The Surtsey Magma Series.

ABSTRACT: The volcanic island of Surtsey (Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland) is the product of a 3.5-year-long eruption that began in November 1963. Observations of magma-water interaction during pyroclastic episodes made Surtsey the type example of shallow-to-emergent phreatomagmatic eruptions. Here, in part to mark the 50(th) anniversary of this canonical eruption, we present previously unpublished major-element whole-rock compositions, and new major and trace-element compositions of sideromelane glasses in tephra collected by observers and retrieved from the 1979 drill core. Compositions became progressively more primitive as the eruption progressed, with abrupt changes corresponding to shifts between the eruption's four edifices. Trace-element ratios indicate that the chemical variation is best explained

SUBMITTER: Schipper CI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4481646 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature