Linking eruptive style with pore network geometry in tephritic/basanitic tephra from the 2021 Tajogaite eruption (Canary Islands, Spain).

Abstract

Investigating the textural properties and 3D geometry of the connected pore network in volcanic products provides insight into magma ascent processes, due to their influence on magma permeability, outgassing efficiency and explosivity. Here, we used X-ray computed microtomography to investigate vesicle textures in tephra from the 2021 Tajogaite eruption (La Palma, Spain) and the relationship between these pore network parameters and eruptive style. We report a 3D dataset of pore network parameters for lapilli clasts collected throughout the eruption, associated with different eruptive styles (ash-rich jets, lava fountains, Strombolian activity). In clasts from Strombolian activity, the lower vesicle number density (VND) and tortuosity factor (m) suggests that there are fewer vesicles and that the channels which connect them are less tortuous than in clasts from fountain and ash-rich jet activity, favouring a lower degree of gas-melt coupling and thus, more efficient outgassing. Instead, for clasts of lava fountain and ash-rich jet activity, the higher VND and m suggest a higher number of vesicles connected by more tortuous channels, promoting some degree of gas-melt coupling and thus, less efficient outgassing. However, in clasts from ash-rich jets, the presence of narrower channels, as suggested by the lower throat-pore size ratio, favours a greater degree of gas-melt coupling with respect to fountain activity, leading to magma fragmentation. This work highlights the importance of textural and pore network analyses in understanding eruption dynamics, and provides a case study for investigating the interplay between pore network parameters, magma permeability and ascent dynamics for low-viscosity magmas.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00445-025-01833-0.