Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 275 (2014) 114–131

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Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jvolgeores

Deposits of the most recent eruption in the Southern Mono Craters,

California: Description, interpretation and implications for regional
marker tephras
Marcus Bursik a,⁎, Kerry Sieh b, Aron Meltzner b
a
Department of Geology, University of Buffalo, New York, USA
b
Earth Observatory of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The penultimate eruption in the Mono Craters, Mono County, CA, USA, occurred in the southern section of the
Received 14 August 2013 volcanic chain, and is herein named the South Mono eruption. The South Mono eruption occurred in
Accepted 19 February 2014 594–648cal A.D., and its products consist of widespread Plinian and phreatomagmatic fall, surge and pyroclastic
Available online 28 February 2014
flow deposits. The explosive deposits can be broken into Basal, Orange–Brown (surge dominated) and Upper
subunits. The eruptive phase represented by the Upper beds was the most intense and voluminous, dispersing
Keywords:
Mono Craters
tephra over a wide region of eastern CA and western NV. South Coulee was the only effusive product of the
Inyo Craters eruption, and comprises the vast majority of the c. 0.4 cu km dense-rock equivalent (DRE) volume. The tephra
California overlies the deposits of Wilson Butte to the south, and is correlated herein with Wood's Tephra 2, and Walker
Explosive eruption Lake and Turupah Flats regional marker tephra layers. Other dates for these regional tephras may be the result
Fall deposit of dating ash redeposited in debris flow events following fire.
Tephra © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Isopach
South Mono eruption
Tephra 2
Turupah Flats beds
Walker Lake beds

1. Introduction extension (Bursik and Sieh, 1989). In the Mono Craters, the data are
consistent with magma originating under the central section of the
The Mono–Inyo Craters, California, USA, is a chain of basaltic to edifice (Achauer et al., 1986), and propagating in radially spreading
rhyolitic cones, flows and domes stretching for 50 km across Long Valley dykes, at least to the North in the most recent North Mono eruption
Caldera to the north and south (1). Eruptions younger than 1000 yr are sequence of 1325–1350 A.D. (Sieh and Bursik, 1986).
relatively well-known (Wood, 1977; Miller, 1985; Sieh and Bursik, Mono–Inyo eruptions older than 1000 yr are generally only known
1986; Nawotniak and Bursik, 2010), as is the early Holocene eruption through deposits in distal outcrops. Some of these deposits have been
of the Red Cones in the isolated southern part of the chain (Browne used as time-stratigraphic marker horizons for the western Basin
et al., 2010). Ranges – Sierra Nevada (Wood, 1977; Davis, 1978; Madsen et al.,
Miller (1985), Sieh and Bursik (1986) and Bursik and Reid (2004) 2002; Bell and House, 2007). Because of the paucity of proximal, primary
established that numerous vents were active during the youngest erup- volcano-stratigraphic data on these eruptions, relationships between
tions from the Mono–Inyo chain. The eruptions progressed from an the distal outcrops and the source vent region are poorly understood.
explosive, subplinian phase, through a surge and pyroclastic-flow The present contribution provides information on older eruptions
phase, to a debris-flow and dome-building phase. Whether this pattern from the Mono–Inyo Craters. The relationship between distal, isolated
holds for older events is not known. tephras of the Basin Ranges province and deposits in the proximal
There is a close link between tectonic earthquakes and volcanic region is explored. We concentrate on the penultimate eruption from
eruptions in the region (Bursik et al., 2003), which indicates that the Mono Craters, which we herein name the South Mono eruption.
magma is brought to the surface by the accommodation of tectonic

2. Methods

⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: + 1 716 4265. Understanding the tephra stratigraphy, as well as direction and
E-mail address: [email protected] (M. Bursik). extent of tephra dispersal required the collection of stratigraphic data

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2014.02.015
0377-0273/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 M. Bursik et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 275 (2014) 114–131 115

from the vent area as well as a wide geographic region. The stratigraphy reconstructed pre-flow surface and the current surface, mapping soft-
used in the present study was logged and sampled at over one-hundred ware was used to calculate the volume of the lava flow.
excavation locations (Fig. 2). The excavation locations were chosen Radiometric analyses were performed on carbon associated with the
based on consideration of preservation and potential for new informa- tephra deposit. Specific sample descriptions and results from the analy-
tion, prevailing wind directions and thickness trends. The section at ses are reported.
“fn”, along California State Highway 167 northeast of Mono Lake
(30 km from vent), represents the furthest definite occurrence of tephra 3. Pyroclastic deposits
of the South Mono eruption. The section at “fo” (50 km north of vent) is
likely of South Mono origin. Some of the tephra found by Bell and House The deposits of the South Mono eruption sequence are distributed
(2007) northeast of Mono Lake, and other tephra south of Mono Lake throughout the Mono Basin and beyond. They reach their greatest
(Wood, 1977) probably correlate to the South Mono tephra, but because thickness in the area to the north of and surrounding South Coulee. In
of the chemical homogeneity of the Mono ashes, correlation to this this region, much of the upper 2 m of surficial deposits is of South
particular event is difficult. Nevertheless, we will provide some specula- Mono origin.
tions on these more distal tephras. The South Mono tephra in many proximal localities overlies the
Faults, craters, pyroclastic flow lobes as well as the only lava flow deposits of Wilson Butte. North of the vent area, close to Mono Lake,
associated with the South Mono eruption, South Coulee, were mapped the South Mono deposits are interbedded with deposits from eruptions
on a standard USGS 7.5 arc min quadrangle. Lava flow volume was at the north end of the volcanic chain. Here, they generally underlie the
calculated by applying a kriging function to measured thicknesses tephras of the North Mono eruption of 1325–1350 A.D., and overlie
derived from field notes and a TOPSAR digital elevation model (with deposits of a slightly older eruptive sequence from the north end of
5-m horizontal posting and 1.3-m vertical resolution). Based on the the chain. To the south, the South Mono tephra in many localities

2 km

Fig. 1. Location figure and features of the South Mono eruption sequence. Edges of domes mentioned in text drawn with black line; craters in white. Although all craters in this part of the
chain are shown, only those craters, flows and domes with a red oval or circular symbol were active during the South Mono eruption. Note that the active vent of West Control Crater was
within the inner crater. Base map is hillshaded TOPSAR 5-m DEM, UTM grid with NAD27 horizontal datum. Inset map from “Long Valley Caldera GIS Database” (http://pubs.usgs.gov/
dds/dds-81/).
116 M. Bursik et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 275 (2014) 114–131

A B

Bridgeport
Res.

Mono
Lake

Crowley
Lake

Fig. 2. Location of sites mentioned in text: A) proximal sites, B) distal sites; note that unlabeled proximal sites are removed. Base maps are NED 30-m and SRTM 90-m DEMs, respectively.
UTM grid shown in NAD27 horizontal datum.

underlies distinct, thin gray phreatomagmatic beds of the North Mono fine ash. The unit has an irregular contact with the underlying soil. An
event, and thicker deposits of Inyo tephra. Further afield, both north overlying, irregularly laminated, thin, ashy surge has a sharp planar
and south of the vent, the South Mono tephra is found intercalated upper contact with the overlying lapilli fall units.
with lacustrine, meadow, and debris flow material. At more distal sites to the north, the eruption sequence begins with
the lapilli fall units that lie just above the basal surge at the proximal
3.1. Basal beds sites. At site “dv,” 3 to 4 km east of Crater 8490, close to the dispersal
axis, the lowermost unit is a 10-cm thick, pebbly lapilli pumice fall
A characteristic basal, vent-opening bed sequence, the Basal Beds, is that comprised two subunits.
seen primarily on the eastern side of the axis of Mono Craters. The Basal The Basal Beds are thinner to the south. At site “ls,” just south of the
Beds are primarily fall units, with less-common surge and pyroclastic tephra ring surrounding the dome of West Control Crater, the Basal
flow units. At near-vent sites, the eruption begins with a thin, fine- Beds are 4-cm thick, consisting of four coarse-ash, lapilli laminations
grained, orange–brown pyroclastic surge unit. Site “pq” (Fig. 3) is with overlying pale-orange–brown ash septae. Overlying the basal
1.5 km west of Crater 8119 (Figs. 1, 2). This is the westernmost excava- unit are lapilli fall beds with numerous septae. Further south, at site
tion into the Basal Beds, which are 23.4 cm thick. An initial surge unit is a “og,” just north of Peak 8055, the lowermost (Basal?) unit is a 5-cm
3.2-cm thick, very-fine ash. It is planar-laminated and contains eroded thick surge deposit, consisting of interlaminated, orange–brown,
dish or flame structures. The upper part is a darker orange–brown very-fine ash to fine lapilli. This unit is overlain by pumice lapilli beds
color, and has a sharp upper contact with the overlying unit, which is with numerous septae. The Basal Beds die out b1 km south of “og.”
a 3.4-cm thick, lapilli fall deposit with a large fraction of lithic, and
gray and black obsidian clasts. The uppermost Basal Bed is a 16.8-cm
thick, lapilli fall unit. Several grain size changes in the fall units suggest 3.2. Orange–Brown Beds
varying wind direction or column height. In contrast to site “pq,” the
Basal Beds at site “sj” (Fig. 4), on the east side of Peak 9121 in a high- The most distinctive subunit of the South Mono sequence consists of
elevation, flat area, are 1.64 m thick, consisting mostly of salt-and- intercalated orange–brown and gray beds, which we refer to as the
pepper-colored lapilli fall units with orange–brown surge beds and Orange–Brown Beds. The Orange–Brown Beds are dominated by surge
ashy septae. The lowermost unit is a 0–1-cm thick, light-gray, very- units of this color.
 M. Bursik et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 275 (2014) 114–131 117

Fig. 3. Stratigraphy at site “pq”, west of Crater 8119. Illustrates a typical, complete proximal stratigraphy. Qps is paleosol, Hs is modern soil, U are Upper Beds, AC is Amphitheater Crater bed,
OB are Orange–Brown Beds, B are Basal Beds.

At site “sm,” (Fig. 5) on the western rim of Crater 8490, the lower- and obsidian (OB2). Obsidians are as large as 2.2 cm. This subunit is
most Orange–Brown Beds consist of a 23-cm thick section of alternat- mostly a fall material although a finer orange–brown band near the
ing, laminated, planar, yellow–brown to orange–brown and gray to center of the bed suggests continued minor surge activity.
white beds of poorly sorted, very-fine ash to lapilli ash (OB1 in Fig. 5). A 26-cm section of mostly laminated, planar to low-angle cross-
The finer beds are orange–brown, whereas coarser beds are gray or bedded and lenticular, orange–brown fine ash (OB3), with some gray
white. The topmost bed contains pebble bombs of gray, rhyolitic lithics and white beds of lapilli lies above the 30-cm fall unit. A 1-cm thick py-
and pumice lying within sags in a laminated, pale-orange–brown, very- roclastic flow(?) of pale-gray, very-fine to fine ash with abundant medi-
fine ash. These beds are of surge origin with a major component of um to coarse ash occurs near the top of this section. Otherwise, the
through-falling material. sequence is primarily of surge origin, with minor fall-through tephra.
Above the basal Orange–Brown sequence is a 20-cm thick, massive Local variations in the Orange–Brown Beds are common. As South
bed of gray to white, coarse ash to lapilli of pumice, gray lithic rhyolite Coulee is approached from any direction, the thickness of massive-
118 M. Bursik et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 275 (2014) 114–131

A B

Fig. 5. Photograph of part of Orange–Brown Beds at site “sm”, western rim of Crater 8490,
showing alternation of orange–brown surge and gray fall beds (A), and low-angle cross-
bedding (B). Numbers on tape measure are centimeters. OB1-3 are Orange–Brown Beds
discussed in text.

“crater cluster”), the Orange–Brown Beds constitute the entire

nonbioturbated portion of the 34-cm thick South Mono section, and
consist of planar, orange–brown and gray, thin beds of ashy lapilli. At
site “lr,” 2 km east-northeast of the crater cluster, the Orange–Brown
Beds consist of a 38-cm thick section of planar-bedded fine to medium
ash to lapilli. At site “du,” 4 km northeast of Crater 8490 and along a
dispersal axis of the Orange–Brown Beds, they consist of a 23-cm thick
section of planar-laminated, gray and orange–brown, lapilli-rich, coarse
ash. At site “dv,” 3–4 km northeast of the crater cluster, the Orange–
Brown Beds consist of a 9-cm thick sequence of planar-laminated,
gray, coarse ash and orange–brown, fine-sandy ash fall.

3.3. Upper Beds

Above the Orange–Brown Beds, the Upper Beds, a complex sequence

of local-ballistic fall, pyroclastic flow and surge, and gray or white,
plinian-type fall beds marks the most voluminous and extensive phase
of the eruption. At site “sl” (Fig. 6), a set of three pits with a cumulative
depth of 4 m, on the eastern edge of Crater 8490, 52 cm of gray and
white, lapilli fall beds overlies the Orange–Brown Beds. The gray and
white beds are in turn overlain by 59 cm of gray-glassy fall beds,
and 58 cm of gray-glassy surge and fall beds. At “pq”(Fig. 3), 22.1 cm
of locally dispersed, lithic rich, ash and lapilli beds probably mark the
opening of the Crater 8119 vent, which is blasted through Dome 21
(Fig. 1). This is overlain by a 36.3-cm thick, poorly sorted, massive
lapilli-ash pyroclastic flow, with ballistic bombs. Three gray and white
lapilli fall beds with a total thickness of 17.5 cm overlie the pyroclastic
flow and probably correlate to the gray and white beds at “sl”. Above
this is a 13- to 26-cm thick, very-poorly sorted, crudely stratified, off-
white, pyroclastic flow deposit that is capped by 65 cm of planar-
bedded, gray-glassy, coarse ash and lapilli beds correlative with the
Fig. 4. Photograph of Basal Beds at site “sj”, on the east side of Peak 9121 in a high- gray-glassy beds of “sl”. The top of the sequence here is a 56.4-cm
elevation, flat area. The Basal Beds are thick here, showing typical alternation of salt- thick, very-crudely stratified, bioturbated ash and lapilli, reversely
and-pepper-colored lapilli fall units with ashy septae, and less-common, orange–brown graded pyroclastic flow.
surge deposits.

3.4. Amphitheater crater and orchestra pit

bedded, poorly sorted, pinkish, pyroclastic flows increases. Directly at At site “nm” (Fig. 7), at the east end of the fosse between Amphitheater
the base of South Coulee on the west, the pyroclastic flows reach a thick- Crater and the dome underlying West Control Crater, the Amphitheater
ness of over 2 m. At most sites on the western side of the axis of Mono Crater debris overlies all other South Mono tephra. The South Mono
Craters, the South Mono sequence begins with the Orange–Brown units themselves overlie a dark-yellow–brown, massive, pebbly loam
Beds. Note that site “pq” is an exception. paleosol. The South Mono sequence here begins with a 5.8-cm thick
In distal localities, fall beds of the Orange–Brown sequence are unit consisting of reddish-brown and “salt and pepper” colored (pumice
thickest to the north. At site “pw” (Fig. 2), 4 km west-northwest of the and obsidian rich) laminations of fine-ash fall and surge beds. The upper
cluster of Craters 8119, 8145 and 8538 (hereinafter referred to as the contact is irregular, suggesting the possibility of erosion at top. This unit
 M. Bursik et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 275 (2014) 114–131 119

LITHOLOGY
SCALE (m)

NOTES

LITHOLOGY
SCALE (m)
MUD SANDGRAVEL

pebb

NOTES
cobb
gran

boul
clay
vf m vc

silt
f c

MUD SANDGRAVEL

pebb
cobb
gran

boul
clay
vf m vc

silt
f c

Hs Hs
4

Gray-
1.5
glassy
surge
and fall
beds

U
Amphitheater
3 Crater fall
Gray-
glassy fall
beds

U
Gray-
white Amphitheater
lapilli fall
beds
Crater blast
OB surge
and
pyroclastic
2 flow beds

0.5

OB

B fall,
surge
and flow
beds

fall, surge
1 Qps

B
Fig. 7. Stratigraphy at site “nm”, 500 m east of Amphitheater Crater. Illustrates proximal
Qps
stratigraphy of Amphitheater Crater debris. See Fig. 3 for explanation of symbols and
abbreviations.

represents all known South Mono tephra at this site not originating
from Amphitheater Crater and Orchestra Pit. The basal subunit of
Amphitheater ejecta consists of 70 cm of loose, heterolithologic,

Fig. 6. Stratigraphy at site “sl”, on the east rim of Crater 8490. Illustrates a complete, prox-
imal stratigraphy to east of axis of Mono Craters, including thick sequence of Upper Beds.
See Fig. 3 for explanation of symbols and abbreviations.
120 M. Bursik et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 275 (2014) 114–131

massive diamict debris with a medium-gray matrix of lapilli ash. fraction in the lower ~ 30 cm of the unit. The coarse fraction consists
Coarse-lapilli and small-block accessory and accidental clasts make up of almost 100% black, aphyric obsidian. In the small-lapilli size fraction,
about 70% of the deposit. Medium-gray glass dominates the matrix gray lineated pumice is common. Although common in South Mono
pyroclasts, biotite crystals are rare in this debris. Approximately 1% of
lapilli and blocks is Sierran lithics and gray, porphyritic, accessory lithic
rhyolite. This subunit represents the initial blasting of non-juvenile ma-
terial. Above the basal subunit is 40 cm of fine-block lapilli dominated
LITHOLOGY

by black, aphyric obsidian. Gray obsidian as well as lavender and

SCALE (m)

NOTES
blue–gray porphyritic, lithic rhyolite, Sierran igneous and metamorphic,
and orange–brown very porphyritic (Bishop Tuff) clasts also occur.
Flecks of gold- and black-colored biotite are common, suggesting that
MUD SANDGRAVEL the subunit represents a proximal fall deposit of juvenile debris from

pebb
cobb
gran

boul
Amphitheater Crater. Above the Amphitheater ejecta is 41 cm of pale-
clay

vf m vc
silt

f c yellow–brown, massive, heterolithologic pebbly loam with biotite crys-

tals common. The surface is covered with less than 3 cm of Inyo pumice,
as well as black obsidian with lithophysae-rich phenocrysts.
North of Amphitheater Crater, thick pyroclastic flow, surge and gray-
glassy fall beds of the Upper South Mono tephra are found both beneath
Hs, Inyo and above the Amphitheater Crater and Orchestra Pit ejecta. At “pq”,
fall the Amphitheater Crater debris is a 4-cm thick bed of dark, angular,
lithic clasts intercalated within the Upper gray glassy beds. This appears
to be a distal outcrop of vent-opening breccia. Just southwest of
Inyo fall Amphitheater Crater, at “ok” (Fig. 8), a 24.5-cm thick section of light-
colored, pyroclastic flow and surge beds of massive, fine ash to medium
NM fall ash occurs directly above the 12.9-cm thick Amphitheater Crater debris,
which overlies 5.6 cm of Basal and Orange–Brown Beds. These beds
1.5
Qps

LITHOLOGY
SCALE (m)

NOTES
U surge

MUD SANDGRAVEL

pebb
cobb
gran

boul
clay

vf m vc
silt

f c
1

p. flow

Hs

p. flow,
surge 0.5 U
0.5
U

AC
blast 0.25 OB
U fall
OB OB
Qps lag
OB
Qps
0

Fig. 8. Stratigraphy at site “ok”, southwest of Amphitheater Crater, illustrating relationship Fig. 9. Stratigraphy at site “fj”, 100 m east of Mono Mills along California State Highway
of Amphitheater Crater debris to other Upper South Mono beds. See Fig. 3 for explanation 120. Illustrates stratigraphy near dispersal axis at c. 5 km from the crater cluster. See
of symbols and abbreviations. Fig. 3 for explanation of symbols and abbreviations.
 M. Bursik et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 275 (2014) 114–131 121

display subtle pinching and swelling structures. 35 cm of gray-glassy region of the main tephra lobe at a distance of 5.3 km from the vent.
ash overlies the flow and surge beds. These are planar-laminated beds The South Mono tephra is a 60-cm thick section of planar bedded and
that nevertheless contain low-angle, pinching-and-swelling features laminated coarse-ash lapilli, with charcoal. The lowermost fall bed is
indicative of intermittent surge activity. 22 cm of bioturbated ash 3-cm thick, and consists of 70% pumice, 25% gray glass and 5% lithics.
comprises an incipient soil horizon above this, which is overlain by Above this is a 7-cm thick set of orange–brown, planar lapilli layers
10 cm of laminated, gray-glassy ash from the North Mono eruption of with thin, ashy caps, overlain by a 9-cm thick set of at least 11 lamina-
1325–1350 A.D. These data suggest that the Amphitheater Crater vent tions of white, medium ash to tan and orange–brown, fine ash. The
opened during the eruption of the Upper South Mono tephra. subunit above is a reverse graded, 19-cm thick bed of salt-and-
Orchestra Pit ejecta can be viewed at site “oc” on the Orchestra Pit pepper-colored, slightly ashy lapilli to lapilli fall with 65% pumice, 20%
rim. The lowermost subunit here consists of a N20-cm thick bed of gray glass and 15% obsidian. This is overlain by a 7-cm thick, weakly
massive, biotite-bearing ash overlain by 25 cm of planar-bedded, stratified bed of lapilli ash, again with 65% pumice, 20% gray glass and
biotite-bearing, gray-glassy medium ash and small lapilli. This is over- 15% obsidian. This is overlain by a 7-cm thick, light-gray, small-pebble,
lain by 135 cm of six, sub-planar beds of lapilli ash and ashy lapilli. coarse sand that is a heavily-bioturbated A-horizon of a paleosol, with
Porphyritic, lavender and gray obsidian and white pumice are common. an 8-cm thick, brown–black, organic-rich O-horizon above. These
This is probably the Amphitheater debris. The overlying subunit, about paleosol horizons are overlain by recognizable North Mono tephra of
110 cm thick, is a massive, heterolithologic, ashy, lapilli-bearing block 1325–1350 A.D.
and lapilli unit. It is dominated by porphyritic gray and lavender blocks, Five km east of site “fj” at site “ge”, also along Highway 120, the
some having lithophysae. Angular, aphyric obsidian lapilli is also com- South Mono tephra is 38.4 cm thick. It is underlain by a unit consisting
mon. This is the Orchestra Pit debris itself. The lithophysae-rich facies of 14 cm of well-bedded, lapilli ash from the preceding eruptive
of the dome in which these two craters were excavated can be seen in sequence that is overlain by 14 cm of pale-yellow–brown, massive, peb-
the vertical walls at the base of the Pit. bly, silty sand that is bioturbated at the top and represents an incipient
paleosol. The South Mono tephra consists of a 7-cm thick set of four pla-
nar beds of pumiceous ash fall, with one pale-orange–brown bed at
3.5. Distal tephra 5–5.6 cm above the base. Above this are 31.4 cm of massive, medium-
gray, poorly sorted, bioturbated, lapilli ash. The South Mono tephra
Site “fj” (Fig. 9) is 100 m east of Mono Mills on the south side of here is overlain by 4.2 cm of gray-glassy fall beds of the North Mono
California State Highway 120 (Fig. 2). It characterizes the near-axial

Fig. 10. Stratigraphy at site “fl”, southwestern edge of Mono Lake. This site illustrates Fig. 11. Stratigraphy at site “fo”, 55 km north-northeast of vent, showing appearance of
complete distal stratigraphy to north-northwest. See Fig. 3 for explanation of symbols South Mono tephra at most distal probable outcrop to north. See Fig. 3 for explanation
and abbreviations. of symbols and abbreviations.
122 M. Bursik et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 275 (2014) 114–131

Unit 7: Inyo Tephra Poorly sorted, clast

supported unit of pumice. Clasts vary
from 1 mm to 4 cm in diameter.

0.23m
Unit 6: Distal North Mono Tephra? Brown,
fine sandy silt. Friable.

0.05m Unit 5: Nonvolcanic deposit Interbedded

alternating layers of pebbles and sand. Pebble
0.14m layers are clastsupported. Complexly graded.

Unit 4: Tephra Fine sand/silt, white with

0.89m 0.01m
small (<1cm) clasts of pumice. Friable.
0.13m Unit 3: Palaeosol Grades from reddish-orange
at base to tan at top. Lower contact is
slightly irregular.

Unit 2: Red Cones Tephra Clast supported

moderately vesiculated basalt. Grades
0.33m normally from 2 cm to 1 mm sized pyroclasts.
Overall black, upper and lower contacts are
reddish-orange from weathering. Lower contact
is slightly irregular.

Unit 1: Glacial Deposit Reddish-orange.

0m and below Medium-coarse grain sand with granitic
clasts. Clast size varies from 1 to 4 cm.

Sample RC0001-1: Charcoal from a log or

branch. 9325 +/- 83 C14 yr B.P.
Pebble
Sand
Silt

Average grain size

Fig. 12. Stratigraphy at site “RC0001”, 30 km south-southwest of vent, showing that South Mono tephra also outcrops south of Long Valley caldera. Adapted from Fig. 6 of Browne et al.
(2010).

m
Upper

Orange-Brown

Basal
m

Fig. 13. Stratigraphy and grain size data from site 09501. Overall grain size: L, lapilli; CA, coarse ash; FA, fine ash; NV, nonvolcanic. Other symbols: Mdphi, median grain size; sigmaphi, grain
size standard deviation; f(pumice), fraction pumice; f(lithics), fraction lithics. Sample numbers next to the median grain size column correspond to those in Fig. 14.
 M. Bursik et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 275 (2014) 114–131 123

Pumice
Obsidian
Lithics
-1
-2
-3
95021
1
0
-1
-2
95016
1
0
Sample number and size fraction, phi

-1
-2
95015
1
0
-1
-2
95014
1
0
-1
-2
95013
1
0
-1
95012
1
0
-1
-2
-3
95011
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Fraction

Fig. 14. Componentry data for sites 09501 and 09502. Samples beginning with 9501 are from site 09501 (see Fig. 13 for position in stratigraphic section), and sample 95021 is from site
09502, which consists of a single blast deposit above all units at 09501. Numbers above sample numbers are sieve fraction in phi units.

tephra, and 20 cm of biotite-bearing, massive, dark-yellow–brown ashy 99.99

paleosol derived from Inyo tephra. 99.9
At the most westerly exposure of the South Mono tephra, “fl”, which
lies along the west side of U.S. Highway 395 at Mono Lake, the tephra 99
occurs in a small alluvial fan deposit. It is underlain along an irregular 95
contact by tan-brown alluvium (Fig. 10). The South Mono tephra here 90
is a white to pale-tan ash. It consists of 0.6 cm of white, fine ash, with 80
70
Percent

an upper, planar contact, and a 0.1-cm thick, orange–brown lamination

0.4 cm above base. The basal (Orange–Brown?) ash is overlain by 1.8 cm 50
of Upper(?) white ash. The Upper(?) ash contains a 2 mm thick lens of 30
pale tan to orange–brown fine ash. The upper contact of the Upper(?) 20
10
white ash is sharp but irregular. A bioturbated, 3-cm thick bed of 95011 N=74
5
redeposited(?), tan fine ash with an undulatory upper contact is over- 95013 N=9

lain by another tan-brown alluvial deposit. 1 95015 N=98

95016 N=8
The most distal, northerly site to which the South Mono tephra can
.1 95021 N=18
be reliably traced is “fo” (Fig. 11), 55 km NNE of the vent region. Here,
the tephra – consisting only of Upper(?) layers – lies 1.4 m below the .01
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
ground surface. 0.5 cm of basal, fine ash is overlain by a 0.1-cm thick
Density, kg per cu m
lamination of orange–brown ash. Above this is another 0.8 cm of lami-
nated fine gray ash. Overlying this is 0.9 cm of bioturbated, sandy ash,
Fig. 15. Density data for pumices from sites 09501 and 09502. Pumice density is much
then another 0.9 cm of redeposited, cross-bedded sand. The North higher for the upper blast deposit exposed in 09502. Sample numbers correspond to
Mono beds can be found in the overlying fluvial deposits. those in Figs. 13, 14.
124 M. Bursik et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 275 (2014) 114–131

To the south and east, the South Mono units crop out as thin, fine- south-southwest of the crater cluster, a 1 cm thick bed of white, friable,
grained, planar beds. At “kf”, 4.5 km ESE of the crater cluster, the South Mono lapilli ash is separated by 14 cm of fluvial deposits from the
South Mono tephra overlies a 25.6-cm thick, mottled, bioturbated Inyo and North Mono beds (Fig. 12). Diagnostic age dating and geo-
paleosol that seems to represent a significant passage of time. The chemical evidence discussed below support these distal correlations.
base of the South Mono tephra is a 1-cm thick, normally graded, coarse
ash fall grading upward to a medium-yellow–brown, fine-to-coarse ash
that represents the Orange–Brown beds here. Above this are four planar 4. Diagnostic properties
beds from 1.4 to 2.8 cm in thickness. These beds range from planar-
laminated, fine, light-gray ash, to massive-bedded, white, pumice lapilli Grain size, componentry and density data were analyzed in detail
fall, and represent the Upper South Mono sequence. at sites “09501” and “09502”. Site “09501” contains several beds of
Based on sites “99017”, “06500” and “RC-0001” the Upper South dispersed tephra from the main crater cluster vents. Site “09502” con-
Mono gray-glassy fall beds were probably dispersed distally to the sists of a bed of ballistic, vent-opening throw-out from Amphitheater
south as well as the east and north. At “99017”, 9.8 km south of the Crater. Grain size data are consistent with coarse grain sizes and low
crater cluster and 1.2 km south of Wilson Butte, the South Mono tephra fragmentation of the Basal fall tephras, followed by variable fragmenta-
is a 17–21-cm thick sequence of planar-laminated and massive, fine ash tion of the Orange–Brown Beds (Fig. 13). The Upper fall beds are highly
fall. The lower third is orange–brown, whereas the upper 2/3 is gray– fragmented, fine-grained, relatively well-sorted, massive beds.
green. The unit has a sharp, weakly bioturbated, lower contact that Componentry data from sites “09501” and “09502” show that the
overlies channels cut in the pre-existing unit. The South Mono tephra fraction of lithics generally decreased as the eruption progressed from
is more strongly bioturbated at the top, grading into a dark paleosol around 10–20% in the Basal Beds to a few percent in the Upper Beds,
directly underlying the 1325–1350 A.D. Mono–Inyo tephras. At “06500”, until the opening of the southern vents at West Control and Amphitheater
10.3 km south of the crater cluster in an abandoned quarry along the Craters caused local ejection of new, lithic-rich debris (Figs. 13, 14). This
U.S. Highway 395 and east of “99017”, a paleosol underlies an 8-cm is consistent with a decreasing degree of conduit and vent erosion as
thick bed of white to light-gray, medium to very-coarse ash lapilli fall. flow became better established in the conduit. Likewise, as the fraction
A 14-cm thick, planar-bedded, very-poorly sorted fine ash fall overlies of pumice decreases with stratigraphic height, the fraction of obsidian
this, and correlates stratigraphically with the beds at “99017”. The increases from 0 to 10% in the Basal Beds to up to 40% in the Upper
paleosol above is capped by the North Mono ash. At “RC-0001”, 30 km Beds, and over 50% in the Amphitheater Crater throw-out. The increase
0.8
15

0.6
14
Al2O3

MgO
0.4
13

0.2
12

0.0

70 72 74 76 78 70 72 74 76 78
SiO2 SiO2
5.5
5.0

5.0
4.5

K2O
Na2O
4.0

4.5
3.5

4.0
3.0

70 72 74 76 78 70 72 74 76 78
SiO2 SiO2

Fig. 16. Major element variation diagrams for South Mono tephras and lavas, and other regional and potentially correlative rocks. Solid circle, South Mono tephra; solid square, distal South
Mono tephra (near site RC-0001); Solid triangle, non-high-silica rhyolite South Mono tephra; solid diamond, South Mono lava; open circle, Mono tephras; open diamond, Mono Lake island
bombs; up open triangle, Mono surges; down open triangle, Mono pyroclastic flows; plus, Mono lava; cross, Mono Lake island lava; asterisk (star), Inyo lava. Data from vhub.org/
resources/3290.
 M. Bursik et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 275 (2014) 114–131 125

in obsidian fraction is consistent with an increasing hydromagmatic slightly lower silica content than coeval lavas, but is still generally
interaction. high-silica rhyolite. Alumina tends towards 12–13 wt.%, soda is in the
Density of the pumice clasts stays constant with a median around range 3.5–4 wt.%, and potash varies from 4 to 5 wt.%; all rather distinct
300 kg/cu m throughout most of the fall beds, up to the uppermost of Mono HSRs. Ba and Sr are notably low relative to other volcanic rocks
gray–white Upper Beds, in which the median pumice density increases in the region (Fig. 17). Notional South Mono tephras to the south of the
to c. 400 kg/cu m (Fig. 15). Pumice in the vent-opening, ballistic throw- vent region were studied at sites “99017” near Deadman Summit, and
out from Amphitheater Crater is extremely dense, with a median of c. “91040” (near Horseshoe Lake and site “RC-0001”; Fig. 12). By lithostra-
1300 kg/cu m. This again is consistent with increasing hydromagmatic tigraphy as discussed earlier, the South Mono tephra should correlate to
interaction, mostly in the latest stages of the eruption. a fine-grained, massive bed that lies above channels cut in the upper
The South Mono tephra, like other young Mono tephra, is almost surface of the Wilson Butte beds, and below the North Mono Gray-
completely aphyric, being 96 ± 1.5% glass in the solid phase, based on Glassy Beds at “99017”. This tephra has a distinct geochemical signature,
petrographic analysis of 57 samples each with 100 solid-phase point with relatively low silica, high alumina and high Ba (for Mono tephra)
counts on clasts from the − 4 to − 2 φ grain size fractions of sample that is most closely related to a sample of the Upper South Mono beds
95011. Diagnostic mafic minerals are biotite (10.5 ± 3.8% of crystals) just southwest of Amphitheater Crater at “09502”. At “91040” a distinct
and hornblende (4.2 ± 1.8% of crystals). The major felsic mineral is fine white ash 7 cm below the current ground surface (consisting of the
sanidine (42.3 ± 6.7 of crystals). Often, biotite can be used as a diagnos- abandoned lake bottom of Horseshoe Lake) lies at the same stratigraphic
tic indicator of the South Mono tephra. position as the proposed South Mono tephra at “RC-0001”. The geo-
The South Mono tephras, like all Holocene deposits and lavas of the chemistry of this sample correlates well with other samples typical of
Mono Craters are for the most part high-silica rhyolite (HSR). Major and the South Mono tephra.
trace element geochemistry was measured by wavelength dispersive
x-ray flourescence (XRF) on obsidian samples from the South Mono 5. Volume and dispersal
tephra deposits. The results from these analyses are presented together
with those for some potentially correlative tephras and other regional Isopach contouring was performed automatically by using GRASS
volcanic rocks analyzed by XRF and wet chemistry (Figs. 16, 17). Like GIS. Isopach contour thicknesses are shown in values of log10(Thickness,
other Mono tephra samples, the South Mono tephra tends to have m), as this is a more natural system of measure for thickness, given the
350
200

300
250
150

200
Sr
Rb

150
100

100
50
50

70 72 74 76 78 70 72 74 76 78
SiO2 SiO2
400

1200
300

800
Ba
Zr
200

600
400
100

200
0

70 72 74 76 78 70 72 74 76 78
SiO2 SiO2

Fig. 17. Trace element variation for South Mono tephras and lavas, and other regional and potentially correlative rocks. Solid circle, South Mono tephra; solid square, distal South Mono
tephra (near site RC-0001); Solid triangle, non-high-silica rhyolite South Mono tephra; solid diamond, South Mono lava; open circle, Mono tephras; open diamond, Mono Lake island
bombs; up open triangle, Mono surges; down open triangle, Mono pyroclastic flows; plus, Mono lava; cross, Mono Lake island lava; asterisk (star), Inyo lava. Data from vhub.org/
resources/3290.
126 M. Bursik et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 275 (2014) 114–131

Table 1 way it decreases with the square-root of increasing isopach area in

Volume of the eruption. tephra layers (Pyle, 1989; Fierstein and Nathenson, 1992). Isopaching
Unit Tephra volume, DREa volume, was accomplished by using a relatively stiff cubic spline on a dataset
cu km cu km of all measured thickness values for a given tephra layer. This was
Upper gray glass, gray–white, 0.116–0.119 0.047 implemented in GRASS GIS (Development Team, 2011) by using the
flow and blast beds v.surf.rst algorithm, with parameters “tension = 50 smooth = 20.
Orange–brown beds 0.0398–0.0381 0.0156 Npmin = 300 segmax = 200” for proximal portions of deposits and
Basal beds 0.0102–0.0105 0.0054
“tension = 1. Smooth = 1. Npmin = 300 segmax = 200” for distal por-
Total South Mono tephra 0.171–0.195 (0.169) 0.0732
North Mono tephra 0.181–0.183 (0.259) [0.42b] 0.0728 tions. Anisotropy factors “theta” and “scalex” were set at default values.
Inyo tephra 0.135–0.152 (0.158) [~0.17b] 0.0574 Additional, vanishingly small, thickness values were added outside of
the convex hull of each thickness point cloud to ensure that the spline
South Coulee 0.324b
North Mono coulees and domes 0.44 thinned away from the source. Other methods of interpolation were
Inyo coulees and domes 0.4 explored (inverse-distance weighted, b-spline, radial basis function
Total South Mono 0.4 and neural network), but none of these so far has yielded results better
Range in tephra volume from using Weibull or Exponential technique. Number in than the cubic spline in terms of replicating what an expert human
parentheses is sum of separate packets. Number in square brackets is from other would do.
method (see reference). DRE volume calculated by multiplying mean deposit volume by Tephra volumes were calculated in the present work by using two
0.4 (Sieh and Bursik, 1986).
a function-based techniques (see Bursik and Sieh (2013) for data and a
DRE, dense-rock equivalent.
b
References: South Coulee – (Loney, 1968) based on ave. length 3.6 km, width 1.2 km more thorough discussion of how these were implemented). “Exp”
and thickness 75 m; North Mono – (Sieh and Bursik, 1986); Inyo – (Miller, 1985). (Table 1) uses the method of Fierstein and Nathenson (1992) for either
one or two exponential line segments, depending on which fit data
better. “Weibull” uses the method of Bonadonna and Costa (2012) for
a Weibull function fit to the data. Both methods used automatically
generated tabular values of thickness and cumulative area to calculate
volume generated by the isopaching technique. It is not known if either
of the exponential or Weibull fits should in theory be better than the
other. The volume of the entire South Mono pyroclastic sequence is
0.17–0.19 cu km of fragmental ejecta, comparable to volumes of the
later North Mono and Inyo sequences (Miller, 1985; Sieh and Bursik,
1986) (Table 1). Because of the complex intercalation of fall, flow and
Bridgeport surge beds throughout much of the eruptive sequence, it seems reason-
Res. able to calculate volumes for the beds within the Basal, Orange–Brown

Mono
Lake
-3

-2
-1

Crowley
Lake

Fig. 18. Isopachs, in log10(m), of the Basal tephras of the South Mono sequence. Oval Fig. 19. Thickness, in log10(m), of prominent pyroclastic flow within basal beds. Oval
symbol designates vent(s). symbol designates vent(s).
 M. Bursik et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 275 (2014) 114–131 127

and Upper packets together. This exercise yields volumes of 0.01, 0.04
and 0.12 cu km for the Basal, Orange–Brown and Upper sequences,
respectively.
It can be shown that the three major pyroclastic “packets” within
the South Mono beds are vastly different in dispersal characteristics.
The Basal fall beds are relatively thin and mostly locally dispersed
(Fig. 18), although they do contain some prominent pyroclastic flow
and surge horizons (Figs. 3, 19). The Orange–Brown Beds likewise are
mostly locally dispersed, but in contrast are up to 1.6 m thick north of
the crater cluster, and up to 3.2 m thick (including pyroclastic flow
deposits) just east of South Coulee (Figs. 20, 21). They are up to
c. 5 cm thick near the Inyo Craters, to the south, and up to 30–40 cm
thick near the southern shoreline of Mono Lake. Their dispersal to the
east and west is minimal, as they are at most a few millimeters thick
near the southwest shoreline of Mono Lake. The Upper Beds are more
widely dispersed (Fig. 22). They are up to 2.2 m thick east of, and
2.6 m thick north of the crater cluster. They are c. 30 cm thick on the
southern shore of Mono Lake, c. 10 cm thick on the northern shore,
and 5 cm thick on the western shore. They are still 3 cm thick 55 km
north-northeast of the vent near Aurora, Nevada. Approximately
10 km south of the vent region near Deadman Summit, the Upper

Bridgeport
Res. Fig. 21. Thickness, in log10(m), of major pyroclastic flow erupted as one of the Orange–
Brown Beds. Oval symbol designates vent(s).

Beds are 10–15 cm thick, overlying 5 cm of Orange–Brown Beds. At

Horseshoe Lake, 28 km south of the vent region, 6 mm of primary,
white ash occurs that is 95% pumice. At the Red Cones, 30 km south-
southwest of the vent, a 28 cm section of North Mono and Inyo tephras
Mono -3 is separated by 14 cm of fluvial deposits from a 1 cm thick white, primary
lapilli ash. At both these sites, these ashes are here tentatively correlated
Lake
-2 to the South Mono Upper Beds.
The volume and dispersal results, coupled with the detailed
-1 sedimentological and stratigraphic characteristics, are consistent with
an eruptive sequence starting with mostly small, mildly explosive
pyroclastic fall- and surge-forming events in the Basal Beds, leading to
exposure of magma to external water and somewhat more voluminous
surge-dominated eruptions in the Orange–Brown Beds, and culminating
in the most voluminous, phreatoplinian type eruptions of the Upper
Beds.

6. Craters and other features

Based on maximum thickness measurements of the South Mono

beds, our data suggest the occurrence not of a continuous fissure vent,
but of five major vent and crater regions aligned along the summit
Crowley
axis of the Mono Craters (Fig. 1). Each of these vent regions consists of
Lake one or more craters blasted through pre-existing Mono domes or
flows. From north to south, these vent regions are Crater 8490, the
clustered Craters 8119, 8145 and 8538, craters now underlying South
Coulee, the innermost crater of West Control Crater (Smith, 1973),
and the double crater of Orchestra Pit and Amphitheater Crater. There
is no indication in the surfaces of the intervening older lava flows of
Fig. 20. Isopachs, in log10(m), of the Orange–Brown Beds. These beds are primarily
breaching by a continuous fissure that was later healed. Thus, activity
interstratified surge and fall materials. Vents for the Orange–Brown Beds were the crater generally migrated from north to south among unconnected vents,
cluster and underneath South Coulee. starting with the opening of Crater 8538, then Crater 8490, during
128 M. Bursik et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 275 (2014) 114–131

Several prominent fault scarps occur in close proximity to the South

Mono vent region (Fig. 1). Although these features cannot necessarily
be tied to this eruptive sequence, deformation and faulting in the vent
region seem to be a common feature of eruptions in the Mono–Inyo
Craters system (Mastin and Pollard, 1988; Bursik and Sieh, 1989;
Shaffer et al., 2010).
Bridgeport Geomorphic pyroclastic flow boundaries occur west of the vent
Res. region and north of South Coulee (Fig. 1). Although detailed consider-
ation of these features is outside of the purview of the present work,
these geomorphic features are consistent with the occurrence of thick
flow deposits observed in the stratigraphy (Figs. 3, 19, 21).

7. Age

Numerous radiocarbon samples have been used to constrain the age

of the South Mono tephra, as well as the overlying and underlying
tephras with which it could be conflated (Table 2). The two best
Mono constraining radiocarbon ages for the South Mono tephra were obtained
Lake at sites “pf” and “of”. Sample MC89-pf-2 was collected from a basal fall
deposit of the South Mono eruption. Site “pf” is just off the western tip
-1 of South Coulee. The sample consisted of carbonized fragments of leaves
and twigs from a small bush that was buried by the fall deposit. The
sample is probably for the most part b10 yr older than the eruption,
given that this is the maximum number of annual rings found on the
twigs.
Sample MC88-of-3 was collected from a pyroclastic flow deposit at
site “of”, a few hundred meters southeast of Amphitheater Crater. The
-2 sample consisted of bush twigs carbonized by the pyroclastic flow,
which originated from Amphitheater Crater. The maximum number of
annual rings counted in the field was 20 ± 1. However, since the mass
-3 of sample with numerous annual rings was a small fraction of the
total, the discrepancy between sample and eruption age is probably
quite small. In both these samples, contamination by younger carbon
Crowley was minimized by hand removal of rootlets.
Lake Given that the two ages are the same at the 95% significance level
(Stuiver and Reimer, 1993), we take their weighted average, obtaining
a final calibrated age of 1302–1356 cal BP (594–648 cal A.D.; Table 2).
The length of time between eruption of the tephra and eruption of
South Coulee is difficult to estimate, but based on other analogous erup-
tions of evolved domes, this time may be on the order of tens of years
Fig. 22. Isopachs, in log10(m), of the Upper (gray glassy, gray–white, flow and blast) beds. (e.g., growth of Mount St. Helens domes Major et al., 2009).
Units of different type have been grouped together for purposes of volume calculations
and vent area estimation for packets of like beds. Virtually all vents involved in this 8. Discussion and conclusions
phase of the eruption.

8.1. Manner of eruption of the Mono–Inyo Craters

eruption of the Basal Beds (Fig. 23). Craters 8119 and 8145 opened dur-
ing eruption of the Orange–Brown Beds, and vents under South Coulee The South Mono eruption involved vents extending for 5 km along
were active by the end of the Orange–Brown eruptions. West Control, the Mono Craters chain. Within the vent region, active vent position
Amphitheater and Orchestra Pit vents became active during eruption sometimes changed or jumped, although overall through time the erup-
of the Upper Beds, although all other vents were active at this time. A tion proceeded from north to south (Fig. 23). It is important to consider
similar pattern of vent switching was seen during numerous historic the meaning of the north to south vent migration, the inverse of the
eruptions of Iceland (e.g., Skaftar Fires 1783–5, Krafla Fires 1975–84), North Mono eruption (Sieh and Bursik, 1986). The North Mono vents
and the Tarawera 1886 fissure eruptions (Sable et al., 2006; Thordarson occur north of the central and highest section of the Mono chain,
and Larsen, 2007), but in many of these cases, vents were linked with while the South Mono vents occur south of the central section. These
a continuous fissure. As might be expected, the South Mono sequence patterns of vent migration, coupled with the overall pattern of greater
most resembles the North Mono sequence (Sieh and Bursik, 1986), volume per length along the chain in the central part, provide additional
which also involved discontinuous switching among numerous vents evidence for a magmatic source underlying the central section (Achauer
over a 7 km distance, and a generally south to north progression of et al., 1984). The result is dikes that migrate horizontally at depth to fill
activity with time. out the extremities once the central section has grown too high and it
South Coulee is the only effusive eruptive unit associated with the becomes more advantageous for magma to migrate laterally (Grandin
South Mono eruption. South Coulee has been extensively described et al., 2011).
previously (Loney, 1968). Loney estimated the flow to have originated Another characteristic of this eruption sequence is the increased
from a north-trending fissure, based on vent-area structures that phreatomagmatism with time. In the North Mono eruption (Sieh
occur in the topographically highest part of the flow, along the axis of and Bursik, 1986; Bursik, 1993), mixing of magma and groundwater
the Mono Craters. On average, the flow is 3.6 km long, 1.2 km wide occurred late in the sequence, after numerous, mostly magmatic erup-
and 0.075 km thick, yielding a total volume of 0.324 cu km. tions. In the present case, magma–water interaction seems to have
 M. Bursik et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 275 (2014) 114–131 129

A B C

D E F

Fig. 23. Isopachs, in cm, of key tephras within South Mono sequence that help to establish general order of activity of the vents from North to South. Beds isopached are single beds within
each of three major sequences (basal, orange–brown and upper). In panels A–F, beds are progressively higher in stratigraphic section, beginning with lowest Basal pyroclastic flow (A),
higher Basal fall (B), including Orange–Brown falls (C, D) and pyroclastic flow (E), and ending with Upper units associated with Amphitheater Crater (F). Oval symbol designates
vent(s). For reference, South Coulee contact mapped in red on all panels; additionally, all craters mapped in blue on panel (F). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure
legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

begun earlier and persisted throughout the eruption sequence. High South Mono tephra. These tephras are generally referred to as “Tephra
obsidian content coupled with surge deposition occurs throughout the 2” or “Wood’s Tephra 2” in the Sierra Nevada (generally to the west or
sequence, but is of course most distinct in the Orange–Brown Beds. south of Mono Basin Wood, 1977), and the “Walker Lake” and “Turupah
This is consistent with the large amounts of water and CO2 encountered Flats” bed(s) in the western Basin Ranges (Davis, 1978; Bell and House,
drilling of the Mono Craters Tunnel (Berkey, 1935; Gresswell, 1940), 2007). Here we consider potential correlation of the South Mono tephra
which cuts through the chain under West Control Crater (Fig. 1). with these marker tephras.
The relative volumes of effusive and explosive products of the erup- Tephra 2 was dated by Wood at 1190 ± 80 yr BP (962–1277 cal
tive sequence are subequal, which is a typical feature of Mono–Inyo BP; 2σ), c. 200 yr younger than the South Mono tephra. This age was
eruptions. Fragmental volume is on the order of 0.2 cu km, whereas obtained as the weighted average from two charcoal samples that
lava volume is 0.3 cu km. In each of the last three eruption sequences were found above and below the tephra. Wood did not record whether
(North Mono, Inyo and South Mono), fragmental and lava volumes the layer was primary or redeposited ash. With few exceptions, Wood
were very similar, suggesting some relatively constant external control and later workers have found “Tephra 1” and “Tephra 2” to be the
on eruptive volume, source depth, and driving volatile content. only ubiquitous tephra layers b2000 yr old occurring in meadow and
lacustrine deposits to the west and south of the Mono Basin in the Sierra
8.2. Ages of Late Holocene Mono–Inyo eruptions and key marker tephras Nevada (Wood, 1977). In the southern Sierran meadow deposits,
“Tephra 1” is found 10–30 cm beneath ground surface, whereas “Tephra
In the Sierra Nevada and western Basin Ranges, several major time- 2” is found 30–60 cm beneath ground surface. This stratigraphy sug-
stratigraphic marker tephras are of approximately the same age as the gests that Tephra 2 may occur up to 50 cm beneath Tephra 1 in meadow
130 M. Bursik et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 275 (2014) 114–131

Table 2
Radiocarbon samples used in the present study, calibrated with CALIB Rev. 6.1.0 (Stuiver and Reimer, 1993).

Lab ID Field ID Age (C14 y BP) 1σ δ13C (assumed) Age (2σ) Description or Reference

Overlying: Burn layers and marker tephras

QL1961 MC83-dv4b-5d 860 24 – 722–797 cal BP Charred wood with center of mass 15 rings in from bark
W-3470 – 1170 200 – Wood (1983)
UGa-450 – 1210 55 – Wood (1977)
UGa-451 – 1175 60 – Wood (1977)
AA72568 06500-1 1166 35 −23.7 Charred wood fragment in paleosol underlying North Mono
and Inyo deposits

South Mono
QL4275 MC88-of-3 1422 35.2 (−25) Carbonized twigs
QL4358 MC89-pf-2 1445 15 (−25) Carbonized leaves and twigs
Average – 1441 14 – 1302–1356 cal BP (594–648 cal A.D.)

Underlying: Wilson Butte

W-4599 M79-15-3 1330 50 – Miller (1985)
W-4598 M79-12-1 1380 70 – Miller (1985)
QL4276 MC86-ly-1a 1723 22.4 (−25) Small fir(?) cone and twigs with b33 growth rings
QL4277 MC88-nj-12 1775 22.4 (−25) Charred angular fragments of wood and pine bark from fire just(?)
before eruption
W-3469 1990 200 (−25) Wood (1983)
Average 1751 16 – 1611–1710 cal BP (240–339 cal A.D.)

Underlying: pre-Wilson Butte(?)

AA72576 06500-4 2228 37 −23.2 Charred wood fragment in paleosol underlying pre-Wilson Butte tephra

deposits. Tephra 1 has been correlated to the Inyo eruptions of

1325–1350 A.D. (Miller, 1985; Millar et al., 2006). Tephra 2 is described
as a low-Sr, biotite-bearing, fine ash of the Mono Craters. Later workers
have followed Wood's conventions in identifying tephras from lake and
pond deposits using piston corers (Anderson, 1990; Clark and Gillespie,
1997; Hallet and Anderson, 2010).
Davis (1978) found beds which he named the Walker Lake Bed, and
up to two Turupah Flats beds (see site JOD13 in Davis (1978)). His
dating for these layers suggested an age of 1200–2000 yr BP. Later
work by Sarna-Wojcicki et al. (1988)) and Bell and House (2007)
suggested an age for the lowermost of these beds of b 1300 yr BP.
NV
CA Sarna-Wojcicki et al. (1988) in fact reported Mono beds in the Walker
Lake, NV, cores at 920, 1150, 1190, and 1300 yr BP using mostly
Topaz Lake
sediment accumulation dating. Osbourne (1989) later correlated the
US HWY 395
Walker Lake layers at 1150 and 1190 yr BP to Wood's Tephra 2, and to
tephra glass shards of the Toiyabe Range in central Nevada. Bell and
House (2007) likewise obtained radiocarbon dates in this age range
for subaerial deposits of tephra underlying mixed pyroclastic–epiclastic
debris flow deposits in the western Great Basin. These data are consis-
tent with redeposition at Walker Lake and various other sites in the
western Great Basin for several hundred years after the eruption.
Mono Lake
Hallet and Anderson (2010) summarize data that show increased
fire activity in the Sierra Nevada following the onset of the Medieval
0 -1 Warm Period (MWP) of AD 900–1300, and commencing shortly after
-2
Sierra -3 the time of deposition of Tephra 2. A burn layer was observed at sites
Nevada “dv” and “09501”. At “09501”, the burn layer occurs as a discontinuous
Crowley Lake
lens within the uppermost South Mono bed, suggesting that the upper
part of this bed represents tephra redeposited after fire. At “dv”, a radio-
carbon dating of the burn layer yielded an age of 722–797 cal BP
(Table 2). Hallet and Anderson (2010) suggest that the increased fire
activity resulted from increased high-elevation growth during the
MWP coupled with drier summers driven by ENSO.
Our own observations documented in the present contribution and
(Sieh and Bursik, 1986) show that there is no significant tephra-
generating event in the Mono–Inyo Craters between the South Mono
Trace and North Mono eruptions. What then is the meaning of the relatively
robust age for Tephra 2 and the seemingly correlative Walker Lake
and Turupah Flats beds? We tentatively suggest that what are generally
described as Tephra 2, or the Turupah Flats or Walker Lake beds are in
Fig. 24. Isopachs, in log10(m), of the entire South Mono tephra sequence. To create this dis-
fact South Mono tephra redeposited during storms following fires; this
persal area, the tephra has been correlated with Wood's Tephra 2 in the Sierra Nevada, and was especially common during a time of heightened fire that occurred
Davis' Walker Lake and Turupah Flats beds in the Great Basin. roughly 200 yr after primary tephra fall. These redeposition events
 M. Bursik et al. / Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 275 (2014) 114–131 131

were the result of increased debris flow denudation at numerous scales Browne, B., Bursik, M., Deming, J., Louros, M., Martos, A., Stine, S., 2010. Eruption chronology
and petrologic reconstruction of the ca. 8500 BP eruption of Red Cones, southern Inyo
following loss of forest and brush cover through fire induced activity. If chain, California. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 122, 1401–1422.
the dispersal areas of Tephra 2, and the Walker Lake and Turupah Flats Bursik, M., 1993. Subplinian eruption mechanisms inferred from volatile and clast
tephras can therefore be included in that for the South Mono tephra, dispersal data. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 57 (1–2), 57–70.
Bursik, M., Reid, J., 2004. Lahars in Glass Creek and Owens River during the Inyo eruption,
then its minimal dispersal extends between Lake Tahoe to the west, California. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 131, 321–331. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
the Toiyabe Range, NV to the east, Fallon, NV to the north and Kings S0377-0273(03)00385-8.
Canyon, CA to the south (Fig. 24). Bursik, M., Sieh, K., 2013. Digital database of the Holocene tephras of the Mono–Inyo Craters,
California. US Geol. Surv. Digit. Data Ser. 758 (http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/758/).
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Miller (1985) dated the eruption of Wilson Butte, 8 km south of Valley Caldera, California. J. Geophys. Res. 108, 2393.
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c. 1350 yr BP to c. 1190 yr BP. This age range overlaps with the age
Davis, J.O., 1978. Quaternary tephrochronology of the Lake Lahontan area, Nevada and
determined for the South Mono tephra. Miller's (1985) ages for the California. Res. Paper Nev. Archeol. Surv. 7, 1–137.
Wilson Butte eruption however differ from those of Wood (1983) and Fierstein, J.E., Nathenson, M., 1992. Another look at the calculation of fallout tephra
radiocarbon ages determined by us (Table 2). The Miller date W-4598 volumes. Bull. Volcanol. 54, 156–167.
Grandin, R., et al., 2011. Seismicity during lateral dike propagation: insights from new
(1380 ± 70) is from a site along U.S. Highway 395 close to Wood's data in the recent Manda Hararo Aidabbahu rifting episode (Afar, Ethiopia).
sites “U” and “K” and our site “ly”. We (Table 2) have obtained much Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 12 (4). http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2010GC003434.
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Sierra Nevada, California, with implications for wildfire synchrony and climate
Miller (W-4599; 1330 ± 50) is from a site far to the east of Mono variability in the late Holocene. Quat. Res. 73, 180–190. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
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Madsen, D.B., Sarna-Wojcicki, A.M., Thompson, R.S., 2002. A late Pleistocene tephra
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1611–1710 cal BP (240–339 cal A.D.; Table 2), and that the Wilson photography. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 286 (1–2), 243–254. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
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