Pyroclastic Rocks

Pyroclastic rocks are clastic rocks, which are fragments of pre-existing rock, composed primarily of volcanic materials. Where the volcanic material has been transported and reworked through mechanical action, such as by wind or water, these rocks are termed volcaniclastic. Commonly associated with explosive volcanic activity–such as Plinian or krakatoan eruption styles, or phreatomagmatic eruptions–pyroclastic deposits are commonly formed from airborne ash, lapilli and bombs or blocks ejected from the volcano itself, mixed in with shattered country rock.

Pyroclastic rocks are rocks of extrusive (volcanic) origin, composed of rock fragments produced directly by explosive eruptions. Pyroclastic fragments may represent shattered and comminuted older rocks (volcanic, plutonic, sedimentary, or metamorphic) or solidified lava droplets formed by violent explosion. A pyroclastic rock is produced from the consolidation of pyroclastic accumulations into a coherent rock type.

Pyroclastic rocks may be composed of a large range of clast sizes; from the largest agglomerates, to very fine ashes and tuffs. Pyroclasts of different sizes are classified as volcanic bombs, lapilli and volcanic ash. Ash is considered to be pyroclastic because it is a fine dust made up of volcanic rock. One of the most spectacular forms of pyroclastic deposit are the ignimbrites, deposits formed by the high-temperature gas and ash mix of a pyroclastic flow event.

There are three modes through which pyroclastic rocks can be transported: pyroclastic flow, pyroclastic surge, and pyroclastic fall. During Plinian eruptions, pumice and ash are formed when silicic magma is fragmented in the volcanic conduit, because of decompression and the growth of bubbles. Pyroclasts are then entrained in a buoyant eruption plume which can rise several kilometers into the air and cause aviation hazards. Particles falling from the eruption clouds form layers on the ground (this is pyroclastic fall or tephra). Pyroclastic density currents, which are referred to as 'flows' or 'surges' depending on particle concentration and the level turbulence, are sometimes called glowing avalanches. The deposits of pumice-rich pyroclastic flows can be called ignimbrites.

Pyroclastic flow (video)