[DSRP Evidence](https://dsrpevidence.org/)

# Sustained ash emission during lava effusion is a hidden volcanic hazard of silicic eruptions

Zhang et al., 2026, Nature Communications — Geology

Patterns: [Distinctions](https://dsrpevidence.org/pattern/distinctions), [Relationships](https://dsrpevidence.org/pattern/relationships)

## In short

A mis-drawn categorical distinction (effusive vs. explosive eruption style) causes a real physical process to be systematically overlooked by hazard classification.

## What they found (results)

Field evidence from Iceland, Italy and Chile shows many silicic eruptions vent ash continuously alongside lava effusion rather than only during discrete explosive phases, a 'hybrid' hazard style largely absent from the tephra record.

## Abstract

Volcanic ash poses diverse and widespread hazards. Hybrid silicic volcanism – concurrent lava effusion and explosive ash venting – may constitute a significant but poorly quantified source of ash, so far only documented from a small number of eruptions, most notably the 2011–2012 eruption of Cordón Caulle (Chile). From that eruption, veneers of ash found welded on lava fractures have been attributed to the hybrid activity. Here, we report similar ash veneers from Holocene rhyolitic lavas at Torfajökull, Iceland, and Lipari, Italy. Focusing on the 877 CE Hrafntinnuhraun eruption of Torfajökull, we highlight that these veneers are widespread across its lavas, indicating that, similar to Cordón Caulle, Hrafntinnuhraun experienced long-lived ash venting alongside lava effusion. We develop a quantitative ash capture model based on textural complexities within the veneers, anda material and textural complexitiesrgue that hybrid activity is common to silicic volcanism and therefore represents a substantial and under-recognized hazard.

These researchers were not testing DSRP. The finding is theirs; the correspondence to DSRP is drawn by this site.

[Source](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-76464-w)