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Science 19 February 1999:
Vol. 283. no. 5405, pp. 1142 - 1145
DOI: 10.1126/science.283.5405.1142
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Cristobalite in Volcanic Ash of the Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat, British West Indies

P. J. Baxter, 1 C. Bonadonna, 2 R. Dupree, 3 V. L. Hards, 4 S. C. Kohn, 2 M. D. Murphy, 2 A. Nichols, 5 R. A. Nicholson, 4 G. Norton, 4 A. Searl, 5 R. S. J. Sparks, 2* B. P. Vickers 4

Crystalline silica (mostly cristobalite) was produced by vapor-phase crystallization and devitrification in the andesite lava dome of the Soufriere Hills volcano, Montserrat. The sub-10-micrometer fraction of ash generated by pyroclastic flows formed by lava dome collapse contains 10 to 24 weight percent crystalline silica, an enrichment of 2 to 5 relative to the magma caused by selective crushing of the groundmass. The sub-10-micrometer fraction of ash generated by explosive eruptions has much lower contents (3 to 6 percent) of crystalline silica. High levels of cristobalite in respirable ash raise concerns about adverse health effects of long-term human exposure to ash from lava dome eruptions.

1  Department of Community Medicine, University of Cambridge, Gresham Road, Cambridge, CB12 ES, UK.
2 Department of Earth Sciences, Bristol University, Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK.
3 Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.
4 British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK.
5 Institute of Occupational Medicine, 8 Roxburgh Place, Edinburgh EH8 9SU, UK.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: steve.sparks{at}bristol.ac.uk

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