Skip to main content
Log in

Evidence for lahar-triggering mechanisms in complex stratigraphic sequences: the post-twelfth century eruptive activity of Cotopaxi Volcano, Ecuador

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Bulletin of Volcanology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Cotopaxi volcano is situated in the Eastern Cordillera of the Ecuadorian Andes and consists of a symmetric volcanic cone that reaches an altitude of 5,897 m above sea level; it is capped over its upper 1,000 m by a permanent glacier. The volcano has erupted frequently in the past few centuries and, according to the archival records, has produced dozens of lahars by catastrophic snow and ice melting during eruptions. In this work, we present a detailed map and a stratigraphic study of the lahar deposits of the past 800 years in two different topographic settings. A thorough knowledge of the tephrostratigraphy of the explosive activity over the same time period was a first-order pre-requisite for the complete reconstruction and dating of lahar activity and also allowed us to precisely link lahar units to eruptive phases of individual eruptions. Results indicate that, during the thirteenth to seventeenth centuries, high-intensity eruptions (Plinian events or blast-like explosions) produced large debris flows that transported meter-sized boulders. A subsequent period of activity that started in 1742 was characterized by several lahar-generating eruptive episodes that were smaller in scale but with significant variability in size (the 1877 being the smallest and most recent). Analysis of events occurring in the eighteenth century suggests that eruption style affects the volume and energy of the resulting lahars, with different pyroclastic flow types causing different mechanisms of water release from the summit glacier. Lahars produced during this time period were triggered by: (1) dilute pumice and ash-rich radially distributed density currents and (2) column collapse-related radially distributed scoria and lithic-rich pyroclastic-flows. The former produced lahar deposits that are matrix-rich, block-poor, and valley-confined, while the high erosive capacity of the latter produced lahars that are block-rich, highly energetic, and widespread. The youngest (1853 and 1877) lahars were triggered by (3) confined scoria-flow lobes that had less capacity to scour and melt the glacier; resulting flows had lower energy and smaller volumes than lahars produced by eighteenth-century eruptions. We conclude that the dynamics of pyroclastic–density–current can exert a major control on the size and destructive capacity of lahar at ice-capped volcanoes. Moreover, the total extent of the glacier at the moment of eruption, which is commonly considered to exert a major control on lahar formation, may actually be a second-order factor compared with the way in which the eruptive products interact with the glacier.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bacon CR (1983) Eruptive history of Mount Mazama and Crater Lake Caldera, Cascade Range, U.S.A. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 18:57–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barberi F, Caruso P, Macedonio G, Pareschi MT, Rosi M (1992) Reconstruction and numerical simulation of the lahar of the 1877 eruption of Cotopaxi volcano (Ecuador). Acta Vulcanologica 2:35–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Barberi F, Coltelli M, Frullani A, Rosi M, Almeida E (1995) Chronology and dispersal characterisitics of recently (last 5000 years) erupted tephra of Cotopaxi (Ecuador): implications for long-term eruptive forecasting. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 69:217–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bollschweiler M, Stoffel M (2010) Tree rings and debris flows: recent developments, future directions. Prog Phys Geogr 34:625–645

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bornas MA, Tungol N, Maximo RPR, Paladio-Melosantos ML, Mirabueno HT, Javier DV, Corpuz EG, Dela Cruz EG, Ramos AF, Marilla JD, Villacorte EU (2003) Caldera-rim breach and lahar from Mt. Pinatubo, Philippines: natural breaching and resulting lahar. Proceedings, IUGG 2003 Congress, Sapporo, Japan:A558

  • Canuti P, Casagli N, Catani F, Falorni G (2002) Modeling of the Guagua Pichincha volcano (Ecuador) lahars. Phys Chem Earth 27:1587–1599

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Capra L, Poblete ML, Alvarado R (2004) The 1997 and 2001 lahars of Popocatépetl volcano (Central Mexico): textural and sedimentological constraints on their origin and hazards. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 131:351–369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carrivick JL, Manville V, Cronin SJ (2008) A fluid dynamics approach to modelling the 18th March 2007 lahar at Mt. Ruapehu, New Zealand. Bull Volcanol 71:153–169. doi:10.1007/s00445-008-0213-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crandell DR (1971) Postglacial lahars from Mount Rainier Volcano, USGS Professional Paper 677

  • Crandell DR (1987) Deposits of pre-1980 pyroclastic flows and lahars from Mount St. Helens Volcano, Washington. USGS Professional Paper 1444, p 91

  • Crandell DR, Mullineaux D (1978) Potential hazards from future eruptions of Mount St. Helens volcano, Washington. USGS Bulletins 1383-C, p 26

  • Cronin SJ, Neall VE (1997) A late Quaternary stratigraphic framework for the northeastern Ruapehu and eastern Tongariro ring plains, New Zealand. N Z J Geol Geoph 40(2):185–197. doi:10.1080/00288306.1997.9514752

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cronin SJ, Neall VE, Lecointre JA, Palmer AS (1997) Changes in Whangaehu River lahar characteristics during the 1995 eruption sequence, Ruapehu volcano, New Zealand. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 76:47–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darnell AR, Barclay J, Herd RA, Phillips JC, Lovett A, Cole P (2012) Geographical information system approaches for hazard mapping of dilute lahars on Montserrat, West Indies. Bull Volcanol 74:1337–1353

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davila N, Capra L, Gavilanes-Ruiz JC, Varley N, Norini NG, Gómez-Vazquez A (2007) Recent lahars at Volcán de Colima (Mexico): drainage variation and spectral classification. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 165:127–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donoghue SL, Neall VE (2001) Late Quaternary constructional history of the southeastern Ruapehu ring plain, New Zealand. N Z J Geol Geoph 44(3):439–466. doi:10.1080/00288306.2001.9514949

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fairchild LH (1987) The importance of lahar initiation processes. Geol Soc Am Rev Eng Geol 7:51–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Folk RL, Ward WC (1957) Brazos River bar: a study in the significance of grain size parameters. J Sediment Petrol 27:3–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graettinger AH, Manville V, Briggs RM (2010) Depositional record of historic lahars in the Whangaehu Valley, Ruapehu, New Zealand: implications for trigger mechanisms, flow dynamics, and lahar hazards. Bull Volcanol 72:279–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall M (1992) The 1985 Nevado del Ruiz eruption—scientific, social, and governmental response and interaction before the event. In: McCall G, Laming D, Scott S (eds) Geohazards—natural and man-made:43–52

  • Hall M, Mothes P (2008) The rhyolitic–andesitic eruptive history of Cotopaxi volcano, Ecuador. Bull Volcanol 70:675–702

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hantke G, Parodi I (1966) Colombia, Ecuador and Peru: catalogue of active volcanoes of the world and Solfatara Fields, Rome. IAVCEI 19:1–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoblitt RP, Walder JS, Driedger CL, Scott KM, Pringle PT, Vallance JW (1998) Volcano hazards from Mount Rainier, Washington, Revised 1998. USGS Open-File Report 98–428

  • Hodgson KA, Lecointre J, Neall VE (2007) Onetapu formation: the last 2000 yr of laharic activity at Ruapehu volcano, New Zealand. N Z J Geol Geophys 50(2):81–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huggel C, Schneider D, Miranda PJ, Delgado Granados H, Kääb A (2008) Evaluation of ASTER and SRTM DEM data for lahar modeling: a case study on lahars from Popocatépetl Volcano, Mexico. J Volc Geoth Res 170:99–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inman DL (1952) Measures for describing the size distribution of sediments. J Sediment Petrol 22:125–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Keigler R, Thouret JC, Hodgson KA, Neall VE, Lecointre JA, Procter JN, Cronin SJ (2011) The Whangaehu Formation: debris-avalanche and lahar deposits from ancestral Ruapehu volcano, New Zealand. Geomorphology 133:57–79

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kieffer SW, Sturtevant B (1988) Erosional furrows formed during the lateral blast at Mount St. Helens, 18 May 1980. Geophys Res Lett 93:14793–14816

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kilgour G, Manville V, Della Pasqua F, Reyes AG, Graettinger AH, Hodgson KA, Jolly AD (2010) The 25 September 2007 eruption of Mt. Ruapehu, New Zealand: directed ballistics, Surtseyan jets, and ice-slurry lahars. J Volc Geoth Res 191:1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lavigne F, Thouret JC, Voight B, Suwa H, Sumaryono A (2000) Lahars at Merapi volcano, Central Java: an overview. Bull Volcanol 100(1–4):42–456

    Google Scholar 

  • Lecointre JA, Neall VE, Palmer AS (1998) Quaternary lahar stratigraphy of the western Ruapehu ring plain, New Zealand. N Z J Geol Geoph 41(3):225–245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lecointre J, Hodgson KA, Neall VE, Cronin SJ (2004) Lahar-triggering mechanisms and hazard at Ruapehu volcano, New Zealand. Nat Hazard 31:85–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macías JL, Capra L, Arce JL, Espíndola JM, García-Palomo A, Sheridan MF (2008) Hazards map of El Chichón volcano, Chiapas, México: constraints posed by eruptive history and computer simulations. Special issue of JVGR on special JVGR issue on “25 Anniversary of the El Chichón eruption”

  • Major JJ, Newhall CG (1989) Snow and ice perturbation during historical volcanic eruptions and the formation of lahars and floods. Bull Volcanol 52:1–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manville V (2010) An overview of break-out floods from intracaldera lakes. Glob Planet Chang 70:14–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manville V, Cronin SJ (2007) Break-out lahar from New Zealand’s Crater Lake. EOS Trans AGU 88:441–442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Massey C, Manville V, Hancox GT, Keys HJR, Lawrence C, McSaveney MJ (2010) Out-burst flood (lahar) triggered by retrogressive landsliding, 18 March 2007 at Mt. Ruapehu, New Zealand—a successful early warning. Landslides 7:303–315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mothes P (2006) Cotopaxi Volcano and the surrounding valleys: intra-meeting field trip guide: cities on volcanoes 4, 23–27 January 2006 Quito (Ecuador)

  • Mothes PA, Hall ML, Janda RJ (1998) The enormous Chillos Valley Lahar: an ash-flow-generated debris-flow from Cotopaxi Volcano, Ecuador. Bull Volcanol 59:233–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mothes P, Hall ML, Andrade D, Samaniego P, Pierson TC, Gorki Ruiz A, Yepes H (2004) Character, stratigraphy and magnitude of historical lahars of Cotopaxi volcano (Ecuador). Acta Vulcanologica 16:85–108

    Google Scholar 

  • Mullineaux DR (1974) Pumice and other pyroclastic deposits in Mount Rainier National Park. USGS Bulletin1326, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Mullineaux DR (1986) Summary of the pre-1980 tephra-fall deposits erupted from Mount St. Helens, Washington State, U.S.A. Bull Volcanol 48:17–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mullineaux DR (1996) Pre-1980 tephra-fall deposits erupted from Mount St. Helens, Washington. USGS Professional Paper 1563, p 99

  • Mullineaux DR, Crandell DR (1962) Recent lahars from Mount St. Helens, Washington. Geol Soc Am Bull 73:855–870

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muñoz-Salinas E, Castillo-Rodríguez M, Manea V, Manea M, Palacios D (2009) Lahar flow simulations using LAHARZ program: application for the Popocatépetl volcano, Mexico. J Volc Geother Res 182:13–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newhall CG, Punongbayan RS (1996) Fire and mud—eruptions and lahars of Mount Pinatubo. Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology and the University of Washington Press, Philippines, p 1126

    Google Scholar 

  • Pareschi MT, Aguilera E, Rosi M, Zanchetta G (2004) Risk from lahars in the northern valleys of Cotopaxi Volcano (Ecuador). Nat Hazard 33:161–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pierson TC (1985) Initiation and flow behavior of the 1980 Pine Creek and Muddy River lahars, Mount St. Helens, Washington. Geol Soc A Bull 8:1056–1069

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pierson TC (1995) Flow characteristics of large eruption-triggered debris flows at snow-clad volcanoes: constraints for debris-flow models. J Volcanol Geoth Res 66:283–294. doi:10.1016/0377-0273(94)00070-W

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pierson TC (2007) Dating young geomorphic surfaces using age of colonizing Douglas fir in southwestern Washington and northwestern Oregon, USA. Earth Surf Process Landforms 32:811–831

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pierson TC, Janda RJ, Thouret J-C, Borrero CA (1990) Perturbation and melting of snow and ice by the 13 November 1985 eruption of Nevado del Ruiz, Colombia, and consequent mobilization, flow and deposition of lahars. J Volcanol Geoth Res 41:17–66. doi:10.1016/0377-0273(90)90082-Q

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pistolesi M, Rosi M, Cioni R, Cashman KV, Rossotti A, Aguilera E (2011) Physical volcanology of the post-XII century activity at Cotopaxi Volcano, Ecuador: behavior of an andesitic central volcano. Geol Soc Am Bull 123:1193–1215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Procter JN, Cronin SJ, Fuller IC, Sheridan M, Neall VE, Keys H (2010) Lahar hazard assessment using Titan2D for an alluvial fan with rapidly changing geomorphology: Whangaehu River, Mt. Ruapehu. Geomorphology 116:162–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts MA (2003) Determining lahar stratigraphy using relative dating techniques; examples from the south flank of Mount Shasta, CA. Abstr Programs - Geol Soc Am 35:421–422

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodolfo K (1995) Pinatubo and the politics of lahar—eruption and aftermath, 1991. University of the Philippines Press, Philippines, p 340

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodolfo K, Umbal J, Alonso R, Remotigue M, Paladio M, Salvador J, Evangelista D, Miller Y (1996) Two years of lahars on the western flank of Mount Pinatubo, Philippines: initiation, flow processes, deposits, and attendant geomorphic and hydraulic changes. In: Newhall C, Punongbayan R (eds) Fire and mud: eruptions and lahars of Mount Pinatubo. Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Quezon City, and University of Washington Press (Seattle) pp 989–1013

  • Rowley PD, Kuntz MA, MacLeod NS (1981) The 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens Washington: pyroclastic-flow deposits. USGS Prof Pap 1250:489–512

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott KM (1985) Lahars and flow transformations at Mount St. Helens, Washington, U.S.A. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Erosion, Debris Flow, and Disaster Prevention, 3–5 Sept Tsukuba, Japan. The Erosion-Control Engineering Society Japan, Tokyo, pp 209–214

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott KM, Vallance JW, Pringle PT (1995) Sedimentology, behavior, and hazards of debris-flows at Mount Rainier. Washington, USGS Professional Paper 1547

    Google Scholar 

  • Sklenář P, Kovář P, Palice Z, Stančík D, Soldán Z (2010) Primary succession of high-altitude Andean vegetation on lahars of Volcán Cotopaxi, Ecuador. Phytocoenologia 40(14):15–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sodiro L (1877) Relación Sobre la Erupción del Cotopaxi Acaecida el Día 26 de Junio de 1877. Imprenta Nacional (Quito) p 40

  • Sparks RSJ, Gardeweg MC, Calder ES, Matthews SJ (1997) Erosion by pyroclastic-flows on Lascar Volcano, Chile. Bull Volcanol 58:557–565

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suzuki-Kamata K (1988) The ground layer of the Ata pyroclastic-flow deposit, southwestern Japan: evidence for capture of lithic fragments. Bull Volc 50:119–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanguy JC, Ribière C, Scarth A, Tjetjep WS (1998) Victims from volcanic eruptions: a revised database. Bull Volcanol 60:137–144. doi:10.1007/s004450050222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vallance JW (2000) Lahars. In: Sigurdsson H, Houghton B, McNutt SR, Rymer H, Stix J (eds) Encyclopedia of volcanoes. Academic Press, New York, pp 601–616

    Google Scholar 

  • Vallance JW, Scott KM (1997) The Osceola Mudflow from Mount Rainier: sedimentology and hazard implications of a huge clay-rich debris flow. Geol Soc Am Bull 109:143–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Voight B (1990) The 1985 Nevado del Ruiz volcano catastrophe: anatomy and retrospection. J Volcanol Geoth Res 42:151–188. doi:10.1016/0377-0273(90)90075-Q

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walder JS (1992) Movement of pyroclastic-flows over “snow”: an experimental and theoretical study. Eos Trans Am Geophys Union 73:612

    Google Scholar 

  • Walder JS (2000a) Pyroclast/snow interactions and thermally driven slurry formation. Part 1: theory for monodisperse grain beds. Bull Volcanol 62:105–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walder JS (2000b) Pyroclast/snow interactions and thermally driven slurry formation. Part 2: experiments and theoretical extension to polydisperse tephra. Bull Volcanol 62:119–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waythomas CF, Miller TP, Begét JE (2000) Record of Late Holocene debris avalanches and lahars at Iliamna Volcano, Alaska. J Volc Geotherm Res 104:97–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolf T (1878) Memoria Sobre el Cotopaxi y su Ultima Erupción Acaecida el 26 de Junio de 1877. Imprenta de El Comercio (Guayaquil) p 48

  • Worni R, Huggel C, Stoffel M, Pulgarín B (2011) Challenges of modeling current very large lahars at Nevado del Huila Volcano, Colombia. Bull Volcanol 74(2):309–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Funding for the research was provided by a PRIN-MIUR (Progetti di Ricerca di Interesse Nazionale–Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca) 2005 grant (scientific principal investigator M. Rosi) and a grant to R. Cioni provided by Regione Sardegna (Italy). K.V. Cashman was funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant (EAR-0510437). The authors would also like to thank the ESPE (Escuela Politécnica del Ejército) for logistical and technical help during the field work. C. Newhall, J. Vallance, and P. Mothes greatly improved an early version of the manuscript. We are also indebted with an anonymous reviewer and with the Associate Editor V. Manville for their fruitful and constructive comments and for the editorial assistance.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marco Pistolesi.

Additional information

Editorial responsibility: V. Manville

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pistolesi, M., Cioni, R., Rosi, M. et al. Evidence for lahar-triggering mechanisms in complex stratigraphic sequences: the post-twelfth century eruptive activity of Cotopaxi Volcano, Ecuador. Bull Volcanol 75, 698 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-013-0698-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-013-0698-1

Keywords

Navigation