How to cite: Fernandez-Turiel J. L., Perez-Torrado F. J., Rodriguez-Gonzalez A., Ratto N., Rejas M., Lobo A., 2020. The 4.2 ka cal BP major eruption of Cerro Blanco, Central Andes. EGU General Assembly 2020, 4-8 May, Vienna, Austria. EGU2020-5038. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-5038. ICTJA EGU2020-5038 QUECA ¹ Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera, ICTJA, CSIC, Barcelona, Spain ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected]) 2 Instituto de Estudios Ambientales y Recursos Naturales (i–UNAT), Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain ([email protected], [email protected]) 3 Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de las Culturas (UBA-CONICET), Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Buenos Aires, Argentina ([email protected]) J.L. Fernandez-Turiel 1 , F.J. Perez-Torrado 2 , A. Rodriguez-Gonzalez 2 , N. Ratto 3 , M. Rejas 1 , A. Lobo 1 The 4.2 ka cal BP major eruption of Cerro Blanco, Central Andes Introduction BdF CB CdP ca. 7820 AP ca. 4200 a cal AP ca. 1700 a cal BP (?) The major eruption of the Cerro Blanco Volca- nic Complex (CBVC), in the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes, NW Argentina, dated at 4410–4150 a cal BP, is the most important of the three major Holoce- ne felsic eruptive events identified in the sou- thern Puna (Fernan- dez-Turiel et al., 2019). 500 0 km 30º 20º S 70º 60º W Sources: Esri, USGS, NOAA Cueros de Purulla Nevado de Tres Cruces Cerro Blanco Volcanic Complex La Paz Altiplano-Puna plateau Santiago Buenos Aires Central Volcanic Zone CVZ NVZ SVZ AVZ ARGENTINA a b a 0 50 km 27º 26º S 68º 67º 66º 65º 64º W Catamarca Tucumán Santiago del Estero Salta CdP CBVC NTC La Rioja Tafí del Valle Cafayate Tolombón Santa María Calchaquí Valleys Bolsón de Fiambalá El Peñón Aguilares Termas de Río Hondo Antofagasta de la Sierra Las Papas Fiambalá San Miguel de Tucumán Santiago del Estero CHILE Southern Puna ARGENTINA Bolsón de Fiambalá sequence Eruptive center Cerro Blanco sequence Cueros de Purulla sequence b CB 3 4 CB 1 CB 3 3 CB 3 1 CB 3 2 b Source: Esri, DeLorme, USGS, NPS; Source: Esri, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar, Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, AeroGRID, IGN, and the GIS User Community 0 5 km N ENC RC CBC PSBC CB 3 2 CB 1 CB 3 1 CB 3 3 CB 3 4 CB 2 3 CB 2 2 26°50' 26°45' S 67°50' 67°45' 67°40' W a (a) Holocene volcanic centres in the Andean Central Volcanic Zone (data from Global Volcanism Program); NVZ, Northern Volcanic Zone; CVZ, Central Volcanic Zone; SVZ, Southern Vol- canic Zone; and AVZ, Austral Volcanic Zone. (b) Studied sec- tions and eruptive centres (CdP, Cueros de Purulla; CBVC, Cerro Blanco Volcanic Complex; NTC, Nevado Tres Cruces). (a) Cerro Blanco Volcanic Complex showing El Niño Caldera (ENC), Pie de San Buenaventura Caldera (PSBC), Robledo Caldera (RC), and Cerro Blanco Cal- dera (CBC); (b) stratigraphic units in the Cerro Blanco Volcanic Complex. Cerro Blanco Caldera - 5 km diameter CdP CB BdF Results Stratigraphic summary Sequence Unit Sub- unit Lithofacies and interpretation Mineralogy Bolsón de Fiambalá BdF1 Alternating layers of moderate-poorly sorted, dacitic pumice lapilli and ash. Plinian fall deposit. glass >> plagioclase, biotite, amphiboles, quartz >> magnetite, ilmenite, apatite, titanite Cerro Blanco CB3 (postcaldera) 4 Alternating layers, 3-30 cm thick, of siliceous sinter. Deposits of hot springs. amorphous silica 3 Poorly defined decimetric-scale stratified deposits, poorly to very poorly sorted, with decimetric angular rhyolitic blocks in rhyolitic lapilli and coarse ash matrix deposits. Block-and-ash deposits. glass >> feldspars, quartz, biotite, magnetite, ilmemite >> apatite, allanite- epidote, zircon 2 Poorly to well–defined layers, 3-30 cm thick, white, rhyolitic lapilli and ash deposits. Fallout and phreatomagmatic deposits. 1 Crystal poor, very vesicular, rhyolite lava domes. CB2 (syncaldera) 3 Unstratified, matrix-supported, moderate to poorly sorted rhyolitic ignimbrite with clasts dominated by coarse pumice lapilli. Pyroclastic density current (PDC) deposits. glass >> feldspars, quartz, biotite, magnetite, ilmenite > clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, amphiboles > allanite- epidote, muscovite, titanite, zircon 2 Unstratified rhyolitic ash. Plinian fall deposit. 1 Alternating layers, 1-3 cm thick, some of lapilli and some of ash. Rhyolitic Plinian fall deposit. CB1 (precaldera) Poorly stratified lithic-rich breccia. Block-and-ash deposit. glass >> feldspars, quartz, biotite, magnetite, ilmenite Cueros de Purulla CdP2 1,2 Unstratified, matrix-supported, moderate to poorly sorted ignimbrite with clasts dominated by coarse pumice lapilli in CdP21 and lithic-rich CdP22. Pyroclastic density current (PDC) deposits. glass >> feldspars, quartz, biotite, magnetite, ilmenite > apatite, allanite- epidote, muscovite, titanite, zircon CdP1 Alternating layers, 1-10 cm thick, some of lapilli and some of ash. Rhyolitic Plinian fall deposit. glass >> feldspars, quartz, biotite, magnetite, ilmenite > amphiboles, clinopyroxene > apatite, allanite-epidote, muscovite, titanite, zircon CB 2 3 CB 2 3 CB 2 3 CB 2 3 b 4410-4150 a cal BP 4440-4240 a cal BP Ignimbrites of Cerro Blanco CB 2 3 (≈15 km 3 ) CB 2 2 0 1 2 m CB 2 2 reworked CB 2 1 CB 2 2 CB 2 1 CB 2 2 CB 2 1 CB 2 2 CB 2 1 CB 2 2 CB 2 1 CB 2 2 CB 2 1 4880-4780 a cal BP CB 2 2 reworked 0 5 10 cm 0 0.5 1.0 m 0 25 50 cm 155 km 169 km 204 km 204 km 208 km 208 km 200 km 200 km 370 km Fig. 12d 11.4 m - CB114 34 km 23.6 m - CB116 27 km - 12.5 m CB118 22 km CB01 11 km CB37 155 km CB38 155 km CB39 164 km CB40 169 km CB41 172 km CB47 196 km CB46 200 km CB50 200 km CB44 204 km CB45 208 km CB53 338 km CB54 370 km 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 m Not to scale fall deposits east of Cerro Blanco PDC deposits south of Cerro Blanco vent CB54 370 km topsoil - light brown silt to sand, or stony CB 2 2 unstratified ash CB 2 1 alternating layers of lapilli and ash alluvial deposits colluvial deposits dating sample section number and distance to vent peat and silt lacustrine deposits loess deposits palaeosol CB 2 3 ignimbrite Plinean fall deposits CB 1-2 3 (≈170 km 3 ) Bimodal particle size par�culate cored cluster core par�cle shell par�cle 20 μm Particle size bimodality is interpreted as evidence of particle aggre- gation in the eruptive plume, forming cored ash clusters that typica- lly break on impact with the ground. The resulting fallout deposit is made up of core particles of hundreds of microns in size and shell particles of tens of microns in diameter that covered the former. SEM image of distal thin-bedded ash (CB 2 1 sub-unit) Geochemistry Two different composi- tions of plagioclases, bio- tite, and Fe–Ti oxides ob- served in the CB 2 syn–cal- dera sub–units indicate mixing of two magma batches during the erup- tion. Isopach maps 50 100 0 km 0.10 0.10 0.20 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.80 0.80 1 1 Antofagasta de la Sierra Cafayate Tafí del Valle Fiambalá Santiago del Estero 0.50 0.30 0.30 100 0.34 0.20 0.40 0.57 0.32 0.35 1 1 0.60 0.60 1.50 2.38 0.50 0.15 0.40 0.08 1.82 0.60 0.20 0.68 Formosa Salta Jujuy Chaco Misiones Corrientes Entre Ríos Santa Fe Córdoba San Luis Mendoza San Juan La Rioja Santiago del Estero Catamarca Tucumán Paraguay Paraguay Brazil Chile Uruguay Bolivia Laguna Mar Chiquita 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.80 1 0.80 1 0 100 200 km Sources: Esri, USGS, NOAA 30º S 25º 65º 60º W 55º W b Argentina Atlantic Ocean Brazil Chile Paraguay Uruguay Bolivia Pacific Ocean a b sqrt (area) (km) thickness (m) a b c Isopach maps (m) for the CB 1-2 fall deposits of CBVC: (a) showing up to the inferred area of 0.10 m isopach, and (b) in the sampled area indicating the measured thickness. (c) Semi–log plot of thic- kness vs. (area) 1/2 shows the best fit model (Wei- bull) for isopach adjust- ment. Eruption modelling p (deposition > 1 kg/m 2 11,000 daily eruptive events (~30 years of wind data) Modelled with Tephra2 Plume height 27,000 m Secondary thickening We hypothesized that secondary thickening is related to the effect of the topographically induced turbu- lences in the disaggregation, e.g., the breaking of lee waves, genera- ted by winds passing over elevated topography beneath the eruption plume, and to a minor effect of ups- lope moisture transport by easterly atmospheric flow. CBVC, Cerro Blanco Volcanic Complex, CdP, Cueros de Purulla, NTC, Nevado Tres Cruces. Conclusions ● These results change the paradigm of Holo- cene volcanism of southern Puna in the Cen- tral Volcanic Zone of the Andes (CVZ). ● CBVC generated the largest documented eruption during the past five millennia in the CVZ and around the world. ● The 4.2 cal ka Cerro Blanco eruption of mag- nitude 7.0 erupted ~170 km 3 tephra over ~500,000 km 2 , and ~15 km 3 ignimbrites. ● The ash deposits of this eruption are exten- sive regional chronostratigraphic markers in South America, and the cryptotephra for the South Hemisphere. ● Further interdisciplinary research should be performed to analyse impacts in local environ- ments and local communities. DRE volume from VOGRIPA-LAMEVE, except for Toba (Costa et al., 2014) and Cerro Blanco References Fernandez–Turiel, J.L., Perez–Torrado F.J., Rodriguez–Gonzalez A., Saavedra J., Carracedo J.C., Rejas M., Lobo A., Osterrieth M., Carrizo J.I., Esteban G., Gallardo J., Ratto N., 2019. The large eruption 4.2 ka cal BP in Cerro Blanco, Central Vol- canic Zone, Andes: Insights to the Holocene eruptive deposits in the southern Puna and adjacent regions. Estudios Geologicos, 75, e088. http://estudios- geol.revistas.csic.es/index.php/estudiosgeol/article/view/982/1200 Costa A., Smith V.C., Macedonio G., Matthews N.E., 2014. The magnitude and impact of the Youngest Toba Tuff super-eruption. Frontiers in Earth Science, 2. Acknowledgements Financial support was provided by the ASH and QUECA Projects (MINECO, CGL2008–00099 and CGL2011–23307). We acknowledge the assistance in the analytical work of labGEOTOP Geochemistry Laboratory (infrastructure co–funded by ERDF–EU Ref. CSIC08–4E–001) and DRX Laboratory (infrastructure co–funded by ERDF–EU Ref. CSIC10–4E–141) (J. Ibañez, J. Elvira and S. Alvarez) of ICTJA-CSIC, and EPMA and SEM Laboratories of CCiTUB (X. Llovet and J. Garcia Veigas), and J. Cortés in communication.