From volcanoes to sedimentary systems Free

Volcanism has played a fundamental role in the evolution of sedimentary systems since the beginning of Earth's history (e.g. Trofimovs et al. 2004; Hinchey 2021). During volcanic eruptions, large volumes of particles may be directly generated via explosive processes or other mechanisms, while the construction of volcanic landforms more generally provides large quantities of material that ultimately supply adjacent sedimentary systems. Material may be ejected directly into the atmosphere or distributed via surficial processes to enter surrounding environments, forming beds rich in volcanic sediment or being routed into source-to-sink sedimentary systems before reaching their final point of accumulation (e.g. Smith 1991; Di Capua and Groppelli 2018). Following emplacement, the presence of water and local climatic conditions may result in further weathering, alteration and erosion, potentially leading to multiple cycles of detritus production and transfer, to depocentres that may be up to thousands of kilometres away from the original eruptive source (e.g. Morrone et al. 2020; Franchi et al. 2021). As a consequence, the interpretation of volcanic sediment is often challenging, and the complexity behind the accumulation of even a single bed of volcanic particles requires a multidisciplinary approach for its investigation, bringing together sedimentological and volcanological approaches for a common goal.

In view of this consideration, the present Special Publication brings together 24 chapters that span original research articles and extensive reviews written by volcanologists and sedimentologists who investigate various facets of the responses of environments to volcanism, across a range of temporal and spatial scales. Together, this body of work provides a vision of current topics that represents a crossroads between volcanology and sedimentology.

Manville et al. (2009) summarized increasing interest in volcanically controlled sedimentary processes and sedimentation from the 1960s until the last decade. A key moment of these developments is represented by the publication of SEPM Special Publication 45 Sedimentation in Volcanic Settings by Fisher and Smith in 1991, which provided a step-change in demonstrating the intimate interconnection between volcanism and sedimentation in many geodynamic contexts.

From this contribution, the role of volcanism as one of the main factors controlling the evolution of sedimentary basins became increasingly considered in the literature (e.g. Smith 1988; Riggs et al. 1997; Zanchetta et al. 2004; Sohn et al. 2005; Manville et al. 2009; Khalaf 2012; D'Elia et al. 2018; Di Capua and Groppelli 2018; Di Capua et al. 2021). This recognition derived from several factors including: (1) the application of volcanological concepts forged on active volcanoes to the study of ancient sedimentary basins and records (e.g. Kereszturi et al. 2011; D'Elia et al. 2018; Szepesi et al. 2019; Lukács et al. 2022); (2) the possibility of constructing long-term observations of environmental modifications after major eruptive events (e.g. Major 2004; Major et al. 2018); (3) the development and availability of high-resolution satellite images through which large and remote areas impacted by volcanoes can be studied through time (e.g. Plank et al. 2019; Velade et al. 2019); and (4) important discoveries in oil and gas fields (e.g. Pre-Salt basin – Brazilian South Atlantic Ocean) that increasingly recognized the importance of volcano-related or influenced sedimentary rocks (e.g. Fornero et al. 2019).

Beyond the classical climatically and tectonically controlled processes of rock degradation and the subsequent transportation of clastic particles by water, air and/or gravity, primary volcanic processes play a fundamental role in the generation and/or transportation of particles in volcanically influenced sedimentary basins (e.g. Manville et al. 2009; Di Capua and Groppelli 2016, 2018; D'Elia et al. 2018). Considering the combination of volcanically and non-volcanically controlled processes, and revisiting volcanological and sedimentological classifications of volcanically derived deposits available in the literature, Di Capua et al. (2022)  provide a terminological scheme that aims to provide a simple classification of volcanically derived sedimentary deposits, based on three endmembers. (1) Primary volcaniclastic deposits – particles are generated and moved by volcanic processes (following the prior White and Houghton (2006) definition). (2) Secondary volcaniclastic deposits – particles are generated through volcanic processes but are accumulated by sedimentary agents during or following an eruptive event. (3) Volcanic epiclastic deposits – particles derive from the degradation/erosion of volcanic terranes and their transportation through sedimentary agents. To make this terminological scheme as useful as possible for both modern and ancient settings, the authors recommend the term volcanogenic for those deposits whose particles were generated by an eruptive event but where the primary or secondary origin is obscure (e.g. Di Capua et al. 2021).

The accumulation of different types of volcaniclastic deposits and their lithostratigraphic characteristics are controlled by many factors, including magma composition, eruption frequency and the distance between the volcanic source and the depositional system. In this sense, the work of Major (2022)  is a milestone because it extensively reviews the nature of volcanic processes controlling the generation, motion and accumulation of the wide spectrum of volcaniclastic deposits typical of subaerial realms. Within the text, volcaniclastic processes and their deposits are described in detail, explosive v. effusive processes are compared in terms of particle generation and transportation mechanisms, and the preservation potential of deposits is discussed in light of both volcanic and environmental factors. On eruptive mechanisms, Knuever et al. (2022)  also discuss how short time-scale interactions between magma and wall-rock surrounding the eruptive system is a fundamental factor governing eruptive dynamics in explosive eruptions, with particular attention to carbonate rocks as sources of CO₂ in eruptive systems. Other authors focus their work on specific case studies or eruptive mechanisms operating in different environments. Smellie (2022) , for example, reviews the impact of glaciovolcanic processes on their surrounding environments and the associated stratigraphic records. Such processes are influential in terms of both volcanic behaviour and subsequent sedimentation not only in the polar regions, but on large snow- or ice-covered composite volcanoes globally. In particular, the work describes lithological, stratigraphic, compositional and morphological characteristics of glaciovolcanic products across cold areas, providing fundamental tools for their recognition and interpretation in the geological record worldwide. Guilbaud et al. (2022)  document the large volumes of volcaniclastic deposits accumulated in a semi-arid endorheic basin in Mexico during the last 2 kyr, reflecting varied processes associated with nearby rhyolitic domes, unconsolidated pyroclastic deposits and dome-collapse driven mass-wasting processes. McLeod and Pittari (2021)  investigate a large-volume (3.3 km³) volcanic debris avalanche from the Pironga Volcano (New Zealand) through a combination of geological survey and drill core data to inform a lithofacies characterization of the event. They show how fault motion is a potentially important factor in the generation of volumetrically large volcaniclastic deposits from volcanic edifices. Tenuta et al. (2021)  document large volumes of volcaniclastic particles derived from the focused erosion of a volcanic centre, taking place thousands of years after volcanic activity. In this work, the authors investigate the persistence of volcaniclastic signatures in a modern fluvial system in southern Italy, principally draining the Vulture volcano (740–610 ka; Villa and Buettnet 2009), whose detritus still represents the main sediment load transported by the Ofanto River, accumulating along the beaches of the Puglia Region. Two complementary papers, Morrone et al. (2021)  and Cabral Pinto et al. (2021) , deal with the generation of volcanic epiclastic detritus through the disaggregation of volcanic rocks on active volcanic islands under different climatic conditions. In particular, the former revises the petrographic characteristics of beach sands surrounding the Aeolian Islands (southern Italy) in the Central Mediterranean Sea, whereas the latter documents geomorphological factors controlling the weathering of Fogo volcano in Cape Verde, through mineralogical and geochemical analyses of its regoliths.

Understanding how volcanic processes interact with climatic and tectonic processes favouring the accumulation of volcaniclastic rocks also becomes important in understanding their post-depositional history, and is relevant to the fields of geo-energy and gas storage. Bischoff et al. (2021)  focus on this topic, exploring the relationships between stages of growth and erosion in a buried stratocone, the surface weathering and post-depositional cementation of lithologies and how these connect to their final reservoir properties.

Volcanic processes are a fundamental factor controlling the development of volcaniclastic sequences in adjacent sedimentary basins. As mentioned above, the strong control exerted by geodynamics on the factors generating volcanism (e.g. controls on magma composition and eruptive behaviour) is consequently reflected in the petrological composition of volcaniclastic sands through source-to-sink systems. Critelli et al. (2022)  present a useful guide to interpreting the geodynamic conditions influencing sedimentary input of basins, starting from the mineralogical and petrographic compositions of volcaniclastic sand(stones). In a similar way, Stoppa et al. (2021)  describe primary microscale characteristics of sediments derived from compositionally unusual magmas enriched in CaCO₃ (carbonatite magmas), whose recognition and interpretation are often difficult because of their strong chemical similarity to common carbonate rocks that populate both marine and terrestrial realms in extensional geodynamic settings. In doing this, the authors also discuss the possibility of unifying specific terminological schemes for both sedimentary and magmatic CaCO₃-enriched lithologies.

Non-marine environments are the only ones where scientists can make direct observations on processes from sources to depocentres (Fig. 1). They are extremely complex environments, as volcano-sedimentary sequences can rapidly undergo weathering and/or erosion. As a result, their sedimentary sequences and architectures are the results of a balance among primary, secondary and epiclastic processes. Progradation, aggradation and retrogradation are consequently functions of both volcanic processes and the capability of environments to host and/or redistribute particle volumes through time (e.g. Smith 1991; Di Capua and Scasso 2020). Such volcano-sedimentary dynamics are well explored by the works of Passey et al. (2022)  and Pioli et al. (2022) , who present two complementary studies on the stratigraphic evolution of the African rift basin in Ethiopia. Passey et al.’s (2022)  contribution is dedicated to the volcano-sedimentary sequences comprising the Oligo-Miocene Ethiopian Flood Basalt Province within the Blue Nile (Abay) Basin in Ethiopia. They combine classical fieldwork analyses with remote mapping and 3D modelling techniques to constrain thickness variations within the volcanic and subvolcanic stratigraphy, and discuss the spatial relationships between this stratigraphy and both volcanic centres and tectonic lineaments. Pioli et al. (2022)  focus their work on the volcano-sedimentary sequences accumulated from the Late Miocene to the Middle Pleistocene on the western margin of the Main Ethiopian rift in a fluvio-lacustrine system, documenting how sedimentary architectures evolved under the strong influence of effusive and explosive volcanic eruptions.

In subduction contexts, where volcanism tends to be more explosive, volcano-sedimentary records are important sources for reconstructing the magnitude–frequency behaviour of volcanoes. This is well exemplified by Kataoka (2022) , who reviews advances in the study of fluvio-lacustrine volcano-sedimentary sequences in Japanese islands over the last 30 years. The review documents how the sedimentological approach in this kind of work was fundamental to reconstructing depositional processes, volcanic impacts on sedimentary environments, and geomorphic responses of those environments to these processes. Ulloa et al. (2021)  explore vegetation responses to eruptive events in a comparable volcano-tectonic setting, which represents one of the main factors controlling the stabilization of river basins that, in turn, reduces sediment flux through those systems. The authors report detailed results on the revegetation processes occurring within the Raya River basin (Chile) following the Chaitén eruption in 2008, which generated large volumes of volcaniclastic particles that were transported through surrounding drainage networks. They investigate the role of pre-existing plants in the diversification of species growth within the river basin, from the floodplain to the river islands, and discuss the stabilization capability of the new vegetation within the fluvial space.

Other authors focus their works on lakes, depocentres that often develop as offshoots of fluvial systems and which, despite their short geological lifetime, can trap and preserve thick stratigraphic sequences that are fundamental in identifying factors controlling the surrounding sedimentary environments (e.g. Ariztegui et al. 1996; Ravazzi et al. 2005; Kataoka and Nagahashi 2019). Martin-Merino et al. (2022)  describe sequences accumulated within an intramontane, continuously deepening lacustrine basin in the Andean Cordillera, assessing the different impacts that primary, secondary and volcanic epiclastic processes have on the accumulation of volcano-sedimentary sequences in lacustrine environments. Capra et al. (2021)  explore the volcano-sedimentary stratigraphy of one of the temporary dammed lakes formed as consequence of nine flank collapses of Volcan de Colima in Mexico. They recovered a condensed lacustrine sequence that was analysed in terms of grain-size variations, better constraining the nature of sub-Plinian and Plinian eruption deposits preserved in the sequence, as well as using sulfur content variations to retrieve the first evidence of the 8.2 kyr global climate event along the Eastern Tropical Pacific Coast.

The impact of volcanism on lacustrine sedimentation may also extend beyond the physical accumulation of volcanic particles. As demonstrated by Gihm (2021)  in a Cretaceous lacustrine system in southwestern Korea, a large accumulation of pyroclastic particles by pyroclastic density currents can induce rapid SiO₂ oversaturation within the system, favouring the accumulation of abiotic silica beds intercalated with the main pyroclastic deposits.

Marine realms (Fig. 2) show the highest rate of volcaniclastic sediment preservation potential, owing to the fact that, once accumulated, clastic deposits will not often undergo further remobilization and/or erosional processes (e.g. Engwell et al. 2014). The routing of volcanic particles into marine environments begins on the coasts where, for example, pyroclastic density currents first mix with water and may be transformed into turbidites (e.g. Trofimovs et al. 2008). Sohn et al. (2021)  describe the primary and secondary volcaniclastic processes that led to the accumulation of a tuff ring in such an environment, with particular attention to investigating hydrovolcanic mechanisms resulting from the interaction of volcanic, tide- and storm-dominated processes. When particles move beyond coastal settings, they may accumulate in deeper water through turbidite systems, and in many geodynamic settings, volcaniclastic sedimentation in these environments represents the only variation within background rhythmic hemipelagic sediment accumulation, particularly in volcanic-island settings (e.g. Le Friant et al. 2009; Sisavath et al. 2012). Chang et al. (2021)  provide an outstanding example of such an environment, describing lithofacies characteristics of modern deposits accumulating around the Central Azores. In their work, the authors describe three compositionally distinct lithofacies, deriving respectively from hemipelagic sedimentation and volcaniclastic processes (both primary and secondary) that either incorporated carbonate sediments during their motion and subaqueous deposition or are carbonate free. The carbonate component of these sediments is derived from erosion of island shelves, and is one of the ways through which carbonate factories and volcanic processes can interact in volcano-sedimentary sequences. The review by Lokier (2021)  represents a fundamental contribution to understanding such interactions. Beyond the passive erosion of material driven by pyroclastic density currents, the author extensively documents carbonate sedimentation feedbacks with reference to both effusive and explosive eruption processes, documenting factors that, for example, favour the preservation of life in reef systems covered by volcaniclastic deposits. Far away from coasts and islands, volcaniclastic sedimentation still takes place through tephra fall deposits. Such deep marine tephra layers often have obscure origins that require multidisciplinary approaches to be unravelled. The review by Freundt et al. (2021)  describes a spectrum of marine tephra layers and their lithological characteristics, discussing how to decipher the origin of such deposits in marine sediment cores.

Another fundamental aspect connecting volcanism to adjacent environments, with the potential to operate across very large spatial scales, is the effect of large eruptions on climate and, in turn, on sedimentary processes. The liberation of magmatic volatile species into the atmosphere can induce a variety of impacts, including substantial climatic changes (e.g. Anchukaitis et al. 2010; Robock 2013 and references therein). Cruz et al. (2021)  investigate the climatic and sedimentological feedbacks operating during the effusion of large volumes of basaltic lavas during the Cretaceous of Paranà basin. Lithostratigraphic analyses provided by the authors support an interpretation that a massive injection of SO₂ into the atmosphere drove the modification of local climatic conditions, resulting in intensification of rainfall events and the consequent modification of sedimentary processes, reflected in contemporaneous clastic sequences.

Volcanism and the products of volcanic activity provide one of the most intriguing and fundamental contributions to the evolution of Earth's environments, which have long roused the interest of the scientific community. When Fisher and Smith published their Special Volume Sedimentation in Volcanic Settings in 1991, they highlighted the importance of multi-disciplinarity in the investigation of volcano-sedimentary processes, the controls on volcanic-particle distribution within different environments, and how environments react to eruptive events. The present Special Publication provides a collection of works that updates our understanding of how volcanic processes impact sedimentary systems. Insights are gained from new technical approaches (e.g. geological modelling), the application of analytical techniques typical of sedimentary reconstructions (e.g. stable isotopes) and by adding environmental considerations that demonstrate the breadth and complexity of interpretations needed to provide a full understanding of volcano-sedimentary processes (e.g. the role of vegetation or of the carbonate factory). In doing so, this volume has the double significance of exploring modern environments to define key aspects in the identification of volcanic impacts on sedimentary systems and records, as well as deciphering ancient volcano-sedimentary records to describe the relationship of a volcanic centre and its associated related environments on timescales that span and reach beyond the lifetime of the volcano itself.

The Guest Editors would like to acknowledge the Geological Society of London for the invitation to contribute this publication. The GSL Society Books Editor Phil Leat is acknowledged for the revision of some articles within this collection. The British Ocean Sediment Core Research Facility is acknowledged for providing the photo of core JR123_20_V_D4 used as Figure 2d. Finally, the Guest Editors are grateful to all of the colleagues who have contributed to this work and would like to thank them for their contributions and their patience in the review and revision process throughout this pandemic period. Furthermore, we would also like to acknowledge the many constructive comments of all the reviewers who have contributed to this volume.

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

ADC: conceptualization (lead), writing – original draft (lead), writing – review & editing (equal); RDR: writing – review & editing (equal); GK: writing – review & editing (equal); ELP: writing – review & editing (lead); MR: writing – review & editing (equal); SFLW: writing – review & editing (equal).

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.