Analysis of composition and chronology of dome emplacement at Black Peak Volcano, Alaska utilizing aster remote sensing data and field-based studies

Abstract

Black Peak volcano is a 3̃.5km-diameter caldera located on the Alaska Peninsula that formed 4̃,600 years ago in an eruption that excavated>km³ of material. The caldera floor is occupied by at least a dozen overlapping dacitic to andesitic lava domes and flows. Examination of XRF results and observations of the domes in and around the caldera reveals a range of 57-65wt% SiO₂ and variations in amphibole content. Evidence for magma mixing includes vesicular enclaves and geochemical trends that indicate involvement of a more mafic magma into a dacitic reservoir. The purpose of this study is to investigate if, and how, these differences in composition and mineralogy are detectable in satellite emissivity and TIR data (ASTER) and compare the results to ground-based field observations to discern changes in the mineralogical and chemical properties of the domes. This study incorporates the use of decorrelation-stretch image processing techniques and the deconvolution of laboratory emissivity spectra to assess the viability of discriminating variations in the lithologies observed at Black Peak volcano. Compositional results from XRD and electron microprobe analyses are comparable to those obtained through deconvolution processing. Surfaces of <10% amphibole and SiO₂ of 60-65wt% and those that correspond to>1̲0% and <61 wt% SiO₂ are distinguishable in the ASTER data.