NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES

COLLEGE OF SCIENCE
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES DILIMAN

LECTURE SLIDES
Week 7 – Volcanism
GEOL 11 Principles of Geology

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When molten rock reaches the surface, the processes associated with its eruption (entry to the surface) are
considered “volcanic” processes. Magma may come out effusively (easily oozing/flowing out of an opening
at the surface called a vent) as molten material, this molten rock on the earth’s surface is called lava. Magma
may also be erupted explosively, where the dissolved gasses can fragment (“break apart/separate into
smaller pieces” instead of coming out as one flowing mass) the magma and the surrounding rocks. This
creates smaller masses/”blobs” of magma and broken rocks which are more explosively/“forcefully” ejected
into the air. These individual fragments are called “pryoclast” and the general term for the accumulation of
pyroclasts, forming the eruption column/cloud is called “tephra”. The gases initially dissolved in magma will
start exsolving as the magma ascends to the surface, and once they reach the surface they start to separate
from the magma; we refer to these gases from magma as “volcanic gases”.
Magma can escape to the surface in as lava fountaining where magma is fragmented and projectiled
ballistically into the air (later solidifying as pyroclasts). It may also simply come out as effusive lava “oozing”,
called lava flows. Lavas start to cool and solidify once they reach the surface. Lava may continue to flow even
as parts of the it (generally the outer parts of the lava flow exposed to the air will cool and solidify first), and
these lava flows may take on certain surface features shown in the next slides.

Pronounced as “Pa-hoy-hoy” lava, these lava are characterized by smooth, ropy surfaces; these features are
typically found in basaltic lava flows where the toe of the lava solidifies and separates from the molten lava
flow, and the new “toe” of the molten lava follows suit, and so on; forming a series of “rope”-like features.
A’a (pronounced as “Ah-ah”) lava flows are lava flows with rough, stony/jagged surface made of broken lava
fragments (termed “clinkers”).

Pillow lavas are lavas that have a unique, elongate/toothpaste-like form which is due to the eruption of lava
underwater. As lava is erupted underwater, the outer part of the lava forms an outer crust (solidifies, having
an outer solid shell) forming a “tube”, and as more lava comes in, the front of the tube breaks and out oozes
new lava, forming these pillow lava structures.
Optional 2-minute video clip: Virtual Field-trip: Pillow lava in the Marin Headlands
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KCFOy26jFg
Pyroclastic fragments, regardless of composition, are classified according to their size (~diameter)
Pyroclasts with <2mm diameter is called “ash”. Those with diameter between 2 & 64mm are called “lapilli”.
Pyroclasts with diameter >64mm are further classified into two, depending on the grain
smoothness/angularity.
Blocks are pyroclasts with >64mm diameter with rounded edges; these are ejected as solid rocks, usually
broken rock fragments from already solidified magma/surrounding rocks. On the other hand, bombs are
pyroclasts with >64mm diameter; these are usually ejected molten, and they are rounded (get smooth
corners) as they ballistically propelled through the air, then solidify later on either mid-air or upon reaching
the ground

Accretionary lapilli is a specific kind of lapilli formed by ash (<2mm) fragments concentrically accreting around
a wet nucleus (clumped ash or another solid fragment). They appear like these small balls of ash. The
presence of accretionary lapilli is indicative of the presence of water in the ash cloud where they were formed.

Volcanic gases are the gas that exsolved from magma and may come out to the surface without
accompanying lava or other solid eruptive products. Common volcanic gases are SO2, CO2 and H2O. In this
photo, sulfur is crystallizing from the SO2 degassing from the crater of Vulcano.

Volcanoes can be landforms with active vents where magma can be erupted to the surface OR landforms
like depressions, hills or mountains formed from accumulation of erupted (lava or pyroclastic) materials. The
next slides are examples of volcanic landforms (simply considered as “volcanoes”) including.
Shield volcanoes are broad, gently sloping (~15* or less), made up of successive eruptions of low viscosity
lava flows (generally at the basaltic end of the composition spectrum)

Stratovolcanoes are made up of layers of pyroclastic materials and lava flows from multiple eruptions. These
are the classic cone-shaped volcanoes like Mayon and Mt. Fuji, Mt. Etna.
Monogenetic volcanoes are volcanic landforms formed from a single eruption. Monogenetic landforms can
be “positive”/built up from eruptive materials, an example would be a monogenetic cone. From its name,
these are cone-shaped mounds from accumulation of mainly pyroclastic material.These cones tend to me
significantly smaller than composite cones, because they are only built from a single eruptive episode (as
opposed to stratovolcanoes built from eruptive products from multiple eruptions).

Domes are mound-shaped volcanic morphologies from the slow effusion and accumulation of, typically, silicic
lava.
A caldera is a wide (typically >2km diameters), basin-like depression formed from the collapse of a
volcano/structural failure of rocks on the surface due to withdrawals of large amounts of magma from a
shallow magma chamber/reservoir beneath it. When large amounts of magma are removed from the
underlying reservoir, there might not be enough structural support for the volcano/landform on the surface,
so it collapses forming a caldera.
Taal volcano is actually a caldera, with the main caldera depression filled in by the Taal Lake (caldera rim
shown in dashed lines). The active part of Taal is the island within the caldera, known as volcano island. The
eruption last January was from the main crater (the smaller depression within volcano island, when it was
filled in by water, this area was known as the Taal Lake. The eruption in 2020 was able to empty/clear all the
water in the crater lake (picture on next slide).
This is the main crater on Volcano Island, this is not a caldera. Craters differ from caldera in size (craters are
smaller) and in how they are formed. Calderas are specifically formed from a collapse, while craters are
formed from volcanic materials being excavated due to eruption processes.

Effusive eruptions occur when magma reaches the surface in a “gentle” oozing as lava flows. This is usually
the case for low viscosity magma since gases can easily escape, there is no pressure build up. This type of
eruption is characterized by mostly lava as the eruptive product.
On the other hand, explosive eruptions occur when magma is ascending at high rates (speed) or magma is
very viscous such that gases can not freely escape. These gases build up pressure that eventually
explosively (you may think of it as “forcefully”) ejects the magma, leading to fragmentation of the magma and
breaking of surrounding rocks creating pyroclasts. Hence, this eruption creates more tephra, and may create
eruption columns.

Detailed description of the VEI from USGS: Volume of products, eruption cloud height, and qualitative
observations (using terms ranging from "gentle" to "mega-colossal") are used to determine the explosivity
value. The scale is open-ended with the largest volcanic eruptions in history (supereruptions) given
magnitude 8. A value of 0 is given for non-explosive eruptions, defined as less than 10,000 m3 (350,000 cu
ft) of tephra ejected; and 8 representing a mega-colossal explosive eruption that can eject 1.0?—1012 m3
(240 cubic miles) of tephra and have a cloud column height of over 20 km (12 mi). The scale is logarithmic,
with each interval on the scale representing a tenfold increase in observed ejecta criteria, with the exception
of between VEI 0, VEI 1 and VEI 2.
Detailed description of the DRE from USGS: A widely accepted measure of the size of an eruption is the
volume of lava ejected as pumice and ash (tephra) during an explosive phase or the volume of lava extruded
during an effusive phase. Eruption volumes are commonly expressed in cubic kilometers (km3). One km3 is
roughly equivalent to 0.24 cubic mile. Estimates of the tephra volumes are usually obtained by mapping the
distribution and thickness of the tephra deposits on the ground after the eruption is over. Tephra volumes
measured in this way must then be corrected for void spaces (bubbles within the pumice, empty spaces
between individual chunks of pumice or ash) to get an estimate of the original volume of lava erupted. This
correction can be made by comparing the bulk density of the tephra deposit with the known density of the
rock-type that makes up the tephra. The result is referred to as the "dense rock equivalent" or DRE of the
erupted volume. The diagram shows sizes of a few example eruptions. In any given time period, there are
many more small eruptions than there are large eruptions and the largest caldera-forming eruptions (Long
Valley Caldera, Yellowstone, and Toba) are very infrequent. The smallest eruption shown is the 1915 Lassen
Peak eruption with an estimated DRE volume of 0.006km3. The largest eruption shown is the 74,000 years
ago Toba eruption in Sumatra with a DRE volume was about 2,800 km3. The eruption sizes were drawn by
solving for the radius of a sphere using the eruption volumes shown.
Short clip explaining magmatic eruption in english+filipino : https://youtu.be/X4GuDSE-ccU
Short clip explaining phreatic eruption in english+filipino : https://youtu.be/Ebr0hfvsdJE

Short clip explaining phreatomagmatic eruption in english+filipino : https://youtu.be/v0cZvBvjJ7Y

Distribution of these lecture materials

(electronic or hard copy), in part or in whole, is
strictly prohibited without the permission
from the faculty of NIGS, UP Diliman. Any
unauthorized use of these materials shall be
subject to disciplinary action
(1st Semester, AY 2020-2021).