peperites
• Ash-fall, doubly graded?
• Dikes and sills, intrusive peperites
• Hydrothermal alteration
 Distal
• Finely bedded and graded pyroclastic
flows (ash turbidites)
• Debris flows
• Volcanic siltstones, wackes, mudstones
 Mafic-Subaqueous
• Sheet flows-massive lavas giving way to pillow
lavas
• Dykes and sills-multiple intrusions, dike
swarms
• Hydrothermal alteration
• Syn-deposional peperites?
• Hyalotuffs
 Proximal
• Pillow lavas and hyaloclastite
• Lots of syn-depositional peperite and
peperite
• Minor massive lavas
• Reworked hyaloclastite
• Mafic sediments
• Debris flows,
• synsedimentary deformation-convolute
bedding
 Distal
• Debris flows and associated sediments
• Lots of sedimentary material
• Minor pillows and hyaloclastite
 Subaqueous Calderas
Intra
• Bedded pyroclastic flow deposits: >100m thick,
numerous flow units.
• Massive basal, bedded tops
• Or massive pyf’s with thick ash tops
• Pumice-rich-possibly variable vesicularity-40->70%
• Locally have heat-retention features- spherulites
• Hydrothermal alteration widespread
• Meso-Mega Breccias
• Debris flows
• Capped by volcanic sedimentary rocks, debris flows
 Outflow
• Thin pyroclastic flow deposits
• Thin basal and ash beds
• Pyro-turbidites (Bouma A and E beds)
• Debris flows
• Greywackes
• Little alteration (metamorphism,
diagenetic)
 Shallow Vs Deep Water
• Deep water-Deposit Types
– Pillows lavas and self peperites
– Massive lavas (sheet flows, ponded)
– Hyaloclastites
– Dome-hyaloclastite complexes, lobe lavas
– Blocky Domes
– Distal facies of pyroclastic flows (pyroturbidites)
– Debris Flows (turbidites)
– Pelagic sediments Mud, silt, Clay), chemical
sediments
 Shallow Water-Deposit types
• Pillow lavas and self peperites
• Massive lavas (sheet flows, ponded)
• Hyaloclastites
• Scoria and ash beds (Hyalotuffs)
• Dome-hyaloclastite complexes, lobe lavas, blocky lavas
• Pumice-rich hyalotuffs
• Pyroclastic flow and fall deposits
• Debris flows
• Clastic and chemical sediments
• Pillow-hyaloclastite deltas
 Deep Water-Characterisitics
• Marked predominance of flows, both mafic and
felsic, over pyroclastic material
• Poorly vesiculated flows and hyaloclastite,
absence of abundant scoriaceous flow tops
• Absence of Hyalotuffs
• Little evidence of sedimentary re-working, few
clastic sediments
• Minor debris flow deposits (only turbidites)
• Pyroturbidites
 Shallow Water-Characteristics
• Predominance of pyroclastic deposits. These include
products of both magmatic and phreatomagmatic
explosions. Deposits include pyroclastic flows (with well
vesiculated pumice), hyalotuffs (with bombs), waterlain
tuffs
• Scoria-pumice-rich beds (hyalotuffs)
• Vesicular and scoriaceous pillow and massive lavas,
associated hyaloclastite-large vesicles, gas cavities,
multiple rinds, vesicles around entire pillow
• Debris flows
• Reworked pyroclastic material