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Effects of Scoria-Cone Eruptions Upon Nearby Human Communities

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Effects of Scoria-Cone Eruptions Upon Nearby Human Communities Effects of scoria-cone eruptions upon nearby human communities M.H. Ort* Environmental Sciences and Geology, P.O. Box 4099, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011, USA M.D. Elson** Desert Archaeology, 3975 N. Tucson Boulevard, Tucson, Arizona 85716, USA K.C. Anderson† Navajo Nation Archaeology Department, P.O. Box 6013, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011, USA W.A. Duffi eld†† Geology, P.O. Box 4099, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011, USA J.A. Hooten§ Red Willow Production, Southern Ute Indian Tribe, 14933 Highway 172, Ignacio, Colorado 81137, USA D.E. Champion§§ U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefi eld Road, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA G. Waring# 412 W. Juniper Avenue, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001, USA ABSTRACT for agriculture, become a priority for farm- overlooked. Scoria-cone eruptions, however, ing communities. In humid areas, though, the commonly occur in areas where people live and Scoria-cone eruptions are typically low tephra blanket may impede plant growth and farm; therefore, their effects can be profoundly in volume and explosivity compared with increase erosion. Cultural responses to erup- life altering. This paper describes the effects of eruptions from stratovolcanoes, but they can tions vary, from cultural collapse, through scoria-cone eruptions on human populations, affect local populations profoundly. Scoria- fragmentation of society, dramatic changes, fi lling in a signifi cant gap in our understanding cone eruption effects vary dramatically due and development of new technologies, to of these potentially catastrophic events. to eruption style, tephra blanket extent, little apparent change. Eruptions may also be A scoria-cone eruption can produce a cone climate, types of land use, the culture and viewed as retribution for poor behavior, and (up to ~500 m tall) of unconsolidated to welded complexity of the affected group, and result- attempts are made to mollify angry gods. basaltic to andesitic scoria lapilli and ash. The ing governmental action. A comparison of a eruption may also produce one or more lava fl ows, historic eruption (Parícutin, México) with Keywords: Scoria cones, geoarchaeology, vol- emitted near the base of the cone, and a blanket of prehistoric eruptions (herein we pri marily canic risk, agriculture, Sunset Crater, Parícutin. scoriaceous lapilli and ash fallout covering tens to focus on Sunset Crater in northern Arizona, thousands of square kilometers (Vespermann and USA) elucidates the controls on and effects INTRODUCTION Schmincke, 2000). A variety of models explain of these variables. Long-term effects of lava scoria cones and their deposits (e.g., McGetchin fl ows extend little beyond the fl ow edges. Scoria-cone volcanoes are the most abundant et al., 1974; Heiken, 1978; Valentine et al., 2006). These fl ows, however, can be used for defen- volcanic landform on Earth (Wood, 1980). About The height of the eruption column, which largely sive purposes, providing refuges from inva- 20 volcanoes per year erupt basaltic magma, determines the extent of the scoria blanket, and sion for those who know them well. In arid some producing scoria cones, and basaltic vol- the effusion rate, which largely determines how lands, tephra blankets serve as mulches, canoes occur in all tectonic settings (Walker, far lava fl ows reach, are the two most important decreasing runoff and evaporation, increas- 1993). Most scoria cones are mono genetic features that control their effects on humans. ing infi ltration, and regulating soil tempera- centers; therefore, each eruption produces a Recent work has shown that many scoria cones ture. Management and retention of these new volcano. However, these cone-forming were not formed only by Strombolian explo- scoria mulches, which can open new areas eruptions are less frequent, less dramatic, and sions and Hawaiian fountaining, and “violent their environmental effects less widespread Strombolian” eruptions with sustained eruption *E-mail: [email protected] than eruptions at stratovolcanoes (Simkin and columns are common in the volcanic record (e.g., **E-mail: [email protected] Siebert, 1994), whose effects on human popula- Gutmann, 2002; Valentine et al., 2005). Scoria †E-mail: [email protected] tions are comparatively well documented (e.g., cones commonly form vol canic fi elds, espe- ††E-mail: wendell.duffi [email protected] §E-mail: [email protected] Sheets and Grayson, 1979; Blong, 1982, 1984; cially in intra-plate environments, that consist of §§E-mail: [email protected] Sheets and McKee, 1994). Thus, the hazards tens to hundreds of individual volcanoes (e.g., #E-mail: [email protected] of scoria-cone eruptions have largely been Hasenaka and Carmichael, 1985). These fi elds GSA Bulletin; March/April 2008; v. 120; no. 3/4; p. 476–486; doi: 10.1130/B26061.1; 5 fi gures; 1 table. 476 For permission to copy, contact [email protected] © 2008 Geological Society of America Effects of scoria-cone eruptions upon nearby human communities are active over millions of years and long periods 2001), a period during which more than a dozen groups, resulted in different adaptive responses. between eruptions (100s to 10,000s of years) can scoria cones erupted, with the most recent erup- These choices were both predicated upon, and result in a lack of awareness of volcanic risks. tion occurring in the mid-twentieth century constrained by, a complex mix of variables, Lava fl ows tend to level the topography between (Fig. 1) (Wood and Kienle, 1990; Simkin and which include the nature of the eruption, features the cones. Weathering of lava and scoria pro- Siebert, 1994). Comparisons of the effects of of the surrounding environment, and the culture duces a soil in which agricultural activities can these eruptions upon nearby populations are and complexity of the affected group. be carried out. This leads to human populations instructive. The people who lived near where the In this paper, we focus on the effects of two living in areas with moderate to high potential for new volcanoes formed were mostly subsistence scoria-cone eruptions on human populations, scoria-cone eruptions. farmers who primarily grew corn, beans, and and the various responses of those populations. In southwestern North America, human popu- squash. Nonetheless, each eruption affected local The two volcanoes, for which both geologi- lations have lived and farmed within scoria-cone populations in different ways. Choices made by cal and anthropological data are available, are fi elds for over 5000 yr (Piperno and Flannery, affected groups, and by individuals within these Parícutin in Michoacán, México, which erupted between 1943 and 1952 CE, and Sunset Crater in north-central Arizona, which erupted some- time between 1050 and 1100 CE (Colton 1946; 48° Holm and Moore, 1987; Elson et al., 2002; Dated Cinder Cone Eruptions Ort et al., 2002). Two other prehistoric erup- in Southwestern North America tions—Little Springs in northern Arizona and 44° Xitle in modern Mexico City—are discussed as CM in the Last ~5000 Years additional examples of the diversity in human United States of America ML response and adaptation. These particular erup- tions were chosen because they represent a spec- 40° CC D trum of the variability observed in scoria-cone MO IS eruptions and in the social complexity of the UB affected human populations. All four volcanoes 36° LS N had distinct eruptive styles and affected popula- SC MC tions with different levels of cultural complex- ity. The style and magnitude of eruption are, of C 0 km 400 course, critical controls on the eruptive impacts, 32° but sociocultural variables are also important. A PI better understanding of these cultural factors can help affected populations and authorities plan 28° for future responses to scoria-cone eruptions. A spectrum of eruptive styles affecting groups Estados Unidos with different cultures and levels of social com- de México 24° plexity (ranging from groups with limited hier- archical structure to state-level societies) presents clear examples of the variability of human adap- tation to catastrophic volcanic events. Little 20° P X RC Springs was the smallest eruption and affected a J Belize small, possibly seasonal population. These people adapted easily to the emplacement of the cone Guate- 16° and fl ow. The small amount of data from Little mala 120° 116° 112° 108° 104° 100° 96° 92° 88° Springs suggests that the lava fl ows were used primarily for shelter, defense, and, based on mod- Figure 1. Location of the scoria-cone volcanoes that have erupted in the past 5000 yr in south- ern Paiute Indian data, possibly for rituals (Stoffl e western North America. C—Carrizozo (5.2 ka; Dunbar, 1999); CC—Cinder Cone at Lassen et al., 2004; Ort et al., 2008). Sunset Crater was (1630–1670 CE; Clynne et al., 2000); CM—Craters of the Moon (126–>5000 ybp; Simkin and a larger eruption than Little Springs and affected Siebert, 1994); D—Dotsero (4150 ybp; Wood and Kienle, 1990); IS—Ice Springs (1280 ybp; a larger population with numerous permanent Simkin and Siebert, 1994); J—Jorullo (1759–1774 CE); LS—Little Springs (1050–1200 CE; habitation sites and agricultural fi elds. The adap- this study and references cited herein); MC—McCarty’s Flow (3180 ybp; Laughlin et al., 1994); tive response of these people was to abandon the ML—Medicine Lake (Callahan and Paint Pot, 1000–1100 ybp; Donnelly-Nolan et al., 1990); immediate area and move a few kilometers away MO—Mono-Inyo Craters, Coso and Big Pine Volcanic Fields (Holocene to several hundred
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