Dynamics of the major plinian eruption of Samalas in 1257 A.D. (Lombok, Indonesia)

The 1257 A.D. caldera-forming eruption of Samalas (Lombok, Indonesia) was recently associated with the largest sulphate spike of the last 2 ky recorded in polar ice cores. It is suspected to have impacted climate both locally and at a global scale. Extensive fieldwork coupled with sedimentological,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bulletin of Volcanology
Main Authors: Vidal, Céline, Komorowski, Jean-Christophe, Métrich, Nicole, Pratomo, Indyo, Kartadinata, Nugraha, Prambada, Oktory, Michel, Agnès, Carazzo, Guillaume, Lavigne, Franck, Rodysill, Jessica, Fontijn, Karen, Surono, Surono
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2015
Subjects:
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Plinian eruption
Samalas 1257 AD
Caldera-forming eruption
Phreatomagmatic eruption
Eruptive dynamics
Trace element analysis
TEPHRA-FALL DEPOSITS
EXPLOSIVE VOLCANIC-ERUPTIONS
ICE CORE
MERAPI VOLCANO
CENTRAL JAVA
EAST JAVA
VOLUME
RECORD
TAMBORA
CLIMATE
ice core
Online Access:https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/6932141
http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-6932141
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-015-0960-9
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/6932141/file/6932151
Description
Summary:The 1257 A.D. caldera-forming eruption of Samalas (Lombok, Indonesia) was recently associated with the largest sulphate spike of the last 2 ky recorded in polar ice cores. It is suspected to have impacted climate both locally and at a global scale. Extensive fieldwork coupled with sedimentological, geochemical and physical analyses of eruptive products enabled us to provide new constraints on the stratigraphy and eruptive dynamics. This four-phase continuous eruption produced a total of 33-40 km(3) dense rock equivalent (DRE) of deposits, consisting of (i) 7-9 km(3) DRE of pumiceous plinian fall products, (ii) 16 km(3) DRE of pyroclastic density current deposits (PDC) and (iii) 8-9 km(3) DRE of co-PDC ash that settled over the surrounding islands and was identified as far as 660 km from the source on the flanks of Merapi volcano (Central Java). Widespread accretionary lapilli-rich deposits provide evidence of the occurrence of a violent phreatomagmatic phase during the eruption. With a peak mass eruption rate of 4.6x10(8)kg/s, a maximum plume height of 43 km and a dispersal index of 110,500 km(2), the 1257 A.D. eruption stands as the most powerful eruption of the last millennium. Eruption dynamics are consistent with an efficient dispersal of sulphur-rich aerosols across the globe. Remarkable reproducibility of trace element analysis on a few milligrammes of pumiceous tephra provides unequivocal evidence for the geochemical correlation of 1257 A.D. proximal reference products with distal tephra identified on surrounding islands. Hence, we identify and characterise a new prominent inter-regional chronostratigraphic tephra marker.

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