The Citarum River has a volcanic catchment area in West Java Province, and is one of the nationally strategic rivers in tropical Indonesia due to its roles in water supply and in power generation. The river is economically important, but it is also polluted by industrial, agricultural, and residential wastes. Suspended sediment samples were collected along a certain section of the Citarum River, starting in Balekambang through the area of Bandung Regency to the downstream village of Nanjung, where the river is dammed. Similar samples were also collected from seven tributaries of the Citarum River. Magnetic and heavy metal analyses show that unlike river sediments from a non-volcanic catchment area in temperate climates, magnetic susceptibility values tend to decrease downstream, showing that the magnetic minerals in the upstream area are mostly lithogenic in origin, containing more Fe-bearing minerals compared to those in tributary samples which are anthropogenic in origin. Anthropogenic pollution is also represented by the increase of Zn content along the river. The results suggest that applying magnetic methods for monitoring river pollution in the tropics or in the volcanic areas should be carefully analyzed and interpreted.
Lava has complex geochemical characteristics based on differences in eruption centers, eruptive events, and flow emplacement. Characterization of lava is useful for understanding the geological conditions of a volcanic region. To complement geochemical methods, rock magnetic methods are being used to analyze lava. To explore the potential uses of rock magnetic methods for lava characterization, a series of magnetic measurements were completed in lava samples from eight locations in the Ijen Volcanic Complex (IVC) in Banyuwangi, East Java, Indonesia. These locations were grouped into two eruption centers: Ijen Crater and Mount Anyar. The magnetic measurements included frequency-dependent magnetic susceptibility, thermomagnetic, anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM), isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM), and hysteresis curve analyses. These measurements were supplemented using X-ray fluorescence, petrography analyses, and Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). Based on their lithology, lava samples were categorized into basalt, basaltic andesite, and basaltic trachyandesite. The dominant magnetic mineral contained in the sample was iron-rich titanomagnetite and titanium-rich titanomagnetite with a magnetic pseudo-single-domain and small amounts of superparamagnetic grain minerals in some samples. The significant difference in mass specific susceptibility (χLF) is caused by differences in the crystallization process. The differences in susceptibility frequency dependence (χFD) highlighted the differences in the magma cooling rate, demonstrated by the differences in the percentage of opaque mineral groundmass. The rock magnetic method was proven to support the geochemistry and petrography methods used to characterize lava and identify the causes of differences in lava characteristics.
3 October 2017 in Journal of Mathematical and Fundamental Sciences
Volcano is an area which serves as a catchment area for the lowlands. Ability of rock or weathered-soil to absorb the rain water depends on several things, such as lithology and large of slope. Different lithology has different characteristics, including in terms of porosity which is directly related to the ability of rock to store water. Characteristics of lithology in volcanic area can change rapidly, both vertically and laterally. Large of slope in volcanic area that change significantly also can affect the infiltration rate (the seepage of rain) in rock or weathered-soil. Therefore, the influence of lithology and large of slope to the infiltration rate should be proven to predict the infiltration zone in volcanic area. Observations has been conducted on the eastern slopes of Mount Malabar with an area 78 km2, at coordinates 7003'28.04" LS - 7010'32.05" LS and 107038'37.64" BT - 107041'50.6" BT. The infiltration rate observed on the weathered-soil using simple single infiltrometer made of PVC pipe 50 cm long, on March-April 2015. The measurement is carried out at several points where the weathered-rock result has been known, as much two times for different slope in each point. 26 measurement points have been obtained from different slopes and weathered-soil of different five-lithology. The results showed that the infiltration rate proportional to the percentage of rock porosity and large of slope. Infiltration rate sequence from the smallest to the greatest are weathered-soil andesites, basaltic andesite, laharic breccias, alteration of dacite, and pyroclastic breccias. The greatest infiltration rate obtained is 10.11 cm/minute in pyroclastic breccia with 25o slope, while the smallest is 0.0437 cm/minute in pyroclastic breccias with 4o slope.
Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) has been used in various studies related to interpreting the direction of lava flow, some of which have shown ambiguity with regard to the data generated. In this study, we explored an alternative option to support the aforementioned application, using lava flow type igneous rock samples from the Ijen Volcanic Complex, East Java, Indonesia. We have investigated the preferred rock pore orientations from micro-computed tomography (μCT) images and quantified their directions. We then calculated their correlation with AMS data by calculating the angle between preferred pore orientation. The axis with the smallest gap to the preferred pore orientation of each sample was assumed to imply lava flow direction. Different lava flow direction preferences were obtained from different magnetic ellipsoids. Another important factor for consideration is the relative vertical position of the sampling site within a single lava flow unit. Only one out of five samples (ANY2) show good quantitative conformity between AMS data, preferred pore orientation, and topographical slope, despite these limitations. Our results point to a direction that seems to be correct and coherent on a physical basis. Additional research would likely clarify the issues involved. This encourages us to explore and work further in this field of research.
Reliable volcanic map and deep understanding of magmatic processes are very important in exploration of natural resources and mitigation of volcanic hazards. The conservative method in volcanic mapping still depends on qualitative approach thus it often failed to characterize volcanic products properly. Rock magnetic methods are quantitative approaches that classify rocks based on their magnetic properties. In this study, magmatic processes in basaltic lavas from Ijen volcanic complex in Banyuwangi, East Java were studied using combined rock magnetic and petrogenesis approaches. Samples of basaltic lavas from 13 localities, taken from three eruption sources were measuredfor their mass-specific magnetic susceptibility. The samples were then also subjected to petrographic and X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF) analyses for their minerals composition and petrogenesis. Preliminary results show that the distinction in magnetic characters might be due to the quantity of magnetic minerals contained in rocks.