Breadcrust bombs are pyroclasts displaying fractured, dense surfaces enveloping expanded interiors, and are associated with Vulcanian explosions. We document pyroclasts from the 2008–2009 CE eruption of Chaitén (Chile) that are internally as well as externally breadcrusted. The pyroclasts are cut by intersecting micrometer- to millimeter-thick tuffisites with dense glassy walls, which grade into strongly inflated pumiceous material. We find H2O diffusion gradients proximal to the breadcrusted surfaces, such that H2O is depleted from far-field magma (0.68 ± 0.04 wt%) into dense, fractured vein walls (0.2–0.3 wt%), indicating a spatial association between H2O mass transfer within the pyroclast interior and both suppressed vesiculation and breadcrusting. We experimentally confirm that diffusive H2O depletion suppresses bubble growth at shallow conduit conditions. Therefore, we interpret the breadcrust formation to be induced by H2O diffusion and the associated rise in viscosity rather than by cooling in the classical breadcrust-formation models. We posit that a “dehydration quench” is important as degassing continues to very low H2O contents in shallow-conduit magma that continues to vesiculate.
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Research Article|
June 13, 2022
Mid-loaf crisis: Internal breadcrust surfaces in rhyolitic pyroclasts reveal dehydration quenching
Hugh Tuffen;
Hugh Tuffen
1
Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK
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Jamie I. Farquharson;
Jamie I. Farquharson
1
Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK
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Fabian B. Wadsworth;
Fabian B. Wadsworth
2
Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
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Cameron Webb;
Cameron Webb
1
Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK3
Environment Agency, Rotherham S60 1BY, UK
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Jacqueline Owen;
Jacqueline Owen
1
Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK
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Jonathan M. Castro;
Jonathan M. Castro
4
Institute of Geosciences, Johannes Gutenberg Universität, Mainz D-55128, Germany
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Kim Berlo;
Kim Berlo
5
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 0E8, Canada
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C. Ian Schipper;
C. Ian Schipper
6
School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
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Katia Wehbe
Katia Wehbe
7
B22: MIRIAM, Diamond Light Source Ltd, Oxford OX11 0DE, UK
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Geology (2022)
Article history
received:
16 Dec 2021
rev-recd:
25 Apr 2022
accepted:
27 Apr 2022
first online:
13 Jun 2022
Citation
Hugh Tuffen, Jamie I. Farquharson, Fabian B. Wadsworth, Cameron Webb, Jacqueline Owen, Jonathan M. Castro, Kim Berlo, C. Ian Schipper, Katia Wehbe; Mid-loaf crisis: Internal breadcrust surfaces in rhyolitic pyroclasts reveal dehydration quenching. Geology 2022; doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G49959.1
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