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Abstract: The La Paz Centro - Malpaisillo Lineament (LPML) in west-central Nicaragua is a north-south striking, 20 km long chain of maars and cinder cones, which intersects the northwest-southeast striking main volcanic front. A tectonic control of LPML volcanism is likely but only evident for the Malpaisillo fissure at the northern end of the LPML. Previous work demonstrated geochemical variations implying changes in mantle-source composition (i.e., added slab components) along the Central American Volcanic Arc at spatial scales of some 10’s of kilometers. Our study of the LPML shows that minor but systematic changes also occur across the arc within 20 km distance. Variations in trace element ratios such as Zr/Nb, Ba/Th, Ba/La, Th/Zr, U/La and La/Yb along the LPML, i.e. across the volcanic front indicate little change in the degree of partial melting but an increase particularly in the hemipelagic sediment component in the mantle source from the fore arc towards the arc front, followed by a decrease behind the arc. Interestingly, the slab component is most prominent just in front of the arc. About 60 km southeast of the LPML, the Nejapa-Miraflores volcanic and tectonic lineament, which marks a 20 km north-south offset in the arc, differs substantially from the LPML. There is a wide scatter in incompatible trace element ratios indicating a heterogeneous mantle source at small spatial scales (c. 1 km). This mantle heterogeneity may represent vertical rather than across-arc variations and is probably related to the arc offset, because in the absence of such offset at the LPML mantle source conditions vary much less but more systematically. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The youngest dacitic Plinian eruption in west-central Nicaragua, forming the 18 km Chiltepe Tephra (CT), occurred about nineteen hundred years ago at Apoyeque stratovolcano, which dominates the Chiltepe volcanic complex 15 km north of the capital Managua, where the CT is 2 m thick. We have traced the CT from its proximal facies at the crater rim, through the medial facies in the lowlands around Apoyeque, and to the distal facies up to 550 km offshore in the Pacific. While medial and distal facies consist of widespread Plinian fall deposits, the proximal facies reveals the complexity of this eruption, which we divide into four phases (I-IV). Interaction of rising magma with a pre-existing crater lake generated the phreatomagmatic opening phase I of the eruption, which produced ash fall with accretionary lapilli. Phase II marked a rapid change to persistent magmatic activity that yielded several large Plinian eruptions, declining through a period of unstable eruption conditions, followed by a short hiatus. Phase III began with unstable conditions, probably as a result of eastward migration and widening of the vent, leading to a second period of Plinian eruptions with three major events reaching magma discharge rates five times larger than those of phase II. Phase III again declined through unstable eruption conditions before magmatic activity terminated. Numerous explosions in the shallow hydrothermal system during the final phase IV resulted in the formation of a phreatic tuff ring on the rim of Apoyeque crater. The white, highly-vesicular, dacitic CT pumice contains plagioclase (An), orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and minor hornblende, apatite and titanomagnetite phenocrysts. A very subordinate fraction of gray pumice has the highest crystal content, the least evolved bulk-rock, but the most evolved matrix-glass composition. The CT dacite has two unusual compositional features: (1) all white dacite has the same melt (matrix-glass) composition such that variations in bulk-rock compositions (64-68 wt% SiO) simply reflect different phenocryst contents of 10-35%, interpreted as the result of gradual phenocryst settling in the magma chamber. (2) Abundant olivine crystals with a bimodal distribution in Mg# (modes at Mg# = 0.75 and Mg# = 0.8) are dispersed throughout the erupted dacite. These are clearly out of equilibrium with the dacitic melt and are interpreted as xenocrysts derived from the basaltic Nejapa-Miraflores volcanic lineament that intersects the Chiltepe volcanic complex and was contemporaneously active. Thermobarometric estimates place the dacitic CT magma reservoir in the upper crust (<250 MPa), with a temperature of about 890°C and about 5 wt% water dissolved in the melt. Comparing water and chlorine contents with respective solubility models suggests that volatile degassing began in the magma reservoir and triggered the CT eruption. From the vertical compositional variation pattern of the CT we deduce that the conduit tapped the magma chamber not at the top but from the side, at some deeper level, and that subsequent magma withdrawal was governed by both variations in discharge rate and possible upward migration and/or widening of the conduit entrance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tiscapa maar in the center of Managua city formed by a phreatomagmatic eruption <3 ka ago. The eruption excavated a crater deep into the basement exposing a coherent Pleistocene to Holocene volcaniclastic succession that we have divided into four formations. The lowermost, >60 ka old basaltic–andesitic formation F1 comprises mafic ignimbrites and phreatomagmatic tephras derived from the Las Sierras volcanic complex south of Managua. Formation F2 contains the ~60 ka basaltic–andesitic Fontana tephra erupted from the Las Nubes Caldera of the Las Sierras complex 15 km to the S, the 25 ka Upper Apoyo tephra from the Apoyo Caldera 35 km to the SE, and the Lower (~17 ka) and Upper (12.4 ka) Apoyeque tephras from the Chiltepe volcanic complex 15 km to the NW. These tephras are separated by weathering horizons and paleosols indicating dry climatic conditions. Fluvial deposits of a SSW-NNE running paleo-river system build formation F3. The fluvial sediments contain, from bottom to top, scoriae from the ~6 ka basaltic San Antonio tephra, pumice lapilli from the Apoyo and Apoyeque tephras and the 6.1 ka Xiloà tephra, and scoriae derived from the Fontana tephra. The fluvial sediment succession thus reflects progressively deeper carving erosion in the southern highlands (where a large-amplitude regional erosional unconformity exists at the appropriate stratigraphic level) that began after ~6 ka. This suggests that the mid-Holocene tropical high-precipitation climatic phase affected western Nicaragua about a thousand years later than other circum-Caribbean regions. The end of the wet climate phase ~3 ka ago is recorded by a deep weathering zone and paleosol atop formation F3 prior to the Tiscapa eruption. Formation F4 is the Tiscapa tuffring composed of pyroclastic surge and fallout deposits that cover a minimum area of 1.2 km. The 4 × 10 kg of erupted basaltic magma is compositionally and genetically related to the low-Ti basalts of the N–S striking Nejapa-Miraflores volcanic–tectonic alignment 5 km to the West of Tiscapa. Ascent and eruption mode of the Tiscapa magma were controlled by the Tiscapa fault that has a very active seismic history as it achieved 12 m displacement in about 3000 years. Managua city is thus exposed to continued seismic and volcanic risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyzed bare human footprints in Holocene tuff preserved in two pits in the Acahualinca barrio in the northern outskirts of Managua (Nicaragua). Lithology, volcanology, and age of the deposits are discussed in a companion paper (Schmincke et al. Bull Volcanol doi: , ). The footprint layer occurs within a series of rapidly accumulated basaltic–andesitic tephra that is regionally correlated to the Masaya Triple Layer Tephra. The people were probably trying to escape from a powerful volcanic eruption at Masaya Caldera 20 km farther south that occurred at 2.1 ka BP. We subdivided the swath of footprints, up to 5.6 m wide, in the northern pit (Pit I) into (1) a central group of footprints made by about six individuals, the total number being difficult to determine because people walked in each other’s footsteps one behind the other and (2) two marginal groups on either side of the central group with more widely spaced tracks. The western band comprises tracks of three adjacent individuals and an isolated single footprint farther out. The eastern marginal area comprises an inner band of deep footprints made by three individuals and, farther out, three clearly separated individuals. We estimate the total number of people as 15–16. In the southern narrow and smaller pit (Pit II), we recognize tracks of ca. 12 individuals, no doubt made by the same group. The group represented in both pits probably comprised male and female adults, teenagers and children based on differences in length of footprints and of strides and depth of footprints made in the soft wet ash. The smallest footprints (probably made by children) occur in the central group, where protection was most effective. The footprint layer is composed of a lower 5–15-cm thick, coarse-grained vesicle tuff capped by a medium to fine-grained tuff up to 3 cm thick. The surface on which the people walked was muddy, and the soft ash was squeezed up on the sides of the foot imprints and between toes. Especially, deep footprints are mainly due to local thickening of the water-rich ash, multiple track use, and differences in weight of individuals. The excellent preservation of the footprints, ubiquitous mudcracks, sharp and well-preserved squeeze-ups along the margins of the tracks and toe imprints, and the absence of raindrop impressions all suggest that the eruption occurred during the dry season. The people walked at a brisk pace, as judged from the tight orientation of the swath and the length of the strides. The directions of a major erosional channel in the overlying deposits that probably debouched into Lake Managua and the band of footprints are strictly parallel, indicating that people walked together in stride along the eastern margin of a channel straight toward the lake shore, possibly a site with huts and/or boats for protection and/or escape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  We present the stratigraphy, lithology, volcanology, and age of the Acahualinca section in Managua, including a famous footprint layer exposed in two museum pits. The ca. 4-m-high walls of the main northern pit (Pit I) expose excellent cross sections of Late Holocene volcaniclastic deposits in northern Managua. We have subdivided the section into six lithostratigraphic units, some of which we correlate to Late Holocene eruptions. Unit I (1.2 m thick), chiefly of hydroclastic origin, begins with the footprint layer. The bulk is dominated by mostly massive basaltic-andesitic tephra layers, interpreted to represent separate pulses of a basically phreatomagmatic eruptive episode. We correlate these deposits based on compositional and stratigraphic evidence to the Masaya Triple Layer erupted at Masaya volcano ca. 2,120 ± 120 a B.P.. The eruption occurred during the dry season. A major erosional channel unconformity up to 1 m deep in the western half of Pit I separates Units II and I. Unit II begins with basal dacitic pumice lapilli up to 10 cm thick overlain by a massive to bedded fine-grained dacitic tuff including a layer of accretionary lapilli and pockets of well-rounded pumice lapilli. Angular nonvesicular glass shards are interpreted to represent hydroclastic fragmentation. The dacitic tephra is correlated unequivocally with the ca. 1.9-ka-Plinian dacitic Chiltepe eruption. Unit III, a lithified basaltic-andesitic deposit up to 50 cm thick and extremely rich in branch molds and excellent leaf impressions, is correlated with the Masaya Tuff erupted ca. 1.8 ka ago. Unit IV, a reworked massive basaltic-andesitic deposit, rich in brown tuff clasts and well bedded and cross bedded in the northwestern corner of Pit I, cuts erosionally down as far as Unit I. A poorly defined, pale brown mass flow deposit up to 1 m thick (Unit V) is overlain by 1–1.5 m of dominantly reworked, chiefly basaltic tephra topped by soil (Unit VI). A major erosional channel carved chiefly between deposition of Units II and I may have existed as a shallow drainage channel even prior to deposition of the footprint layer. The swath of the footprints is oriented NNW, roughly parallel to, and just east of, the axis of the channel. The interpretation of the footprint layer as the initial product of a powerful eruption at Masaya volcano followed without erosional breaks by additional layers of the same eruptive phase is strong evidence that the group of 15 or 16 people tried to escape from an eruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Masaya Caldera Complex has been the site of three highly explosive basaltic eruptions within the last six thousand years. A Plinian eruption ca. 2 ka ago formed the widespread deposits of the Masaya Triple Layer. We distinguish two facies within the Masaya Triple Layer from each other: La Concepción facies to the south and Managua facies to the northwest. These two facies were previously treated as two separated deposits (La Concepción Tephra and the Masaya Triple Layer of Pérez and Freundt, 2006) because of their distinct regional distribution and internal architectures. However, chemical compositions of bulk rock, matrix and inclusion glasses and mineral phases demonstrate that they are the product of a single basaltic magma batch. Additionally, a marker bed containing fluidal-shaped vesicular lapilli allowed us to make a plausible correlation between the two facies, also supported by consistent lateral changes in lithologic structure and composition, thickness and grain size. We distinguish 10 main subunits of the Masaya Triple Layer (I to X), with bulk volumes ranging between 0.02 and 0.22 km3, adding up to 0.86 km3 (0.4 km3 DRE) for the entire deposit. Distal deposits identified in two cores drilled offshore Nicaragua, at a distance of ∼170 km from the Masaya Caldera Complex, increase the total tephra volume to 3.4 km3 or ∼1.8 km3 DRE of erupted basaltic magma. Isopleth data of five major fallout subunits indicate mass discharges of 106 to 108 kg/s and eruption columns of 21 to 32 km height, affected by wind speeds of <2 m/s to ∼20 m/s which increased during the course of the multi-episodic eruption. Magmatic Plinian events alternated with phreatoplinian eruptions and phreatomagmatic explosions generating surges that typically preceded breaks in activity. While single eruptive episodes lasted for few hours, the entire eruption probable lasted weeks to months. This is indicated by changes in atmospheric conditions and ash-layer surfaces that had become modified during the breaks in activity. The Masaya Triple Layer has allowed to reconstruct in detail how a basaltic Plinian eruption develops in terms of duration, episodicity, and variable access of external water to the conduit, with implications for volcanic hazard assessment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Masaya is unusual for a basaltic caldera because it formed by piston-subsidence in response to large-volume magma withdrawal by highly explosive eruptions, i.e. in a fashion typical of silicic calderas. The first and most voluminous of the three explosive eruptions formed the 6 ka old basaltic San Antonio Tephra (SAT). This eruption is also unusual in that most of the 9 km3 DRE basaltic magma was discharged by a plinian eruption. The subsequent eruptions of the basaltic Masaya Triple Layer (MTL, 2.1 ka) and the Masaya Tuff/Ticuantepe Lapilli (MT-TIL, 1.9 ka) each discharged 2 km3 DRE magma and enlarged the Masaya caldera. The SAT consists of a lower sequence of alternating scoria lapilli and ash layers, interpreted as an alternation between more or less phreatomagmatically influenced fallout events. These are followed by two prominent well-sorted lapilli layers: the first one formed by a climactic plinian eruption whose column height reached 21–29 km and discharged most of the total erupted mass including about 35 Mt SO 2. The second, lithic-rich lapilli layer probably formed by a phreatoplinian event when partial collapse of the magma chamber roof initiated increasing magma-water interaction which ultimately formed the upper sequence of phreatomagmatic cross-bedded surge deposits, accretionary lapilli-rich tuffs and a final fallout of dense lapilli. Phreatomagmatic activity may have been related to disruption of a hydrothermal system reflected in hydrothermally altered lithics, and/or by the caldera floor subsiding closer to the groundwater table. The bulk-rock chemical composition of the SAT is basaltic but the bimodal glass compositions demonstrate mixing of a basaltic with an andesitic melt probably in the conduit during eruption. The SAT basalt differentiated in a reservoir near the MOHO at 20 km depth by fractional crystallization of olivine, plagioclase, and minor clinopyroxene forming a tholeiitic fractionation trend. Minor intermediate-An plagioclase crystallized from the basaltic melt at H 2 O concentrations of about 2 wt% as measured by FTIR in melt inclusions. However, a key observation is that the melt inclusions are not in equilibrium with the high-An plagioclases hosting them. Re-equilibration of the inclusions requires initially higher water contents (about 5–6 wt%) which also fits the high Ba/La ~ 80 indicating input from the strongly hydrated subducting slab. Therefore, while the SAT magma evolved under hydrous conditions at depth, it was then stored at shallow level long enough to adjust to the low saturation pressure and to precipitate some intermediate-An plagioclase but still preserving its high temperature (around 1100 °C) and phenocryst-poor composition. Large overpressure due to connection to the deep-seated reservoir and water degassing during ascent limited the storage time at shallow level and drove the unusually intense and voluminous plinian-style eruption that facilitated piston-type collapse of the chamber roof. • Masaya caldera is an unusual basaltic caldera in that it formed by voluminous magma extraction during explosive eruptions. We identify the nature, age and volume of these three eruptions of which the first, emplacing the San Antonio tephra, was by far most voluminous. • The by far largest fraction of the 9 km3 DRE erupted volume of this tephra was discharged during a Plinian eruption phase, which was bracketed by phreatomagmatic eruptions. We demonstrate that water contents measured in melt inclusions equilibrated during residence at shallow level shortly before eruption strongly underestimate original water contents during differentiation at higher pressure. We argue that the large fraction of exsolved H2O together with buoyancy pressure from connection to the deeper reservoir drove the eruptive high mass flux needed for the Plinian eruption phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The NW-SE striking volcanic front in Nicaragua is dissected into a western and an eastern segment separated by 20 km of N-S offset. The Chiltepe volcanic complex lies at the eastern end of the western segment and at the northern tip of the Nejapa-Miraflores tectonic and volcanic lineament that traces the arc offset. The Chiltepe peninsula attained its present shape and composition during highly explosive and effusive volcanic activity through the Late Pleistocene and Holocene, which formed the Chiltepe Formation (CF) and culminated in the 1.9 ka plinian eruption of the Chiltepe tephra. The previous evolution of this volcanic system is recorded in the volcaniclastic Mateare Formation (MF) exposed west (downwind) of the peninsula and separated from the CF by a large regional erosional unconformity. We divide the MF into the lower MF-1 member (22 volcaniclastic units) and the upper MF-2 member (17 volcaniclastic units), which are separated by a major erosional unconformity. The MF-1 was formed by variably evolved (basalt to dacite) magmas from a mantle source that was moderately metasomatized by fluids derived from subducted sediments. These high-Al moderately hydrous magmas fractionated in a tholeiitic fashion, with early plagioclase but delayed magnetite fractionation (initial Fe-Ti enrichments). Apart from the variable degree of differentiation, magmatic conditions during MF-1 remained fairly constant. While MF-1 contains several erosional unconformities suggesting tectonic activity, MF-2 is conformably stratified and the tholeiitic magmas persisted during this time. However, during MF-2, Al-poor tholeiitic compositions gradually replaced the Al-rich of MF-1 without significant changes in metasomatism or degree of melting at their mantle sources. At the same time, a different mantle source was tapped that was richer in the sediment components, and which produced more hydrous magmas that differentiated in a calc-alkaline fashion with early fractionation of both plagioclase and magnetite. Hence, two mantle source compositions were active during MF-2. The erosional interval between MF and CF, associated with strike-slip motion at the Mateare Fault, correlates with initiation of Nejapa-Miraflores volcanism. We postulate that extension along the Najapa-Miraflores fault system facilitated rapid ascent of mafic magmas from a mantle source laterally away from the arc axis that was less metasomatized than sources directly below the arc. On the Chiltepe peninsula, the Nejapa-Miraflores and Chiltepe magma systems interacted to form tholeiitic, less hydrous types of magmas (andesite to dacite) that erupted intermittently with the dominant calc-alkaline hydrous dacites. While associations of tholeiitic and calc-alkaline magmas at other subduction zones have often been attributed to variable intracrustal processes, we here argue for changes in the mantle source, particularly hydration by slab-derived fluids, as the main control on subsequent differentiation behavior. We further attribute the long-term changes in mantle source conditions through MF and CF, possibly over about 1 My, to result from temporal heterogeneity caused by mantle wedge solid flow and possibly variable fluid flow from the slab. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]