Volcanic Facies

Volcanic Facies-Defined
Lateral and/or vertical changes in physical
aspects of rock bodies deposited within a
specific interval of geologic time.
Volcanic Facies are usually named according to:
closeness to source (central, proximal, distal)
Depositional environment (subaerial, shallow
subaqueous, sub-glacial, etc.)
Within deposit type (pyroclastic flow facies, hyalotuff
facies, dome facies, etc.)

Subaerial- Stratovolcanoes:
Central Facies
Range- central vent out to about 2km
Recognized by:
Lava domes and thick, banded lavas
Abundant dykes and sills
circular to elongate stocks
breccia pipes
coarsely stratified, poorly sorted air fall deposits (blocks and/or bombs
present)
hydrothermally altered rocks
Interlayering of coarse grained tephra and lava flows
Lag-fall breccias of pyroclastic flows
No single feature- combination needed

Proximal Facies (2-15km)

Rocks around a volcanic center deposited
from pyfs, lava flows, debris
flows/avalanches, fallout processes and
their erosional products.
As distance from source increases within
this facies, there is an increase in amount
of resedimented epiclastic and pyroclastic
debris

Proximal Facies
Lahars- angular-sub angular blocks, poorly sorted,
massive, reverse grading at base
Tephra layers with good bedding and sorting, grain size
coarse ash to lapilli
Pyroclastic flow units (main body) underlain by surge
deposits (lense-like) and overlain by fine-bedded ash
deposits
Broad, thick (15m) lava flows
Block and ash flows from dome collapse-monolithic,
massive, poorly sorted.
Clastic debris reworked by water
Debris avalanche deposits-mounds (block facies) and
more normal laharic material.

Distal facies (>7-15km)

Base of volcano and beyond
Rocks here characterized by a much
greater lateral continuity than those of the
proximal and central facies.

Distal Facies
Finely bedded tephra composed dominantly of finecoarse ash, outward increasing ratio of glass to crystals
Lahars with blocks that rarely exceed 1 meter in
diameter and have rounded or subrounded particles in
the matrix. Lahars may be interlayered with shallow
water sediments.
Pyroclastic flows will be thinner than in proximal areas,
no surge deposits, ash fall common above flows. May
find distinct layering caused by concentration of pumice
at tops of flow units.
Interlayered shallow water sediments
Rare lava flows-restricted to isolated vents
Debris avalance mounds

Tuff Rings and Cones

Central-Small Lava dome or flows-shallow
water-subaerial
D/F deposits, reworked volcanic material
(from ring-cone walls)
Outer-massive-thin bedded deposits,
closer to vent-cross-beds, dunes
Pepperites and dikes-sills

Characteristics of Deposits
Thin beds in tuff cones and rings
Thickness: few mm to several cm, most <
1cm
Form by a large number of short eruptive
pulses- Surtsey > 60 per minute
Characterized by fine ash with the sporadic
occurrence of lapilli and blocks

Massive Beds
Composed of coarse to fine ash with
variable lithic and pumice content.
Beds range from about 1 to 50-60 m thick
and as such may be difficult to id.
Thick beds may be seperated by thin,
fissile, laminae of fine ash which is a few
mm to 1-2cm thick.
Cross-bedding and soft sediment
deformational features are rare

Shield Volcano
Central Facies (fissure-2km):
Dykes, sills, small intrusions-mafic
Thick flows (lava lakes)
Cinder cones and agglomerates
Hydrothermal alteration
Thick sequence of aa and/or pahoehoe flows

Proximal (2-15km)

Thinner AA and Pahohoe flows

Bedded coarse and fine ash
Landslide breccias
Shore-shallow water

Hyalotuffs
Pillow lavas
Self peperites and minor peperite
Hyaloclastites
Debris flows
Sediments (limestone, iron formation, volcanic seds)

Distal (>15km)

Pillow lavas and hyaloclastite

Self-peperite
Debris flows
Wackes-mudstones
Water lain ash fall deposits

Caldera Facies
Three types:
Intra-caldera: within caldera, near source
Caldera margin: adjacent to ring fractures and
walls
Outflow- outside the caldera, away from
source

Intra-caldera
Plinian air fall (popcorn pumice) overlain
by pyroclastic flows that may be 100s of
meters thick.
Welded pyroclastic flows
Meso- and mega breccias
With resurgence may get cap of lava
flows, cinder or pumice cones, sediments,
debris flow material

Caldera margin
Domes, dome breccias, block and ash
flows
Dykes and sills
Sediments (moat)

Outflow
Pyroclastic flows (thin) which may extend
for tens of kms outside caldera
Coarse to fine ash fall deposits

Subaqueous-Felsic to Intermediate
Poorly understood, poorly known
Mostly from volcanic reconstructions in
older volcanic terrains
Relatively shallow water (explosive
eruptions)
Central, Proximal, Distal

Shallow Water-Central (0-2km)

Dome-hyaloclastite complexes, Syndepositional peperites
Pyroclastic flow deposits- massive-thickly
bedded, base possibly lithic rich, well
vesiculated pumice, heat retention
features?
Hydrothermal alteration and exhalites
Hyalotuffs-thick-thin beds, bombs-blocksash
Intrusive peperites, fluidal shapes
Dykes and sills, multiple intrusions and

Proximal (2-5km)
Well bedded pyroclastic flows (massive basal,
bedded ash top, repetitive), pumice and ash
rich,
Block and ash flows from domes
Syndepositional peperites
Debris flows separated by turbidites
Finely bedded hyalotuffs, dominantly fine ash
Sediments-wackes-siltstones, intrusive peperites
Ash-fall, doubly graded?
Dikes and sills, intrusive peperites
Hydrothermal alteration

Distal
Finely bedded and graded pyroclastic
flows (ash turbidites)
Debris flows
Volcanic siltstones, wackes, mudstones

Mafic-Subaqueous
Sheet flows-massive lavas giving way to pillow
lavas
Dykes and sills-multiple intrusions, dike
swarms
Hydrothermal alteration
Syn-deposional peperites?
Hyalotuffs

Proximal
Pillow lavas and hyaloclastite
Lots of syn-depositional peperite and
peperite
Minor massive lavas
Reworked hyaloclastite
Mafic sediments
Debris flows,
synsedimentary deformation-convolute
bedding

Distal
Debris flows and associated sediments
Lots of sedimentary material
Minor pillows and hyaloclastite

Subaqueous Calderas
Intra
Bedded pyroclastic flow deposits: >100m thick,
numerous flow units.
Massive basal, bedded tops
Or massive pyfs with thick ash tops
Pumice-rich-possibly variable vesicularity-40->70%
Locally have heat-retention features- spherulites
Hydrothermal alteration widespread
Meso-Mega Breccias
Debris flows
Capped by volcanic sedimentary rocks, debris flows

Outflow

Thin pyroclastic flow deposits

Thin basal and ash beds
Pyro-turbidites (Bouma A and E beds)
Debris flows
Greywackes
Little alteration (metamorphism,
diagenetic)

Shallow Vs Deep Water

Deep water-Deposit Types

Pillows lavas and self peperites

Massive lavas (sheet flows, ponded)
Hyaloclastites
Dome-hyaloclastite complexes, lobe lavas
Blocky Domes
Distal facies of pyroclastic flows (pyroturbidites)
Debris Flows (turbidites)
Pelagic sediments Mud, silt, Clay), chemical
sediments

Shallow Water-Deposit types

Pillow lavas and self peperites

Massive lavas (sheet flows, ponded)
Hyaloclastites
Scoria and ash beds (Hyalotuffs)
Dome-hyaloclastite complexes, lobe lavas, blocky lavas
Pumice-rich hyalotuffs
Pyroclastic flow and fall deposits
Debris flows
Clastic and chemical sediments
Pillow-hyaloclastite deltas

Deep Water-Characterisitics
Marked predominance of flows, both mafic and
felsic, over pyroclastic material
Poorly vesiculated flows and hyaloclastite,
absence of abundant scoriaceous flow tops
Absence of Hyalotuffs
Little evidence of sedimentary re-working, few
clastic sediments
Minor debris flow deposits (only turbidites)
Pyroturbidites

Shallow Water-Characteristics
Predominance of pyroclastic deposits. These include
products of both magmatic and phreatomagmatic
explosions. Deposits include pyroclastic flows (with well
vesiculated pumice), hyalotuffs (with bombs), waterlain
tuffs
Scoria-pumice-rich beds (hyalotuffs)
Vesicular and scoriaceous pillow and massive lavas,
associated hyaloclastite-large vesicles, gas cavities,
multiple rinds, vesicles around entire pillow
Debris flows
Reworked pyroclastic material