The cohesive Naranjo debris-flow deposit (10 km 3):
Mass movement processes on volcanic terrains such as landslides and debris avalanches can cause the obstruction of main drainages producing the formation of temporary dams. A good example of this occurred 18.5 ka ago when the eastern flank of the Nevado de Colima Volcano collapsed producing a debris-avalanche deposit that was previously described as one of the largest in the world. The deposit extended from the volcanic summit as far as the Pacific coast, 120 km away. New stratigraphic, sedimentological, and componentry data suggest that the volcanic collapse of Nevado de Colima resulted in a debris avalanche that traveled 20 km southeast to the Naranjo River. There it crashed against a topographic barrier consisting of Cretaceous limestones (Cerro la Carbonera) and the flow direction was diverted to the south down the Naranjo River channel for another 25 km before the avalanche came to a halt. The obstruction of the drainage produced a temporary dam that stored ca. 1 km3 of water and deposited fluvial and slack-water sediments. Some time after the damming, the accumulated water-sediment load was able to overtop the obstructing material and to release a breakout flow with a calculated initial flow discharge of 3.5 million m3/s. The resulting flood (cohesive debris flow) followed the channel of the Naranjo River and, due to the high erodibility of the channel and introduction of substrate material, the debris flow progressively increased its volume up to 10 km3, six times its initial volume. This study highlights the relevance of evaluating the potential remobilization of debris-avalanche deposits to initiate large magnitude cohesive debris flows. Therefore, the hazard and risk analysis of future potential events of this nature must consider the pre-eruption conditions and the topography surrounding a volcano. 7 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Eruptive history of the Colima volcanic complex (Mexico)
Abstract The evolution of the Colima volcanic complex can be divided into successive periods characterized by different dynamic and magmatic processes: emission of andesitic to dacitic lava flows, acid-ash and pumice-flow deposits, fallback nuees ardentes leading to pyroclastic flows with heterogeneous magma, plinian air-fall deposits, scoriae cones of alkaline and calc-alkaline nature. Four caldera-forming events, resulting either from major ignimbrite outbursts or Mount St. Helens-type eruptions, separate the main stages of development of the complex from the building of an ancient shield volcano (25 × 30 km wide) up to two summit cones, Nevado and Fuego. The oldest caldera, C1 (7–8 km wide), related to the pouring out of dacitic ash flows, marks the transition between two periods of activity in the primitive edifice called Nevado I: the first one, which is at least 0.6 m.y. old, was mainly andesitic and effusive, whereas the second one was characterized by extrusion of domes and related pyroclastic products. A small summit caldera, C2 (3–3.5 km wide), ended the evolution of Nevado I. Two modern volcanoes then began to grow. The building of the Nevado II started about 200,000 y. ago. It settled into the C2 caldera and partially overflowed it. The other volcano, here called Paleofuego, was progressively built on the southern side of the former Nevado I. Some of its flows are 50,000 y. old, but the age of its first outbursts is not known. However, it is younger than Nevado II. These two modern volcanoes had similar evolutions. Each of them was affected by a huge Mount St. Helens-type (or Bezymianny-type) event, 10,000 y. ago for the Paleofuego, and hardly older for the Nevado II. The landslides were responsible for two horseshoe-shaped avalanche calderas, C3 (Nevado) and C4 (Paleofuego), each 4–5 km wide, opening towards the east and the south. In both cases, the activity following these events was highly explosive and produced thick air-fall deposits around the summit craters. The Nevado III, formed by thick andesitic flows, is located close to the southwestern rim of the C3 caldera. It was a small and short-lived cone. Volcan de Fuego, located at the center of the C4 caldera, is nearly 1500 m high. Its activity is characterized by an alternation of long stages of growth by flows and short destructive episodes related to violent outbursts producing pyroclastic flows with heterogeneous magma and plinian air falls. The evolution of the primitive volcano followed a similar pattern leading to formation of C1 and then C2. The analogy between the evolutions of the two modern volcanoes (Nevado II–III; Paleofuego-Fuego) is described. Their vicinity and their contemporaneous growth pose the problem of the existence of a single reservoir, or two independent magmatic chambers, after the evolution of a common structure represented by the primitive volcano.
The Inca Occupation of the South Coast of Peru
like the others, however; it forks into several nearly parallel ravines of which the largest are Huayuri, Rio Grande-Palpa, Ingenio (called Collao in ancient times), Nasca proper (the ancient Caxamarca), Taruga, and Poroma. Due to peculiarities of the local topography, the irrigated areas in Ica and the ravines of Nasca are located inland, at the foot of the mountains, rather than at the mouths of the rivers as is more usual in Peruvian coastal valleys. No sharp natural or cultural boundary separates the valley of Chincha from the valleys of Cafiete (ancient Huarco and Runahuana), Asia, and Mala, the next valleys going up the coast to the northwest. At the other end of the area we are considering, however, there is a sharp break; beyond Yauca the Andean foothills reach out to the sea, natural conditions are quite different, and there are important differences in the archaeological picture as well. The historical sources which mention the south coast are not particularly helpful, except in so far as they provide us with a few dates. To begin with, no chronicler gives an explicit account of the political organization of the south coast at the time it came into contact with the Incas. It can, perhaps, be inferred from Cabello Balboa's statements about common policy toward the Inca invaders that there was some sort of political connection between the valleys of Mala, Cafiete, and Chincha, but the connection need have been no more than a temporary military alliance. Cabello makes no mention at all of Pisco. The valleys of Ica, Nasca, and 125