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Bulletin of Volcanology (2023) 85:39
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-023-01651-2
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Historical explosive activity ofMount Melbourne Volcanic Field
(Antarctica) revealed byenglacial tephra deposits
PaolaDelCarlo1· AlessioDiRoberto1 · GiuseppeRe1· PaulG.Albert2· VictoriaC.Smith3· GaetanoGiudice4·
GrazianoLarocca4· BiancaScateni1,5· AndreaCannata4,6
Received: 28 February 2023 / Accepted: 13 May 2023
© The Author(s) 2023
Abstract
Five tephra layers named BRH1 to 5 were sampled in an ice cliff located on the north-eastern flank of Mount Melbourne
(northern Victoria Land, Antarctica). The texture, componentry, mineralogy, and major and trace element compositions
of glass shards have been used to characterize these layers. These properties suggest that they are primary fall deposits
produced from discrete eruptions that experienced varying degrees of magma/water interaction. The major and trace
element glass shard analyses on single glass shards indicate that Mount Melbourne Volcanic Field is the source of these
tephra layers and the geochemical diversity highlights that the eruptions were fed by compositionally diverse melts that
are interpreted to be from a complex magma system with a mafic melt remobilizing more evolved trachy-andesitic to
trachytic magma pockets. Geochemical compositions, along with textural and mineralogical data, have allowed correlations
between two of the englacial tephra and distal cryptotephra from Mount Melbourne, recovered within a marine sediment
core in the Edisto Inlet (~ 280km northeast of Mount Melbourne), and constrain the age of these englacial tephra layers to
between the third and the fourth century CE. This work provides new evidence of the intense historical explosive activity
of the Mount Melbourne Volcanic Field and better constrains the rates of volcanism in northern Victoria Land. These
data grant new clues on the eruptive dynamics and tephra dispersal, and considerably expand the geochemical (major and
trace elements) dataset available for the Mount Melbourne Volcanic Field. In the future, this will facilitate the precise
identification of tephra layers from this volcanic source and will help define the temporal and spatial correlation between
Antarctic records using tephra layers. Finally, this work also yields new valuable time-stratigraphic marker horizons for
future dating, synchronization, and correlations of different palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic records across large
regions of Antarctica.
Keywords Antarctica· Mount Melbourne Volcanic Field· Explosive eruptions· Englacial tephra· Glass geochemistry·
Historical eruptions
Editorial responsibility: J.L. Smellie
* Alessio Di Roberto
alessio.diroberto@ingv.it
Paola Del Carlo
paola.delcarlo@ingv.it
Giuseppe Re
giuseppe.re@ingv.it
1 Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di
Pisa, Via C. Battisti 53, 56125Pisa, Italy
2 Department ofGeography, Swansea University, Singleton
Park, SwanseaSA28PP, UK
3 Research Laboratory forArchaeology andtheHistory ofArt,
University ofOxford, 1 South Parks Road, OxfordOX13TG,
UK
4 Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio
Etneo, Piazza Roma 2, 95125Catania, Italy
5 Dipartimento di Scienze Della Terra, Università di Pisa,
56126Pisa, Italy
6 Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e
Ambientali, Università di Catania, Corso Italia 57,
Catania95125, Italy
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Introduction
Tephra in Antarctic ice records (ice cores or blue ice) provide
important sources of data for evaluating the history and evo-
lution of Antarctic explosive volcanism. The typical absence
of pyroclastic deposits at proximal locations on the flanks of
the volcanoes, due to high rates of post-depositional erosion
and/or remobilization and also (mainly) the extensive cover
of snow and ice obscuring deposits on the volcanic centres,
limits the reconstruction of past volcanic eruptions, including
their timing, scale, and impact on the environment. This gap
in knowledge can be overcome by the study of tephra and
cryptotephra (not visible, highly disseminated, fine-grained
tephra) at medial to distal sites, which are preserved and
remain unaltered within the snow, transformed into glacial
ice upon burial (Smellie 1999; Harpel etal. 2008; Iverson
etal. 2017). In polar regions, and particularly in Antarctica,
tephrochronological studies in ice cores and blue ice records
have been well developed over recent decades (e.g. Narcisi
etal. 2005; Kurbatov etal. 2006; Curzio etal. 2008; Iver-
son etal. 2014; Wolff etal. 2010; Narcisi etal. 2012; Severi
etal. 2012; Kim etal. 2020; Nardin etal. 2021). Along with
tephra included in marine sediment sequences (Hillenbrand
etal. 2008; Del Carlo etal. 2015; Di Roberto etal. 2019;
2020; 2021a; b; 2023), tephra deposits in englacial sequences
can help improve near-vent eruption records, in terms of both
frequency/chronology of explosive volcanism, and magma
chemical evolution through time, whilst facilitating advance-
ments in dating, correlating, and synchronizing high-resolu-
tion climate and atmospheric composition records through the
Late Quaternary (Narcisi and Petit 2021). In addition, tephro-
chronological correlations between different archives (e.g. ice
and marine records), located at proximal and distal sites from
an eruptive source, are greatly enhanced once a numerical
age is obtained for tephra. Specifically, the correlation of two
tephra layers allows the age-transfer from one site to another
by the simple use of stratigraphy, heightening tephrochronol-
ogy to an age-equivalent dating method (Lowe 2011).
Mount Melbourne is an active volcano in northern
Victoria Land, Antarctica, and future activity on the volcano
would pose a significant tephra fall risk to nearby scientific
stations, e.g. Mario Zucchelli Station (Italian), Jang Bogo
(Korea), Gondwana (Germany), and the new China Antarctic
research base (Fig.1a), as well as to Austral hemisphere air
traffic. Therefore, a good knowledge of the recent volcanic
activity of this volcano is important to better evaluate the
possible volcanic hazards (Geyer 2021).
The earliest investigations on Mount Melbourne began at
the end of the 1960s whereas the first geophysical observa-
tions started in 1988 by Italian National Antarctic Research
Program (PNRA); since then no eruptive activity has been
observed at this volcano. The age of the most recent eruption
is proposed by Lyon (1986) who performed the stable isotope
analysis of two snow profiles sampled on Mount Melbourne
at ca. 2000m of altitude and on the Campbell Glacier obtain-
ing snow accumulation rates of 0.5–2.2m/a. Using these data,
the author derived the age of englacial ash layers outcropping
in an ice cliff at ca. 1200m of altitude on the western slope
of Mount Melbourne and photographed in 1965 by Adam-
son and Cavaney (1967). They roughly estimated the depth
of snow from the surface to the first major ash layer to be
between 29 and 36m and, considering an accumulation rate
of 0.5 ± 0.16m/a, the last major eruption should have occurred
between 1862 and 1922 AD. Although this method has several
limitations (e.g. the lack of direct measurement of the snow
thickness, or the detailed study of snow profile aimed at iden-
tifying possible hiatus or erosion surfaces), it does provide an
estimate of the age of the latest eruptive activity of Mount Mel-
bourne. Unfortunately, the englacial tephra layers described
in Lyon (1986) and Adamson and Cavaney (1967) were never
sampled nor characterized in their textural and geochemical
features because the outcrop did not allow safe sampling.
During the 2017 austral summer, the ICE-VOLC project
(PNRA) facilitated new geological surveys around Mount Mel-
bourne which revealed the occurrence of multiple englacial
volcanic ash layers in an ice cliff located on the northeast flank
of the volcano at ca. 800m of altitude, very close to Baker
Rock location (Gambino etal. 2021; Fig.1). The better acces-
sibility of the outcrop allowed the sampling of tephra and the
measurements of the thickness between the different ash layers.
In this paper, we present data on the texture, mineral
phases, and major and trace element geochemical data per-
formed on single glass shards analyzed via Electron Probe
Microanalysis (EMPA) and Laser Ablation Inductively
Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) of five
englacial tephra layers sampled for the first time from the
north-eastern flank of Mount Melbourne. Geochemical data
indicate that the tephra layers are derived from Mount Mel-
bourne explosive activity. The texture of the particles and
their morphological features were important for clues to the
style of the eruptions and fragmentation mechanisms. In
addition, geochemical fingerprints of englacial tephra have
allowed their correlations and dating with cryptotephra layers
recently found in marine sediments in Edisto Inlet near Cape
Hallett (Di Roberto etal. 2023), highlighting that Mount
Melbourne has been very active during historical times.
Geological setting
Mount Melbourne stands as a 2732-m-high stratovolcano
with a basal diameter of about 21–24km on the coast of
northern Victoria Land, between Wood Bay and Terra
Nova Bay, in Antarctica (Fig.1b). The Mount Melbourne
Bulletin of Volcanology (2023) 85:39
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volcano also includes several parasitic cones and second-
ary vents located on the flank of the main edifice (Smellie
etal. 2023). The main volcano edifice shows a gentle shape
with undissected flanks, apart from a possible slump scar
on the east side (Giordano etal. 2012), and a well-formed
ice-filled crater ca. 700m in diameter that Armienti etal.
(1991) interpreted as a summit caldera. It is largely covered
by snow and ice except for the summit region where rock
outcrops extend downslope on the east side to ca. 1800m.
The Mount Melbourne Volcanic Field (MMVF), together
with The Pleiades, Mount Overlord, Mount Rittmann, and
the Malta Plateau volcanoes, is part of the Melbourne Vol-
canic Province within the McMurdo Volcanic Group (Smel-
lie and Rocchi 2021). A synthesis of MMVF volcanic his-
tory was reported by Giordano etal. (2012) and Smellie
etal. (2023) based on stratigraphic and volcanological stud-
ies, geochemical data, and age determinations. According
to recent updates based on radioisotopic ages, the MMVF
volcanism began in the Late Miocene (c. 12.5Ma for centres
in the north by Tinker Glacier) but developed mainly from
the Pliocene (c. 4Ma; Smellie etal. 2023) particularly after
c. 3 million years ago (Rocchi and Smellie 2021 and refer-
ences therein). The activity can be subdivided into different
evolution stages: (i) the older Cape Washington shield vol-
cano (Late Miocene-Late Pliocene), (ii) the Random Hills
Period (Lower-Middle Pleistocene), (iii) the Shield Nunatak
Period (Middle Pleistocene), and (iv) the Mount Melbourne
Period (Upper Pleistocene-present; Giordano etal. 2012;
Smellie etal. 2023).
The oldest deposit that can be linked directly to an
eruption of the Mount Melbourne stratovolcano, re-dated
as 115ka by Smellie etal. (2023) at Edmonson Point, is
a trachytic ignimbrite. This was emplaced during a large
Plinian eruption and indicates the formation of a crustal
magma chamber during the recent Mount Melbourne stage
(Giordano etal. 2012). Subsequently, the Adelie Penguin
Rookery lava field succession was produced compris-
ing alkali basaltic, hawaiitic, and subordinate benmore-
itic lavas, scoria cones, and spatter cones that are dated at
90.7 ± 19.0ka. (Giordano etal. 2012).
Fig. 1 (a) Map of the volcanoes in northern Victoria Land. The
location of the studied outcrop is labelled with a red star whereas
the location of the marine sediment core TR17-08 in Edisto Inlet
(Di Roberto et al. 2023) and of the deep ice cores at Talos Dome
and Styx glacier are annotated with a green star and blue hexagons,
respectively. Green dots indicate the location of the permanent sci-
entific bases. The red box outlines the area of the topographic map in
(b) that illustrates Mount Melbourne and locations of the BRH sec-
tions. (c) Picture of the studied outcrop where the BRH tephra layers
are exposed, Mount Melbourne in the background
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Evidence of more recent activity, based on tephrostrati-
graphic analysis and 40Ar-39Ar dating of proximal pyroclastic
sequence exposed on the Mount Melbourne summit, indi-
cates there were at least four Strombolian or Vulcanian style
to sub-Plinian/Plinian eruptions during the Late Pleistocene to
Holocene (Del Carlo etal. 2022). The most intense of these
eruptions was a sub-Plinian to Plinian eruption that yielded
an age < 17.8ka (13.5 ± 4.3ka). Furthermore, three trachytic
cryptotephra with glass compositions similar to Mount Mel-
bourne products were found intercalated in marine sediments of
Edisto Inlet, near Cape Hallett (Di Roberto etal. 2023). These
cryptotephra layers were interpreted as derived from historic
explosive eruptions of Mount Melbourne that occurred between
1615cal. years BP and 1677cal. years BP, i.e. between the third
and fourth century CE (Di Roberto etal. 2023).
Presently, the Mount Melbourne volcano is quiescent with
thermal anomalies, including noticeable steaming or fuma-
rolic activity both in the crater and on the north-western side
of the volcano. These emissions of steam and volcanic gas
have produced several ice towers and a complex network of
ice caves, as recently reported after geochemical surveys in
the frame of the ICE-VOLC project (Gambino etal. 2021).
Material andmethods
During the XXXII Italian Antarctic Expedition in 2017, the
area surrounding Mount Melbourne was aerially surveyed
by helicopter flights. A series of dark, sub-horizontal engla-
cial tephra layers were found exposed along a ca. 50-m-high
ice cliff located on the north-eastern flank of the volcano at
about 800m of altitude close to Baker Rock (74.24096 S,
164.72032 E; red star in Fig.1). Five sub-horizontal tephra
layers, named BRH1 to 5 (from the top to the bottom), were
distinguished and sampled by the Italian alpine climbing
guides (Fig.2). Tephra layers are between 10 and 20cm
thick and are each separated by 1.5 to 7.5m of ice (Fig.2).
Each sample is collected the “bulk” of the tephra layer and
represents the whole unit; unfortunately, due to the extreme
sampling conditions, it was not possible to sub-sample dif-
ferent stratigraphic heights within each unit. The tephra
samples were recovered still embedded in the ice, which
was then melted to recover the clastic fraction.
Sample preparation was carried out at laboratories of
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di
Pisa (INGV-Pisa). Samples were washed with deionized
water in an ultrasonic bath to remove impurities, dried at
60°C, mounted with epoxy resin in 1-in. stubs, polished, and
prepared for textural and geochemical analyses. Textures,
components, and mineral assemblages of each tephra were
studied with an optical microscope and a scanning electron
microscope (SEM) Zeiss EVO MA and images of 3D silhou-
ettes and 2D cross-sections have been collected in secondary
(SE) and back-scattered (BSE) electrons mode, respectively.
The major and minor elements glass composition of samples
was determined using a JEOL 8600 wavelength-dispersive
electron microprobe equipped with four spectrometers at
the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History
of Art, the University of Oxford (operating conditions:
15-kV accelerating voltage, 6-nA beam current, and a beam
diameter of 10µm). The JEOL 8600 electron microprobe
was calibrated with a suite of appropriate mineral stand-
ards; peak count times were 30s for all elements except Mn
(40s), Na (12s), Cl (50s), and P (60s). The PAP absorption
correction method was used for quantification. Reference
glasses from the Max Planck Institute (MPI-DING suite;
Jochum etal. 2006) bracketing the possible chemistries
were also analyzed. These included felsic [ATHO-G (rhyo-
lite)], through intermediate [StHs6/80-G (andesite)] to mafic
[GOR132-G (komatiite)] glasses. All glass data have been
normalized to 100% for comparative purposes. Uncertainties
are typically < ± 0.8% RSD for Si; ~ ± 5% for most other
Fig. 2 Picture of the glacier
cliff where BRH tephra layers
are exposed, taken during the
sampling performed by the Ital-
ian alpine guides. On the picture
are annotated the five englacial
tephra and the ice thickness
between them
Bulletin of Volcanology (2023) 85:39
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major elements, except for the low abundance elements, for
instance Ti (~ ± 7%) and Mn (~ ± 30%).
Trace elements analysis of volcanic glass was per-
formed using an Agilent 8900 triple quadrupole ICP-MS
(ICP QQQ) coupled to a Resonetics 193nm ArF excimer
laser-ablation in the Department of Earth Sciences, Royal
Holloway, University of London. Full analytical procedures
used are reported in Tomlinson etal. (2010). Spot sizes 20
and 25mm were used depending on the vesicularity, crystal
content, and ultimately the size of available glass surfaces.
The repetition rate was 5Hz, with a count time of 40s on the
sample, and 40s on the gas blank to allow the subtraction of
the background signal. Blocks of eight or nine glass shards
and one MPI-DING reference glass were bracketed by the
NIST612 glass calibration standard (GeoREM 11/2006). In
addition, MPI-DING reference glasses were used to monitor
analytical accuracy (Jochum etal. 2005). The internal stand-
ard applied was 29Si (determined by the EMPA analysis).
Where individual shards were arranged into a grid formation
across an epoxy mount, they are given a unique row (A, B,
C) and shard number (1, 2, 3). In these instances, the grain-
specific 29Si content was applied as the internal standard.
Where tephra samples were mounted in epoxy mounts with-
out shard mapping, average 29Si contents for the appropriate
compositional groupings within the tephra deposit, deter-
mined based on EMPA analysis, were applied as the inter-
nal standard to the individual glass shards ablated. Internal
standard values applied to individual shard ablations are pro-
vided in the Supplementary Information. LA-ICP-MS data
reduction was performed in Microsoft Excel. Accuracies of
LA-ICP-MS analyses of MPI-DING glass standards ATHO-
G and StHs6/80-G were typically < 5%. Full glass datasets
and MPI-DING standard glass analyses are provided in Sup-
plemental Information.
Results
Texture andcomponents oftephra layers
BRH samples are similar in terms of components, compris-
ing a range of clasts with different textures ranging from
dense to highly vesicular and glassy to microlite-rich (Figs.3
and 4a–e). The morphology of juvenile clasts ranges from
equant with rounded vesicles (Fig.4f) to fluidal with elon-
gated tubular vesicles (Fig.4g, h). Dense poorly vesicular
juveniles display features such as stepped surfaces and
hackle lines, quenching cracks, and pitted surfaces (Fig.4l,
m), similar to the glassy shards that range from blocky to
platy (Fig.4i, n).
Overall, the grain size, scarcity of non-volcanic detrital
material, and unabraded pristine shapes of the clasts indicate
that these decimetre-thick layers are emplaced as primary
fallout deposits. Extremely fragile particles such as glass
fibres (Pele’s hair) survived, and the external morphology
of vesicular particles preserves pristine elements like fragile
glass fibres, glass tips, spiny glass edges (Figs.3 and 4), or
glass coatings around magmatic crystals. Particles do not
exhibit surficial alteration textures due to weathering, sur-
face abrasion, or rounding. Lithic or detrital fragments are
also scarce. All these features along with the geochemical
fingerprints (see next paragraph) indicate very minor or no
aeolian remobilization, re-sedimentation, or other transport
after the deposition from the volcanic plume. Moreover, the
layers occur close to the surface of the ice cover and well
above the glacier bed, hence are unlikely to be glacier bed-
load brought to the surface by shearing.
As mentioned in the “Material and methods” section, the
studied material comprises “bulk” samples of each tephra
layer. Possible internal stratifications resulting from varia-
tions in eruptive style, energy, dynamics, magma reflected
by changes in the glass composition, grain size, componen-
try, etc. were lost.
BRH1 tephra is the uppermost tephra exposed at the top
of the ice cliff. It is made of coarse to very fine ash (Fig.4a)
and comprises two discrete particle populations differing
in colour, shape, and texture. The first population, which is
the more abundant, consists of shiny, black to dark brown,
vesicular glassy clasts (Fig.3a and g) with spiny to fluidal
shapes (Fig.3d), volcanic glass fibres, and glass droplets
(Pele’s hair and tears; Fig.3c) and minor amounts of grey,
dense, and blocky clasts (Fig.3b). Often, particles with flu-
idal shapes are bounded by sharp-planar breakage surfaces
(Fig.3g). Fluidal clasts (Fig.3a) are usually glassy aphy-
ric to microlite-poor, poorly to moderately vesicular with
spherical vesicles. Blocky clasts (Fig.3b) are almost non-
vesicular to very poorly vesicular with abundant microlites
and microphenocrysts of andesine plagioclase (up to 60μm),
Fe-augite clinopyroxene (up to 30μm), olivine (~ Fo45; up
to 10μm), Fe-Ti oxides (up to 10μm), and rare apatite (up
to 10μm). Also, crystals (up to ca. 250μm) of plagioclase,
olivine, and clinopyroxene occur coated in a dark glass.
The second particle population represents approximately
30% of the sample and has a finer grain size (fine ash). Par-
ticles comprise white to pale yellow, highly vesicular pum-
ice fragments, and nearly transparent glass shards (Fig.4a).
Pumice fragments often show elongated to tubular vesicles
(Fig.3f), and bear within an aphyric groundmass abundant
labradorite plagioclase (up to 80μm) and olivine (~ Fo75;
up to 30μm) with rare Mg-augite clinopyroxene (up to
20μm) and Mg-chromite spinel (up to 10μm). Lithic clasts
are scarce in BRH1 tephra and consist of reddish or altered
volcanic rocks (Fig.3e).
BRH2 tephra is a poorly sorted lapilli (up to 4mm) and
ash (Fig.4b) layer. It is predominantly composed of black/
dark brown, shiny, vesicular glass fragments with spiny and
Bulletin of Volcanology (2023) 85:39
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fluidal shapes again often bounded by sharp-planar break-
age surfaces (Fig.3d), Pele’s hair and tears, highly vesicu-
lar fragments, and grey dense, blocky clasts. Fluidal clasts
(Fig.4b) have glassy groundmass with spherical to elliptical
vesicles and contain abundant microlites of andesine to oli-
goclase plagioclase (up to 50μm), Fe-rich olivine (~ Fo35; up
to 15μm), Fe-augite clinopyroxene (up to 30μm), and Fe-Ti
oxides (~ 10mm). Grey dense and blocky clasts (Fig.4b) are
porphyritic with microphenocrysts of oligoclase to anortho-
clase feldspar, Fe-augite, and Fe-Ti oxides within a glassy to
microcrystalline groundmass. Tubular pumice fragments and
bubble wall glass shards are abundant in the fine-grained,
fine ash-sized portion of the deposit. Pumices have a glassy
groundmass sometimes with acicular microlites of anorthitic
feldspar. Scarce lithic clasts consist of reddish, altered vol-
canic rocks and intrusive rock fragments. Loose crystals of
anorthoclase, clinopyroxene, and fayalite are abundant.
BRH3 tephra (Fig.4c) is fine ash, with scarce scoriaceous
fine lapilli, made of black to dark brown, shiny, poorly to
moderately vesicular, fluidal glass particles (Fig.4g) and
grey, blocky fragments (Fig.4n). Dark glass-coated crystals
of plagioclase, clinopyroxene, and olivine are also abundant.
Fluidal clasts are moderately vesicular, mainly with rounded
tubular vesicles (Fig.4g), and have glassy groundmass with
phenocrysts of oligoclase plagioclase (up to 250μm) and Fe-
augite clinopyroxene (up to 350μm); accessory minerals are
anorthoclase feldspar (~ 90μm), olivine (~ Fo20; ~ 25μm),
Fe-Ti oxides (~ 15μm), and apatite (~ 45μm). Blocky frag-
ments are poorly vesicular with abundant microlites of
plagioclase, clinopyroxene, olivine, and Fe-Ti oxides. Pale
yellow to white fibrous pumiceous clasts are also abundant
in BRH3 tephra. Pumice fragments are mostly aphyric,
with rare microphenocrysts of plagioclase and Fe-Ti oxides
within a glassy highly vesicular groundmass with elongated
Fig. 3 Optical stereo-microscope images of the BRH4 ash. Images in the small boxes represent the different types of components: (A) vesicular;
(B) blocky; (C) Pele’s tear; (D) spiny fluidal; (E) lithic clast; (F) pumice; (G) vesicular fragment with sharp-planar breakage surface
Bulletin of Volcanology (2023) 85:39
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vesicles. Lithic clasts consist of red, oxidized lava fragments
and altered tuffaceous rock fragments.
BRH4 tephra (Fig.4d) is a very poorly sorted lapilli (up
to 2mm) to very fine ash layer. The sample is almost com-
pletely formed by black, shiny, spiny glass fragments and
Pele’s hair and tears, grey, dense and blocky clasts, and glass
fragments (Fig.4i). Golden-coloured, moderately vesicular
glassy fragments are also present. Fluidal clasts (Fig.4h) and
golden vesicular fragments have porphyritic texture, with
microphenocrysts of andesine plagioclase (~ 100μm), olivine
(~ Fo50; ~ 20μm), Fe-Ti oxides (~ 10μm), within a glassy
groundmass with rounded vesicles. The grey blocky parti-
cles (Fig.4d) are highly porphyritic with abundant micro-
phenocrysts of oligoclase plagioclase (~ 80μm), Fe-Ti oxides
Fig. 4 Back-scattered electron (BSE) images of the studied tephra:
(A) BRH1; (B) BRH2; (C) BRH3; (D) BRH4; (E) BRH5. Letters
annotated within these five pictures represent the different types of
components: B—blocky; F—fluidal; L—lithic clast; V—vesicular
pumice fragment. Secondary electron images (F–N) of 3D silhouettes
of selected clasts illustrating the morphology of magmatic (F–H)
and phreatomagmatic (I–N) juvenile clasts. Yellow arrows indicate
stepped features and hackle marks, blue arrows point at branching
quenching cracks, and the red arrow highlights pitted surfaces
Bulletin of Volcanology (2023) 85:39
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(~ 45μm), and olivine (~ Fo45; ~ 40μm), and subordinate
anorthoclase/sanidine feldspar (~ 30μm), Fe-augite clino-
pyroxene (~ 40μm), and apatite (~ 25μm), within a microlite-
rich glassy groundmass. Many clasts show truncated shapes.
Loose crystals of plagioclase, clinopyroxene, and olivine are
abundant. Lithic clasts comprise lava and tuff fragments.
A minor quantity of whitish, spongy pumice clasts is also
present in the fine ash-sized fraction of the deposit. Pumice
particles are aphyric and often present altered groundmass.
BRH5 tephra (Fig.4e) is a very poorly sorted fine lapilli
(up to 2mm) to a fine ash layer. It comprises dark brown
to black and shiny, vesicular glass fragments with spiny
(Fig.4i), fluidal, and blocky shapes, glass shards, and a few
grey dense blocky clasts. Dense clasts are poorly vesicu-
lar, with spaced rounded to amoeboid vesicles, and por-
phyritic, with abundant microphenocrysts of labradorite
plagioclase (up to 140μm), olivine (~ Fo60; ~ 50μm), Fe-Ti
oxides (~ 30μm), within a glassy groundmass with abun-
dant microlites of plagioclase, Fe-rich olivine, Fe-augite
clinopyroxene (up to 15μm), and rare apatite (~ 10μm).
Clear to light grey pumice fragments are also abundant (ca.
20%). Pumices are highly vesicular with rounded and non-
collapsed to tubular and stretched vesicles (Fig.4e), bearing
rare microphenocrysts of acicular labradorite to andesine
plagioclase (up to 200mm) and Fe-rich olivine (~ 25μm)
within a glassy groundmass with rare microlites of plagio-
clase, clinopyroxene olivine, and Fe-Ti oxides. Some pum-
ice fragments, which have coarse amoeboid and collapsed
vesicles, have domains with glassy groundmass and domains
with microcrystalline ones (Fig.4e). Loose crystals of pla-
gioclase, clinopyroxene, and olivine are also present. Lithic
clasts include reddish to pinkish, oxidized pumices and rare
fragments of granitoid rocks.
Major, minor, andtrace elements glass
geochemistry
Representative major, minor, and trace element glass chem-
istry from the BRH 1 to 5 tephra layers are provided in
Table1, whilst the full datasets are provided in the Supple-
mentary Information.
The tephra layers analyzed (BRH1 to 5) display more
than one compositional component, consistent with their
variable textures and componentry; consequently, composi-
tions range from basalts, through basaltic trachy-andesites
and trachy-andesites to more evolved trachytes (Fig.5a).
Glasses are all characterized by high analytical totals sug-
gesting a very minor amount of post-depositional alteration
and/or reworking.
BRH1 to 5 volcanic glasses predominantly straddle the
high-K calc-alkaline and Shoshonitic boundary, with the
more evolved trachytic end-members residing more clearly
within the shoshonitic field (Fig. 5b). The absence of
negative anomalies at Nb and Ta in the mantle-normalized
trace element profiles of the BRH1 to 5 volcanic glasses is
clearly consistent with Antarctic alkaline regional volcanism
within the West Antarctic Rift System (Panter 2021), and the
absence of significant crustal involvement in magma genesis
(Fig.6). As is to be expected, overall levels of incompat-
ible trace element enrichment are significantly greater in
the trachytic end-member glasses of the tephra units relative
to their more mafic components (Fig.7). Light Rare Earth
Elements (LREE) are enriched relative to the Heavy Rare
Earth Elements (HREE), and the relative level of enrichment
remains fairly constant spanning from the basalts through
to the trachytes (La/YbN ~ 13–14). Trachytic end-member
glasses display depletions in Ba, Sr, and Eu consistent with
feldspar fractionation, with these anomalies absent in the
more primitive (basaltic) glasses. Owing to the significant
heterogeneity of the BRH tephra layers, we describe the
chemical signature of dominant chemical clusters or compo-
nents, and therefore rare outlying analyses are not described
in detail.
BRH1 (n = 18/24), BRH2 (n = 13/33), and BRH5
(n = 15/30) tephra layers all contain a significant mafic glass
component associated with the black glassy and fluidal par-
ticles, which display a relatively narrow compositional range
within the basalt compositional field (44.5 to 46.0 wt% SiO2,
and 3.9 to 5.3 Na2O + K2O), with minor overlap into the
basanite field (Fig.5a). More noticeable compositional vari-
ability in these basalts is observed in other major oxides, for
instance with 7.3–4.7 wt% MgO, 14–12 wt% FeOt, 12.1–9.7
wt% CaO, and 5.0–3.3 wt% TiO2, where this variability is
consistent between the basalts of all three layers (Fig.5).
Tephra layer BRH3 also contains dark glassy material entirely
consistent with the basaltic glasses of the BRH1, 2, and 5
tephra layers; however, these compositions are not as well
represented in the chemical analysis of the tephra (n = 10/74),
which are dominated by a trachytic end-member (Fig.5a).
The incompatible trace elements content of these basaltic
glasses, predominantly those successfully analyzed from the
BRH1 and BRH5 layers, reveal significant variability, for
instance 128–236ppm Zr, 15.3–28.0ppm Y, and 2.6–4.7ppm
Th (Fig.7). Ratios of High Field Strength Elements (HFSE)
vs. Th in these basaltic glasses show some variability (e.g. Zr/
Th = 46.3–54.3; Nb/Th = 14.2–15.5; Y/Th = 5.6–6.6). These
basaltic glasses display high LREE relative to the HREE where
La/YbN = 13.0 ± 0.9 (1 s.d). Despite the overall variability
within the basaltic glasses analyzed, they are chemically indis-
tinguishable through the successive tephra layers, suggesting a
common magmatic source.
BRH1 glasses, consistent with the observed compo-
nentry (see above), are chemically bimodal; in addition
to the dominant dark glassy basaltic component already
described, the tephra layer also contains a homogeneous
secondary trachytic component (SiO2 = 65.2 ± 0.1 wt% and
Bulletin of Volcanology (2023) 85:39
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Page 9 of 18 39
Table 1 Representative major, minor, and trace elements glass data for the BRH1 to 5 tephra deposits investigated. Bas, basalt; Bas Tra-And, basaltic trachy-andesite; Tra-And, trachy-andesite;
Tra, trachyte. Full geochemical data sets are available in the Supplementary material file
BRH 1 BRH 2 BRH 3 BRH 4 BRH 5
TAS class Bas Tra Bas Bas Tra-And Tra-And Basalt Bas. Tra-And Tra Bas Tra-And Tra-And Tra Bas Tra Tra
Norm. wt%
SiO245.52 65.11 45.27 55.28 61.09 45.28 54.70 66.67 54.45 57.63 64.13 45.17 64.85 66.77
TiO24.83 0.50 4.64 2.03 0.99 3.95 2.21 0.35 1.97 1.69 0.84 4.11 0.46 0.40
Al2O314.31 15.87 14.90 15.15 15.08 14.70 14.39 15.54 15.43 14.94 14.73 14.92 15.85 15.33
FeOt 13.96 5.30 13.61 11.46 8.88 12.98 11.66 4.76 11.21 10.44 6.99 12.87 5.68 4.85
MnO 0.15 0.11 0.21 0.25 0.19 0.17 0.25 0.12 0.19 0.21 0.21 0.15 0.16 0.17
MgO 5.12 0.16 5.24 2.04 0.81 6.12 2.07 0.16 1.91 1.50 0.60 5.94 0.21 0.19
CaO 10.21 1.85 10.45 5.97 3.65 11.61 5.95 1.78 6.05 4.60 2.37 11.70 1.92 1.80
Na2O 3.61 5.91 3.67 4.37 5.33 3.34 5.19 5.47 4.82 4.73 5.10 3.31 5.62 5.41
K2O 1.26 4.98 1.20 2.56 3.55 1.21 2.71 4.91 2.90 3.56 4.66 1.12 4.99 4.85
P2O50.94 0.03 0.74 0.78 0.31 0.56 0.77 0.04 0.96 0.55 0.20 0.64 0.04 0.07
Cl 0.08 0.19 0.06 0.11 0.12 0.07 0.10 0.19 0.13 0.14 0.17 0.06 0.22 0.18
Ana. Total 99.16 99.54 99.19 99.62 99.04 98.36 99.69 99.13 98.75 98.19 99.51 98.69 99.02 99.75
Na2O + K2O 4.87 10.89 4.87 6.93 8.88 4.56 7.90 10.39 7.71 8.29 9.76 4.43 10.62 10.26
ppm
Rb 32.0 167.8 19.6 - 115.5 26.4 74.4 154.9 83.1 94.7 139.2 26.9 160.2 157.9
Sr 643 142 561 - 408 660 612 148 454 437 218 625 135 157
Y 27.0 54.4 15.3 - 47.5 23.8 42.9 51.8 48.8 44.1 46.7 23.0 56.8 54.0
Zr 222 687 128 - 504 197 373 685 449 469 605 189 709 711
Nb 68 165 37 - 127 59 102 152 118 120 141 54 165 157
Ba 371 1097 231 - 1052 328 831 1117 843 922 977 301 1044 1188
La 40.6 101.8 23.0 - 85.1 35.2 73.1 96.8 82.3 77.5 88.7 32.1 103.9 100.6
Ce 84.8 197.9 48.1 - 169.4 75.0 150.7 190.1 169.1 157.4 176.3 67.6 202.4 193.5
Pr 9.6 20.5 5.5 - 18.7 8.5 16.8 19.7 18.7 17.0 18.4 7.9 21.3 20.3
Nd 41.5 77.5 23.3 - 71.9 36.2 68.9 74.4 75.9 69.4 69.2 33.6 83.3 73.3
Sm 9.0 14.6 4.7 - 13.8 7.6 12.8 13.6 15.0 13.3 13.0 7.3 15.0 14.4
Eu 2.9 2.9 1.6 - 3.8 2.6 4.3 2.7 4.4 3.9 2.9 2.3 3.0 2.7
Gd 7.4 11.3 4.4 - 11.4 6.6 10.9 10.9 12.6 10.8 10.7 6.4 12.0 11.5
Dy 5.9 10.5 3.5 - 9.6 5.2 9.1 10.3 10.5 9.4 9.3 5.0 11.7 11.0
Er 2.7 5.7 1.6 - 4.7 2.5 4.3 5.4 5.0 4.5 4.7 2.5 6.1 5.8
Yb 2.3 5.4 1.2 - 4.3 1.8 3.6 5.5 4.2 4.3 4.7 2.0 5.6 5.4
Lu 0.3 0.7 0.2 - 0.6 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.3 0.8 0.8
Hf 5.3 15.1 3.1 - 10.8 4.7 8.6 15.4 10.3 10.5 13.2 4.5 16.2 16.1
Ta 4.1 9.2 2.2 - 6.7 3.6 5.9 8.6 6.6 6.8 7.7 3.2 9.1 8.9
Bulletin of Volcanology (2023) 85:39
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39 Page 10 of 18
Na2O + K2O = 10.78 ± 0.1 wt%; n = 5/23). The incompat-
ible trace element contents of these trachytic glasses (n = 4)
are relatively homogeneous, for instance 676 ± 40 ppm
Zr, 54 ± 4ppm Y, and 21 ± 2ppm Th, whilst these levels
of enrichment far exceed those of the dominant basaltic
end-member (Fig.7). Ratios of HFSE vs. Th become sig-
nificantly lower (Zr/Th = 33.0 ± 1.3; Nb/Th = 8.1 ± 0.5; Y/
Th = 2.6 ± 0.1 [1s.d]) than those of the basaltic component
(Fig.7). These evolved trachytic glasses display particularly
strong negative Sr anomalies (Sr/PrN = 0.09 ± 0.003), but
also less pronounced anomalies in Ba and Eu (Fig.6).
Overall, BRH2 glasses cover a wide compositional range,
consistent with the mixed componentry (see the “Texture
and components of tephra layers” section). As with BRH1,
the basaltic glass forms a significant component (1) of
BRH2. In addition, at least two other compositional compo-
nents or clusters are observed in BRH2, which plot along an
evolutionary trend that extends towards the highly evolved
trachytes, similar to the overlying BRH1 tephra (~ 65 wt%
SiO2). BRH2 glass component 2 straddles the boundary
between the basaltic trachy-andesite to trachy-andesite com-
positional fields with between 54.5 and 56.5 wt% SiO2 and
where Na2O + K2O = 6.9–8.4 wt% (Fig.5a). BRH2 compo-
nent 3 glasses are more variable and evolved than compo-
nent 2 predominantly clustering at the boundary between
the trachy-andesite and trachytic field, albeit with a small
number of analyses extending towards the more evolved tra-
chytic endmember of BRH1 (Fig.5a).
Trace element analysis of BRH2 component 2 (basaltic
trachy-andesite/trachy-andesite) glasses was unsuccessful
due to the presence of microlites, but trace element analyses
were acquired for glass component 3. The trachy-andesites
through to trachytes are equally heterogeneous at the trace
element level, with 388–720ppm Zr and 10.0–21.9ppm
Th. The glasses show depletions in Sr (Sr/PrN = 0.30 ± 0.1
[1s.d]) and Eu; however, these are not as pronounced as
those observed in the more evolved trachytes of BRH1
(Fig.6). HFSE ratios to Th in these glasses remain constant
despite the variability in absolute concentrations (Zr/Th
33.6 ± 1.6; Nb/Th = 8.4 ± 0.9; Y/Th = 3.1 ± 0.2 [1s.d]). The
Zr/Th and Nb/Th ratios are broadly consistent with the more
evolved (trachytic) glasses of the overlying BRH1, but again
are significantly lower than those of the basaltic glasses in
this tephra (and BRH1; Fig.7).
In addition to a basaltic component, the BRH3 tephra
has a minor population of intermediate glasses which strad-
dle the basaltic trachy-andesite to trachy-andesite composi-
tional fields, similar to component 2 of the overlying tephra
BRH2 (Fig.5a). A significant component of BRH3 analyses
(n = 51/73) lies firmly in the trachytic compositional field,
with 62.1–67.2 wt% SiO2 and 8.8–10.6 wt% Na2O + K2O
and relate to the pumiceous material within this tephra layer.
Within these variable trachytic compositions, a dominant
Table 1 (continued)
BRH 1 BRH 2 BRH 3 BRH 4 BRH 5
TAS class Bas Tra Bas Bas Tra-And Tra-And Basalt Bas. Tra-And Tra Bas Tra-And Tra-And Tra Bas Tra Tra
Pb 2.3 23.8 1.4 - 14.8 1.9 8.7 18.7 9.2 11.3 16.1 3.0 19.3 19.2
Th 4.4 21.0 2.6 - 14.6 3.9 10.8 20.8 12.2 13.0 17.2 3.7 22.0 22.1
U 1.4 5.0 0.7 - 3.4 1.2 2.5 4.4 2.9 3.1 4.1 1.3 5.0 4.6
Zr/Th 50.4 32.6 49.1 - 34.4 50.9 34.4 32.9 36.9 36.1 35.1 51.5 32.2 32.2
Nb/Th 15.4 7.8 14.3 - 8.7 15.2 9.4 7.3 9.7 9.2 8.2 14.7 7.5 7.1
Y/Th 6.1 2.6 5.9 - 3.2 6.1 4.0 2.5 4.0 3.4 2.7 6.3 2.6 2.4
Bulletin of Volcanology (2023) 85:39
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Page 11 of 18 39
Fig. 5 Bivariate major elements plots depicting the significant vol-
canic glass heterogeneity of the BRH1 to 5 tephra deposits which
range from basalts through to trachytes. (A) Total alkalis vs. silica
classification diagram (TAS) following LeBas etal. (1986); (B) K2O
vs. SiO2 following Peccerillo and Taylor (1976). The trachytic glasses
of the BRH 1 to 5 tephra layers plot along the same evolution trend
as those previously analyzed from Mount Melbourne (Del Carlo etal.
2022), and are offset from glasses erupted at nearby volcanic centres,
such as Mount Rittmann (Di Roberto etal. 2019), the Pleiades (Lee
et al. 2019), and Mount Erebus (Harpel et al. 2008). Black dashed
line encircling the grey compositional field represents the TR17-08
tephra from Edisto Inlet and the black symbols indicate tephras from
Brimstone Peak (+ BIT121, × BIT122; Dunbar 2003)
Bulletin of Volcanology (2023) 85:39
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39 Page 12 of 18
cluster of shoshonitic glasses is clearly recognized at ~ 66
wt% SiO2, and ~ 4.9 K2O (Fig.5b), where Na2O is > K2O
(K2O/Na2O = 0.9). These most evolved trachytes (n = 16)
are extremely enriched in incompatible trace elements,
for instance 613–728ppm Zr and 18.3–22.1 ppm Th.
HFSE ratios vs. Th in these trachytic glasses remain con-
stant where Zr/Th = 33.0 ± 0.8, Nb/Th = 7.5 ± 0.3, and Y/
Th = 2.5 ± 0.1 (Fig.7). They also display depletions in Ba,
Sr (Sr/PrN = 0.10 ± 0.01), and Eu (Fig.6).
The glass compositions of BRH4 are heterogeneous,
largely bimodal, with some glasses extending between the
two dominant end-members. The least evolved glass compo-
nent plots in the basaltic trachy-andesite compositional field
(SiO2 = 53.8–55.7 wt% SiO2, Na2O + K2O = 7.0–8.3), whilst
straddling the boundary with trachy-andesites (Fig.5a).
The more evolved end-member is characterized by slightly
more variable trachytic glass compositions with 62.6–66.5
wt% SiO2 and 9.1–10.5 wt% Na2O + K2O (Fig. 5a) and
these relate to the pumice component of the deposit. The
basaltic trachy-andesitic glasses (n = 5) have some incom-
patible trace element variability, for instance 400–449ppm
Zr and 11.3–12.3ppm Th (Fig.7). The HFSE ratios in
Fig. 6 Primitive mantle normal-
ized (McDonough and Sun
1995) trace elements con-
centrations of volcanic glass
(component averages) for the
BRH1 to 5 tephra layers. The
data presented clearly illustrate
a chemical link between the
trachytic end-member glasses
of the BRH tephra layers and
those found at the summit of
Mount Melbourne (Del Carlo
etal. 2022). Bas—basalt; Tra-
Bas—trachy-basalt; Bas Tra-
And—basaltic trachy-andesite;
Tra-And—trachy-andesite;
Tra—trachyte
Fig. 7 Bivariate trace elements
plots, specifically (A) Th vs Zr,
(B) Th vs Nb, (C) Th vs Y, and
(D) Th vs Hf, depicting the signifi-
cant heterogeneity of the BRH1
to 5 tephra layers consistent with
their major elements variability
ranging from basalts to trachytes.
The plots illustrate the significant
chemical overlap of these succes-
sive tephra deposits, which clearly
lie upon an evolutionary trend
indistinguishable from the prod-
ucts of Mount Melbourne (mainly
trachytic), and offset from those of
the nearby Mount Rittmann (after
Del Carlo et al. 2022). The grey
compositional field is for Edisto
Inlet tephra TR17-08, whereas the
black symbols indicate the aver-
age composition of Brimstone
Peak tephras (+ BIT121, × BIT122;
Dunbar 2003)
Bulletin of Volcanology (2023) 85:39
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Page 13 of 18 39
these glasses are constant (36.7 ± 0.2 Zr/Th, 9.6 ± 0.1 Nb/
Th, and 4.0 ± 0.02 Y/Th [1s.d]), whilst they show a small
anomaly in Sr (Sr/PrN = 0.4 ± 0.1 [1s.d]). The trachytic end-
member glasses (n = 5) are more enriched in incompatible
elements than the basaltic trachy-andesites (Fig.7), and
show considerable variability, for instance 472–604ppm
Zr and 13.8–17.2ppm Th. These trachytic glasses display
constant HFSE ratios (e.g. 34.7 ± 1.0 Zr/Th, 8.2 ± 0.4 Nb/
Th, and 2.8 ± 0.3 Y/Th), but are slightly lower than those
of the basaltic trachy-andesites. The trachytic glasses dis-
play a greater depletion in Sr (Sr/PrN = 0.3 ± 0.1), along with
additional depletions in Ba and Eu in contrast to the basaltic
trachy-andesites (Fig.6). However, the removal of Sr from
the melt composition of BRH4 is not as significant as for
some of the more evolved trachytic glasses observed in the
overlying tephra deposits (e.g. BRH1, BRH3; Fig.6).
Compositionally, the BRH5 tephra layer is largely bi-
modal, with some very minor evidence of intermediate
glass compositions spanning an evolutionary trend between
the two end-members, which are characterized by basal-
tic and trachytic glass populations (Fig.5a). The basaltic
component is entirely consistent with those observed and
described (above) from the BRH1, BRH2, and BRH3 tephra
layers (Figs.5, 6, and 7). Whilst the trachytic end-mem-
ber glasses are variable, they remain consistent with both
dominant trachytic components of BRH1 and BRH3, where
SiO2 contents of ~ 64.9 wt% and ~ 66.8 wt% respectively are
observed (Fig.5a). The incompatible trace element con-
tents of the BRH5 trachytic endmember (n = 5) glasses are
homogeneous with 737 ± 30ppm Zr and 23 ± 1ppm Th.
The levels of enrichment in some of these trachytic glasses
extend to the highest observed throughout this englacial suc-
cession (Fig.7). Furthermore, strong depletions in Ba, Sr
(Sr/PrN = 0.09 ± 0.01 [1s.d]), and Eu are observed in these
glasses (Fig.6). HFSE ratios to Th are constant (32.0 ± 0.3
Zr/Th, 7.3 ± 0.2 Nb/Th, 2.5 ± 0.1 Y/Th [1s.d]) and are
entirely consistent with the most evolved trachytic products
seen in the BRH1 and BRH3 layers.
Discussion
Volcanic source andproximal‑distal correlation
Major and trace elements glass composition data show a
strong geochemical affinity between the BRH tephra and
the products of MMVF, plotting along the same evolution-
ary trend. This compositional similarity and the proximity
of these tephra layers to MMVF suggest they were erupted
from its vents (Figs.5 and 7). BRH major and trace elements
compositions plot along the evolutionary trend defined by
volcanic glasses of MMVF (Figs.5 and 7), which is distinct
from other volcanoes in the region. However, there is no
direct match between the composition of BRH tephra and
that of late Pleistocene to Holocene tephra layers exposed
in the summit of Mount Melbourne, recently characterized
compositionally by Del Carlo etal. (2022) are character-
ized by generally higher alkali and lower silica contents. In
addition, Mount Melbourne summit proximal deposits lack
the basaltic end-member compositions which instead are
common in the BRH products except for the BRH4 tephra.
Thus, the BRH tephra layers are likely to result from erup-
tions at separate vent areas, possibly from parasitic cones
located on the flank of the volcano or at the periphery of the
Mount Melbourne volcanic complex. On the eastern flank
of Mount Melbourne, a few kilometres NNW of Edmon-
son Point ropey basaltic lava and a hawaiite scoria cone are
observed, known respectively as the ROL and SCC outcrops
of Giordano etal. (2012). These sources are close enough
and their deposits are compatible with the characteristics and
the eruption styles of BRH tephra. Also, the parasitic cones
NNW of the summit of Mount Melbourne, which have tra-
chytic compositions, and possibly scoria cones on the south
side of Random Hills further to the north (Smellie etal.
2023) could be considered possible sources. Unfortunately,
these only the eruptive centres close to Edmonson Point are
dated, and not precisely. They are only constrained to the last
90ka (Giordano etal. 2012; Smellie etal. 2023), hampering
direct correlations.
We also compared the composition of the BRH tephra
with visible tephra and cryptotephra layers identified in the
marine record of the Ross Sea and in the glacial records of
northern Victoria Land.
Interestingly, the composition of trachytic particle popu-
lation in BRH3 and BRH5, the deepest and middle tephra
respectively among those studied, correlates very well with
the composition of three cryptotephra recently identified
in the TR17-08 piston sediment core recovered in Edisto
Inlet, near Cape Hallett, more than 280km from Melbourne
volcano (Di Roberto etal. 2023; Fig.1). These cryptote-
phra layers, namely TR17-08-512, -518, and -524, have a
trachytic composition (Figs.5 and 7) and comprise col-
ourless to light-green glass shards and pumice fragments,
characterized by pristine textures among blocky, y-shaped,
and bubble wall morphology whilst preserving fragile glass
tips. Within core TR17-08, tephra age was defined using
radiocarbon dating of carbonate material, intercalated with
tephra, and was constrained between 1615cal. years BP and
1677cal. years BP, i.e. between the third and fourth century
AD (Di Roberto etal. 2023). These TR17-08 tephra layers
have been interpreted as produced by a series of explosive
eruptions from the Mount Melbourne volcanic complex that
occurred closely spaced in time, with a maximum interval of
c. 60years between events (Di Roberto etal. 2023).
The geochemical correlation defined between BRH proxi-
mal tephra and distal marine tephra allows the former to be
Bulletin of Volcanology (2023) 85:39
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39 Page 14 of 18
indirectly dated and consequently defines the onset (and an
overall age) of this eruptive period of Mount Melbourne
between the third and fourth century AD. The results con-
firm that Mount Melbourne has been very active in historical
times, with more explosive eruptive events than previously
thought.
For the sake of completeness, it should be said that some
differences exist between the BRH and TR17-08 cryptote-
phra. The most notable regards the lack of basaltic glass
populations in TR17-08 samples. The lower viscosity of
the denser melts typically results in less fragmentation and
lower plume heights of the basaltic phases that limit the
tephra dispersal. This is consistent with the significantly
larger grain size characterizing the basaltic ash (and lapilli)
in the studied tephra. The higher abundance of fine ash in the
trachytic end-member testifies to more efficient magmatic
fragmentation, and these finer particles are transported fur-
ther, especially those associated with the intense phases of
the eruption with high plumes. Moreover, whilst three cryp-
totephra have been identified within the TR17-08 marine
core, only two tephra with similar trachytic compositions
were recovered at the BRH site. Another layer may be pre-
served deeper in the ice sequence, below the BRH5 tephra,
or was eroded at the BRH site.
Furthermore, we explored correlations with tephra from
the ice core records of Styx Glacier (SG), Talos Dome (TD),
and the blue ice areas of Brimstone Peak (75.888S 158.55E;
BIT Dunbar etal. 2003), located at ca. 35km, 230km, and
250km ESE from the sampling site, respectively. Unfortu-
nately, most of the geochemical data for SG, TD, and BIT
tephra layers comprise only major element glass composi-
tion for which the accuracy is not clear, and lack trace ele-
ment glass data, which hamper reliable correlations with the
BRH tephra layers.
In spite of this, we found a major similarity between the
trachytic compositions of BRH4 tephra and the TD85 tephra
layer in the Talos Dome record dated at c. 670 yrs BP (1280
CE; Narcisi etal. 2012; Severi etal. 2012), but it is not a via-
ble correlation based on other tephrostratigraphic evidence.
In the Talos Dome record, the TD87a tephra correlates to the
1254 CE eruption of Mount Rittmann, and is located c. 2m
below the TD85 (Severi etal. 2012). Given that the 1254
CE tephra is ubiquitous in the marine and glacial records
of the Ross Sea and northern Victoria Land, a significant
and widespread tephra marker (Di Roberto etal. 2019 and
references therein), and it is not between BRH4 and BRH5
in the proximal exposure, we conclude that BRH4 does not
correlate to TD85.
A tephrostratigraphy similar to that of Talos Dome has
been developed for the Styx glacier ice core (which is the
ice record closer to the studied BRH site), where the 1254
CE tephra was detected at a depth of 99.18m and is only
overlaid by another tephra at 97.01m (Han etal. 2015),
instead of five ash layers.
Vice versa, our data confirm that TD85 likely derives
from Mount Melbourne volcanic activity, as previously
suggested by Narcisi etal. (2012), based on the major ele-
ment data. If this correlation would be verified using trace
element glass compositions, it would affirm that Mount
Melbourne was active in even more recent times, less than
700years ago. This further shows that incomplete geochemi-
cal databases strongly limit correlation efficacy, and high-
quality geochemical data are necessary to make reliable
correlations.
A general geochemical affinity also exists between BRH1,
BRH2, and BRH5 tephra and the composition of BIT vol-
canic ash (Dunbar 2003). In detail, there is a strong simi-
larity in major element compositions between the BRH1,
BRH2, and BRH5 basalt to basanite glass population and
the BIT121 and BIT122 ash layers (Fig.5). Trace element
compositions of BIT are not entirely determined, and the
same similarity can be only documented in the Th vs Hf
plot (Fig.7d). BIT121 and BIT122 layers are respectively
a thick dark brown unit made of clear, aphyric, and dense
blocky shards (BIT121) and a grey diffuse layer with clear
to olive green glass, blocky shards with spherical vesicles,
plus droplets and glass hairs. In particular, the latter has
strikingly similar textural characteristics to the BRH tephra.
Unfortunately, BIT volcanic ash layers lack chronological
and appropriate trace element information, and thus cannot
be definitively correlated with BRH.
Eruption dynamics
Componentry, textures, and geochemical fingerprints
of the studied tephra indicate that these layers have been
emplaced as primary fallout deposits. As mentioned above,
the external morphology of particles that preserves pristine
features like fragile glass tips, Pele’s hair, or spiny glass
edges (Figs.3 and 4) and glass coatings around magmatic
crystals indicate minor or no aeolian remobilization, re-
sedimentation, or other transport after deposition from the
volcanic plume.
The volcanic glass composition of each sample, which
is strongly bimodal with other analyses along geochemical
trends, always lies on the same evolutionary compositional
lineage indicating the same volcanic source (see Del Carlo
etal. 2018). The proximity of these decimetre-thick units to
the MMVF, and their shared geochemical affinity, is consist-
ently being from Mt. Melbourne or other vents around the
summit. The absence of large amounts of detrital material,
including glass particles from other volcanic sources, is evi-
dent and indicates negligible reworking, re-sedimentation,
and redistribution of pyroclastic products.
Bulletin of Volcanology (2023) 85:39
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Page 15 of 18 39
Glass particles forming the studied deposits comprise a
variety of fragments differing in external shape, vesicular-
ity, mineral content, and composition. Internal and external
textural inhomogeneity is widely documented in the prod-
ucts of explosive eruptions from many volcanoes and has
been ascribed to changes in the ascent and/or flow conditions
during the eruption and to diverse mechanisms of particle
fragmentation (i.e. hydromagmatic vs magmatic), transport,
and the eruptive environment (see, e.g. D’Oriano etal. 2022
and references therein).
The almost ubiquitous presence of fluidal fragments
including Pele’s hair and tears (i.e. fibres and droplets of
volcanic glass; Figs.3 and 4) indicates specific eruptive
dynamics and magma properties typical of magmatic erup-
tions. Fluidal fragments and Pele’s hairs and tears formed
by the stretching, deformation, and final magma breakup
of very hot, low-viscosity magma due to interfacial shear
between gas and melt (see Lin and Reitz 1998; Eggers and
Villermaux 2008). Pele’s hairs and tears form during suba-
erial Hawaiian-style eruptions fed by low-viscosity basaltic
melts (Heiken and Wohletz 1985) and are also common, but
minor, in basaltic eruptions occurring in sub-aqueous envi-
ronments (Clague etal. 2000, 2003). Similarly, the presence
of abundant moderately to highly vesicular basaltic parti-
cles with cuspate to spongy external surfaces is indicative of
pure magmatic fragmentation of gas-rich melts dominated
by exsolution and expansion of magmatic gas, for example
in a Strombolian column.
More equant and blocky particles have irregular con-
tours, are bounded by sharp planar edges, and are made
of dense to poorly vesicular glass, bearing features like
stepped surfaces and quenching cracks, as well as hackle
lines and surface pitting (Fig.4i–l), which are distinctive
of phreatomagmatic fragmentation (Fisher and Schmincke
1984; Heiken and Wohletz 1985; Morrissey etal. 2000;
Dürig etal. 2012; Zimanowski etal. 2015; Ross etal.
2022). Stepped features are a consequence of the extreme
and intensive brittle fracturing of the melt (Zimanowski
etal. 2015). The water, in direct contact with the hot melt,
expands and exerts a massive hydraulic pressure onto the
melt itself, which behaves in a brittle way, so that cracks are
occurring, driven by the applied stress; still, liquid water
is pushed into the propagating crack, thus increasing the
interface area between magma and water and therefore
increasing the heat flux from magma to water, generating
an accelerating thermohydraulic feedback loop (Dürig and
Zimanowski 2012; Dürig etal. 2012). Hackle lines indicate
the direction of propagation of a crack and, since these can
form during slow or fast cracking, are not strictly diagnos-
tic of melt-water interaction, although some fragmentation
experiments with water produce increased proportions of
particles with hackle lines relative to others without water
(Ross etal. 2022). Quenching cracks form immediately
after fragmentation due to the sudden quenching and conse-
quent contraction of still-hot particles due to the fast contact
with liquid water (Zimanowski etal. 2015). Pitted surfaces
indicate incipient alteration resulting from the interaction
of glass with hydrothermal fluids (or excess water) in the
eruptive column (Zimanowski etal. 2015; Ross etal. 2022).
The simultaneous presence of particle morphologies
with features indicative of magmatic and hydromagmatic
fragmentation in BRH tephra layers is evidence that vari-
ous degrees of magma-water interaction occurred dur-
ing the forming eruptions. For example, texturally mixed
deposits could derive from the transformation of an initially
subglacial, hydromagmatic eruption fuelled by the interac-
tion between magma and meltwater, into a relatively dry
magmatic subaerial Hawaiian- to Strombolian-style erup-
tion, once the water source was exhausted and drained or
the magma no longer came into contact with the meltwater
(vent completely subaerial). As mentioned above, the major
and trace element glass compositions of the heterogeneous
BRH1 to 5 tephra deposits are largely overlapping, and
clearly reside on the same evolutionary trends indicating
they all likely derive from the same magmatic system. The
overall chemical variability (ranging from basalts through
to trachytes) and in particular the observed clustering of
the erupted volcanic glass compositions along the overall
evolutionary trend might indicate that the successive erup-
tions were fed by a complex and vertically extensive magma
storage region beneath the source volcano (Cashman etal.
2017; Giordano and Caricchi 2022). This is quite common
as reported for several eruptions (see Shane and Hoverd
2002;Shane etal.2007, 2008).
Interestingly, apart from BRH4, all the remaining BRH
tephra deposits comprise a basaltic glass component, and
the interaction of the mafic melt with more evolved tra-
chy-andesitic to trachytic magma pockets, or mush, is the
likely trigger of these eruptions. In this regard, it should be
highlighted that at least during some of the eruptive phases
emplacing BRH tephra, a trachytic magma was fragmented
efficiently enough to disperse the ash several hundred kil-
ometres away. This is possible only during high-intensity
eruptions able to produce eruptive columns of significant
heights, as hypothesized by Di Roberto etal. (2023).
Conclusions
BRH1 to 5 tephra are primary fallout layers derived from
five explosive eruptions that occurred in a short time from
within the Mount Melbourne Volcanic Field. The nature and
texture of particles forming the tephra layers indicate that
the eruptions were mostly Hawaiian to Strombolian in style
Bulletin of Volcanology (2023) 85:39
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39 Page 16 of 18
and characterized by magmatic and possibly hydromagmatic
fragmentation occurring over the time of the eruption. The
distal dispersal of trachytic ashes to some hundreds of kilo-
metres from the source (c. 280km) also demonstrates that
the BRH eruptions were at some time characterized by a
strong explosivity and very efficient magma fragmenta-
tion, and possibly produced several kilometre-high eruptive
columns.
The magma compositions feeding the eruptions range
from basalts to trachytes and the clustering of the erupted
product compositions indicates that the eruptions were fed
by a complex and vertically extensive magma system region
beneath the source volcano with the mafic melt remobilizing
more evolved trachy-andesitic to trachytic magma pockets.
Although the geochemical data confirm that the volcanic
source of BRH1 to 5 tephra is the Mount Melbourne vol-
cano, there is no direct match between the composition of
tephra studied here and Pleistocene to Holocene tephra lay-
ers exposed in the summit part of Mount Melbourne char-
acterized by Del Carlo etal. (2022; MEL samples). This
potentially indicates that BRH tephra originated from vents
located away from the summit area.
The geochemical correlations assessed between the BRH
tephra deposits and three marine cryptotephra intercalated
in sediments of the Edisto Inlet (TR17-08-512, -518, and
-524), which were dated by the radiocarbon method between
1615cal. years BP and 1677cal. years BP, allowed to indi-
rectly constrain the ages of BRH eruptions between the third
and fourth century CE. This finding improves our knowledge
of the eruptive history of Mount Melbourne volcano, which
has produced at least five eruptions during historical time,
increasing the awareness of potential hazards to the several
permanent scientific bases close to Mount Melbourne.
Moreover, the attribution of a numerical age to the BRH
tephra elevates them to new regional isochron markers that
will possibly enhance the correlation and synchronization
of climatic records of the northern Victoria Land and Ross
Sea areas.
This study demonstrates the robustness of the tephro-
chronological method in terms of correlation and dating of
glacial, terrestrial, and marine records, if carried out with a
modern approach and up-to-date techniques. The need for
high-quality textural, mineralogical, and compositional data
(major and trace element glass compositions) on tephra is
even more evident for Antarctica, where outcrops are scarce.
Only with an exhaustive fingerprinting of tephra layers is
possible to establish effective correlations between differ-
ent records enhancing synchronization and correlations for
palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic reconstructions.
Supplementary information The online version contains supplemen-
tary material available at https:// doi. org/ 10. 1007/ s00445- 023- 01651-2.
Acknowledgements We acknowledge ENEA for providing field logis-
tics at Mario Zucchelli Station. We are grateful to the pilots J. Henery
and B. McElhinney for the helicopter surveys and the Italian alpine
guides M. Bussani and D. De Podestà for sampling the ice cliff and
their assistance in the fieldwork. Dr C. Manning is also acknowledged
for her assistance with the LA-ICP-MS analysis. We also thank the
editors J.L. Smellie and G. Giordano, and an anonymous reviewer for
their revisions that greatly improved the paper. This paper is dedicated
in memory of Antonio De Sio (Tony), an Antarctic friend of ours.
Author contribution P.D.C., A.C., G.G., and G.L. carried out the field-
work and sampling on the flanks of Mt. Melbourne. P.D.C. and A.D.R.
conceived the research. P.D.C., A.D.R., G.R., and B.S. carried out the
textural analysis of the volcanic glass and the petrographic analysis,
and interpreted geochemical and petrological data. P.G.A. and V.C.S.
carried out the major and trace element geochemical analyses, respec-
tively. All authors contributed to data interpretation, the writing of the
manuscript, and the preparation of the figures.
Funding Open access funding provided by Istituto Nazionale di Geofi-
sica e Vulcanologia within the CRUI-CARE Agreement. This work
was funded by the Projects: ICE-VOLC (multiparametrIC Experiment
at Antarctica VOLCanoes: data from volcano and cryosphere-ocean-
atmosphere dynamics, www. icevo lc- proje ct. com/; PNRA 14_00011),
TRACERS (TephRochronology and mArker events for the CorrElation
of natural archives in the Ross Sea, Antarctica; PNRA2016—Linea
A3/00055), and CHIMERA (CryptotepHra In Marine sEquences of
the Ross Sea, Antarctica: implications and potential applications;
PNRA18_00158-A). We acknowledge PNRA, the Italian Programma
Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide, for funding the projects. This paper
is sponsored by the SCAR Expert Group, AntVolc.
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attri-
bution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adapta-
tion, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source,
provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes
were made. The images or other third party material in this article are
included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated
otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in
the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not
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