Active Volcanoes of China
China is home to more than a dozen volcanoes that have erupted during the Holocene. Recent activity, such as the eruption of Ashikule in 1951 and unrest of Changbaishan during 2002–05, highlights the potential for future volcanic unrest and eruptions in the country. In 1999, a National Volcano Monitoring Network was established, inaugurating a programme of research and surveillance to understand the history and activity of China's volcanoes. Much progress has been made since, advancing understanding in the areas of geology, geochemistry and geophysics, and supporting hazard mitigation planning. This Special Publication reports the wide-ranging outcomes of this work for the first time to the international community.
Volcanic processes and magmatic evolution of Tianchi volcano, Changbaishan
Correspondence: [email protected]
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Published:October 11, 2021
Abstract
The Changbaishan volcanic field located on the Gaima (Gaema, Gaiman) Plateau has witnessed plateau-forming eruptions along with the uplift of the Gaima Plateau. The Tianchi basaltic lava shield volcano was formed at the main peak of Changbaishan, with cone construction eruptions that formed a huge and steep trachytic composite cone on the gentle lava shield. At the peak of the Millennium Eruption (ME), the height of the eruption column reached 25 km and the bulk volume of tephra was about 120 km3. The ME eventually formed Tianchi caldera, after which several eruptions occurred, albeit of a much smaller scale. The magmas involved in the shield-forming eruptions are characterized by both alkalic series trachybasalt and basaltic trachyandesite and subalkalic tholeiite and basaltic andesite. In the cone-construction and ignimbrite-forming eruption stages, the magma is completely composed of alkalic series trachyte and comendite. The largest negative Eu anomalies observed in ME magmas indicate that plagioclase was strongly crystallized and differentiated.
- alkali basalts
- andesites
- Asia
- basalts
- calderas
- chemical composition
- comendite
- cones
- eruptions
- Far East
- igneous rocks
- magmas
- magmatism
- rhyolites
- shield volcanoes
- tholeiite
- trachyandesites
- trachybasalts
- trachytes
- volcanic features
- volcanic fields
- volcanic rocks
- volcanism
- volcanoes
- Gaima Plateau
- Changbaishan Volcano