Pyroclastic deposits of Ubehebe Crater, Death Valley, California, USA: Ballistics, pyroclastic surges, and dry granular flows

We describe and interpret deposits associated with the final Ubehebe Crater-forming, phrea-tomagmatic explosive phase of the multivent, monogenetic Ubehebe volcanic center. Ubehebe volcano is located in Death Valley, California, USA. Pyroclastic deposits occur in four main facies: (1) lapilli-and block-dominated beds, (2) thinly bed-ded lapilli tuff, (3) laminated and cross-laminated ash, and (4) massive lapilli ash/tuff. Lapilli-and block-dominated beds are found mostly within several hundred meters of the crater and transi-tion outward into discontinuous lenses of lapilli and blocks; they are interpreted to have been deposited by ballistic processes associated with crater-forming explosions. Thinly bedded lapilli tuff is found mainly within several hundred meters, and laminated and cross-laminated ash extends at least 9 km from the crater center. Dune forms are common within-2 km of the crater center, while finer-grained, distal deposits tend to exhibit planar lamination. These two facies (thinly bedded lapilli tuff and laminated and cross-laminated ash) are interpreted to record multiple pyroclastic surges (dilute pyroclastic currents). Repeated couplets of coarse layers overlain by finer-grained, laminated horizons suggest that many or most of the surges were transient, likely recording individual explo-sions, and they traveled over complex topography in some areas. These two factors complicate the application of classical sediment-transport theory to quantify surge properties. However, dune-form data provide possible constraints on the multivent, meters, relationships between suspended load sedimen-tation and bed-load transport that are consistent using two independent approaches. Massive lapilli ash/tuff beds occur in drainages below steep slopes and can extend up to-1 km onto adjacent valley floors beneath large catchments. Although they are massive in texture, their grain-size characteristics are shared with laminated and cross-laminated ash facies, with which they are locally interbedded. These are interpreted to record concentrated granular flows sourced by remobi-lized pyroclastic surge deposits, either during surge transport or shortly after, while the surge deposits retained their elevated initial pore-gas pressures. Although similar surge-derived con-centrated flows have been described elsewhere (e.g., Mount St. Helens, Washington, USA, and Soufriere Hills, Montserrat, West Indies), to our knowledge Ubehebe is the first case where such processes have been identified at a maar volcano. These concentrated flows followed paths that were independent of the pyroclastic surges and repre-sent a potential hazard at similar maar volcanoes in areas with complex terrain.

Automated summary

This article describes and interprets the deposits associated with the final explosive phase of the Ubehebe Crater-forming volcanic center, providing valuable insights into the dynamics and hazards of volcanic eruptions.