Caldera Formation Associated with the Growth of a Basaltic Volcano: A Model for Gravitational Collapse.

Abstract

Basaltic volcanoes above oceanic crust or island-arc crusts develop calderas. Upon the formation of this caldera, the collapsed volume was generally far larger than erupted volume. Caldera width, its depth, and caldera horizontal width (CR)/volcano size (VR) depend on the physical properties of an oceanic crust. The CR/VR ratio decreases away from the ridge. At Fernandina volcano, Galapagos, the elongated caldera of 3.5 kmX2.5 km was formed in 1968 during a phase dominated by circumferential fissure eruptions after a phase dominated by radial fissure eruptions. At Kilauea volcano, Hawaii, during a phase dominated by central eruptions, several drain backs of lava lake occurred from 1800, and, finally, a caldera of 1 km in diameter collapsed in 1924. Caldera collapse seems to be inevitable because accumulated crystals and solidified magma under a volcano increases gravitational instability. According to the gravitational collapse model proposed in this paper, it is difficult to determine when, how wide, and how deep a caldera collapse will occur. The magma plumbing system expands horizontally and vertically during long-term growth. Caldera collapse should contribute to vertical growth. Horizontal growth and vertical growth are governed by physical properties of the crust beneath the volcano; the former process is dominant in Hawaii, and the latter in Galapagos. In the case of Miyakejima volcano, the caldera collapse may be triggered by dike intrusions into a region with a low probability of intrusions or by an increase in the magma supply beneath the magma chamber. At the Miyakejima eruption in 2000, the caldera of 1.5 km in diameter formed in the shallow crust; ductile mass or dense magma with crystal mush may have moved downward or northwestward in the deep crust