Interpretion of Transition between Explosive and Effusive Eruptions from Microlite Textural Analyses in the Albong Lava Dome, Ulleung Island, Korea

Transition between explosive and effusive eruption in Ulleung Island is observed in the Nan Scoria Deposits and Albong Trachyandesite (lava dome) origined by dome-building eruption and may be related to factors such as magma influx, ascent rate and degassing. However, the interpretation of them has not been resolved yet because the interaction between these factors is not complex but also the resulting behaviour during eruption is unpredictable. This paper focuses on the explosive and effusive activity perceived during building the Albong lava dome in Nari caldera. Samples were collected along with time from the scoria deposits and lava dome, linked to eruption stage and style of activity. Textures of groundmass feldspar microlites from these samples are quantitatively analyzed, including measurements of areal number density, mean microlite size, crystal aspect ratio, groundmass crystallinity and crystal size. The microlite textures show that shallow pre- and syn-eruptive magmatic processes acted to govern the changing behaviour during the eruption. Transition between explosive and effusive eruption was driven by the dynamics of magma ascent in the conduit, with degassing and crystallisation acting via feedback mechanisms, resulting in a cycle of effusive and explosive eruption.