The 25 September 2007 eruption of Mount Ruapehu, New Zealand: Directed ballistics, surtseyan jets, and ice-slurry lahars

At 20:26 (NZDT) on 25 September 2007 a moderate gas-driven eruption beneath the summit Crater Lake of Mt. Ruapehu, New Zealand generated a directed ballistic fallout apron and surtseyan jet that impacted an area of c. 2.5 km2 to the north of the vent. Two climbers were caught in the blast at a hut 600 m from the vent. Primary, ice-slurry lahars were generated in two catchments draining the summit region, including a flow that entered a commercial ski field. The ejecta consists of blocks of andesitic lava and scoria erupted during previous volcanic episodes, a variety of mineral-cemented lake-floor sediments, vent-fill debris and rare glassy material interpreted to be derived from a fresh batch of magma. A minority of clasts contain formerly molten elemental sulphur, indicating that vent temperatures at the base of the lake were in excess of 119 °C. The ballistic deposit is confined to a c. 40° wide swath directed northwards that extends up to 2 km from the inferred vent location beneath Crater Lake. The strong directionality of the jetted deposits and ballistic-free ‘shadow-zones’ sheltered by intervening topography all point to a relatively low-angle directed blast. Previous similar eruptions at Ruapehu also show preferred deposit orientations that are here correlated with an inclined and off-centre vent beneath Crater Lake. The 25 September 2007 eruption appears to have resulted from failure of a relatively shallow hydrothermal seal composed of elemental sulphur and other mineral precipitates developed in the vent breccia, which breached following overpressurization by a pulse of magmatic gases released from deeper in the conduit. This event highlights the potential hazard from relatively minor gas-driven eruptions at Ruapehu that can occur with little or no warning. Improved understanding of the eruption mechanism for this style of eruption will inform future risk assessments for Ruapehu and other similar volcanoes worldwide.