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Mechanism of formation of diatremes

a b
L. A. Novikov & R. M. Slobodskoy
a
Moscow Institute of Petrochemical and Gas Industry
b
Siberian Division of the USSR Academy of Sciences , Institute of Geology and Geophysics
Published online: 29 Jun 2010.

To cite this article: L. A. Novikov & R. M. Slobodskoy (1979) Mechanism of formation of diatremes, International Geology
Review, 21:10, 1131-1139, DOI: 10.1080/00206818209467160

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 Mechanism of formation of diatremes

L A . Novilcov a n d R.M. Slobodskoy

Diatremes, or vertical conduits of pipe - line, evidently corresponding to the end of a

like shape, filled with rocks of different com-
position and origin, can be discovered in a
variety of geological environments. They are
constantly encountered in volcanic regions and
consist of vents, through which eruption is
achieved during the active participation of gases.
After the lava eruptions, the craters were
filled with volcanic rocks, and after phreatic
eruptions, by clastic material, transformed in
this instance into breccia pipes.
Downloaded by [University of Calgary] at 06:44 06 February 2015
fissure on the Earth's surface, which for a
long time had served as a conduit. In regions
affected by denudation, the strict confinement
of diatremes to fissures is indicated by the
frequent arrangement of volcanic necks directedly
above dikes. Breccia pipes, which arise during
phreatic eruptions, are also clearly associated
with linear fractures. Thus, the maars formed
in 1973 on the northern slopes of Tyatya Volcano
on Kunashir Island were essentially enlarge-
ments of fissures, along which gas discharge

Diatremes are the terminal sectors of took place, with the transportation of fragment-
transport routes, along which material from ary material.
the deepest parts of the Earth reached the s u r -
face, giving rise to kimberlites, carbonatites, The fissure factor of control in the distribu-
and alkaline-ultrabasic rocks, frequently in tion of diatremes is extremely well developed
clear paragenetic relationships with one another. in kimberlite provinces, where kimberlite pipes
As a rule, they contain a multitude of fragments and dikes are arranged in the form of chains,
of varied, including mantle, rocks, and are along the strike of which not only dikes extend,
known as "explosion pipes, M etc. but also the long axes of transverse sections of
pipes (fig. 1). The presence in many diatremes
Diatremes, which are also characterized of dike -like branches as well as transitions of
by an abundance of varied xenoliths, have been pipes into dikes at depth emphasize this control.
discovered in association with massifs of plu-
tonic rocks of different composition (from Structure of diatremes. Diatremes r e p r e -
ultrabasic to granitoid). Finally, diatremes sent vertical or steeply inclined conduits of
have often been encountered in ore deposits, pipe-like form, the longitudinal axis of which
where, in the form of brecciated and "pebbly" is normally bent to a certain degree. In t r a n s -
pipes, they have frequently served as the most verse section, they possess circular, ellipsoidal,
favorable ore-controlling structures. and, less frequently, elongated or irregular
outlines with dimensions ranging from a few
All diatremes, in spite of differences in meters up to 1. 5 km along the long axis of the
geological environment, composition, and o r i - section. In the near-surface portion, weakly
gin of the material that fills them, have, as is eroded diatremes usually possess a funnel-like
well known (11, 32), much in common in their enlargement, below which the slope of the walls
structure, relationships with the structures of increases. As has been established from the
the country rocks, morphology, distribution, well-known pipes in the Kimberley region (South
and origin of the fragmentary material, etc. Africa), which have been closely studied in
This similarity also suggests a common nature depth, the slope of the walls averages 82-85°
in the mechanism of formation. We shall dwell and does not depend on the mechanical properties
on those peculiarities of diatremes, which, in of the rocks penetrated (29).
our opinion, are significant in understanding
their mode of formation.
As a result of convergence of the walls,
Structural control of diatreme locations. the diatremes have a conical shape, and over a
In almost all cases, the distribution of diatremes certain depth, they gradually contract and wedge
was controlled by fractures. Thus, in the vol- out, passing into dikes (fig. 2). In those rare
canic regions, the pipe -like bodies that terminate cases, when their root portions have been e x -
in scoria cones are often arranged in a single posed in mine workings, it has been established
that the wedging out has taken place over a
depth of several hundreds, rarely 1000 meters
(the Kimberley Pipe) from the surface. Allow-
Translated from Mekhanizm formirovaniya diatrem, ing for erosion, diatremes may have a vertical
Sovetskaya Geologiya, 1978, no. 8, p. 3-14. Novikov extent of some 2. 5 -3 km.
is with Moscow Institute of Petrochemical and Gas
Industry, and Slobodskoy is with the Institute of Geo-
logy and Geophysics, Siberian Division of the USSR The contacts at diatremes are usually
Academy of Sciences. sharp, with all the irregularities in the contact
Internat. Geology Rev., v. 21, no. 10
IGR is not registered with the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.

1131
 INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGY REVIEW

FIGURE 1. Shape in plan and orientation of long axes of kimberlite bodies in the Kuranakha (a),
Downloaded by [University of Calgary] at 06:44 06 February 2015

Chomurdakha (b), and Omonos-Ukukit (c) fields in Yakutia (12).

FIGURE 2. Outlines of transverse sections of the Kimberley Pipe at different depths (10).

1 - present surface; 2 - at depth of 300 m; 3 - at depth of 650 m.

surface, as a rule, having rounded smoothed
outlines. Sometimes the walls are covered
with vertical furrows, and projections of the
country rocks protrude into the diatremes,
having fantastic outlines ( 25).
Yet another peculiarity in their structure
is the presence of breccias of the country rocks
in the exocontact, cemented by the same mater -
ial that fills the diatremes themselves. In
some cases, the country rocks near the dia-
tremes have been thrown back outward or, on
the other hand, have acquired a vertical attitude.
All these structural disturbances are localized
in a narrow near-contact zone, the width of
which is usually restricted to a few tens of
meters.
Xenoliths. Xenoliths are constantly p r e -
sent in diatremes, and they may be of different
origin, different morphology and dimensions.
The number of xenoliths in the rocks that fill
diatremes ranges from fractions of a percent
in volcanic rocks of the vent facies up to the
complete filling of the pipe with fragmentary
material following phreatic eruptions.
Sunken xenoliths are quite widely distri-
buted in diatremes of different types. Thus, in
one of the breccia bodies near Oslo (Norway),
which has reached the surface in the area of
ancient Precambrian basement, Cambrian-
Silurian rocks and Permian rhomb-porphyries
are constantly encountered in the form of frag-
ments (19). Sunken blocks of country rocks
are found in the tuff diatremes in Schwabia
(West Germany) (22) (fig. 3) and in the breccia
tuffs of the Montreal alkaline province in Canada
(36). In the numerous diatremes located among
Cambrian rocks in southeastern Missouri ( USA),
"submerged" xenoliths have also been discovered,
consisting of Devonian limestones, which in
comparison with the normal location of these
materials have been depressed by almost 1 km
and are found in the pipes along with fragments
of granite, transported from below for a distance
of several hundreds of meters (41). In the
diatreme that occurs in a volcanic agglomerate
among the Cambrian and Precambrian rocks of
South Dakota ( USA), fragments of Upper Creta-
ceous shales have been discovered, which were
depressed over approximately 1 km in depth
(40).

In the diatremes, fragments of very differ -
ent origin have been spatially combined. Some
of them were transported to the site of their
present location from below, from deep zones
in the crust or even from the mantle; others
have moved in the reverse direction and have
apparently descended relative to their normal
position in the rocks that surround the diatreme.
Sunken xenoliths have been found in kimber-
lite pipes, in which intense research and ex-
ploitation work has been carried out. Thus, in
the kimberlite pipes in the USA, which crop
out among Precambrian crystalline sequences,
xenoliths of sedimentary rocks of different
composition have been found (ranging from
Ordovician and Silurian to Cretaceous and Eocene

1132
 L.A. NOVIKOV AND R.M. SLOBODSKOY

in age), sometimes having descended for

more than a kilometer from the level of
their normal occurrence (30, 34).

Many such discoveries have been made

on the Siberian Platform, where in kimber-
lite diatremes exposed on the present s u r -
face among lower Paleozoic, upper P r o -
terozoic, and even Archean sequences,
fragments have been found of sedimentary
rocks of higher zones in the lower Paleo-
zoic (9) and Mesozoic (13) sequences for-
merly present in the region. The pipes
have revealed xenoliths of volcanogenic
rocks of Permian-Triassic age and remains
of carbonized wood, dated as Late Triassic-
Early Jurassic ( 8 ) . The distance over
which the fragments have descended is
measured in hundreds of meters, and in
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some cases is more than 1 km.

In the Kimberley Pipe (South Africa),

sunken fragments have been found at a depth
of 762 m, consisting of shales that occur
near the present surface (44). Many such FIGURE 3. Vertical section in tuff diatreme, Schwabia,
discoveries are now known, and lumps of
rocks are frequently found in the diatremes
that are now completely eroded away, in the
region of the pipes and in situ over a dis-
tance sometimes hundreds of kilometers ( 6).
The depth of sinking of the fragments may ex-
ceed 1 km (29).
It should be stressed that the morphology
and the dimensions of the xenoliths depend on
their origin. Thus, deep-seated inclusions,
which include fragments of basement rocks
(granites, gabbros, crystalline schists, gneisses,
eclogites, and granulites), and also mantle
rocks (garnet lherzolites, spinel peridotites,
e t c . ) , usually do not exceed 30 cm in size and
only in exceptional cases may reach 70 cm
(27). A characteristic feature of the deep-
seated xenoliths is their rounded shape, typical
not only of the comparatively large fragments,
but also of individual xenocrysts (34, 38).
Striations, furrows, and pits have been observed
on the smoothed surface of rounded deep-seated
inclusions.
Local xenoliths, consisting of rocks through
which a pipe has passed, in contrast to the
deep-seated types, are angular, with the large
fragments weighing several tons, not to men-
tion blocks measuring hundreds of meters in
size, displaced only downward.
West Germany (22).
during a study of the volcanic pipes of Schwabia,
West Germany (22), and has been repeatedly
emphasized during an investigation into various
diatremes in many other regions of the globe
(10, 25, 33, 35).
We may also recall such specific formations
as the xenoliths in selvages, first discovered
and described in detail in the volcanic pipes in
Missouri (USA) (41) and Schwabia (West Ger-
many) (22). In the form of unusual volcanic
bombs, they were ejected from craters during
the course of the Tolbacha eruption of 1975
(16), and analogous inclusions have constantly
been encountered in kimberlite diatremes,
where they are known as autoliths, or accre -
tionary lapilli (10, 21, 24, 28). They have a
spheroidal or ellipsoidal shape, consist of the
appropriate volcanic rock, and contain intern-
ally a xenolith or a xenocryst of irregular out-
line. The volcanic rock, enclosing the central
core, has an oriented structure, dependent on
the arrangement of elongated grains of minerals
parallel to the outer surface of the bomb or
lapillus. If the selvage consists of a porous
rock, the compressed gas bubbles occurring
in it are arranged in the same fashion.

The distribution of xenoliths in diatremes Formation of diatremes. At the present

is characterized by a certain orderliness,
which is primarily expressed in a decrease
with depth of the number of local fragments.
Moreover, local xenoliths have in many cases
been concentrated in the peripheral parts, and
the deep-seated types, in the central parts of
the pipes. This pattern was first revealed
time, it is widely held that diatremes arise in
association with the activity of a gaseous phase.
This is indicated by: 1) the extraordinarily
high mobility of the fragmentary material,
which, during the process of formation of the
diatremes, has sometimes been displaced in
opposite directions, which would be possible

1133
 INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGY REVIEW
only in a medium with low density at the operat-
ing conditions; 2) the absence or insignificance
of thermal contact metamorphism in the country
rocks; and 3) the complete absence in some
diatremes of any material of magmatic origin.
The gas phase, which participates in the
formation of diatremes, may be manifested as
a result of heating up of sectors containing
ground water, be formed from volatiles, dis-
solved in magmas of deep-seated origin, or
develop during chemical transformations. The
patterns of separation of the gas phase during
magmatic phenomena and the processes of ore
formation have been described in the literature
(2, 7).
D u r a t i o n of f o r m a t i o n . Although
the association between the formation of dia-
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tremes and the activity of the gas phase has
been represented as indisputable, the funda-
mental nature of this process still continues
as a subject of discussion. At present, there
are disagreements as to whether it has been
transient and explosive, or, on the other hand,
quite lengthy and comparable with the high-
speed discharge of a gas jet that has occupied
a comparatively long period of time.
It appears to us that explosion phenomena
have no bearing on the formation of diatremes
(in spite of the fact that many of them are
known as "explosion pipes, " e t c . ) . As is well
known, an explosion takes place during an e x -
traordinarily brief time interval as a process
of energy release and almost instantaneous
formation of a certain volume of gas under
very high pressure. The explosion is accom -
panied by the development of an impact wave
in the surrounding space, which is distributed
in all directions, has a velocity greater than
that of sound for a given material, and during
passage through a solid medium controls its
disruption and crushing.
Morphologically, diatremes with their
steep walls have nothing in common with the
funnels that are formed during explosions of
time-lag charges and are characterized by
approximately equal radius and depth. The
hypotheses on the explosion origin of diatremes
are opposed by the absence of any similarity
to the "explosion chamber" in the root portions
of pipes, which in depth gradually pass into
dikes. There is a definite pattern in the a r -
rangement of the fragments of different origin
in the diatremes, which in the case of an e x -
plosion should fall back into the space being
formed and be distributed in a disorderly
fashion. The possibility of explosions during
the formation of the "explosion funnels, " located
near the outlet of diatremes on the present
surface, is opposed, for example, by the p r e -
sence of undisturbed tree stumps, which, a l -
though devoid of bark and branches, still con-
1134
tinue to stand on the very edge of the maars,
developed in 1973 on the northern slopes of
Tyatya Volcano on Kunashir Island.
Direct observations in regions of recent
active volcanism have established that the form -
ation of diatremes, here represented by rounded
volcanic craters, has been of quite long duration.
Thus, on Iwo Jima Island in 1957, the formation
of explosion vents lasted for 65 minutes during
the course of a phreatic eruption (23). During
the eruption of a similar kind in 1973 on the
western slope of Tyatya Volcano, the formation
of volcanic vents, terminating in maars, occu-
pied 3 to 4 hours (15).
A great deal of time has usually been occu-
pied in the formation of volcanic pipe-like vents
during magmatic eruptions involving the signifi-
cant participation of the gas phase, which began
in many cases as fissure eruptions. The gradual
transformation of fissure vents into pipe-like
vents took place during the eruption of the Ice-
landic volcano Hekla (43) and of Nyamlagira in
Zaire (37). A similar picture has also been
observed during the eruption of Tolbachik Vol-
cano, in the course of which four large scoria
cones were successively formed, and each
time the event began with opening up of a large
fissure several hundreds of meters long, and,
after a few hours, the eruption seemingly b e -
came concentrated in one or two vents (17).
Rebuilding of the vent from a fissure type into
a central type during the eruption on Heimaey
Island (Iceland) lasted for about a day (42),
and the conversion of the fissure into circular
craters on the Beerenberg Volcano (Jan Mayen)
lasted for five days after the commencement of
volcanic activity (20).
E v o l u t i o n of t h e c o n d u i t f r o m
s l i t - l i k e t o p i p e - l i k e f o r m . The
formation of diatremes has been associated
with processes that took place during significant
participation of the gas phase and has been ex-
tremely prolonged. Observations on the forma-
tion of diatremes demonstrate that the pipes
develop as a result of transformation of vents,
which usually have a fissure form during the
initial phase. The association with fissures or
dikes is in general characteristic of diatremes,
so that we may analyze the peculiarities of
their formation, assuming that the "fissure -
pipe" sequence is a regular consequence of
this process.
The fissures undoubtedly represent natural
and weakened directions that exist in the rock
sequence, along which migration of volatiles
could take place during the development of a
certain volume of the gas phase, under high
pressure. Independently of its origin, the
compressed gas should migrate along the fis-
sures in the direction of pressure drop, in
general toward the Earth's surface, on the
 L.A. NOVIKOV AND R.M. SLOBODSKOY
achievement of which and the establishment of
a through passage, scouring by the gas should
begin from the "reservoir" and its discharge
into the atmosphere. The "transport system"
developed will be confined to a system of suc-
cessively juxtaposed fissures and should there -
fore be a planar conduit with bends.
Thus, after the fissures have opened, dis-
charge of the gas jet takes place through a con-
duit of slit-like shape, and its walls, composed
of rock, may be disrupted. The rupture of the
wall material is associated with the operation
of two factors: the first of these is the dynamic
effect of its gas flow, the velocity of which may
reach 100-200 m/sec; the second is the'impact-
abrasion effect of the solid particles present
in the gas flow. Breakdown of the walls of the
conduit will be facilitated by the fact that in
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the sequence of rocks, unequal stresses and a
directed uncompensated pressure should develop
in association with the formation of cavities
and, consequently, free surfaces ( 4 ) . During
magmatic eruptions, unequal stresses may
also develop as a result of heating up of the
conduit walls as the magmatic masses and the
heated gas pass along the conduit (12).
During rupture of the conduit walls, its
morphology will naturally change, although the
proposition that the slit-like conduit will simply
expand as a result of an even scouring of its
walls has turned out to be incorrect. The speed
of breakdown of the rock under the effect of the
gas flow and its transported particles is deter-
mined by their kinetic energy, which, other
conditions being equal, is proportional to the
square of the velocity of flow; the latter, how-
ever, has turned out to be variable in different
sectors across the slit-like conduit.
The uneven distribution of the flow velocities
along the long axis of the transverse section of
such a conduit is associated with the fact that
in its peripheral (terminal) sectors, the specific
magnitude of the wetted perimeter is greater
than in the central sectors. Therefore, the
greater magnitudes are achieved by local hy-
draulic impedences, and, consequently, the
velocity of the gas flow turns out to be lower.
As a consequence, the core of the flow (the
field of maximum values of specific mass d i s -
charge and the highest velocities) will be located
in the central part of the section (fig. 4). In
this same place, the conduit wall will be most
rapidly disrupted, and this will lead to its c e r -
tain expansion and, consequently, to a further
decrease in the local hydraulic impedance.
This will cause an increase in the flow velocity
and hence, the velocity of rupture of the walls,
as a result of which the shape of the transverse
section of the conduit in the central part will
approach the ellipsoidal, and then circular,
and the conduit itself will be converted from a
slit-like into a pipe-like form.
1135
FIGURE 4. Distribution of flow velocities (curves)
along the long axis of a transverse section, and the
conversion of a slit-like section of a conduit (a) into
an ellipsoidal form (b) and the sealing up of the peri-
pheral sectors (vertical shading).
It is natural that the forming diatreme
should inherit certain morphologic features of
the original fissure of the transport system, so
that its long axis will turn out to be curved in
some degree, and this can scarcely be matched
with the hypothesis concerning the explosive
nature of the process of diatreme formatioa
As the pipe-like sector forms, variation in
the distribution of velocities through the entire
horizontal section of the conduit increases.
Because of the separation of the core of the
flow in the central, expanding portion of the
vent, the velocity of the gas jet in the peripheral
sectors of the slit-like conduit should diminish,
and this will lead to a lowering in the transport-
ing velocities of the flow and a gradual sealing
up of the narrow sectors of the vent, firstly,
by large, and then also by small fragments.
The gradual atrophy of fissure craters took
place in 1973 on the northern slope of Tyatya
Volcano (15), during the magmatic eruption of
the Beerenberg Volcano on Jan Mayen in 1970
(20), and also during the course of the multi-
phase Tolbachik eruption in 1975-1976 (17).
We should note a certain arbitrariness in
the scheme under consideration, which is, how-
ever, regarded as completely suitable for ana-
lyzing actual geological events, with this sole
difference, that in reality the core of the flow
does not arise in the central part of an unlikely
fissure with rectilinear parallel walls, but in
some weakened sector, at the intersection of
fissures, at the site of a layer of easily ruptured
rock, etc.
O r i g i n of the f u n n e l - l i k e n e a r -
m o u t h e x p a n s i o n and f o r m a t i o n of the
c o n i c a l s h a p e of d i a t r e m e s . The
most natural reason for the appearance of a
funnel in the near-mouth part of diatremes is
expansion of the gas jet at the outlet from the
vertical conduit. The development of the hori-
zontal component in the velocity vector of the
gas flow and the particles transported by it
 INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGY REVIEW
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FIGURE 5. Conversion of a slit-like conduit (a) into a conical diatreme with a funnel-like expan-
sion (b).
will convert the near-mouth marginal uprise,
formed by the intersection of the conduit walls
with the ground surface, into an obstacle,
which will also be subjected to intense disrup-
tion. The result of this should be smoothing
of the walls in the near -mouth sector until
their configuration coincides with the directions
of the vector velocities at each point in the
near-wall portion of the flow.
Conversion of a slit-like conduit into a
diatreme apparently begins precisely with rup-
turing of the near-surface rise and the formation
of an orifice funnel-like expansion, after which
the pipe gradually continues to develop in depth,
through sequential working over of the conduit.
Its downward growth is evidently one of the
factors that determines the conical shape of
the diatremes, since the nearer it is to the
surface, the longer is the corresponding sector
of the vent affected by disruption and conversion
to a pipe -like conduit and the greater will be
the diameter of the latter (fig. 5).
As the surface is approached, the gas flow
will be enriched in solid particles as a conse-
quence of disruption of the conduit walls. As a
result of this, the walls in the upper, near-
orifice portions of the vent will be subjected
to the total effect of the particles torn from
the walls of the conduit over its entire extent,
whereas in the deep-seated, near-root portions
of the diatremes, the quantity of particles in
the gas jet, and, consequently, the intensity of
their disrupting effect on the walls will be min-
imal.
1136
Yet another reason for the predominant
disruption of the walls in the upper parts may
be the "acceleration" of the gas jet during its
passage along the conduit as a consequence of
the gradual lowering of pressure in the direction
toward the orifice and the associated increase
in the volume of the gas. Finally, the abrasive
effect of the solid particles on the conduit walls
increases as the orifice is approached. The
reason for this is the increase in velocity of
movements of the fragments, which is associated
not only with the "acceleration" of the gas jet
carrying them, but also with the decrease in
their dimensions as a result of gradual crushing.
The relationships between the size of the frag-
ments and the nature of their movement in the
gas flow are important in analyzing the distribu-
tion of xenoliths of different origin in the dia-
tremes, so that we shall consider them in
greater detail.
The behavior of a body in a gas flow, taking
place along a vertical conduit, is evidently de-
termined by the interaction of two forces, the
lifting power of the gas jet and the force of
gravity. The first is equal to the product of
the given value of the dynamic gas pressure
and the area of cross section of the body. In
particular, for a body of specific shape
where a is the coefficient of proportionality,
Pg is the gas density, y | e l is the velocity of
 L.A. NOVIKOV AND R.M. SLOBODSKOY
the gas relatively to the body, and R is the
radius.
In the opposite direction, besides the Archi-
medes' force, the body will be affected by the
force of gravity:
1
4 3
where g is acceleration due to gravity, and P T
is the density of the body.
From these equations, it follows that small
bodies will be affected by the gas jet with a
greater velocity than large bodies, since as
the dimensions of the body decrease, the ratio
between its mass and the cross-sectional area
will also decrease. This indicates that 1 kg
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of rock in the form of small fragments will be
transported in the ascending flow with a greater
velocity than in the form of large lumps. As a
result also, the total impact effect, proportional
to the square of the velocity, will be greater in
1 kg of small fragments than in a single lump.
As a consequence of this, rupture of the walls
of the conduit should be intensified as grinding
of the solid particles transported by the flow
increases.
M o v e m e n t of f r a g m e n t s . In dia-
tremes it is normal to find associated xenoliths,
some of which have been transported upward,
and others downward, along the conduit. This
movement in opposite directions may be under-
stood, if we allow for the fact that it has taken
place in a gas stream, where the principal
factor that determines the behavior of the xeno-
liths is their dimensions. The larger the frag-
ments, the more slowly they will be transported
by the stream; fragments of a certain critical
dimension should hang immovably in the jet,
since the lifting force and the gravitational
force acting on them will be equal, and the
larger fragments will sink, because their mass
becomes greater than the lifting force of the
gas jet.
These considerations help to explain the
absence of deep-seated xenoliths in diatremes,
larger than a certain defined size. We may
assume that this size ( 30-40 cm, and in excep-
tional cases, up to 70 cm) is critical, and that
larger fragments cannot be transported upward
along the conduit in the gas stream. It is evi-
dent that, for this same reason, the large frag-
ments and blocks torn from the walls of dia-
tremes are displaced downward only.
The differences in the velocities and direc-
tions of displacement of particles of different
dimensions, being transported in a diatreme by
the gas stream, will predetermine the active
mechanical interaction between them. Since
the fragments are freely suspended in the gas
jet, and mutual impacts between them are r a n -
dom, surface erosion should lead to the develop-
1137
ment of rounded forms, with the "degree of round-
ness" evidently being proportional to the time
during which the fragment remains in the dia-
treme. Of the xenoliths present in diatremes,
the most rounded are the most deep seated,
which have been transported from more distant
sources, and their velocity of movement has
been lower owing to their greater density.
The difference in the velocities during the
transport of particles of different sizes in the
gas stream may be associated with the peculiar-
ities in the formation of the rounded accretionary
volcanic bombs and lapilli, which have been
found both in different diatremes, and also
among the products of recent volcanic eruptions,
involving the significant participation of the
gas phase. The comparatively large fragments
of country rock transported in the gas flow had
a lower velocity than the particles of pulverized
melt, which during mutual impact had adhered
to a central core (xenolith), gradually forming
a selvage consisting of magmatic rock. The
compressed gas bubbles observed in the selvage,
like the elongated mineral grains, have acquired
their orientation, parallel to the outer surface
of the bomb, as a result of flattening of drops
during mutual impact. The circular outlines
of these bombs and lapilli, as also in the case
of the "machined" xenoliths, evidently indicate
their formation in a freely suspended state and
reflect a tendency toward equalization of the
likelihood of mutual impact over the entire s u r -
face of the body.
These hypotheses on the mechanism of
formation of diatremes through the conversion
of fissure vents into pipe-like forms under the
influence of a gas stream are not new. More
than 40 years ago, Daly (5, p. 159) wrote:
"When first formed, a crater may be fissure -
like, but, by the mechanism that keeps it open
. . . , the ground plan soon becomes subcir-
cular. " Recently, the same view has been ex-
pressed by Macdonald: "The formation of a
fissure vent by cracking or tearing open of the
crustal rocks is easily understood, but the mode
of formation of a pipe-like vent is less appa-
rent . . . . Pipe vents probably are formed
by the coring action of gases rushing out where
they have found an escape to the surface along
a fracture or the intersection of two fractures,
the gas tearing fragments from the side of the
channel and abrading the wall rocks; . . . "
(12, p. 205-206). The significant role that
mobile fluidized gas - solid particle systems
should play in the processes at formation of
diatremes has repeatedly been stresses (18,
22, 39, 45).
Direct observations of volcanic eruptions,
especially during their initial phases, emphasize
the correctness of these hypotheses. An ana-
lysis, which we conducted, allowing for the
well-known views on gas dynamics (1) and the
patterns of movements of gas streams with
 INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGY REVIEW
solid particles ( 3 ) , has enabled us to sort out
some of the details of this process and has
completely clarified the satisfactory coincidence
between the theoretically proposed results of
activity of a gas flow and the actually observed
peculiarities in the geological position of the
diatremes, their structure, and also the origin
and distribution of fragmentary material in
them. Yet another argument in favor of our
hypotheses is the almost complete absence of
pipe-like vents in the oceanic shield volcanoes
and in the regions of plateau-basalts, where
gas-poor lavas have erupted (12).
Thus, the substantial likeness between
diatremes of different type suggests that they
have a capcity to form as a genetically unique
group through the above-described mechanism
of formation.
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