Topic
Lava field
About: Lava field is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 637 publications have been published within this topic receiving 20900 citations. The topic is also known as: lava plain & lava bed.
Papers published on a yearly basis
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Papers
TL;DR: Inflated sheet flows from Kilauea and Mauna Loa are morphologically similar to some thick Icelandic and submarine sheet flows, suggesting a similar mechanism of emplacement as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Inflated pahoehoe sheet flows have a distinctive horizontal upper surface, which can be several hundred meters across, and are bounded by steep monoclinal uplifts. The inflated sheet flows we studied ranged from 1 to 5 m in thickness, but initially propagated as thin sheets of fluid pahoehoe lava, generally 20-30 cm thick. Individual lobes originated at outbreaks from the inflated front of a prior sheet-flow lobe and initially moved rapidly away from their source. Velocities slowed greatly within hours due to radial spreading and to depletion of lava stored within the source flow. As the outward flow velocity decreases, cooling promotes rapid crustal growth. At first, the crust behaves plastically as pahoehoe toes form. After the crust attains a thickness of 2-5 cm, it behaves more rigidly and develops enough strength to retain incoming lava, thus increasing the hydrostatic head at the flow front. The increased hydrostatic pressure is distributed evenly through the liquid lava core of the flow, resulting in uniform uplift of the entire sheet-flow lobe. Initial uplift rates are rapid (flows thicken to 1 m in 1-2 hours), but rates decline sharply as crustal thickness increases, and as outbreaks occur from the margins of the inflating lobe. One flow reached a final thickness of nearly 4 m after 350 hr. Inflation data define power-law curves, whereas crustal cooling follows square root of time relationships; the combination of data can be used to construct simple models of inflated sheet flows.
As the flow advances, preferred pathways develop in the older portions of the liquid-cored flow; these pathways can evolve into lavatube systems within a few weeks. Formation of lava tubes results in highly efficient delivery of lava at velocities of several kilometers per hour to a flow front that may be moving 1-2 orders of magnitude slower. If advance of the sheet flow is terminated, the tube remains filled with lava that crystallizes in situ rather than draining to form the cave-like lava tubes commonly associated with pahoehoe flows.
Inflated sheet flows from Kilauea and Mauna Loa are morphologically similar to some thick Icelandic and submarine sheet flows, suggesting a similar mechanism of emplacement. The planar, sheet-like geometry of flood-basalt flows may also result from inflation of sequentially emplaced flow lobes rather than nearly instantaneous emplacement as literal floods of lava.
786 citations
TL;DR: This paper showed that large terrestrial basaltic flow fields studied to date, including flood basalts, were emplaced as thermally efficient, inflated, compound pahoehoe sheet flows.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract Pahoehoe lava flows are common in every basaltic province, and their submarine variants, pillow lavas and sheet flows, cover the bulk of the Earth. Pahoehoe flows are emplaced by inflation—the injection of molten lava underneath a solidified crust. Only in the past few years has an understanding of the inflation process and the ability to recognize ancient inflated lava flows been achieved. All large terrestrial basaltic flow fields studied to date, including flood basalts, were emplaced as thermally efficient, inflated, compound pahoehoe sheet flows. This leads us to propose that this is the standard way of emplacing large lavas (the SWELL hypothesis). The atmospheric impact of such flood basalt eruptions could have been protracted and severe, providing a plausible link between flood basalt eruptions and mass extinctions.
380 citations
TL;DR: A logical definition of lava flow must embrace both simple lava sheets and substantial lava shields (compound lava flows) up to 600 m high as mentioned in this paper, and the most extensive and far-reaching flows are simple lava flows, defined as those lavas which are not divisible into flow-units.
Abstract: Compound lava flows, defined as those lavas which are divisible into flowunits, commonly have a shield-like form and are thought to develop when the rate of extrusion of lava is relatively low.Simple lava flows, defined as those lavas which are not divisible into flow-units, are thought to form when the rate of extrusion of lava is relatively high. A logical definition oflava flow must embrace both simple lava sheets and substantial lava shields (compound lava flows) up to 600 m high. Flood basalt piles include both compound and simple flows, but the most extensive and far-reaching flows are simple and they are believed to form when the rate of extrusion of lava is particularly high.
372 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors studied the physical volcanoology of the ∼15 Ma Roza Member of the Wanapum Formation in the Columbia River Basalt Group and found that the emplacement of individual Roza lobes lasted for months to years and that the lava flow field was constructed over a period of at least 14 years.
Abstract: We present studies on the physical volcanology of the ∼15 Ma Roza Member of the Wanapum Formation in the Columbia River Basalt Group. The Roza Member represents a compound pahoehoe flood basalt lava flow field, with an area of ∼40,300 km 2 and a volume of 1300 km 3 . It consists of 4 major lava flows each composed of numerous, decimeter to kilometer long pahoehoe lobes. Roza lavas feature a wide range of pahoehoe surface structures, such as lava rise plateaus, tumuli, and surface breakouts, and we illustrate that the lava morphology is inconsistent with previous proposals of rapid emplacement for these lavas. An integral component of the Roza flow field is the sheet lobe with internal structures identical to those of inflated pahoehoe sheet lobes from Hawaii and Iceland, both at the same scale and at much larger scales. We identify a three-part division of the sheet lobes into basal crust, lava core, and lava crust, which are interpreted as the equivalent to the bottom crust, the liquid lava core, and the surface crust of an active inflating pahoehoe lobe. The upper lava crust grows continuously during lava emplacement and its growth rate can be approximated by conductive cooling. This relationship is used to calculate the emplacement time for individual Roza sheet lobes and to derive a first-order estimate on the duration of the Roza eruption. The results indicate that the emplacement of individual Roza lobes lasted for months to years and that the lava flow field was constructed over a period of at least 14 years. We propose that the Roza flows achieved great areal dimensions and thicknesses by inflation and endogenous growth. As the lava flowed from vent to flow front it traveled under an insulating crust which maintained cooling rates of <0.1°C/km and allowed for efficient transport of lava over distances up to 300 km.
329 citations
TL;DR: The Michoacan-Guanajuato Volcanic Field (MGVF) contains over 1000 late Quaternary volcanic centers, of which approximately 90% are cinder cones.
329 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 11 |
| 2024 | 13 |
| 2023 | 19 |
| 2022 | 44 |
| 2021 | 16 |
| 2020 | 17 |