Paul Cole

University of Plymouth

Author Statistics

Papers

Citation

H-Index

i-10 index

Research Trends

Author Order

Document Type

Co-Authors

Jenni Barclay

University of East Anglia

R. S. J. Sparks

University of Bristol

Richard Robertson

Caribbean Health Research Council

A. Stinton

University of the West Indies

Angus Duncan

Google (United States)

J. E. Guest

University College London

Eliza S. Calder

University of Edinburgh

T. H. Druitt

Expedition (United Kingdom)

B.V. Davies

University of Manchester

Richard A. Herd

University of East Anglia

Cooperative Institutions

Montserrat Volcano Observatory

University of Bristol

University of the West Indies

University of Cambridge

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia

University of the West Indies System

British Geological Survey

University College London

Université Paris Cité

Author Statistics

Papers

Citation

H-Index

i-10 index

Research Field

Model Space Exploration for Determining Landslide Source History from Long-Period Seismic Data

Pure and Applied Geophysics (2014)

Juan Zhao L. Moretti A. Mangeney É. Stutzmann Hiroo Kanamori

10.1007/s00024-014-0852-5

Cite

Citations (35)

Sedimentology of deposits from the pyroclastic density current of 26 December 1997 at Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat

Geological Society London Memoirs (2002)

L. J. Ritchie Paul Cole R. S. J. Sparks

abstract At 03:01 (local time) on 26 December 1997, major sector collapse followed by collapse of the andesitic lava dome occurred at Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat. The collapse of the dome involved explosive disintegration and formation of a highly energetic pyroclastic density current (PDC), which was dispersed principally to the SW and devastated an area of 10 km 2 . The deposits of the PDC are divisible into valley-confined and unconfined facies. The latter is characterized by two bipartite units (Units I and II), both of which are composed of a fines-poor layer (layer 1) typically overlain by a finer-grained, fines-rich layer (layer 2). The sequence is interpreted as recording strongly pulsatory (unsteady) flow and is capped by Unit III, an accretionary lapilli-rich fallout layer. There are pronounced variations of lithofacies, thickness, grain size and sedimentary structures related to local topography. The PDC was highly erosive: it sculpted isolated mounds of deposit and heavily scoured the pre-existing substrate. Lithofacies are granulometrically distinct, with median diameter (Mdø) increasing as sorting coefficient (Ãø) decreases. Lithofacies characteristics depend strongly on azimuth over a 70° sector, with major lateral (cross-flow) changes at similar radial distances from the dome. The deposits are similar to those produced in the blast eruptions of Mont Pelée in 1902 and Mount St Helens in 1980. We infer that particle size sorting occurred during explosive expansion of the collapsing lava dome, such that the resulting PDC was initially stratified in both grain size and density. The marked lateral and vertical variations in grain size of the deposits indicate efficient further development of density stratification and grain-size sorting during transport, due to air entrainment and sedimentation.

10.1144/gsl.mem.2002.021.01.19

Cite

Citations (33)

Small-volume, highly mobile pyroclastic flows formed by rapid sedimentation from pyroclastic surges at Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat: an important volcanic hazard

Geological Society London Memoirs (2002)

T. H. Druitt Eliza S. Calder Paul Cole Richard P. Hoblitt Susan Loughlin

Abstract Gravitational collapses of the lava dome at Soufrière Hills Volcano on 25 June and 26 December 1997 generated pyroclastic surges that spread out over broad sectors of the landscape and laid down thin, bipartite deposits. In each case, part of the settling material continued to move upon reaching the ground and drained into valleys as high-concentration granular flows of hot (120-410°C) ash and lapilli. These surge-derived pyroclastic flows travelled at no more than 10 m s -1 but extended significantly beyond the limits of the parent surge clouds (by 3 km on 25 June and by 1 km on 26 December). The front of the 25 June flow terminated in a valley about 50 m below a small town that was occupied at the time. Despite their small deposit volumes (5-9 x 10 4 m 3 ), the surge-derived pyroclastic flows travelled as far as many of the Soufrière Hills block-and-ash flows on slopes as low as a few degrees, reflecting a high degree of mobility. An analysis of the deposits from 26 December suggests that sediment accumulation rates of at least several millimetres per second were sufficient to generate pyroclastic flows by suspended-load fallout from pyroclastic surges on Montserrat. Surge-derived pyroclastic flows are an important, and hitherto underestimated, hazard around active lava domes. At Montserrat they formed by sedimentation over large catchment areas and drained into valleys different from those affected by the primary block-and-ash flows and pyroclastic surges, thereby impacting areas not anticipated to be vulnerable in prior hazards analyses. The deposits are finer-grained than those of other types of pyroclastic flow at Soufrière Hills Volcano; this may aid their recognition in ancient volcanic successions but, along with valley-bottom confinement, reduces the preservation potential.

Sedimentation

Pyroclastic fall

10.1144/gsl.mem.2002.021.01.12

Cite

Citations (100)

Tables S1–S7: Petrology of the explosive deposits from the April 2021 eruption of La Soufrière volcano, St Vincent: a time-series analysis of microlites

Figshare (2023)

H. Frey M. R. Manon Jenni Barclay B.V. Davies S. Alan Walters

Tables of sample locations, all electron microprobe analyses, and CSD measurements.

10.6084/m9.figshare.23179831

Cite

Citations (0)

Petrology of the explosive deposits from the April 2021 eruption of La Soufrière volcano, St Vincent: a time-series analysis of microlites

Geological Society London Special Publications (2023)

H. Frey Matthew R.F. Manon Jenni Barclay B.V. Davies Sydney A. Walters

Abstract After more than three months of lava dome extrusion, La Soufrière (St Vincent) transitioned to a series of explosive eruptions in April 2021. Here we present a time-series petrologic analysis of the phenocryst and microlite populations during the first c. 48 h of explosivity to constrain ascent conditions and processes that drove changes in behaviour. Primary eruptive products were crystal-rich (45–50 vol%) basaltic andesites with similar phenocryst phase assemblages and compositions. The change in eruptive style is consistent with overpressurization as a consequence of second boiling from anhydrous microlite crystallization. The microlites display variation between the explosive phases, with two populations: (1) ‘inherited’ − normally zoned high-An plagioclase (>An 70 ) + olivine (Fo 62–79 ) + clinopyroxene + titanomagnetite, inferred to have crystallized at depths >15 km and high water pressures; (2) ‘juvenile’ − unzoned plagioclase (An 45–65 ) + clinopyroxene + orthopyroxene + intermediate pyroxene (Wo 12–38 ) + titanomagnetite, inferred to have crystallized upon ascent due to decompression and degassing. Scoria from the first explosions featured extensive groundmass crystallization and a significant ‘inherited’ microlite population. Later explosions had a more abundant ‘juvenile’ microlite population and lower crystallinity, consistent with more rapid ascent from depth, initiated by decompression following initial blasts and destruction of the lava dome.

Phenocryst

Pyroxene

Porphyritic

10.1144/sp539-2022-291

Cite

Citations (2)

Chapter 1 An overview of the eruption of Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat from 2000 to 2010

Geological Society London Memoirs (2014)

G. Wadge B. Voight R. S. J. Sparks Paul Cole Susan Loughlin

Abstract The 1995–present eruption of Soufrière Hills Volcano on Montserrat has produced over a cubic kilometre of andesitic magma, creating a series of lava domes that were successively destroyed, with much of their mass deposited in the sea. There have been five phases of lava extrusion to form these lava domes: November 1995–March 1998; November 1999–July 2003; August 2005–April 2007; July 2008–January 2009; and October 2009–February 2010. It has been one of the most intensively studied volcanoes in the world during this time, and there are long instrumental and observational datasets. From these have sprung major new insights concerning: the cyclicity of magma transport; low-frequency earthquakes associated with conduit magma flow; the dynamics of lateral blasts and Vulcanian explosions; the role that basalt–andesite magma mingling in the mid-crust has in powering the eruption; identification using seismic tomography of the uppermost magma reservoir at a depth of 5.5 > 7.5 km; and many others. Parallel to the research effort, there has been a consistent programme of quantitative risk assessment since 1997 that has both pioneered new methods and provided a solid evidential source for the civil authority to use in mitigating the risks to the people of Montserrat.

10.1144/m39.1

Cite

Citations (159)

Developing an Event Tree for probabilistic hazard and risk assessment at Vesuvius

Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (2008)

Augusto Neri Willy Aspinall Raffaello Cioni A. Bertagnini Peter J. Baxter

Event tree

Volcanic hazards

Hazard map

Tree (set theory)

10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2008.05.014

Cite

Citations (243)

Elevated Seismic Activity Beneath the Slumbering Morne aux Diables Volcano, Northern Dominica and the Monitoring Role of the Seismic Research Centre

AGUFM (2012)

Rob Watts Richard Robertson W. Abraham Paul Cole T. de Roche

Source

Cite

Citations (1)

An inclined Vulcanian explosion and associated products

Journal of the Geological Society (2015)

Paul Cole A. Stinton Henry Odbert Costanza Bonadonna R. C. Stewart

Vulcanian explosions generate some of the most hazardous types of volcanic phenomena, including pyroclastic density currents. Non-vertical directionality of an explosion promotes asymmetrical distribution of proximal hazards around the volcano. Although critical, such behaviour is relatively uncommon and has been seldom documented. Here we present, for the first time, evidence both from geophysical monitoring and field survey data that records the occurrence of such an event. Thermal imagery captures a Vulcanian explosion at Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat, which occurred during a large partial lava dome collapse in February 2010, and was inclined at about 25° from the vertical in a northerly direction. Pyroclastic products were preferentially distributed to the north and included: an unusual pumice boulder deposit that we propose was formed by a dilute pyroclastic density current; pumice flow deposits; and a proximal lapilli and block fallout lobe. The inclined nature of the explosion is attributed to the asymmetric geometry around the vent. The explosion-derived pyroclastic density currents had notably lower velocities than those associated with lateral blasts, which, we suggest, result from a separate and distinct mechanism. These inclined explosions present an additional mechanism that is able to generate directed pyroclastic density currents, with consequent implications for hazard assessment.

10.1144/jgs2014-099

Cite

Citations (12)

Magma production and growth of the lava dome of the Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat, West Indies: November 1995 to December 1997

Geophysical Research Letters (1998)

R. S. J. Sparks S. R. Young Jenni Barclay Eliza S. Calder Paul Cole

From November 1995 to December 1997 a total volume of 246 × 10 6 (DRE) m³ of andesite magma erupted, partitioned into 93 × 10 6 m³ of the dome, 125 × 10 6 m³ of pyroclastic flow deposits and 28 × 10 6 m³ of explosive ejecta. In the first 11 weeks magma discharge rate was low (0.5 m³/s). From February 1996 to May 1997 discharge rates have averaged 2.1 m³/s, but have fluctuated significantly and have increased with time. Three pulses lasting a few months can be recognised with discharge rates reaching 3 to 8 m³/s. Short term pulsations in growth lasting a few days reach discharge rates of over 10 m³/s and there are periods of days to a few weeks when dome growth is < 0.5 m³/s. Discharge rate increased from May 1997 with an average rate of 7.5 m³/s to December 1997. The observations indicate an open magmatic system.

Dome (geology)

Lava dome

Magma chamber

10.1029/98gl00639

Cite

Citations (154)