Basaltic Pressure Ridges: Formation and Relationship to Flow Emplacement

Pressure ridges and pressure plateau are common but not ubiquitous surface features on terrestrial basaltic lava flows and may reflect a specific flow emplacement mechanism. Many of the ridges are large enough to be detected on high-resolution orbital images; therefore, understanding these features could provide a means for interpreting volcanic flows on the mechanism of pressure ridge formation and how their formation relates to flow emplacement. Results from detailed field studies indicate that pressure ridges and plateaus: (1) are emplaced as individual flow lobes, (2) can be composed of primary or secondary material, (3) are dependent on duration and volume of activity within the flow unit, (4) are penecontemporaneous in formation, and (5) are indicative of slowly advancing flows with numerous flow lobes continuously forming and overriding each other.