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EPSL-09681; No of Pages 8

Earth and Planetary Science Letters xxx (2009) xxxxxx

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Earth and Planetary Science Letters

j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s e v i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / e p s l

Time-dependent chamber and vent conditions during explosive

caldera-forming eruptions
A. Folch a, J. Mart b,
a
b

Earth Sciences Division, Barcelona Supercomputing CenterCentro Nacional de Supercomputacin, Edici Nexus II, c/ Jordi Girona 29, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera (IJA-CSIC), c/Llus Sol Sabars s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 13 July 2008
Received in revised form 25 January 2009
Accepted 26 January 2009
Available online xxxx
Editor: T.M. Harrison
Keywords:
collapse calderas
ring fault
magma chamber
modelling

a b s t r a c t
We use a modied version of the CPIUC model [Macedonio, G., Neri, A., Mart, J., Folch, A., 2005. Temporal
evolution of ow conditions in sustained explosive eruptions, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal
Research, 143, 153-172] to simulate chamber and vent conditions during the different phases of a piston-like
caldera-forming eruption. Our idealized caldera-forming scenario assumes an initial central-vent conduit
that, after critical chamber decompression, migrates to a ssure-vent peripheral conduit(s). Further
decompression leads to nal piston-like subsidence which stops only after the virtual destruction of the
magmatic reservoir. The simulations nd that the pressure at the conduit entrance drops during the
decompression phases at a rate depending on the conduit geometry, chamber volatile zonation and
fragmentation threshold. The higher the volume contrast between the initial central-vent and the nal
peripheral ssure-vent conduits, the higher the pressure drop and the jump in the mass eruption rate.
Pressure increases back to lithostatic during piston subsidence while some compressible magma remains
within the chamber. Finally, during the later phase, pressure experiments a gentle increase or decrease
depending on the balance between deposition of intra-caldera material and decrease in the contents of
volatiles as deeper chamber levels are tapped.
2009 Published by Elsevier B.V.

1. Introduction
The classical scenario for the formation of collapse calderas is that
of a magma chamber underpressurized below a critical value due to
the removal of magma during an eruption (e.g. Williams, 1941; Smith
and Bailey, 1968; Druitt and Sparks, 1984; Mart et al., 2000). Analogue
experiments based on this evacuation scenario (e.g. Komuro, 1987;
Marti et al., 1994; Roche et al., 2000; Acocella et al., 2000; Walter and
Troll 2001; Lavalle et al., 2004; Geyer et al., 2006) reproduce most
structural features like fractures, faults, or regions with different stress
regimes, and provide a clear link between the aspect ratio of the
magmatic reservoir and the resulting caldera morphology. In turn and
complementary, a number of theoretical models try to assess the
fraction of erupted mass or, equivalently, the chamber pressure drop,
necessary to trigger the collapse depending on the chamber geometry
and magma properties (Druitt and Sparks, 1984; Bower and Woods,
1997; Mart et al., 2000; Roche and Druitt 2001). Other calderaforming scenarios not conforming this classical view include collapse
by opening of ring-faults due to regional doming beneath a shallow
sill-like-shaped overpressurized reservoir (Komuro et al., 1984;
Gudmundsson et al., 1997; Gudmundsson 1998) or faulting by

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: joan.marti@ija.csic.es (J. Mart).

chamber overpressure in a extensional regional stress led (Gudmundsson 1988; Gray and Monaghan, 2004).
Regardless of the triggering mechanism, it is clear that the
initiation of a collapse caldera changes dramatically the ambient
conditions in the magmatic reservoir and, simultaneously, provides
new paths for magma to reach the surface through peripheral
conduits or ssures (Mart et al., in press). Such physical and
geometrical changes have a large impact on the conditions at the
vent and modify the dynamics of the caldera-forming eruption. A
classical example of these changes is the transition from plinian to
large-scale ignimbritic eruption observed in the deposits of many
caldera-forming eruptions (Williams, 1941; Smith and Bailey, 1968;
Druitt and Sparks, 1984; Newhall and Dzurisin, 1988; Geyer and Mart,
2008, and references herein). Due to the tremendous destructive
potential of caldera-forming eruptions, the comprehension and quantication of these changes becomes a relevant issue to predict, trough
modelling, the dynamics of such events. Studies on the temporal
evolution of the physical conditions at the vent during calderaforming eruptions are, however, surprisingly scarce and almost
limited to eldwork and to the analysis of the distribution of lithics
in the pyroclastic deposits (Hidreth and Mahood, 1986; Druitt and
Bacon, 1986; Suzuki-Kamata et al., 1993; Rosi et al., 1996; Pittari et al.,
2008). The few existing theoretical models on caldera-forming
eruptions (Druitt and Sparks, 1984; Bower and Woods, 1997;
Gudmundsson 1998; Mart et al., 2000) are limited to the pre-collapse

0012-821X/$ see front matter 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V.

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2009.01.035

Please cite this article as: Folch, A., Mart, J., Time-dependent chamber and vent conditions during explosive caldera-forming eruptions, Earth
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phase and do not analyze the dynamics during the collapse. Here we
extend the CPIUC model (Macedonio et al.; 2005) and use it to derive a
rough rst-order approach for the chamber and vent(s) conditions
during the whole caldera-forming eruptive sequence. It is important
to note in advance that caldera-forming eruptions are complex
phenomena and may have very different behaviours due to a number
of reasons (Mart et al., 2008, in press). A detailed analysis of any
particular case is out of the scope of this paper. Our nal goal is to
obtain, by means of simple modelling, general trends shared by these
particular eruptions and to highlight the strong time variability of
relevant physical parameters like pressure or mass eruption rate
(MER). This is particularly critical for models on volcanic plumes and
pyroclastic ows because, regardless their complexity, most simulations still assume time-independent boundary conditions at the vent.
2. Modelling scenario
We focus on the classical scenario of a piston-like coherent
collapse following the decompression of a shallow volatile-rich felsic
magma chamber (Druitt and Sparks, 1984; Mart et al., 2000) (Fig. 1).
Our idealized sequence starts with an overpressurized chamber, with
the overpressure being caused by the exsolution of volatiles from a
fractional crystallization process and/or by the injection of fresh
magma into the reservoir. When the chamber overpressure exceeds
the strength of the surrounding rocks an eruption is triggered trough a
single central-vent cylindrical conduit, leading to a progressive
chamber withdrawal and decompression (Fig. 1a). The exact location
of the conduit relative to the chamber is not relevant to our model. It is

important to mention that, in most central-vent eruptions, chamber

decompression will lead to conduit closure, thus ending the eruption
after removing only a small fraction of the chamber mass (Folch et al.,
1998). The conditions for collapse caldera to form are hardly ever
reached because strict geometrical and mechanical constrains are
required (e.g. Folch and Mart, 2004; Scandone and Acocella, 2007;
Mart et al., 2008). In this paper we assume that these conditions are
attained.
Let P(+)
0 be reservoir overpressure at the eruption onset, where
the positive sign indicates overpressure with respect to lithostatic and
the subscript indicates the time instant t = t0. Assuming that the conditions to maintain the conduit open are veried, chamber decompression occurs during the initial central-vent phase until a critical
value for the onset of the collapse is reached (Fig. 1b). Analogue
models (e.g. Acocella et al., 2000; Geyer et al., 2006) nd that the
collapse process starts with the appearance of tensional fractures at
surface followed by a ground-down exure, the nucleation at depth of
inner outward dipping bell-shaped reverse faults that propagate
upwards to the surface, and, nally, the nucleation and development
of the bounding ring-fault set that ultimately permits the coherent
piston-like block to subside (Fig. 1c). It follows from these experiments
that there is a certain pressure drop between the onset of the collapse
at time t1 (when the chamber underpressure is P1()) (Fig. 1b) and the
onset of the piston subsidence at time t2 (when the chamber
underpressure is P1()) (Fig. 1c). Here, the former instant is assimilated to the appearance of tensional fractures at surface, whereas the
latter is associated with the complete development of the ring-fault.
For simplicity we assume that when the chamber underpressure

Fig. 1. Plan view and cross section schematic representation of the three-stage caldera-forming scenario. a) A central-vent eruption decompresses the magma chamber. b) When a
critical pressure drop P1() is reached at t = t1 time subsidence of the reservoir roof starts, involving the appearance of tensional fractures at surface, ground-down exure, and the
migration of the conduit from the central-vent to a ssure-vent (s) located along the marginal fractures. Decompression continues until time t = t2 allowing the progression of the
marginal faults and the nal formation of the bounding ring-fault. c) The piston-like block subsides until the virtual destruction of the magma chamber. During subsidence magma is
assumed to ow along the same ssure-vent(s), which are the only parts of the ring-fault that act as a conduit.

Please cite this article as: Folch, A., Mart, J., Time-dependent chamber and vent conditions during explosive caldera-forming eruptions, Earth
Planet. Sci. Lett. (2009), doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2009.01.035

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equals P1() the conduit instantaneously migrates from the initial

central-vent to a peripheral ssure or set of ssures that may, or may
not, grow in length or change its location along the forming ring-fault
during the time interval (t1, t2). This transition from a single centralvent to a peripheral ssure-vent(s) is a characteristic feature of many
caldera-forming eruptions (Williams, 1941; Smith and Bailey, 1968;
Bacon, 1983; Lipman, 1984, 1997). Well documented examples include,
for example, the eruption of the Bishop Tuff (Long Valley caldera) from
successive vents migrating along the ring-fault (Hidreth and Mahood,
1986; Wilson and Hildreth, 1997), the ejection of the climactic
ignimbrite from multiple vents along a ring-fracture system at Crater
Lake caldera (Suzuki-Kamata et al., 1993), the emplacement of largescale ignimbrites at the Taupo volcanic centre (Cole et al., 1998), or the
contemporaneous emission from multiple vents that led to the
emplacement of the Campanian Ignimbrite deposits at Campi Flegrei
caldera (Rosi et al., 1996). Finally, at times greater than t2, during the
piston subsidence phase, we assume that the peripheral ssure-vent
(s) remain unmodied. Pressure inside the magma chamber increases
during this stage up to a value equal to the load of the piston in
response to the compressive effect of the subsiding block (Mart et al.,
2000). We also take into account the increase of load caused by the
emplacement of intra-caldera products. In summary, we divide the
caldera-forming scenario in three stages: an initial central-vent phase
()
(with a pressure drop from to P(+)
0 to P1 ), a transitional ssurevent(s) phase (with a pressure drop from to P1() to P2()), and a nal
phase associated with the collapse sensu stricto in which the pistonlike block subsides.

momentum equation, which for a ssure is Fw = 12u/w2, and the

cross section of the conduit, which varies from to r2 to Lw. In the
expressions above w and L are, respectively, the ssure width and
the ssure length. Fissure length is let to vary linearly in time between
two user-dened values during the transitional phase. This allows to
simulate the effect of a progressive enlargement of a peripheral
ssure and/or the opening of multiple ssure-vents located along the
nucleating ring-fault. Second, once the critical underpressure P2()
has been reached, the chamber roof is let to move downwards to
simulate the piston subsidence. This modication affects the chamber
geometry (the chamber volume decreases) but not the conduit
dimensions (width, length and depth) which, for simplicity, are
assumed to be constant during the piston subsidence. Collapse goes
on at a user-dened rate and pressure at the chamber top is determined by mass conservation requirements (at any time slice the
conduit mass ow rate times the time step must equal the mass
removed by the combined effects of pressure variation and chamber
volume decrease). Subsidence proceeds until a user-dened fraction of the chamber volume has been extruded. We consider values of
8090%, implying that the subsidence (i.e. the eruption) ceases only
after the total destruction of the chamber. This assumption is
supported by multiple examples where collapses are followed by a
long period of repose, a new chamber rebuilding, and the initiation of
a new eruptive cycle (Self et al., 1986; Lipman, 1984; Newhall and
Dzurisin, 1988; Nairn et al., 1995; Marti and Gudmundsson, 2000) and
also from theoretical models (Mart et al., 2000).
4. Results

3. The physical model

The above three-steps scenario has been simulated using the
CPIUC model (Macedonio et al., 2005). CPIUC tracks the evolution of
fundamental ow variables in the chamber plus conduit system
during eruptions of volatile-rich magmas. The chamber model
assumes a homogeneous magma composition but allows for vertical
gradients in volatiles (chamber zonation) and for arbitrary chamber
geometries. The conduit model is based on the averaged mass and
momentum balance equations and assumes homogeneous ow and a
constant Mach number at the vent. Bubble nucleation occurs
instantaneously when pressure drops below the nucleation pressure
given by a solubility law, and a simple fragmentation criteria based on
the gas volume fraction (Sparks, 1978) allows the mixture to fragment.
Conduit geometry is characterized by the wall friction coefcient Fw
(Gilberti and Wilson, 1990), dened as the pressure drop due to
magma friction against the conduit walls. For details concerning the
model see Macedonio et al. (2005). The main advantage of CPIUC is
that it gives a rst-order approach and allows to identify the role of
the different input parameters and to assess which aspects deserve
further detailed study. We stress that results of the model must be
considered with caution because of the several simplifying assumptions. Major limitations include the presence of a single volatile component (water in our case), the equilibrium degassing, the simplicity
of the fragmentation criterion (based on the gas void fraction rather
than on the more realistic strain-rate-dependent glass transition), and
the conduit geometry. In the original version, CPIUC considered only
vertical cylindrical conduits, for which Fw = 8u/r2, where is the
mixture viscosity, u is the mixture ascending velocity in the conduit,
and r is the conduit radius.
We have modied the original version of CPIUC to extend the
model to the different phases of our caldera-forming scenario. First,
the geometry of the conduit is let to vary in time when the pressure
drop equals P1() in order to model the transition from a central-vent
conduit to a peripheral ssure-vent conduit(s). Fissure-vents are
assumed to be vertical, a reasonable hypothesis in the context of a
caldera-forming eruption (Folch and Mart, 2004; Mart et al., 2008).
The modication of the model affects the friction coefcient in the

For a given temperature and magma composition, the eruption

dynamics in the CPIUC model is mainly controlled by the pressure
variations within the magmatic reservoir, the chamber and the
conduit geometries, the mass fraction of volatiles and the threshold
values for fragmentation. We have performed different sets of
simulations changing one of these input parameters within reasonable bounds to look into its effect on the pressure drop, MER, and
positions of the exsolution and fragmentation fronts. All the simulations assume the chocked-ow condition at the vent (Mach number
equal to 1) but we have veried that, the rest being equal, the Mach at
outow has little inuence on the pressure drop and MER. As
previously mentioned, the geometry of the chamber is, in our case, far
from arbitrary. Analogue models (e.g. Roche et al., 2000) show that, in
order to have a coherent piston-like collapse, the chamber aspect ratio
(chamber depth to extension ratio) must be in the range or lower
than 0.7. This result is in agreement with numerical simulations (e.g.
Gudmundsson et al., 1997; Burov and Guillou-Frottier, 1999; Folch and
Mart, 2004; Hardy, 2008) which, in addition, identify also sill-like
geometries as the most likely to favour the formation of ring-faults. In
concordance, we have limited the spectrum of simulations to these
chamber shapes and aspect ratios.
4.1. Reference case and general trend
Table 1 summarizes the model input values for a reference run
which illustrates the predictions of the CPIUC model during the whole
caldera-forming sequence. Clearly, the quantitative results vary from
run to run, but a general qualitative trend is found in all the
simulations. The reference run assumes an initial overpressure of
15 MPa, migration to the ssure-vent when the underpressure is
15 MPa, the initiation of subsidence after a drop of 40 MPa and, nally,
the end of the eruption after removing 90% of the chamber mass.
These critical pressure drops represent averaged natural values for the
tensile and the shear strength of the crust in volcanic environments
(Toulokian et al., 1981). Collapse velocity has been set to 30 m/h. Fig. 2
shows the evolution of the pressure drop at the top of the chamber
(conduit entrance). The transition from the central-vent to the ssure-

Please cite this article as: Folch, A., Mart, J., Time-dependent chamber and vent conditions during explosive caldera-forming eruptions, Earth
Planet. Sci. Lett. (2009), doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2009.01.035

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Table 1
Input values for the reference run
Value

Units

Comments

Chamber Width
Height
Depth
Aspect ratio
Conduit Radius (cylinder)
Width (ssure)
Length (ssure)

6
2
4
0.66
50
25
1

km
km
km

m
m
km

The value of the chamber aspect

ratio is consistent with coherent
piston-like experimental collapses.

Pressure Lithostatic

95

MPa

Overpressure
P(+)
0
Drop P1()
Drop P2()

15

MPa

15
40

MPa
MPa

Composition
Liquid density
Temperature
Crystal contents
Crystal density
Viscosity law
Volatile type
Volatile contents

Rhyolitic
2400
900
10%
3000
H2O
4.25%

kg/m3
C

kg/m3

Fragmentation
void fraction

0.75

Magma

The conduit is a cylinder during the

initial central-vent stage and a
ssure of constant length during the
transitional and subsidence phases.
Value at the chamber top
assuming an averaged rock
density of 2420 kg/m3.
Representative value for the
host rock tensile strength.
Representative value for the
host rock shear strength.

From Hess and Dingwell (1996)

Exsolution model from Zhang (1999)
From 4.25% at the chamber top
to 3.25% at the chamber bottom.

Values are characteristic of natural systems but do not represent any specic eruption.

vent occurs, for this particular simulation, after removing 2.4% of the
chamber mass. During the transient stage, subsequent extrusion of
magma trough the peripheral ssure yields to further decompression
but at a different rate reecting the difference in volume between the
initial central-vent conduit and the new ssure-vent conduit(s). In
general, the higher the cross-section (volume) of the ssure-vent,
the steepest the pressure drop. Since the CPIUC model assumes an
instantaneous adjustment of solubility to the ambient conditions, the
decompression phases are accompanied by a progressive deepening of
the exsolution level (see Fig. 3). The situation changes dramatically at

the onset of subsidence which, for this particular simulation, occurs

after removing 8.9% of the chamber mass. The piston subsidence
compresses the remaining magma and progressively forces pressure
to increase, reaching the lithostatic value (95 MPa) when 21.5% of the
chamber mass has been erupted. The exsolution front in the chamber
responds to the pressure increase, shifts upwards, and eventually
reaches the conduit, leaving the chamber full of undersaturated
(incompressible) magma. We highlight that, in general, the lithostatic
pressure at the chamber top is not constant but increases gradually
due to the emplacement of intra-caldera products. The two plot
branches in Figs. 2 and 3 correspond, respectively, to the end-member
situations in which all the erupted material lls the caldera depression
or is completely emplaced away from it.
During the initial central-vent phase, the MER decreases gently due
to the combined effect of the pressure drop (pressure difference
between chamber and vent decreases gradually) and the inow of
magma less rich in volatiles as deeper levels of the reservoir are tapped.
The opening of the ssure-vent(s) produces a sharp discontinuity of
the MER which grows by almost an order of magnitude in response to
the changes in conduit geometry and volume (from cylindrical to
ssure and from 0.01 km3 to 0.1 km3 in volume). Further decompression during the interval (t1, t2) is accompanied by a second MER
decrease until piston subsidence starts. Compression of the residual
magma increases the MER which reaches a plateau once the lithostatic
equilibrium has been recovered. Depending on the balance between
the increase of lithostatic pressure by intra-caldera deposition (which
tends to increase the MER) and the decrease in volatiles due to taping
of deeper chamber levels (which tends to decrease the MER), the slope
of the plateau results slightly positive or negative (Fig. 2, branches a
and b respectively).
4.2. Role of the chamber zonation
Previous theoretical models (e.g. Mart et al., 2000) have suggested
that volatile-zoned chambers need to erupt a minor fraction of mass
than volatile homogeneous reservoirs to reach the same pressure
drop. This phenomenon is illustrated in Fig. 4, which compares the
reference run (poorly-zoned chamber, gradient in volatiles from 4.25%

Fig. 2. Model results for the reference run reported on Table 1. Left: evolution of the pressure drop at the top of the magma chamber. Drops are referred to the lithostatic pressure at
the beginning of the eruption. The most distinctive eruptive phases are marked. Percentages indicate the chamber mass erupted at different phases. Left: MER versus time. Once the
lithostatic pressure value is recovered during the subsidence, two end-member situations are shown: (a) maximum and (b) minimum (zero) roof load increase by intra-caldera
deposition. The calculated MER values are of the same order of magnitud than those estimated for plinian and ignimbritic eruptions (e.g. Pyle, 2000).

Please cite this article as: Folch, A., Mart, J., Time-dependent chamber and vent conditions during explosive caldera-forming eruptions, Earth
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Fig. 3. Model results for the reference run reported on Table 1. Depth of exsolution front (left) and fragmentation level (right) versus time. The initial depth of the chamber is 4 km. The
depths of the chamber roof and base are indicated by discontinuous lines. In the CPIUC model, the exsolution level instantaneously ts to pressure variations.

at top to 3.25% at bottom) with a simulation having a higher gradient

(from 4.25% to 1.25%). In the poorly-zoned case piston subsidence
starts after removing 8.9% of mass, whereas only 4.8% is required for
the highly-zoned case. Highly-zoned reservoirs anticipate the collapse
but, in contrast, extend the duration of the subsidence phase because
the plateau of the MER decays (Fig. 4b).
4.3. Role of the peripheral conduits
The dimension of the peripheral ssure-vent(s) is another important parameter for the eruption dynamics. Although the location of
this conduit is not relevant to the CPIUC model, different scenarios can

be simulated by changing the length and/or the width of the ssure.

One end-member case is that of a ssure with constant length, which
could represent a single xed peripheral vent or, alternatively, a vent
that migrates along the ring-fault keeping a similar size. The other
end-member situation is that of a ring-ssure that opens up to the
maximum length (the projection of the chamber margins). This is an
analogue for a collapse with extrusion trough an annular-conduit, i.e.
represents an extreme and rather unrealistic situation where the
whole ring-fault serves as a conduit. Legros et al. (2000) discussed the
effect of conduit geometries on fountains and pyroclastic ows. A
conclusion of their analysis was that perfectly annular ring-ssure
conduits do not favour the formation of pyroclastic ows and, from

Fig. 4. Effect of different volatile (water) gradients on the pressure drop at the top of the reservoir (left) and on the MER (right). Results are illustrated for (a) a highly-zoned (4.25% at
top, 1.25% at bottom) and (b) poorly-zoned (4.25% to 3.25%) chambers. The rest of parameters are as in Table 1.

Please cite this article as: Folch, A., Mart, J., Time-dependent chamber and vent conditions during explosive caldera-forming eruptions, Earth
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Fig. 5. Effect of two different ssure-vent conduit geometries on the pressure drop (left) and MER (right). Results are for (a) a 25 m width ssure that grows in length from 100 to
1000 m during the transition phase and (b) a 25 m width ssure of constant length (100 m). This could represent a single peripheral ssure-vent or the migration of a ssure-vent
along the ring-fault. The rest of parameters are as in Table 1. The jumps in the MER are marked (a) or smooth (b) depending on the differences between the volumes of the initial
central-vent and the subsequent ssure-vent conduit(s). For visualization purposes, case (b) plot is cut after 150 h, when only 16% of the chamber mass has been removed.

the occurrence of pyroclastic ows in virtually all caldera-forming

eruptions, inferred that magma ascent should be mainly localised in
more restricted conduits or parts of the ring-ssure. In fact, lithics
distribution studies in caldera deposits suggest that the opening of an
eruption through ring faults is a progressive process and responds to
the successive opening of multiple vents along the ring-fracture, but
not to its instantaneous transformation into a homogeneous, single
ring-ssure vent. In other words, even if the piston-like collapse
occurs along a ring fault, only parts it act as an eruption conduit.

Fig. 5 shows the results for a ssure of constant width (25 m) and
length (100 m) and for a ssure having the same width but a length
that increases by an order of magnitude (from 100 m to 1 km) during
the time slice (t1, t2). In both cases the pre-collapse cylindrical centralvent conduit is 50 m in diameter (cross section 2000 m2). For the
CPIUC model, a varying-in-time ssure can represent a single ssure
that grows in length or a gradual opening of multiple ssure-vents at
different locations along the ring-fault. The largest the contrast
between the size of the conduits the fastest the pressure drop and the

Fig. 6. Effect of two different fragmentation thresholds on the pressure drop (left) and MER (right) plotted versus time. Results for a maximum allowed gas volume fraction of 0.60 (a)
and 0.90 (b) which represent, respectively, a poor and a rich pumice vesicularity. The rest of parameters are as in Table 1.

Please cite this article as: Folch, A., Mart, J., Time-dependent chamber and vent conditions during explosive caldera-forming eruptions, Earth
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Fig. 7. Effect of two different fragmentation thresholds on the depth of exsolution front (left) and fragmentation level (right) plotted versus time. Results for a maximum allowed gas
volume fraction of 0.60 (a) and 0.90 (b). The rest of parameters are as in Table 1. The depths of the chamber roof and base are indicated by discontinuous lines.

sharpest the discontinuity in the MER that precedes the plateau phase
(Fig. 5b).
4.4. Role of the fragmentation threshold
Finally, the effect of the fragmentation criterion, based on a maximum allowed gas void fraction, is illustrated on Figs. 6 and 7. The
higher the fragmentation threshold (i.e. the higher the vesicularity of
the resulting pumices), the slower the pressure drop and the MER.
5. Summary
We have modied the CPIUC model in order to track chamber and
vent conditions along the different stages of the caldera-forming
scenario (central-vent conduit, transition to peripheral ssure-vent
conduit(s), and piston-like subsidence). It is obvious that, in practise,
eruptions can be very complex and dependent on several uncontrollable factors. Furthermore, predictions of rst-order models like CPIUC
must be interpreted on a semi-quantitative basis only. Notwithstanding this, simulations point out that parameters like pressure drop,
MER or fragmentation level can experiment large variations during
the successive phases of a caldera-forming eruption. This is of concern
to more sophisticated sub-aerial models, which should change its
boundary conditions in time accordingly.
The quantitative results do obviously vary from run to run depending
on the input parameters but, nevertheless, a general common trend is
found. Pressure at the conduit entrance drops during the decompression
phases at a rate which depends on conduit geometry, volatile contents
and fragmentation threshold. Highly-zoned chambers, large volume
contrasts between the central-vent conduit and the peripheral ssurevent conduit(s), and low vesicularity of the resulting pumices produce a
faster pressure drop and a sharper discontinuity in the MER. During
the piston-like subsidence stage pressure increases back to lithostatic
and the MER experiments a plateau with a gentle slope of positive or
negative sign depending on the balance between the chamber zonation
and the syn-eruptive deposition of intra-caldera material.
Unfortunately, MER data on explosive caldera-forming episodes,
including a complete record from the central plinian to the ignimbritic

caldera collapse stages, are practically inexistent. This is in part due to

the lack of observational data on caldera eruptions and also to the
variable degree of preservation of caldera-forming deposits in the
geological record. In the few historical cases reported (e.g. Katmai and
Pinatubo, in Stix and Kobayashi, 2008) the calderas studied are
interpreted to have formed in mass at a late stage of the eruption, after
a signicant proportion of magma has already been erupted and large
undepressures have developed in the chamber, which is not exactly
the general case modelled in our study. In these examples there is a
signicant increase of MER from the plinian to the ignimbritic
episodes, but it does not substantially change when the bulk of
subsidence occurs, since most of the ignimbrites had already been
erupted before the major collapse episodes were initiated. However,
the validity of our model is supported by the comparison between the
calculated MER values and those estimated for a diversity of plinian
and ignimbritic eruptions (e.g. Pyle, 2000), which are of the same
order of magnitude.
Acknowledgements
This work has been partially funded by the EXPLORIS project
(EVR1-2001-00047). JM is grateful for the MICINN grant PR20080207. We thank the careful reviews of two anonymous referees.
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Please cite this article as: Folch, A., Mart, J., Time-dependent chamber and vent conditions during explosive caldera-forming eruptions, Earth
Planet. Sci. Lett. (2009), doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2009.01.035