Search

Ciomadul volcano, located at the south-eastern terminus of the Carpathian volcanic arc (Romania), is the youngest volcano in eastern-central Europe, with the last eruption occurring at 32 ka. Petrological and geophysical constraints indicate a melt-bearing silicic crystal mush body beneath Ciomadul, approximately 5–20 km below surface. This suggests that long-dormant or seemingly inactive volcanoes may have potentially active magma storage systems. However, the geometry and size of the magma storage region is unknown. Understanding the nature and structure of the volcanic plumbing system is crucial to understanding the evolution of the system, as well as to assess the hazard potential.In this presentation, we will report on 41 new magnetotelluric measurements acquired in 2022. The survey design consists of an irregular grid with dimensions of approximately 75 km by 75 km, centered around Ciomadul in the corner of the south-eastern Carpathian Mountains. This makes an array suitable for three-dimensional modelling. A 100 km long NW-SE transect across the array has a measurement spacing of less than 15 km.The newly acquired data complement previous measurements (recorded in 2010) near Ciomadul and Băile Tuşnad within an area of approximately 5 km by 10 km. The new data extend westward to the Perşani volcanic field (Racoș, Homorod), about 40 km west of Ciomadul, towards the Transylvanian Basin, and to the south-east to the edge of the seismically active Vrancea zone, often attributed to the descent of a slab, more than 50 km south-east of Ciomadul, towards the Focșani Basin. Both regions are targets for future measurement campaigns.Recordings were carried out at each location for approximately 1–5 days. The data typically had reliable periods of up to 1,000–4,000 s. The data are not homogenous and have characteristics of three-dimensionality. At some locations, cultural electromagnetic noise contaminated the signals and degraded the data; thus choosing appropriate locations for measurement was critical. Estimating local and inter-station transfer functions required special care, such as applying data pre-selection schemes and manual time windows, in addition to standard approaches including using robust statistics and the remote reference method. Overall, the preliminary analysis is encouraging and the results show that it is possible to obtain usable magnetotelluric data in this region.

Late Pleistocene tephras derived by large explosive volcanic eruptions are widespread in the Mediterranean and surrounding areas. They are important isochronous markers in stratigraphic sections and therefore it is important to constrain their sources. We report here tephrochronology results using multiple criteria to characterize the volcanic products of the Late Pleistocene Ciomadul volcano in eastern-central Europe. This dacitic volcano had an explosive eruption stage between 57 and 30 ka. The specific petrological character (ash texture, occurrence of plagioclase and amphibole phenocrysts and their composition), the high-K calc-alkaline major element composition and particularly the distinct trace element characteristics provide a strong fingerprinting of the Ciomadul volcano. This can be used for correlating tephra and cryptotephra occurrences within this timeframe. Remarkably, during this time there were several volcanic eruptions produced tephras with similar glass major element composition. However, these tephras differ from Ciomadul ones by glass trace element abundances, ratios of strongly incompatible trace elements and distinctive mineral cargo that serve as discrimination tools. We used (U-Th)/He zircon dates combined with U-Th in-situ rim dates along with luminescence and radiocarbon dating to constrain the age of the explosive eruptions of Ciomadul that yielded distal tephra layers, but lack of identified proximal deposits.

Ciomadul is the youngest volcano in eastern-central Europe. Although its last eruption occurred at ca. 30 ka, there are independent indications for a high-crystallinity magma reservoir persisting beneath the volcano until present. In order to further test the hypothesis of long-lived melt presence and to better constrain the nature and timescales associated with the subvolcanic magma storage system, over 500 zircon U-Th and U-Pb spot ages (crystal interiors and outer surfaces) were interpreted from dacitic rocks of the most productive eruptive period (the Young Ciomadul Eruptive Period; YCEP, 160-30 ka). Zircon surface ages from lava dome and pumice samples range from ca. 600 ka up to the youngest eruption event at 30 ka. They form a continuous age distribution and some single crystals reveal significant age zonation (>150 kyr difference from core to rim). The oldest zircon ages of YCEP overlap with the last eruption events of the Old Ciomadul Eruptive Period (1000–330 ka). The zircon age spectra, combined with textural data, point to a prolonged (several 100's kyr) residence in a highly crystalline mush state. The range in zircon crystallization temperature (from ∼750 °C to the solidus at ∼680 °C) is consistent with the results of thermometry on amphibole and plagioclase from felsic crystal clots, which represent crystal mush fragments. To maintain magma reservoir for such a long time above solidus, continuous magma input by deeper recharge is required. Zircon crystallization model calculations constrained by thermal modelling imply an average rate of magma input of about 1.3 × 10−4 km3/yr over 2 Myr. Such estimate allows us to calculate an extrusive/intrusive ratio of 1:25–1:30. The model calculations suggest that a crystal mush zone of about 35 km3 is still present within the subvolcanic magma reservoir. Importantly, the Ciomadul plumbing system thus remains thermally primed and renewed magma injection could lead to rapid reawakening and eruption of the apparently inactive volcano., Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 565, ISSN:0012-821X, ISSN:1385-013X