One-cyclic Volcanic Processes at Udo Crater, Korea

우도(牛島) 분화구(噴火口)에서의 일윤회(一輪廻) 화산과정(火山過程)

Udo Island, some 3 km off the coast of Sungsan Peninsula at the eastern promontory of Cheju Island, occurs in such a regular pattern on the sequences which reprent an excellent example of an eruptive cycle. The island comprises a horseshoe-shaped tuff cone, a nested cinder cone on the crater floor, and a lava delta which extends over northwest from the moat between two cones. The volcanic sequences suggest volcanic processes that start with emergent Surtseyan eruption, progress through Strombolian eruption and end with lava effusion followed by reworking of smooth tephra on the tuff cone. Eruptive environment and hydrology of vent area in the Udo tuff cone are poorly constrained because the stratigraphic units under the tuff cone are unknown. It is thoughl, however, that the tuff cone could be mainly emergent because the present cone deposits show no evidence of marine reworking, and standing body of sea water could play a great role. The emergent volcano is characterized by distinctive steam-explosivity that results primarily from a bulk interaction between rapidly ascending magma and a highly mobile slurry. The sea water gets into the vent by flooding accross or through the top or breach of tephra cone. Udo tuff cone was constructed from Surtseyan eruption which went into with tephra finger jetting activities in the early stage, late interspersed with continuous uprush activities and proceeded to only continuous uprush activities in the last. When the enclosure of the vent by a long-lived tephra barrier would prevent the flooding and thus allow the vent to dry out, the Surtseyan eruption ceased to transmit into Strombolian activities, which constructed a cinder cone on the crater floor of the tuff cone. The Strombolian eruption ceased when magma in the conduit gradually became depleted in gas. In the case of Udo, the last magmatic activity was Hawaiian-type (and/or fountain) which accumulated basalt lava delta. And then the loose tephra of the tuff cone reworked over the moat lava and the northeastern flank.