Subsurface geology, ancient hydrothermal systems and crater excavation processes beneath Lake Rotomahana: Evidence from lithic clasts of the 1886 AD Rotomahana Pyroclastics

• Lithics indicate volcanic conditions before and during the 1886 Rotomahana eruption.
• Pre-Matahina caldera rhyolite domes and ignimbrites were excavated by the eruption.
• Much of the erupted country rock was hydrothermally altered.
• Excavated country rock varied laterally across multiple vents.
• The extra-crater ejecta were mostly shallow country rock lithologies.

The craters associated with the 1886 AD phreatomagmatic Rotomahana eruption, Okataina Volcanic Centre, New Zealand, and the near-vent geology are now hidden beneath Lake Rotomahana and its post-eruptive sediment fill. Lithic clasts from the near-vent lithic lapilli ash deposits of the Rotomahana Pyroclastics are used in this study to trace geological and geothermal conditions before the eruption, as well as vent excavation dynamics. Near-vent deposit characteristics were described in the field, representative lithic clasts were documented petrographically, and unaltered clasts were analysed for major and trace element compositions. The majority of the lithic clasts were rhyolites with subordinate ignimbrites and hydrothermally altered clasts, and trace siltstone and silicified clasts. The rhyolites were classified into four petrographic groups according to phenocryst content and assemblage and were more diverse with respect to geochemical compositions. Most of the rhyolite lithics in the Rotomahana Pyroclastics did not match the rhyolite domes exposed subaerially around the lake, but did have affinities with the pre-Matahina caldera Wairua Rhyolite, and potentially other older non-exposed domes. Ignimbrites most likely correlated either to the Matahina ignimbrite or older non-exposed units. Hydrothermally altered rhyolite and ignimbrite lithic clasts are common and suggest that there has been a long-lived hydrothermal system in this sector, possibly dating back to early activity of the Okataina Volcanic Centre. The diversity in lithic types indicate a spatial variation in country rock lithology and strength, which probably contributed to the vent position and morphology along the Rotomahana fissure.