Chapter 19

Submarine Lavas and Hyaloclastite

James D.L. White
Geology Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

Jocelyn McPhie
School of Physical Sciences and CODES, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

S. Adam Soule
Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, USA

Chapter Outline 2.6. Basaltic Hyaloclastite and Peperite 367

1. Introduction 363 3. Felsic Lavas and Associated Rocks 369
1.1. What Controls Eruption Style? 364 3.1. Submarine Felsic Coherent Facies 370
1.2. Modern versus Ancient Examples 364 3.2. Submarine Felsic Autoclastic Facies 371
2. Mafic Lavas 364 3.3. Submarine Felsic Tabular Lavas and Domes 372
2.1. Basaltic Lavas 364 3.4. Submarine Felsic Lobe-Hyaloclastite Lavas 372
2.2. Pillow Lava 366 3.5. Shallow Synvolcanic Intrusions 372
2.3. Lobate Lava 366 Further Reading 375
2.4. Sheet Lava 366
2.5. Flow Scale Features 367

GLOSSARY viscosity The ratio between shear stress and strain rate of a substance,
or the ease with which a substance deforms and flows in response
autoclastic facies Clastic facies generated by nonexplosive frag- to applied stress. High viscosity substances resist flowage (strain)
mentation accompanying lava effusion and flowage. Autobreccia unless a high shear stress is applied.
and hyaloclastite are the two most common kinds of autoclastic volcanic breccia Clastic aggregate composed predominantly of
facies. angular volcanic clasts.
coherent facies Facies generated by the solidification of molten lava volcanic glass noncrystalline rock produced by the quenching of
or magma. molten lava.
effusive eruption An eruption style involving passive discharge of
magma from a volcanic vent, producing lava flows and/or lava
domes.
1. INTRODUCTION
felsic Relatively high SiO2 (silica) composition, including dacite
(64e69 wt% SiO2) and rhyolite (>69 wt% SiO2). Submarine lavas are important because they are the most
hyaloclastite Clastic aggregate generated by the quench fragmenta- widespread surficial igneous rocks on Earth. They are
tion of molten lava in contact with water and/or ice. erupted at a variety of ocean water depths, display a wide
mafic Relatively low SiO2 (silica) composition, rich in magnesium spectrum of sizes, shapes, and compositions, and comprise
and iron, most notably basalt (45e52 wt% SiO2).
up to 2 km of the uppermost ocean crust created at mid-
peperite A rock formed essentially in situ by the disintegration of
ocean ridges or back-arc spreading centers (Chapter 3).
magma intruding and mingling with an unconsolidated or poorly
consolidated, typically wet, clastic host.
Volcanoes at intra-oceanic convergent margins begin as
perlite Volcanic glass dissected by abundant arcuate overlapping small submarine volcanoes in deep water consisting of
fractures (“perlitic fractures”) around generally intact cores or submarine lavas, hyaloclastite, intrusions, and in some
kernels; the cores or kernels typically have diameters in the range cases submarine pyroclastic facies (Chapter 31). In sub-
0.5 mme5 cm (macroperlite). marine settings, rising magma commonly encounters thick
pumice Highly vesicular felsic or intermediate volcanic glass. successions of water-saturated, unconsolidated sediments

The Encyclopedia of Volcanoes. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-385938-9.00019-5 363

Copyright Ó 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
364 PART | III Effusive Volcanism

and may fail to erupt, instead spreading laterally into the propagation. Unconsolidated sediment is insufficiently
soft sediments to form shallow intrusions. Volcanoes also rigid to crack, and the dike tip stalls. Simultaneously, the
form on oceanic crust away from plate boundaries, and heat of the magma heats and expands water in the sediment;
may grow large enough to form islands (e.g., Hawaii- the expansion pushes grains apart and allows the mixture to
Emperor chain). This setting also includes huge submarine behave as a soft plastic or viscous fluid. These effects allow
lava-dominated volcanic plateaus such as the Ontong-Java the magma to spread laterally into the sediment at shallow
Plateau. Volcanic rocks from ancient submarine settings depths below the seafloor, commonly resulting in intrusions
may be exposed on land, uplifted as a result of plate col- of complex form, and mingled combinations of magma and
lisions. In this chapter, we summarize eruption styles sediment termed peperite.
and modern versus ancient products, present results from
new studies of the modern seafloor, address the formation 1.2. Modern versus Ancient Examples
of hyaloclastite and peperite associated with seafloor
We discuss submarine lavas and shallow intrusions
lavas and intrusions, and review submarine felsic lava
from modern deep-sea environments and their ancient
complexes.
equivalents on land. Modern and ancient deposits provide
complementary information. For example, volcanic rocks
1.1. What Controls Eruption Style? from modern deep-sea settings can be fresh and unaltered,
in contrast to ancient examples that have been subject to
Volcanic eruptions can be divided into effusive styles that
hydrothermal fluids or long-term diagenesis, and on the
produce lava flows versus explosive styles that produce
modern seafloor it is possible to map the areal distribution
pyroclastic deposits. One fundamental control on this
and surface features of lavas and related rocks over many
behavior is the silica (SiO2) content of the magma that
tens of square kilometers, which is not possible in most
erupts. Basaltic magma with <52 wt% SiO2 is hot and very
ancient successions. Also, modern seafloor examples have
fluid (low viscosity) so it commonly erupts as a spray of
the advantage that their eruption depth is known. In the case
droplets (fountains) or quietly as lava flows. In contrast,
of ancient examples, the depth of eruption can only be
magmas that are richer in SiO2, such as andesite (52e64 wt
approximated but, critically for interpreting eruption pro-
% SiO2), dacite, and rhyolite (>69 wt% SiO2), generally
cesses, exposures of ancient successions reveal stratig-
erupt at lower temperatures and have higher viscosities,
raphy, which allows the investigation of successive events
which commonly result in eruptions being explosive. Most
at a single site, as well as the geometry, dimensions, and
submarine eruptions in deep water are basaltic in compo-
relationships of eruption products. In contrast, our view of
sition and so are generally not, or only weakly, explosive. In
the modern seafloor from cameras, manned submersibles,
most cases, basaltic magmas have lost volatiles during
and remotely operated vehicles (ROV) is restricted to
ascent and reach the seafloor with only minor volatiles
largely two-dimensional surface exposures, providing a
which, at high hydrostatic pressures, remain mostly in
snapshot of the present that rarely extends even through the
solution. Exsolved volatiles form bubbles. As a general-
duration of a single eruption. Drilling into the deep seafloor
ization, vesicles are less voluminous in basaltic lavas
by the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) and its successors
generated by deep-water eruptions.
has provided invaluable information about site histories,
Explosive eruptions can result when magma reaches the
but drill holes cannot substitute for good three-dimensional
seafloor without losing its original volatiles, or where
exposure. Geologic work on the sea floor is also inherently
shallow magma is fluxed by volatiles from deeper magma
more difficult (and more expensive) than comparable work
(Chapter 31). Explosions can also be caused by rapid
on land, particularly at the outcrop (50- to 100-m) scale.
transfer of heat from magma to water (Chapter 26). At sur-
Shallow intrusions and peperite form below the surface,
face pressures, the change from liquid water to steam results
and are understood almost exclusively on the basis of
in a volume expansion of about a 1000 times, and the
ancient examples.
interaction of magma and water can be highly explosive. At
confining pressures greater than the critical pressure of water
(at about 3-km water depths), heating water significantly 2. MAFIC LAVAS
increases its volume, but there is no sharp phase boundary
across which explosive “flashing” can occur, for either water
2.1. Basaltic Lavas
or the other important volatile in seafloor magmas, carbon By far the most voluminous submarine volcanic facies are
dioxide (critical depth w700 m in seawater). of basaltic composition. Effusive eruptions are most
The nature of the eruptive site, particularly whether common, but explosive eruptions also occur (Chapter 31).
covered with thick loose sediment or formed of rigid rock, Lava of this type is dominant along the global mid-ocean
provides another control on eruptive behavior. Magma ridges, in back-arc basins, at intraplate seamounts, ocean
approaches the surface in dikes that advance by crack volcanic islands, and oceanic plateaus. Due to their remote
Chapter | 19 Submarine Lavas and Hyaloclastite 365

locations and great depths, direct observations of seafloor than in air, a consequence primarily of the high thermal
basaltic eruptions are extremely rare, but recent high- capacity of seawater. Thick quenched crusts coupled with
resolution seafloor acoustic mapping and ROV surveys emplacement via tubes and roofed channels keep subma-
have greatly improved our understanding of the physical rine basaltic lavas well insulated, so they typically do not
characteristics of these lavas and the eruptions that produce cool or crystallize extensively during emplacement (Gregg
them. and Fornari, 1998). The primary mineral phases (plagio-
Submarine basaltic lavas differ morphologically from clase feldspar, olivine, pyroxene) are present in small vol-
subaerial lavas due primarily to efficient crust formation umes (<5%) as are vesicles (<<5%). The three primary
(i.e., quenching) that results from eruption into cold types of submarine lava based on morphology aredpillow,
seawater rather than air. The quench rate in submarine lobate, and sheetdand lie along a spectrum (Figure 19.1),
basaltic glass is up to several orders of magnitude greater distinguished from one another by the size and

Pillow Lobate Sheet

Flow rate m2/s

−46˚ −46˚ −46˚ −104˚ −104˚ −104˚
37.2' 36.8' 36.4' 17.6' 17.2' 16.8'
16˚
24.0' 200 m

9˚
50.4'

16˚
23.6'

9˚
50.0'

16˚
23.2'

−3600 −3535 −3470 −3405 −3340 −2545 −2530 −2515 −2500

FIGURE 19.1 (Top) Examples of pillow, lobate, and sheet morphology from submarine basaltic lavas. Photographs were collected by a deep-sea digital
camera system at w3 m above seafloor with a field of view of 4e5 m across. Pillow image is from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 37.3 N; lobate and sheet
images are from the East Pacific Rise near 9.8 N. The images are arranged in order of increasing flow rate as well as increasing length scales of flow
subunit and lava connectivity and decreasing flow lengths (see text). (Bottom) High-resolution bathymetric maps collected by autonomous underwater
vehicles Autonomous Benthic Explorer (ABE) and Sentry are shown at the same scale and compare seafloor relief of sites dominated by pillow lavas (left)
and lobate and sheet lavas (right). The pillow lava area is from the axis of the slow-spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge and is characterized by hummocky relief
of overlapping pillow mounds 500 m and less in diameter and 50e100 m in height. Contour intervals of 5 m are shown over shaded relief. The lobate and
sheet lava area is from the fast-spreading East Pacific rise and is characterized by low relief lavas that produce overlapping lobes extending 1e4 km from
the eruptive vents (narrow, NNW-striking graben at the left of the map). Contour intervals of 1 m are shown over shaded relief, with 5-m contours in bold
for comparison to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) map. Photo copyrights Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI), bathymetry data courtesy of
D. Smith and D. Fornari.
366 PART | III Effusive Volcanism

interconnectedness of the unit cells that make up the lava.

Pillow lavas are composed of meter-scale, poorly con-
nected bulbs of lava; lobate lavas have larger (w5e10 m
wide), moderately connected pads of lava; and sheet lavas
comprise fully connected sheets of lava. Laboratory ex-
periments using wax extruded into cold water to simulate
the efficient formation of crusts on deep sea lavas indicate
that these types reflect different flow rates and lava vis-
cosities. In these experiments, morphology can be predicted
from a dimensionless parameter J that measures the ratio
of the timescales of cooling (crust formation) and lava
advance (crust disruption). In this framework, submarine FIGURE 19.2 Frame grab from high-definition video collected by Alvin
lavas that advance slowly relative to the rate of crust for- at the East Pacific Rise showing low-relief surface of lobate lava flows
mation produce pillow lavas, while lavas that advance suggestive of high degrees of connectivity of the molten flow interior and
inflation to a common depth across the flow. Large collapse pit at the right
quickly relative to crust formation rates produce sheet lavas.
of the image shows the hollow flow interior and the lava selvages or
The thermal gradient between molten lava and seawater bathtub rings that form as the flow interior drains away. Photo copyright
for a reasonable range of eruption temperatures WHOI and courtesy of T. Shank, B. Lange.
(1000e1200  C) and water temperatures (2e10  C) is large
regardless of eruption depth and tectonic setting. Further, 2.3. Lobate Lava
the major-element compositional range and hence potential
Lobate lava is the dominant morphology on many fast and
for differences in melt viscosity is small for most basaltic
intermediate spreading-rate ridges, and reflects higher
eruptions along mid-ocean ridges, ocean islands, sea-
eruption rates than produce pillow lavas. Single lobes are
mounts, and oceanic plateaus. As a result, lava morphology
many times wider than they are thick. Lobate lava is similar
is commonly used as a proxy for lava flow rate and eruption
to pillow lava in that individual flow units (lobes) are easily
rate for submarine basalts.
recognized on the flow surfaces, but boundaries between
lobes are commonly destroyed within the lava interior.
2.2. Pillow Lava Lobe surfaces are smooth, lacking the “decorations” of
pillow lavas, but may have ropy folds on the surface of the
Pillow lava is commonly cited as the most abundant
largest lobes. Very low relief across lobate lava surfaces
geologic landform on Earth’s surface. As described above,
suggest that lobes may be fully interconnected in the flow
pillows form at low, though imprecisely known, flow rates.
interior, and inflated to a common level (Gregg and Fornari,
Pillow lavas have been observed while forming on the
1998). In addition, near-vent lobate lavas are commonly
shallow submarine slopes of Hawaii, where subaerial lava
hollow, as the molten interior has drained downslope or
flows enter the sea, and on W. Mata Volcano, a seamount in
back into the eruptive fissures. The large cavities beneath
the NE Lau back-arc basin (Resing et al., 2011). These
the solid crust, visible through collapsed regions, can be
direct observations along with the studies of seafloor de-
much larger in extent than the single lobe boundaries
posits, subglacial deposits, and ophiolites have led to a
observed at the surface. It is common for the upper crust in
good understanding of the mechanics of pillow lava for-
a hollow lobate lava to be supported by lava pillars, which
mation. Single pillows are commonly equant, but may also
are hollow columns of lava that extend from the base to the
form elongate pillow tubes on steep slopes. The surfaces of
upper surface of the lavas (Figure 19.2). Within collapsed
pillows typically have a variety of “decorations”, including
regions, regular sequences of subhorizontal glass selvages
parallel grooves-and-ridges that form as the pillow crust
or “bathtub rings” mark pauses in lava withdrawal
fails and the pillow expands along circumferential frac-
(Chadwick, 2003).
tures, and pillow buds that are similar to squeeze-outs on
subaerial pahoehoe lavas. Single pillows stop growing
when crusts become sufficiently thick to impede inflation.
Once pillow growth ceases, failure of the pillow crust leads
2.4. Sheet Lava
to the formation of a new pillow at the leading edge of the At the highest eruption/flow rates, sheet lavas are produced.
flow. Alternatively, flow may be redirected within the Their interiors are fully interconnected and the surfaces
feeder systems to produce new pillows elsewhere. In this lack any indication of separate units. Instead, the surfaces
way, pillow lava tends to produce accumulations that do not may be smooth, ropey, lineated in the direction of flow, or
extend significant distances from their source vent, and jumbled. Jumbled surfaces reflect continued deformation of
commonly produce high-relief pillow mounds, hummocks, a folded or lineated surface causing the crust to brecciate.
and ridges (Figure 19.1). Sheet lavas are typically restricted to near-vent regions and
Chapter | 19 Submarine Lavas and Hyaloclastite 367

areas where flow is constricted, e.g., by topographic bar- nonexplosive thermal granulation  spalling of solidified
riers or flow channelization (Soule et al., 2005). Sheet lavas lava rinds as the result of deformation. Sheetform deposits
are commonly deflated and drained, consistent with high of hyaloclastite are a distinctive type exemplified by thin
flow rates and little solidification before magma supply (<1-m-thick) layers of mm-size dense glass fragments on
ceases (Figure 19.1). Seamount 6, an off-axis volcano along the East Pacific Rise,
formed by thermal shock granulation and spalling of thin
2.5. Flow Scale Features lava flows. Most of the glass fragments in hyaloclastite are
compositionally identical to underlying glassy lavas, and
Only a handful of submarine basaltic lavas have been
the lavas have very irregular tops. Thin lava tendrils broke
mapped in enough detail to determine their extent and
up to shed contorted glass fragments into the overlying
volume (Rubin et al., 2012). Examples at mid-ocean ridges
contemporaneous hyaloclastite. A small proportion of thin,
include the Aldo-Kihi lobate lava of the south East Pacific
folded sheet-form particles in the hyaloclastite resembles
Rise (14 km2, 25e140  106 m3), the North Cleft pillow
“limu of Pele” produced when lava from Kiluaea volcano
mounds (8 total, 2e3 km2, 50  106 m3), the 2005e2006
enters the sea and interacts with seawater. Some authors
lava of the north East Pacific Rise (14.6 km2, 22  106 m3),
consider such “limu” indicative of explosive subaqueous
and the 2011 lava at Axial Volcano on the Juan de Fuca
magmatic eruptions (Chapter 31). However, simple
Ridge (7.8  106 m2, 27  106 m3). Areally larger and
seawater entrapment can explain limu formation even in
more voluminous mid-ocean ridge lavas have been pro-
very deep water where neither water nor carbon dioxide
posed based on acoustic mapping, but have not been
exist as vapor (Schipper and White, 2010).
confirmed by other means. At slow-spreading ridges,
Another common type of hyaloclastite is associated
longer repose intervals, greater tectonic disruption, and
with the effusion of basaltic lavas on slopes such as seafloor
generally rougher terrain make mapping single lavas
pillow cones (Figure 19.4). Fragmentation is by both
difficult, but recent studies on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at
quenching processes and deformation of brittle lava crusts.
45 N suggest individual eruptions may produce single
Additional clast breakage occurs during transport down
pillow mounds that average 3  105 m3 (Searle et al.,
steep pillow cone slopes. Some facies have recognizable
2010). At ocean islands, single pillow mound eruptions,
fragments of lava pillows (pillow breccia), whereas others
similar in size to those on mid-ocean ridges, have been
comprise centimetric clasts of microcrystalline lava
identified on submarine rift zones such as the Puna Ridge,
dispersed in a matrix of glassy particles generated both at
and larger, flat-lying sheet/lobate lavas, >1 km3, have been
the vent and by shattering of glassy margins during
identified on the abyssal plains around Hawaii and the
downslope transport. It is common for hyaloclastite to form
Galapagos. Flat-topped volcanic “terraces”, akin to
as lavas flow over steep slopes, either pre-existing slopes or
Venusian pancake domes, are common on the submarine
those built by the lavas themselves. Chilling and frag-
flanks of ocean islands and thought to be constructed by
mentation are facilitated by increased flow velocities that
lavas where emplacement extent was limited by cooling,
enhance brittle fracturing of lava crusts, as well as
rather than by the amount of lava erupted.
stretching and pulling apart of the lava, and these processes
More commonly, submarine lava lengths are limited by
operate in varying proportions across a range of magma
the volume erupted. At mid-ocean ridges, lavas typically
compositions. Where erupting magma is so vesicular that
erupt within a narrow neo-volcanic zone from ridge-parallel
broken-off pieces float rather than being carried downslope
fissures and traverse the ridge crest or axial valley depe-
(see Section III), however, these slope-driven processes do
nding on the spreading rate. Lava flows advance downslope
not take place. There are systematic variations at larger
to distances dictated by a cutoff of lava supply from the vent
scales in basaltic hyaloclastite formed in other settings.
or where they are blocked by topography. The resulting
Work in Iceland on basaltic hyaloclastite on slopes showed
lavas may acquire thicknesses of a few to more than 10 m.
that prograding deposits of coarse hyaloclastite reduce
Thicker lavas generally result from flooding a pre-existing
initial 60 slopes to about 35 (Figure 19.5), whereas for
depression. These massive lavas are easily recognized by
initial slope angles of 30e40 , somewhat finer-grained
their fine-grained, low-porosity interiors in vertical sections
hyaloclastite forms a delta capped by lava. Shallow sea-
in comparison to thinner lavas and pillowed lavas that
floor intrusions, also called hypabyssal intrusive com-
contain abundant glass and zones that are highly porous to
plexes, and associated peperite have been characterized
breccia-like (e.g., Tominaga and Umino, 2010).
primarily from ancient successions, but new insights into
their origins have come from experiments, coring and
2.6. Basaltic Hyaloclastite and Peperite
dredging, and submersible dives. At large scales, seismic
As for basaltic lavas, studies of the modern seafloor imaging for hydrocarbon exploration in the North Sea
contribute to our knowledge of hyaloclastite. Hyaloclastite revealed the relationships among shallow-subsurface and
is a glassy clastic deposit (Figure 19.3), formed by deeper intrusions and peperite formed in unconsolidated
368 PART | III Effusive Volcanism

FIGURE 19.3 Basaltic hyaloclastite. (A) Photomicrograph of blocky sideromelane glass fragments from Seamount Six deposits from about 2 km depth,
off-axis to the East Pacific Rise. Largest fragment is 4 mm across. (B) Photo from submersible of jigsaw-fit hyaloclastite on Loihi seamount at 1.2 km
depth. (C) Calcite-cemented (white) hyaloclastite from Oligocene continental shelf volcano, Oamaru, NZ. Fragment at lower right is 15 cm across.
(D) Glassy hyaloclastite granulate formed by pouring molten basalt into water. Scale at base is in mm.

FIGURE 19.4 Facies model for the production of glassy fragmental rocks at mid-oceanic ridge seafloor (dark blue) on the slopes or in a basin close to a
pillow cone (cyan) with a lateral pillow ridge (yellow). Processes include: (i) in situ and/or talus accumulation of pillow-fragment breccia; (ii) grain flow
deposits derived from unconsolidated pillow-fragment breccia and pillow basalt above; and (iii) minor fountain deposits. Gravity collapse from desta-
bilization of the erupting vent generated thick hyaloclastite and pillow-fragment breccia aprons (red) along pillow cone slopes. Advancing pillow lava
tubes (labeled pillow flow) may push accumulated pillow-fragment breccia debris down slope. The scale of features is schematic. Thin black lines show
cross-sectional relief. Modified from Dickinson et al. (2009).
Chapter | 19 Submarine Lavas and Hyaloclastite 369

FIGURE 19.5 Hyaloclastite associated with tube-fed basaltic lavas occurs in a variety of lithofacies (those with “H” in facies code below), mostly
breccias, that reflect the role of high depositional slopes in fragmentation, producing large-volume deposits. In this diagram (from Watton et al., 2013), ftL
is flow breccia; HBp, CBH, and hP are primary deposits from quenching and autobrecciation of lava; HSc, HBi, and FHc are redeposited hyaloclastite.

basinal sediments. These observations are being combined, with the rheology and thermal properties of basalt will
along with outcrop observations of ancient sequence and mingle, and under what conditions magmaewater explo-
experiments in which fluids are intruded into “sand boxes,” sions (Chapter 26) might take place. Others have directly
to reveal the fluid-mechanical controls on the transition from introduced molten basalt into both water and fluid sediment,
shallow intrusion to submarine eruptions, as well as the revealing that the cooling of magma in a fluid sediment is
styles and rates of magma passage as it approaches the sur- orders of magnitude slower than in water alone. Fast
face. Among the most impressive products of such intrusive quenching in water produced hyaloclastite, while peperitic
magmaesediment interaction formed where the Gulf of mingling yielded fluidal glass fragments and even welding
California spreading ridge lies beneath the thick sediment of still-hot blobs that formed when melt entered the sedi-
shed from adjacent rift shoulders. Shallow intrusion of ment and then came to rest against one another within the
basalt, rather than eruption to the seafloor, takes place sediment at the bottom of the apparatus (Figure 19.6).
because the density of rising basaltic magma is greater than
that of wet sediment. In the Gulf of California, magma
erupting from the spreading center encounters such uncom- 3. FELSIC LAVAS AND ASSOCIATED
pacted, waterlogged sediments, and cannot rise upward
through them, instead spreading laterally within the sedi-
ROCKS
ments to form sill-sediment complexes (Einsele, 1985). The To an even greater degree than for basaltic magmas, sub-
margins of such sills are expected to display peperite or marine felsic lavas and domes are poorly known compared
intrusive pillows, but coring during the 1979 Deep Sea to their subaerial counterparts. Felsic magmas are far
Drilling Project (DSDP) cruise failed to recover the sill- subordinate to basaltic magmas in ocean basins and much
sediment contacts. Much smaller-volume magma-sediment less frequently encountered by ocean floor surveys. Very
interaction is revealed by peperite formed at or near the few examples on the modern seafloor have been mapped
seafloor. Coring during International Ocean Discovery and sampled (e.g., Allen et al., 2010) and uplifted examples
Program (IODP) leg 330 recovered multiple intervals of are incompletely exposed and/or preserved. Nevertheless,
peperite associated with lava emplaced over sediment on felsic lavas and domes are important in modern submarine
guyots of the Louisville Seamount Trail, for example, and arc and back arc settings, and locally present at mid-ocean
dredge hauls from “Petit Spot” volcanoes near the Japan ridges where basalt has fractionated sufficiently to produce
Trench also contain peperite from interaction of erupted rhyolite. They are an integral component of numerous
basalts with seafloor sediment. Despite these recent exam- ancient submarine volcanic successions, including those
ples on the seafloor, the great majority of what we know that host massive sulfide ore deposits (e.g., Paulick and
about peperite comes from ancient examples, simply because McPhie 1999).
most peperite is associated with subsurface intrusions. Regardless of setting, felsic magmas have high viscos-
Studies of ancient peperite show differences in scale and ities and produce lavas that are thicker and less extensive
texture that can be related both to properties of the magma than basaltic lavas. Submarine felsic effusive eruptions
and to the nature of intruded sediment (Skilling et al., 2002). generate tabular lavas, equant domes and dome complexes,
Experiments have provided additional information on and lobe-hyaloclastite lavas. All three types consist of
how peperite forms. Some researchers have used analog combinations of coherent and autoclastic facies. The
fluids together with thermal modeling to assess how fluid coherent facies forms from the solidification of molten
370 PART | III Effusive Volcanism

FIGURE 19.6 Experiments simulating magma-sediment mingling address peperite and hyaloclastite formation. In this summary diagram (from
Schipper et al., 2011), fragmentation processes are related to coolant properties of water vs. a host sediment. Heat transfer, expressed as the ratio DTmax/
Tmax, is the primary control on whether hyaloclastite forms by thermal granulation, shown qualitatively in vertical gray-scale bar. Total sediment plotted
ranges from 0%, pure water, to 80%, i.e., sediment with 20% porosity; it is taken as a proxy for coolant viscosity, and is the primary control on hy-
drodynamic mingling, shown qualitatively in horizontal gray-scale bar.

lava. The autoclastic facies include hyaloclastite (resulting (spherulites with a central vug). Coherent facies that cool
from quench fragmentation of molten lava) and autobreccia very slowly are completely crystalline, though the crystals
(generated by dynamic stressing of molten lava) though are very small (<0.5 mm). Micropoikilitic texture (inter-
hyaloclastite is typically dominant in submarine settings. locking equant quartz crystals that contain abundant feld-
spar microlites) may be present in crystalline domains. The
crystals in crystalline groundmass domains are feldspar and
3.1. Submarine Felsic Coherent Facies quartz, reflecting the felsic composition of the melt.
Coherent facies represents molten lava that escaped auto- Vesicles may be abundant in the groundmass of
clastic brecciation during eruption and emplacement. Fel- coherent facies, so much so that the texture is pumiceous.
sic coherent facies are characterized by porphyritic or Pumiceous texture is restricted to zones where the volatile
aphyric texture; the most common phenocrysts are feldspar content in residual melt was relatively high, the confining
(plagioclase and sanidine) and quartz. Groundmass textures pressure was relatively low, and the cooling rate allowed
show wide ranges in crystallinity and vesicularity that bubble nucleation and growth before quenching to solid
mainly relate to gradients in cooling rate and volatile glass. These conditions are most commonly met in the
content, respectively. Glassy groundmass is very common outer zones of lavas and domes. Large domains of felsic
in submarine felsic coherent facies, reflecting the high coherent facies may be columnar jointed. The columns may
viscosity of the high SiO2 melt and efficient quenching be regular in size, shape and orientation, reflecting the
underwater. Except in freshly erupted units, the glassy simple geometry of isotherms during solidification. Highly
groundmass domains show perlitic fractures due to hydra- variable sizes, shapes and orientations over short distances
tion of the glass. Groundmasses of coherent facies that cool indicate that isothermal surfaces had very complex shapes.
relatively slowly are partly glassy and partly crystalline. Flow bands are also found in felsic coherent facies; they are
The crystalline domains include spherulites (radial aggre- defined by variations in groundmass crystallinity and
gates of fine, needle-like crystals) and lithophysae vesicle content. Flow bands are produced by laminar shear
Chapter | 19 Submarine Lavas and Hyaloclastite 371

during flowage; because the melt viscosity is high, the combination of the high viscosity of felsic lava and the
bands remain after laminar shear stops. underwater setting means that autoclastic facies are
invariably present, and the most abundant autoclastic facies
is hyaloclastite. Hyaloclastite is generated by cooling
3.2. Submarine Felsic Autoclastic Facies contraction of molten lava quenched on contact with water,
Autoclastic facies are generated at the expense of coherent and forms where curviplanar first-order quench fractures
facies and therefore, have the same composition and intersect, creating coarse, equant, polyhedral glassy or
mineralogy as the associated coherent facies. The partly glassy clasts (Figure 19.7(A)). Closely spaced (cm),

(A) (B)

(C) (D)
in situ
hyaloclastite

flow-banded
core

(E) (F)

FIGURE 19.7 A) In situ rhyolitic hyaloclastite; Ponza, Italy. (B) Dacite clast generated by quenching, showing the typical polyhedral shape, curviplanar
surfaces and “tiny normal joints” (arrow); Cabo de Gata, Spain. (C) Submarine dacite dome, showing the transition from the coherent core into in situ
hyaloclastite; Hariba, Japan. The in situ hyaloclastite changes outward from having no matrix to having abundant apparent matrix. (D) Resedimented
dacitic hyaloclastite; Milos, Greece. Hammer inside circle. (E) Submarine dacitic autobreccia; Cabo de Gata, Spain. (F) Giant pumice clast in thinly
bedded mudstone; Milos Greece. Hammer inside circle.
372 PART | III Effusive Volcanism

short (cm), second-order fractures perpendicular to the facies varies widely. In situ hyaloclastite may grade out-
first-order fractures may be present along clast margins ward to clast-rotated and resedimented hyaloclastite. Some
(“tiny normal joints,” Yamagishi 1987; Figure 19.7(B)). If felsic submarine domes are entirely glassy, and some have
there is no disturbance of the fractured glass, the pattern of outer zones of pumiceous hyaloclastite and pumiceous
fractures defines jigsaw-fit texture that is characteristic of in coherent facies. Giant (up to w10 m), pumiceous clasts
situ hyaloclastite (Figure 19.6(A)). In situ hyaloclastite may spall from the upper margins of active submarine
forms adjacent to, and grades into, coherent facies. In situ felsic lavas and domes (Allen et al., 2010). Providing the
hyaloclastite close to coherent facies generally lacks ma- vesicles remain filled by hot gas, the spalled clasts are less
trix, but there may be a transition to apparent matrix-rich dense than seawater and rise through the water column, in
hyaloclastite farther away (Figure 19.7(C)). The apparent some cases, reaching the sea surface (e.g., Kano 2003).
matrix comprises relatively fine (mm) glassy clasts that are Once waterlogged, the clasts settle from suspension to the
identical to the coarser clasts and show jigsaw-fit texture. seafloor (Figure 19.7(F)).
This apparent matrix occupies the more intensely frag-
mented domains along first-order quench fractures; the less
3.4. Submarine Felsic Lobe-Hyaloclastite
intensely fractured domains in between appear as coarse
clasts. If in situ hyaloclastite is disturbed, for example, by
Lavas
the movement of adjacent molten lava, then the clasts are Lobe-hyaloclastite lavas have no subaerial equivalent, but
progressively rotated and the jigsaw-fit texture is lost, share at a much larger scale some characteristics of basaltic
producing clast-rotated hyaloclastite. Further disturbance pillow breccias. Lobe-hyaloclastite lavas consist of multi-
may dislodge the clasts so they move freely and indepen- ple coherent domains or lobes (m to tens of m across)
dently downslope, forming resedimented hyaloclastite separated by domains of hyaloclastite (Figure 19.8).
(Figure 19.7(D)). Transport may be sufficient for sorting, The lobes form where viscous molten lava emerges from
clast shape modification, and mixing of clasts from a feeder dyke that intrudes cogenetic hyaloclastite
different sources. In situ hyaloclastite, clast-rotated hyalo- (Yamagishi 1987). The lobes detach from the feeder dyke
clastite and resedimented hyaloclastite are all volcanic and are pushed aside as more lobes and more hyaloclastite
breccias, i.e., clastic aggregates dominated by angular forms at the dyke. This process can create lava units tens to
volcanic clasts. In situ hyaloclastite and clast-rotated hya- hundreds of m thick with an overall tabular or dome
loclastite are strictly monomictic facies; resedimented morphology. Most of the hyaloclastite is in situ hyalo-
hyaloclastite may be monomictic or weakly polymictic. clastite and clast-rotated hyaloclastite although resedi-
Subaqueous autobreccia is essentially the same as sub- mented hyaloclastite may be present at the margins.
aerial autobreccia, and results from the break-up of the more
viscous parts of molten lava propagating by laminar shear.
3.5. Shallow Synvolcanic Intrusions
This process requires lava to be both molten and moving, a
combination that is not commonly met by felsic lavas in Ocean basins are depocenters for sediment derived from the
submarine settings where quenching dominates. Autobreccia continents as well as from intrabasinal sources. The rate of
is composed of coarse slabby clasts that are internally flow aggradation of sediment can be very high, especially in and
banded, and occurs in close spatial association with coherent near active submarine volcanoes. Magma rising in a
facies of the same composition (Figure 19.7(E)). conduit beneath the seafloor may meet a layer of uncon-
solidated wet sediment and in most cases, the magma will
3.3. Submarine Felsic Tabular Lavas be more dense than the wet sediment. As a result, the
magma will intrude the unconsolidated sediment rather
and Domes
than erupt, forming a shallow, syn-volcanic intrusion. Syn-
Felsic tabular lavas and domes erupted under water are volcanic intrusions are commonly conformable or partly
similar in size and shape to their subaerial counterparts. conformable because their emplacement relates to the level
They are typically thick (tens to hundreds of meters) but of neutral buoyancy within the sediment pile. They can be
short (for tabular lavas, hundreds of meters to w10 km; for any composition but their shapes reflect the magma vis-
domes, tens to a couple of 100 meters). Felsic tabular lavas cosity which to a large extent is controlled by composition,
are mainly composed of coherent facies that may be crys- especially silica content. High-viscosity felsic magmas
talline, or partly crystalline and partly glassy. In situ hya- form thick tabular intrusions or equant cryptodomes
loclastite occurs at the base, top, and margins; clast-rotated (Figure 19.9(A); e.g., Stewart and McPhie 2003). Low-
hyaloclastite and resedimented hyaloclasite may be present viscosity mafic magmas form thin sills and sill com-
at the margins, adjacent to in situ hyaloclastite. In subma- plexes (e.g., Einsele 1985). Intermediate magmas may
rine felsic domes, in situ hyaloclastite surrounds a coherent behave like either the low-viscosity or the high-viscosity
core, though the proportion of hyaloclastite versus coherent end-members.
Chapter | 19 Submarine Lavas and Hyaloclastite 373

(A)

(B)
} 50 m

FIGURE 19.8 A) Submarine dacitic lobe-hyaloclastite lava; Cabo de Gata, Spain. The lava is about 50-m thick (top and base outlined by dashed line);
conspicuous lobes of coherent facies outlined by thin white line. (B) Detail of coherent lobe in the dacitic lobe-hyaloclastite lava in A; Cabo de Gata,
Spain. The coherent lobe is columnar jointed and passes outward into in situ hyaloclastite. Notebook inside circle.

Most syn-volcanic intrusions are composed entirely of Because the level of intrusion is very shallow, and the
coherent facies that has the same range of characteristics as host is unconsolidated wet sediment, syn-volcanic in-
the coherent facies of lavas, although glassy groundmasses trusions have internal textures and structures that are
and vesicular domains are less common than in lavas. closely similar to lavas of the same composition. Their
Some felsic syn-volcanic intrusions display large-scale recognition depends critically on the nature of the contacts
flow bands (e.g., Goto and McPhie 1998; Figure 19.9(B)) and the correct identification of peperite. Peperite is a facies
parallel to the intrusion margins. The flow bands result generated by the mingling of molten lava or magma with
from laminar shear affecting the intrusion immediately unconsolidated sediment (Skilling et al., 2002). It is char-
inside the intrusive contact, implying that these intrusions acterized by the presence of intricately intermingled clastic
increased in size by inflation (addition of new magma into or “sedimentary” domains (derived from the unconsoli-
the interior; Goto and McPhie 1998). Well-developed dated sediment) and domains with igneous textures
columnar joints are common in syn-volcanic intrusions of (derived from the lava or magma) (Figure 19.9(C)). The
all compositions (e.g., Stewart and McPhie 2003; Goto and igneous domains may be dominant and contain clasts of
McPhie 1998; Figure 19.8(B)). Column axes are perpen- sediment, or the sedimentary domains may be dominant
dicular to the intrusive contacts, reflecting the close coin- and contain igneous clasts. In blocky peperite, the igneous
cidence of isothermal surfaces and contact surfaces for clasts are angular and equant, while in fluidal peperite, the
syn-volcanic intrusions. Column diameters increase sys- igneous clasts are fluidally shaped (Busby-Spera and White
tematically from the margins to the interior, reflecting the 1987). Peperite is most commonly found along the contacts
cooling rate control on size. Pillows may be present in of syn-volcanic intrusions and the bases of lavas that have
basaltic syn-volcanic intrusions. In thick (>5 m) basaltic overridden unconsolidated sediment. The lower contacts of
syn-volcanic intrusions, the groundmass is typically crys- these intrusions and lavas can be very similar, and hence are
talline, except for a narrow (mm) glassy zone at the con- not useful for distinguishing intrusions from lavas. The
tacts, and increases in grain size inwards; the innermost upper contacts are far more informative and the presence of
portions display a doleritic texture. peperite is taken as a reliable basis for distinguishing
374 PART | III Effusive Volcanism

(A)
A

200 m

(B)

columnar
joints

flow bands

(C)

basalt

mudstone

FIGURE 19.9 A) Kalogeros dacitic cryptodome, Milos Greece. The cryptodome has intruded a submarine felsic volcanic succession. (B) Large-scale
flow bands and columnar joints in the marginal zone of the Momo-Iwa dacitic cryptodome, Japan. (C) Small basaltic intrusion and basalt-mudstone
peperite; Merimbula, Australia.
Chapter | 19 Submarine Lavas and Hyaloclastite 375

syn-volcanic intrusions from lavas. However, upper con- Resing, J.A., Rubin, K.H., Embley, R.W., Lupton, J.E., Baker, E.T.,
tacts may also be sharp and marked only by the local Dziak, R.P., Baumberger, T., Lilley, M.D., Huber, J.A., Shank, T.M.,
induration of the adjacent host sediment. Cryptodomes and Butterfield, D.A., Clague, D.A., Keller, N.S., Merle, S.G., Buck, N.J.,
other felsic intrusions in some cases include marginal do- Michael, P.J., Soule, A., Caress, D.W., Walker, S.L., Davis, R.,
Cowen, J.P., Reysenbach, A.-L., Thomas, H., 2011. Active submarine
mains of glassy monomictic breccia that shows jigsaw-fit
eruption of boninite in the Northeastern Lau Basin. Nature Geosci. 4,
texture. This breccia passes outward into monomictic
799e806.
breccia in which clasts are separated by the narrow seams Reynolds, M.A., Best, J.G., Johnson, R.W., 1980. 1953e1957 eruption
of the host sediment. This texture implies that the magma in of Tuluman volcano: Rhyolitic volcanic activity in the northern
contact with the wet sediment was fragmented by Bismarck Sea. Papua New Guinea Geol. Surv. Mem. 7, 44.
quenching during intrusion, forming intrusive hyaloclastite. Rubin, K., Soule, S.A., Chadwick, W., Fornari, D., Clague, D.,
Intrusive hyaloclastite can be considered a variety of Embley, R., Baker, E., Perfit, M., Caress, D., Dziak, R., 2012. Vol-
blocky peperite. canic eruptions in the deep sea. Oceanography 25, 142e157.
Schipper, C., White, J., 2010. No depth limit to hydrovolcanic limu o
Pele: analysis of limu from Lo‘ihi Seamount, Hawai‘i. Bull.
Volcanol. 72, 149e164.
FURTHER READING
Searle, R.C., Murton, B.J., Achenbach, K., LeBas, T., Tivey, M., Yeo, I.,
Allen, S.R., Fiske, R.S., Tamura, Y., 2010. Effects of water depth on Cormier, M.H., Carlut, J., Ferreira, P., Mallows, C., Morris, K.,
pumice formation in submarine domes at Sumisu, Izu-Bonin arc, Schroth, N., van Calsteren, P., Waters, C., 2010. Structure and
Western Pacific. Geology 38, 391e394. development of an axial volcanic ridge: Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 45 N.
Busby-Spera, C.J., White, J.D.L., 1987. Variation in peperite textures Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 299, 228e241.
associated with differing host-sediment properties. Bull. Volcanol. 49, Skilling, I., White, J.D.L., McPhie, J., 2002. Peperites: processes
765e775. and products of magma-sediment mingling. Elsevier, Amsterdam,
Chadwick, W.W., 2003. Quantitative constraints on the growth of sub- 289 pp.
marine lava pillars from a monitoring instrument that was caught in a Soule, S.A., Fornari, D.J., Perfit, M.R., Tivey, M.A., Ridley, W.I.,
lava flow. J. Geophys. Res. 108, 2534. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/ Schouten, H., 2005. Channelized lava flows at the east pacific rise
2003jb002422. crest 9e10 N: the importance of off-axis lava transport in developing
Einsele, G., 1985. Basaltic sill-sediment complexes in young spreading the architecture of young oceanic crust. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst.
centres e genesis and significance. Geology 13, 249e252. 6, Q08005.
Kano, K., 2003. Subaqueous pumice eruptions and their products: a Stewart, A.L., McPhie, J., 2003. Internal structure and emplacement of an
review. AGU Geoph. Monog. 140, 213e229. upper Pliocene dacite cryptodome, Milos Island, Greece. J. Volcanol.
Goto, Y., McPhie, J., 1998. Endogenous growth of a Miocene submarine Geotherm. Res. 124, 129e148.
dacite cryptodome, Rebun Island, Hokkaido, Japan. J. Volcanol. Tominaga, M., Umino, S., 2010. Lava deposition history in ODP Hole
Geotherm. Res. 84, 273e286. 1256D: insights from log-based volcanostratigraphy - Tominaga -
Gregg, T.K.P., Fornari, D.J., 1998. Long submarine lava flows: observa- 2010. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 11, Q05003.
tions and results from numerical modeling. J. Geophys. Res. 103, Waters, J.C., Wallace, D., 1992. Volcanology and sedimentology of the
27517e27531. host succession to the Hellyer and Que River VHMS deposits,
Paulick, H., McPhie, J., 1999. Facies architecture of the felsic lava- Northwestern Tasmania. Econ. Geol. 87, 650e666.
dominated host sequence to the Thalanga massive sulfide deposit, Yamagishi, H., 1987. Studies on the Neogene subaqueous lavas and
Lower Ordovician, Northern Queensland. Austral. J. Earth Sci. 46, hyaloclastites in Southwest Hokkaido. Geol. Surv. Hokkaido Rep. 59,
391e405. 55e101.