Bull Volcanol (1989) 51:1-15
Volc~i~Ology
The thickness, volume and grainsize of tephra fall deposits
David M Pyle
Department of Earth Sciences, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EQ, United Kingdom
Abstract. An improved empirical method for the
plotting of field data and the calculation of tephra
fall volumes is presented. The widely used "area"
plots of ln(thickness) against ln(isopach area) are
curved, implying an exponential thinning law.
Use of ln(thickness)-(area) 1/2 diagrams confirm
the exponential dependence of many parameters
(e. g. thickness, maximum and median clast size)
with distance from source, producing linear
graphs and allowing volumes to be calculated
without undue extrapolation of field data. The
agreement between theoretical models of clast
dispersion and observation is better than pre-
viously thought. Two new quantitative parameters
are proposed which describe the rates of thinning
of the deposit (bt the thickness half-distance) and
the maximum clast size (be the clast half-distance).
Many deposits exhibit different grainsize and
thickness thinning rates, with the maximum clast
size diminishing 1-3 times slower than the thick-
ness. This implies that the entrained grainsize
population influences the morphologic and gran-
ulometric patterns of the resulting deposit, in ad-
dition to the effects of column height and wind-
speed. The grainsize characteristics of a deposit
are best described by reference to the half-dis-
tance ratio (bJbt). A new classification scheme is
proposed which plots the half-distance ratio
against the thickness half-distance and may be
contoured in terms of the column height.
Introduction
The systematic study of thickness and grainsize
variations in tephra fall deposits has proved to be
of considerable value in volcanology. Such data
Springer-Verlag 1989
allow ejecta volumes and eruption intensities and
magnitudes to be assessed. Models of pyroclast
dispersal in explosive eruption columns have de-
veloped to the point where estimates of gas exit
velocities, column heights, magma discharge rates
and wind velocities may be made from suitable
grainsize data (Wilson et al. 1978; Settle 1978;
Carey and Sparks 1986; Wilson and Walker
1987). Furthermore, information on the dispersal
and grainsize can be used to classify different
kinds of fall deposit (Walker 1973).
Various parameters of tephra fall deposits,
notably thickness, maximum clast size and me.-
dian diameter, decrease in a linear manner when
the logarithm of the parameter is plotted against
distance. This implies that the decrease in thick-
ness and grainsize parameters follow simple ex-
ponential decay laws. However, exponential rela-
tionships have not generally been used to estimate
deposit volumes or been systematically investi-
gated. Instead, workers have preferred to present
data on In-In (In denotes lOge) plots where they
plot as curves, thus obscuring the true relation-
ships. In the case of thickness data, a variety of
empirical strategies have been devised for esti-
mating volumes and extrapolating thickness
data.
In this paper it is shown that simple exponen-
tial decay characterises both thickness and grain-
size data for most tephra fall deposits. An im-
provement in the treatment of data is proposed in
which the logarithm of the thickness is plotted
against the square root of each isopach area. This
method eliminates complexities caused by the dis-
tortion of isopach contours due to wind and sec-
ondary thickening processes. From such plots de-
posit volumes can be estimated in a systematic
way which has a sound physical and mathematical
basis. The same approach may be applied to
 Pyle: Thickness, volume and grainsize of tephra fall deposits

grainsize data, with data falling on straight lines Table 1. Symbols used
on ln(grainsize)-(area) 1/2 plots.
A area enclosed within isopach or isopleth
A global surface area
b maximum clast size half-distance
Thiekness bt thickness half-disance
d grainsize
D fall-out tephra dispersal (area within 0.01 To isopach)
Empirical description of tephra thinnin9 e isopach eccentricity
H8 eruption column neutral buoyancy height
Many workers have noted that a variety of param- Hr maximum height reached by column (H/Hr-0.7)
eters including thickness, median grainsize (Tho- k In 2/b, 1/~, slope on a ln(thickness)-area plot
rarinsson 1954), median terminal fall velocity kl In 2~be 1/~, slope on a ln(grainsize)-area plot
m k 1~, slope on a ln(z)-distance plot
(Self et al. 1974) and maximum clast size (Booth Md median grainsize
et al. 1978) diminish broadly exponentially away ML maximum lithic grainsize
from the vent. Porter (1973) considered that sev- MP maximum pumice grainsize
eral proximal Hawaiian deposits appeared to fol- N particle number density (no. per unit area)
r radial distance from source
low a power law; however, most of his isopleth T deposit thickness
data were curved when drawn on ln(thickness)- To extrapolated maximum thickness
ln(distance) plots and clearly have an exponential V deposit volume
dependence. Similarly, Kittleman (1973) found X isopach ellipse major axis
that plots of ln(median grainsize)-ln(distance) Y isopach ellipse minor axis
z variable (e. g. grainsize, terminal velocity, thickness)
were curvilinear. Suzuki (1981) proposed an em- a isopach "ellipticity" (minor/major axis)
pirical relation, based on the shape of logarithmic 8 exceSs volume over simple exponential model
thickness-area plots, which relates the area within
a given isopach to a complex thinning law. This
implicitly depends on an exponential description
of tephra thinning (Appendix 2). a direct consequence of the exponential depend-
Although an exponential model has been ence. Unfortunately, since the asymptotes only
widely considered, thickness data have tradition- develop at the extremes of thickness and most
ally been plotted, inappropriately, on ln(thick- field data deal with intermediate thicknesses,
ness)-ln(area) diagrams. These plots are used with some deposits may appear almost linear on the
the incorrect view that an exponentially thinning ln-ln plots. This has led to the derivation of em-
deposit will define a straight line (Walker 1981a, pirical (but physically invalid) relations which as-
c), while all published examples are clearly sume the data to be linear (e.g. Hayakawa 1985,
curved (e.g. Fig. 1). The observed curvature, Appendix 2).
asymptotic parallel to the In(T) axis at small T, is For an exponential relation, the following ex-
pression is appropriate:

%,,a "', T= To e x p ( - rar) = To exp(-kA 1/2) (1)

ld
where m and k are the respective slopes on plots
of In thickness (T) versus distance (r) or the
%1d square root of the isopach area (A), and m2=k2m
lal
To is the maximum thickness, which need not be
at the source. For descriptive purposes the dis-
% "'. \ -. \ tance over which the thickness halves [thickness
half-distance bt, where m = ln(2)/bt] is a useful pa-
10 rameter, analogous to the half-life used to charac-
0.1 10 terise radioactive decay. (Table 1 lists symbols
THICKNESS m
used.)
Fig. 1. Ln(thickness)-ln(area) plot for selected plinian depos- In Fig. 2 field data from the Taupo deposit are
its, redrawn from Walker (1980): a -- Ontake; b -- Tenerife J; compared with a family of exponentially thinning
c -- Askja 1875; d -- Fogo A; e -- Toluca u p p e r ; f - - Grana- deposits. The Taupo data show simple exponen-
dilla; g -- Tenerife L; h -- La Primavera J; i -- Furnas C.
Dashed lines (from Hayakawa 1985) are contours of "isovol- tial dependence, while the extrapolations used by
u m e ' , along which the product TA (km 3) remains constant and Walker (1980, 1981c) deviate from the predicted
"volume" = 12.2TA thinning of the deposit. Extrapolation A was
Pyle: Thickness, volume and grainsize of tephra fall deposits 3

d "'"'+ on straight lines of slope k and extrapolate back

~-~_~~'~ "~~,~^ to the maximum thickness To at A--0. The Taupo
thickness data are redrawn using this new scheme
in Fig. 3.

I,I,I

'~1o2 Value of "area" plots

Area plots are superior to ln(z)-distance plots for

10-4 10-2
THICKNESS m
Fig. 2. Field data from the Taupo deposit (Walker 1980) is
compared with a family of exponentially thinning curves.
These have thickness half-distances b, of a = 3 km, b = 6.67 km,
c = 20 km, d = 100 km. Taupo-A and -B refer to Walker's extra-
polations used for volume estimates; both deviate significantly
from the exponential curves
Walker's visual extrapolation of the curvature of
the field data. This lies close to the exponential
model curves. Extrapolation B, which was fa-
voured by Walker (1980, 1981c), is the extension
of the field data to ensure that the integrated vol-
ume of the deposit within the 1-1~m isopach (area
of 5 x 108 km 2) calculated from the ln-ln area plot
is equal to the volume calculated by crystal con-
centration methods. From Eq. (1),
ln(T)= ln( To)-kA ~/2
A more useful plot would be of ln(T) against (iso-
pach area) 1/2. Exponentially thinning deposits fall
several reasons. Distance plots give only two-di-
mensional information and are strongly in-
fluenced by the effects of wind on clast dispersal
and complexities of deposition. Thickness max-
ima can be displaced downwind from the vent by
strong crosswinds [e. g. Taupo (Walker 1980), Kat-
mai, 1912 (Hildreth 1987)]. Displaced maxima
have also been generated by allowing the en-
trained population to be skewed towards finer
grainsizes (Suzuki 1983). The resulting distance
plot then passes through a maximum, or may not
appear to follow a simple exponential function.
Secondary thickening can also occur due to depo-
sitional effects such as aggregation [e. g. Mount St.
Helens (Carey and Sigurdsson 1982)]. Complexi-
ties may also arise for deposits erupted from lin-
ear rather than point sources (e.g. Thorarinsson
1954). Area plots use all the available data, in ef-
fect normalising deposits to an ideal, concentric
form.
Area-thickness relations have been deter-
(2) mined for many eruptions from published iso-
pach maps and ln-ln area plots. In each oase thin-
ning is exponential, although some examples
show near-vent deviations. Selected examples are

1000

eMay 18 1980
100- OMay 25 1 9 8 0
lOO E
o~

Z
W
10-
:=:
I" 10 23
14 TALIPO PUMICE FALL Z

1
20 40 60 80 +/2100 120 1 4 0 km 50 100 200 300
1/2
(ISOPACH AREA1 (ISOPACH AREA) (km)
3
Fig. 3. New ln(thickness)-(isopach area) 1/2 plots for selected eruptions. Strai#ht-line segments reflect exponential dependence.
References given in Table 2
Fig. 4. Thickness data for two Mount St. Helens May 1980 tephra falls, references in Table 2
4 Pyle: Thickness, volume and grainsize of tephra fall deposits

Table 2. Clast and thickness half-distances for selected erup- Notes: a. Maximum pumice half-distance; b. Median grainsize
tions, a Whole-deposit data half-distance; c. Maximum lithic half-distance; d. Plinian-style
pumice fall deposit; e. Co-ignimbrite ash-fall
Eruption b b~ b/b~ Refe- References: 1. Booth et al. (1978) 2. Self (1976) 3. Thorarinsson
(km) (km) rente and Sigvaldason (1972) 4. Carey and Sigurdsson (1986) 5.
Rose et al. (1983) 6. Sarna-Wojcicki et al. (1981) 7. Waitt and
1. Congro 0.47 0.33 1.4 1 Dzurisin (1981) 8. Waitt et al. (1981) 9. Walker and Croasdale
2. Galiarte 0.49 0.44 1.1 2 (1971) 10. Walker (1981b) 11. Sparks et al. (1981) 12. Haya-
3. Furnas 1640 0.58 0.67 0.87 1 kawa (1985) 13. Lirer et al. (1973) 14. Sigurdsson et al. (1985)
4. Carvao-C 1.4 0.44 3.3 1 15. Williams and Self (1983) 16. Williams (1983) 17. Walker
5. Fogo-D 1.4 1.2 1.3 1 (1981c) 18. Kobayashi et al. (1983) 19. Walker (1980) 20. Tho-
6. Hekla 1970 rarinsson (1954) 21. Suzuki et al. (1973) 22. Sigurdsson (1982)
a. Proximal 2* 2.0 - 1 3 23. Brazier et al. (1983) 24. Williams and Goles (1968) 25.
b. Distal 2 7.4 -0.3 3 Sparks and Walker (1977) 26. Cornell et al. (1983) 27. Sparks
7. E1 Chichon A1 2.5 4.5 0.56 4 and Huang (1980) 28. Ninkovich et al. (1978)
8. M o u n t St. Helens, 18 May 1980
a. Proximal 3.3 2.8 1.2 5-8
b. Distal 3.3 34.4 0.10 5-8
9. M o u n t St. Helens, 25 May 1980
a. Proximal 3.4 2.6 1.3 5-8
presented in Fig. 3, using the new ln(thickness)-
b. Distal 3.4 14.8 0.23 5-8
(area) 1/2 plot.
10. Sete-D 3.6 2.1 1.7 1
11. Fogo-A 3.8 2.1 1.7 9
12. Rotongaio ash -- 5.4 -- 10 Askja 1875 C and D
13. Askja-C 4.0 4.5 0.89 11
14. Nambu 4.2 4.1 1.0 12
15. Vesuvius (grey) 4.2 7.6 0.55 13, 14 Thickness data have been redrawn from isopach
16. Santa Maria 1902 4.2 21.6 0.19 15 plots presented by Sparks et al. (1981) (Fig. 3). In
17. Chuseri 4.6 4.2 1.1 12 both cases proximal inflections are observed,
18. Askja-D 6.0 8.7 0.69 11
implying overthickening. While there may be a
a. Distal 2.3 1.0 2.3 11
b. Ballistic small ballistic component, a more likely cause of
19. Fontana Lapilli 7.4 4.3 1.7 16 this behaviour is the emplacement of localised
20. San Judas surge beds. Thickness-distance plots from the
Formation 13.2 3.7 3.6 16 1979 Soufriere deposit show similar features (Si-
21. Waimihia 13.2 8.2 1.6 17
22. Osumi 13.2 13.0 1.02 18
gurdsson 1982) and are considered to have a simi-
23. Taupo 18.4 17.7 1.04 19 lar origin. Many deposits show this form of near-
vent inflection (see also Booth et al. 1978), imply-
ing that overthickening may be a common feature
b Data from along the dispersal axis of proximal tephra fall deposits. This concurs
b bt Notes Refe-
with experimental studies (RSJ Sparks, personal
(km) (km) rence communication, 1988) which have demonstrated
that even stable plumes shed large volumes of ma-
Taupo upwind - 16 7.1 a 19 terial continuously from the sides of the rising
Taupo downwind 21.7 44.0 a 19 column as small gravity currents.
Hekla 1947 downwind 22.6 21.2 b 20
Tarumai 1667 bs 21.7 18.6 a 21
downwind
Soufriere 1979 downwind Mount St. Helens May 1980 eruptions
< 4 km 1.9 -- c 22
coarse mode 8.8 -- b 23
fine mode 56 -- b 23
The 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens gener-
M o u n t St. Helens 18 May 1980 downwind ated several widely dispersed tephra fall deposits.
coarse mode 109 -- b 23 Several were mapped as far as 300 km downwind
M o u n t Mazama and below the 1-mm isopach (Sarna-Wojcicki et
( < 100 km) -- 15.6 c 24, 25 al. 1918). Thickness-area data for the May 18 and
( < 100 km, northwards) -- 177 d 24, 25
C a m p a n i a n downwind
May 25 eruptions have been redrawn from the ln-
coarse mode 506 305 b, e 26, 27 In plots of Rose et al. (1983) and isopach maps of
fine mode 1220 -- b, e 26 Waitt and Dzurisin (1981) and Waitt et al. (1981)
Toba downwind 680 510 b, e 28 (Fig. 4). The main points to note are (i) the near-
Note, b no longer bears a simple relation to column height
source inflection and (ii) the exponential behav-
*assuming reported column height (16 km) is neutral iour for (area) 1/2 between 10 km and 300 km, de-
buoyancy height (reference 3) spite the widely reported development of a sec-
Pyle: Thickness,volume and grainsize of tephra fall deposits
ond thickness maximum (Sarna-Wojcicki et al.
1981). This was ascribed to premature fall-out of
fine-grained ash clusters (Carey and Sigurdsson
1982; Sorem 1982), but has not led to breakdown
of the simple exponential decay model.
Secondary thickening will tend to increase the
dispersal of intermediate-thickness isopachs and
correspondingly reduce the dispersal of thinner
isopachs. This would lead to steeper slopes on the
"area " plot, and smaller thickness half-distances
(bt) than examples without secondary maxima.
Calculation of tephra fall volumes
Isopach maps of deposits can, in most cases, be
simply described in terms of an exponential decay
away from the point of maximum thickness. This
simple relation has not been widely used as a ba-
sis for the calculation of deposit volumes, which
are usually calculated by integrating the area un-
der the curve on a ln(thickness)-ln(area) plot
(Rose et al. 1973). Volumes calculated in this way
are unsatisfactory since extensive extrapolation to
arbitrary thicknesses is required, except in the
case of very fine ash blankets (e.g. Rose et al.
1973). These "area" curves are difficult to inter-
pret and extrapolations hard to justify since the
diagram has no physical basis.
Integration of the simple exponential cone
provides a self-consistent and reliable means of
estimating tephra fall volumes. The volume of a
deposit with circular isopachs is given (from Ap-
pendix 1) by
V= 13.08Tob~ (3)
This was first presented by Cole and Stephenson
(1972) and later cited by Topping (1973) and
Froggatt (1982). In Eq. (3) bt represents an aver-
age thinning rate for the whole deposit and may
be calculated from the slope of the graph on the
new area plot. By assuming exponential thinning,
the volume may be calculated if the areas en-
closed by at least two isopachs are known.
A more general solution, for a deposit with el-
liptical isopachs is (from Appendix 1)
V= (2JrTo)/(am2) = 13.08 Tob2/a (4)
where To is the maximum thickness, bt is the
thickness half-distance and a is related to the av-
erage isopach eccentricity e and major (X) and
minor (Y) axes by
ct2 = (1 -- e 2) = y2/X2 (5)
5
Froggatt (1982) gave an equation similar to Eq. (4)
but with a as a numerator and not a denominator.
In Eq. (4) the thickness half-distance (b, = In 2/m)
is measured along the minor axis of the ellipse.
This follows from the definition of a adopted. In
practice, Eq. (3) should be used in preference to
any other form where two or more isopachs can
be defined.
Equation (3) differs from that proposed by
Hayakawa (1985), who derived the empirical for-
mula
V= 12.2TA (6)
for calculating the deposit volume from the area
A enclosed within an arbitrary isopach of thick-
ness T. Hayakawa, using volumes estimated by
crystal concentration methods, obtained Eq. (6)
by noting that at intermediate thicknesses (25-100
cm) the product TA remained approximately con-
stant for any given deposit. The major problem
with this is that the most rapid changes in TA on
the area plot occur only at the thickness extremes
(Fig. 2). At intermediate thicknesses (which are
more likely to be sampled) rates of change are
small, and exponentially dependent model curves
are broadly parallel to lines of isovolume. Equa-
tion (6) is manifestly not constant for tephra fall
deposits since TA varies with the arbitrary thick-
ness chosen and tends to zero at both thickness
extremes (Appendix 2). Suzuki (1981) proposed a
similar relationship, but at a specified thickness
(T=0.1To) and area (A area within T=To iso-
pacb), thus
V= c ToA (7)
where c is a constant. For deposits following Eq.
(1), this equals Eq. (4) when c=0.38, T--0.135To
and Ac is the corresponding isopach area (Appen-
dix 2). This provides further support for the ex-
ponential model, since it was derived empirically
by curve fitting.
Equation (3) may be used to calculate volumes
using the new area plot since all the information
required can be obtained direetly from the graph
without the need for extrapolation (e. g. Fig. 3).
This is an advantage over the present ln(z)-ln(A)
plots, from which bt and To cannot easily be deter-
mined. This method is also simpler and more ac-
curate than calculating "equivalent circular radii"
for each separate isopach, or estimating cumula-
tive volumes enclosed within suecessive isopachs
(Froggatt 1982).
Several examples (Figs. 3 and 4) exhibit a
break in slope in the thickness plot. If this occurs
6 Pyle: Thickness, volume and grainsize of tephra fall deposits

at a large distance from the vent, the volume cal- Table 3. Selected estimates of deposit volumes
culated from Eq. (3) will underestimate the true
Eruption To bt Volume Previous
volume, and a correction 6 will be required. From (m) (km) (km 3) estimates
Appendix 1, this is given by: (km 3)

B = To exp ( - k R ) Taupo 2.20 17.7 9.0 2419 (a)

k2 {2exp (kR) - k2R 2 __ 2 k R - 2}
11.529 (b)
8.5030 (b)
_ To'exp ( - k~R) {2 exp (klR) - k~R 2 - 2 k l R - 2} (8) Waimihia 11.5 8.2 10.1 29.117 (a)
13.629 (b)
1531 (b)
where R is the distance to the break in siope and k Nambu 5.2 4.1 1.1 2.212 (a)
and k~ are, respectively, the slopes on the area Chuseri 11.0 4.2 2.5 6.7 I2 (a)
graph for distances less than and greater than R. Askja-C 0.2 4.5 0.05 (d) 0.171~ (b)
The total deposit volume is given by Santa Maria 2.0 21.6 12.2 20.21 (a)
9.61 (c)
V= 13.08 Tob~ + 6 (9) > 8.21 (b)
6.5230 (b)
5.532 (b)
4.3 33 (b)
Problems with tephra f a l l volume estimates Mount St. Helens
18 May 1980 0.079 34.4 1.22 1.3 s (b)
The estimated volume of any deposit is critically 1.106 (b)
25 May 1980 0.015 14.8 0.043 0.049 (b)
dependent on the extrapolation of the thickness- 0.0316 CO)
area relation towards small thicknesses. The bulk
of the volume of any deposit resides in the fine a -- crystal concentration methods; b -- integration methods;
tail, since the volume within any isopach goes as c -- volume within 1 mm isopach; d -- data calculated ignor-
the square of the distance from source. Conse- ing small near-source deviation
References as Table 2 except 29. Froggatt (1982) 30. Suzuki
quently, extrapolations which may agree closely (1981) 31. Vucetich and Pullar (1973) 32. Sapper (1905) 33.
near to the source may diverge strikingly when ex- Rose et al. (1973)
trapolated to zero thickness. Distal deposits are,
however, rarely sufficiently widely exposed to
constrain the total dispersal.
In Table 3 previous estimates of deposit vol-
umes, calculated either by crystal concentration A contributary problem is the quality of the
or alternative integration methods, are compared data used. Thickness is unsatisfactory as a meas-
with the volumes calculated using Eq. (5). Crystal ure of mass-loading, since it is weil established
concentration volumes appear consistently greater that average clast densities increase away from
than those from Eq. (5). The reason for this is not source (e.g. Walker 1980) and compaction of the
clear, but it may imply that the simple exponential deposits may be non-uniform. To circumvent this,
model no longer applies at large distances from thickness data should be redrawn as ln(mass/unit
the vent. There are, however, problems with the area) against (area) ~/2. For coarse plinian deposits,
crystal concentration method. For the Taupo plin- where the density change is small, this may make
ian deposit (Walker 1980), the crystal concentra- little difference; but for finer-grained deposits,
tion volume of 23 km 3 is only consistent with the changes in bulk density away from the vent can
available field data by extrapolating the thickness be substantial (e. g. a factor of 3 for the Oruanui,
data to 1 ~tm, requiring the deposit to cover an New Zealand deposit, CJN Wilson oral commu-
a r e a Ae equal to the surface of the globe. Walker nication, 1988) and can lead to apparently non-
(1981c) used similar extrapolations to force the exponential behaviour on area plots. This would
Waimihia and Hatepe field data. For the former, tend to increase the corrected dense rock equival-
the area at 1 ~tm thickness slightly exceeds A. Ex- ent volume towards the crystal concentration esti-
trapolations parallel to the "Taupo line" (B on mates. Further problems may arise, for example,
Fig. 2) have since been used routinely to estimate with breakup of the crystal-rich pumices which
tephra volumes (e. g. Kobayashi et al. 1983; Haya- are found in small numbers in many deposits. Ex-
kawa 1985). For the Osumi pumice fall deposit amples of these from Santorini and Fogo can
(Kobayashi et al. 1983), the extrapolated area en- have 80-90 wt% crystals and substantial porosity.
closed by the 1-lxm isopach is at least a factor of 2 Consequently, these are highly friable and may
greater than A. fragment more easily than the glassier pumices.
Pyle: Thickness, volume and grainsize of tephra fall deposits
Grainsize variations of tephra fall deposits
The Taupo eruption
Area data calculated from maps published in
Walker (1980) are plotted in Fig. 5. Exponential
behaviour is confirmed, although the slopes of
maximum pumice and lithics are not equal. This
reflects either greater crosswind influence on the
lower-density pumices rather than the denser li-
thics, or changing pumice density with grainsize.
Data for the median grainsize (Mar) are also plot-
ted for comparison. This also decays exponen-
tially away from the vent. There is relatively close
agreement between MP and Md slopes, despite
downwind changes in pumice density, sorting and
relative proportions of lithics, crystals and pu-
mice.
Distal tephra falls
Grainsize data have been presented for several dis-
tal tephra fall deposits (e. g. Ninkovich et al. 1978;
Brazier et al. 1983). Deposits are characteristically
bimodal and best exemplified by the Mediterra-
nean Campanian Y-5 ash (Thunnel et al. 1979;
Sparks and Huang 1980; Cornell et al. 1983).
While the median size (Md q~) of the coarse grain-
size mode decreases exponentially downwind
(Fig. 6), the fine mode changes only subtly due to
premature fall-out by aggregation (Cornell et al.
1983). The observed thinning rates of of this ash
and other distal tephra falls (e. g. Toba, Mazama)
are considerably smaller than other examples (Ta-
bie 2a, b). One reason is that these deposits are
not simple plinian tephra falls, but are thought to
TAUPO
eMaximum Pumice
*Maximum Lithic
E []
o
g
0
d
'5'0 16 0
I/2
(ISOPLETH AREA) km
5 6
Fig. 5. Maximum clast and median grainsize data for the Taupo fall deposit plotted on the new area plot. Redrawn from isopach
maps of Walker (1980)
Fig. 6. Median grainsize data for the Campanian tuff redrawn from Sparks and Huang (1980, solid symbols) and Cornell et al.
(1983, open symbols)
7
be co-ignimbrite ash falls (e. g. Cornell et al. 1983;
Sparks and Walker 1977).
Similarly, the median grainsize coarse mode of
the Mount St. Helens deposit (Table 2b) decreases
more slowly than the maximum grainsize close to
the source (Table 2a). In part this is because the
former was measured along the dispersal axis, but
in the main is due to premature fall-out. Many of
the finer particles did not fall out individually,
but as aggregates (Sorem 1982) which broke up on
landing. While these aggregates may have be-
haved as discrete clasts, with decay rates reflect-
ing the column height, the finer clumped particles
did not. Median grainsize half-distances, being
highly influenced by processes such as premature
fall-out, are not likely to reflect the column height
from which they were deposited, except perhaps
in coarse plinian deposits (e. g. Taupo).
Theoretical mode& of clast dispersion
Theoretical maximum clast fall-out patterns were
presented by Carey and Sparks (1986, their Fig. 7)
on ln-ln "area" graphs. Representative curves are
redrawn using the ln(clast size)-A 1/2 plot in Fig.
7a. The theoretical models predict an exponential
dependence of clast size on distance from the
vent. For a given clast density, all curves converge
on a unique maximum clast size; the largest the-
oretical grainsize that may become entrained into
the rising plume. The maximum grainsize ob-
served proximally is often greater than these the-
oretical values, since the largest ejected clasts are
ballistic in origin. Denser clasts have a smaller
maximum entrainment size and, for a given size,
Cam..panian
[ ] Coarse mode
o Fine mode
o Unimodol
~
[] []
[]
[]
0 0 ,%
0 5bo 0o6o 15bo
Distance (km)
8 Pyle: Thickness, volume and grainsize of tephra fall deposits

will be dispersed across a smaller area than lower-

#
km
density particles. 35
Each column height has a unique slope on this
plot, which is independent of the clast density. :~ 30

Both pumice and lithics from any eruption should

~ 2s
fall along lines of similar slope, offset due to the
wider disperal of the lower-density grains. The g 2o
model column height may therefore be deter-
mined without knowing the clast density, and
comparison of theoretical curves and observation ~10
should constrain clast densities. The slope k on a
In(maximum clast, cm)-A ~/2 graph relates (by fit- ~s
z
ting an empirical function) to the column neutral
buoyancy height H (in kilometres) by km2 4 6 8 10 12 14
CLAST HALF-DISTANCE bc

- k ~ 0.95Hff i (H~/2 _ 7.3) (lO) Fig. 8. Graph to show the predicted column neutral buoyancy
height dependence on the clast half-distance,calculated from
or Eq. (11). Strong winds tend to increase b for a given neutral
buoyancy height
-b ~ 0.41H/(H~/2 - 7.3) (11)

where b is the maximum clast half-distance (in and Sparks model overestimates column heights
km). This is plotted in Fig. 8. The neutral (Wilson and Walker 1987) and all estimates must
buoyancy height H is related to the total column be regarded as model dependent. This new
height by the approximation H / H T - 0 . 7 (Sparks method of plotting grainsize data greatly simpli-
1986). There has been a suggestion that the Carey fies the relationship with distance since data fall
on straight lines. It introduces a new parameter,
be, the maximum clast half-distance which may be
o used to characterise tephra fall deposits, b is en-
NO W I N D
I~ 1 0 0 tirely analogous to the thickness half-distance bt,
k-
DENSlT. Y and for a series of concentric isopleths is simply
u) 500kgn: the distance across which the maximum clast size
- 10 halves.
0
Maximum clast dispersal patterns were also
- 1
determined for eruptions into a crosswind (Carey
X
and Sparks 1986, Fig. 15). An example is redrawn
3E 20 40 60 80km
i/2
in Fig. 7b for a maximum windspeed of 30 m s - 1.
(ISOPLETH AREA) Isopleth dispersal is increased relative to the "still
air" case by between ~65% for low columns
o (H8 < 10 km) to - 30% for high columns, and area
N 100" ERUPTION INTO CROSSWIND
plot slopes (k) are correspondingly reduced by be-
tween 30% and 10%. In this case Eqs. (10) and
(11) should no longer be used to estimate column
heights.

Further examples: the Fogo A and Askja 1875

20 40 60 80km
eruptions
1/2
( I S O P L E T H AREA)
Fogo A. Isopleth data from the Fogo A eruption
Fig. 7a and b. Theoretical clast-dispersal curves from Carey (Walker and Croasdale 1971) have been redrawn
and Sparks (1986) redrawn on a ln(thickness)-(area) 1/2 plot. from Carey and Sparks (1986) in Fig. 9. The field
Predicted column neutral buoyancy heights (HB) are given in
kilometres, a Eruptions into still air, for two representative data decay exponentially, with ballistic lithics dis-
clast densities, b Eruptions into a crosswind,with a maximum tinguished from plume fall-out by the break i n
of 30 ms-1 at the tropopause slope. Both maximum clast plots have slopes in-
Pyle: Thickness, volume and grainsize of tephra fall deposits
~ t . FOGO-A
u ~
=Maximum P~thlce
I--
}
<
,-
20 401/2 60
(ISOPLETH AREA) km
9 10
Fig. 9. Maximum clast data from the Fogo-A eruption redrawn from Carey and Sparks (1986), after Walker and Croasdale (1971).
The pumice data fall close to the model H = 25 km reference line
Fig. 10. Ln(maximum clast)-(isopleth area) 1/2 data for several documented eruptions. References in Table 2
distinguishable from the H 8 = 2 5 km reference
line. The pumice data fall slightly above the
p = 1000 kgm -3 line, implying a density of ~ 900
kgm -3, which compares with the quoted density
of 390-640 kgm -3 (Walker 1980). Field work on
Fogo A by this author suggest that the true pu-
mice density is close to 900-1000 kgm -3, and
Walker's figure refers to the bulk density of the
deposit.
Askja 1875 C and D. Clast-size data from Sparks
et al. (1981) is redrawn in Fig. 10. Proximal ballis-
tic emplacement (or surge transport) of large pu-
mices is evident from the break in slope. This is
also reflected in the thickness plot (Fig. 3) for
both eruptions. Using ln-ln area plots, it is diffi-
cult to spot ballistic deposition and overthicken-
ing, because of the curvature of these graphs.
Further m a x i m u m clast data from several
well-documented eruptions are presented in Fig.
10. From these, clast and thickness half-distance
data have been calculated (Table 2).
Thickness and grainsize changes away from the
vent
For deposits whose sorting remains constant away
from the vent [which holds for many plinian de-
posits, e.g. Fisher (1964), Walker (1971), Sparks et
al. (1981)], the m a x i m u m and median grainsize
half-distances will be equal. Consider the case
when the particle number density N (number of
clasts/unit area) also remains constant: since the
thickness at any point is determined by the grain-
size, and volume goes as (clast size) 3, so b = 3bt.
Thus, deposits with b/bt < 3 will have an increas-
9
MAXIMUM PUMICE
A 100
I.u
N
lO.
<
d ~ 21
17
20 40 60 80 km
(ISOPACH AREA) 1/2
ing particle number density away from the vent,
while those with b/bt > 3 show the converse. As-
suming that the sorting remains unchanged away
from the source and No is the number density at
source, then the relative change in the number
density (N/No) across one clast half-distance is
given by
ln(N/No) = (3 - be~bi) In (2) (12)
For example, when the thickness and grainsize
thin at the same rate (b/bt 1), then at a distance
=
b from source the new thickness and grainsize are
given by T = I / 2 ( T o ) , Md=l/2(Mdo), and
N=4No.
Most eruptions (Table 2a) are characterised by
b/bt<3, implying increasing particle number
densities away from source. In practice, the num-
ber density will reach a m a x i m u m at some dis-
tance from the vent and then diminish, due to the
finite number of particles available. Contours of
number density for the Taupo deposit have been
calculated form Walker's (1980) mass loading es-
timates for several grainsize classes. This agrees
closely with the expected behaviour (Fig. 11).
In many deposits (Table 2) the grainsize dim-
inishes more slowly than the thickness (bJb, > 1).
If this relation holds distally, there must be a
point where the grainsize becomes coarser than
the predicted deposit thickness. This distance R
may be estimated by equating the median grain-
size (Md) and thickness (T) at this point:
Md = Mdo e x p ( - k l R ) = T= To exp( - kR)
hence, (13)
R = ln(To/Mdo). [ k - kl] - 1 (14)
10 Pyle: Thickness, volume and grainsize of tephra fall deposits

~,i~l~'/./~,,o~

1.0 2.0 bc/bt 3.0 4.0

11 12
Fig. 11. Contours of calculated particle number density deposited during the Taupo ultraplinian phase, in particles per unit area.
The star denotes the vent location inferred by Walker (1980). The predicted increase in N across 8 clast half-distances is (3.9) 8
[from Eq. (12)], implying that N at 8 b equals 5 x 101. This agrees closely with observation
Fig. 12. Graph of thickness half-distance against half-distance ratio. This is contoured to show the distance R at which the median
grainsize equals the thickness, and beyond which particles are no longer contiguous and a continuous ash covering would not be
expected. Data for selected eruptions are plotted for reference. The upper axis (labelled T) indicates the deposit thickness at R
[Eqs. (13) and (15)]. For b/b~ < 1, R is at infinity and the deposit should be continuous everywhere

Since (To/Mdo) ranges between - 3 0 0 and 3000 to more concentric isopleth contours. Conse-
for many eruptions, this reduces to quently, for any deposit, the upwind portion will
have a larger half-distance ratio than the down-
R - 0 Ob,)/(1 - b,/b) (is) wind part.

Figure 12 shows R predicted for several eruptions

from Table 2. R represents the notional furthest
distance from the vent where the deposit may be
recognised. For a perfectly sorted deposit com-
prising a single grainsize mode at any point, all
clasts will be of the same dimensions as the de-
posit thickness and be fully contiguous at R. Fur-
ther from the vent, the predicted thickness must
become less than Md (since b/b~> 1) and, since T
represents the average volume per unit area, the
particles may no longer touch.
This feature has been described from proximal
fall-out deposits at Mount St. Helens (Waitt et al.
1981). Pumice clasts from several post-May 18
tephra falls formed scattered "granule gravel" de-
posits with isolated lapilli lying on the preceding
deposits. The local winds effectively winnowed
finer clasts from the upwind region of the column
and, consequently, the fall-out did not cover the
ground.
Isopach and isopleth maps of any given de-
posit exhibit less extreme examples of the same
phenomenon. The thickness falls off more rapidly
upwind than downwind, manifested by distortion
of the isopachs; while the clast size diminishes at
a broadly similar rate up- and downwind, leading
Classification of tephra fall deposits
Walker (1973) proposed an empirical method for
classifying tephra fall deposits, based on their dis-
persal and fragmentation. The dispersal D (area
enclosed within the 0.01 To isopach) was believed
to be directly related to the eruptive column
height, with high columns giving rise to sheet-like
deposits and low columns forming cone-like de-
posits. This approach has the merit that it broadly
separates the products of different styles of plume-
forming eruptions, but may be oversimplified
since the influence of fragmentation is not expli-
citly taken into account. Carey and Sparks (1986)
and Sparks (1986) demonstrated that the clast dis-
persal, and by implication the clast half-distance
bc, is directly related to the plume height [Eq.
(10)]. For any deposit, b defines the column
height (Fig. 8). Since b/bt ranges between 0.5 and
3.0 for many deposits, so the dispersal D must
vary for eruptions with similar column heights;
smaller b/b, implying greater dispersal, as the de-
posits thin more slowly. Consider, for example,
the proposed subdivision between plinian and
Pyle: Thickness, volume and grainsize of tephra fall deposits
subplinian eruptions, set at D = 500 km 2. Assum-
ing an exponential thinning law, then
(T/To) = exp ( - r In 2/b~) = 0.01 (16)
and since 7cr2= 500 km2, s o bt is equal to 1.9 km.
Possible values of the column height (H) yield-
ing this dispersal area are tabulated in Table 4, for
different values of b/bv
Clearly the subdivision between subplinian
and plinian eruptions is not simply a division be-
tween high- and low-column eruptions as was ini-
tially intended (Walker 1973). Any particular
value of D may represent a spectrum of deposits,
the products of a variety of column heights, all of
which thin at the same rate but which have differ-
ing grainsize characteristics. For example, phrea-
toplinian eruptions need not have particularly
high columns to achieve their large dispersal, if
they have a low half-distance ratio b/bt.
Physical meaning of the half-distance ratio
Tephra deposition from eruption columns and the
thinning rate of the associated deposits is partly
related to the column heights and windspeed. An-
other important factor is the entrained grainsize
population of the eruption plume, which may be
estimated from the total grainsize population of
the deposit. This was recognised by Walker (1980)
and Hayakawa (1985). Qualitatively, a positively
skewed (coarse-grained) initial population will
form a rapidly thinning deposit with high b/b,
(most of the particles fall out closer to the vent),
whereas a negatively skewed (fine-grained) popu-
lation will have a low half-distance ratio. Thus,
the 1902 eruption of Santa Maria (Table 2) would
be expected to have a strongly fines-rich total
population, while the Carvao-C scoria cone
should have a fines-poor total population.
Suzuki (1983), using a different approach, ar-
rived at similar conclusions. By treating deposi-
Table 4. Possible model column heights for plinian eruptions
with a dispersal index of 500 km 2 and b, = 1.9 km
Half-distance Clast half-distance Column height
ratio (km) (km)
be~b, b H8
0.5 0.95 9.5
1.0 1.9 15.5
2.0 3.8 23.0
3.0 5.7 27.6
11
tion from plumes as a diffusion of particles from
a concentrated source, he predicted that for erup-
sions with high columns and perfectly sorted
ejecta of small median diameter the dispersion of
the deposit will be greatest, with a mass loading
(and number density) maximum displaced from
the vent. In terms of half-distance parameters, this
effectively means that eruptions with large b and
low bc/bt should be the most widely dispersed.
The fragmentation index
Walker (1973) proposed a fragmentation index F
for distinguishing tephra fall deposits, where F is
the weight percentage of the deposit finer than
1 mm at the point where the dispersal axis crosses
the 0.1To isopach. While clearly a useful parame-
ter for some deposits, it cannot be widely applied
since it requires sieve data from a specific point
along the dispersal axis. While there is an un-
derlying assumption that this index is only a re-
flection of total magma fragmentation, it is also
clearly strongly influenced by depositional proc-
esses. In many phreatomagmatic deposits the
fines content in proximal locatities is at least as
much related to the premature fall-out of material
as clumps, disintegrated accretionary lapilli and
mud rain (e.g. Self and Sparks 1978; Walker
1980). Thus, in many deposits a high F value also
reflects wet conditions. A further assumption is
that deposits with low F are formed from magma
that was not highly fragmented, while it may
simply reflect an eruption that was sufficiently
dry for premature fall-out to play no role.
It is increasingly apparent that there are erup-
tions which have high degrees of fragmentation
but low F, with the bulk of the fines simply depos-
ited at large distances. For example, the Mount
St. Helens plinian deposit has as great a propor-
tion of fines as phreatoplinian deposits such as
Askja C (Sparks et al. 1981). For these deposits
bc/bt may ultimately prove a more useful magma
fragmentation index since it normalises all the
data, removing the effects of the absolute magni-
tude of the eruption. The ratio b/bt does not re-
quire sieve data if the maximum grainsize is used,
and uses whole-deposit information. Similarly,
the thickness half-distance bt is a morphologic pa-
rameter and may be used to distinguish cone-
forming from sheet-forming eruptions (Fig. 13).
In Fig. 14 the half-distance ratio is plotted against
Walker's (1973) fragmentation index F. The
points cover a spectrum of deposits, with b~/b~
broadly inversely correlated with F. The poor cor-
12 Pyle: Thickness, volume and grainsize of tephra fall deposits

relation is considered to reflect the inadequacy of
F as an index of the total population.
A further advantage of b~ and b/bt o v e r F and
D is that the maximum thickness of the deposit
(To) is not required. Both parameters may be cal-
0,"
l ~
"Skm
culated from only two isopachs and isopleths and
are consequently more widely applicable than F
and D.
A revised classication scheme for tephra fall
deposits is presented in Fig. 15a. As in Walker's
(1973) scheme, fragmentation increases towards
the top of the diagram and dispersal increases
from left to right. Contours of clast half-distance
are also presented. Walker (1973) classified de-
posits according to their dispersal index, since at
the time this broadly separated "large" and
"small" eruptions. A more natural scheme is to
subdivide deposits according to the height of the
depositing column. The parameter b most closely
reflects model column heights, and in Fig. 15a the
major subdivisions proposed are: strombolian/
subplinian, b = 1 km; subplinian/plinian,

lO ~,
Fig. 13. Sheet and cone deposit morphology (see also Walker
be=3 km. Corresponding model (no wind) total
column heights (Hr) are shown in Fig. 15a. Con-
tours are of integer values of be, since this param-
eter is directly measurable, while corresponding
column heights are both model dependent and in-
1973), for three half-deposits with varying b, (in km). Vertical
exaggeration x 1000 fluenced by factors such as local windspeed.
Data from Table 2a are presented using this
new scheme in Fig. 15b. Note that the be=8 km
=I contour (column height of 45 km) brackets the
o 13
F-.c majority of plinian deposits in Table 2a.
180 021
02o
Conclusions
20 10i 1 9 , ll4~
IJ.
3 Many tephra fall deposits are characterised by
H A L F - D I S T A N C E RATIO bc/bt simple exponential decay. This empirical relation-
Fig. 14. Half-distance ratio (be~be) plotted against Walker's ship applies both to the decay of the thickness
(1973) fragmentation index F, showing the broad inverse cor- and also to the diminution of grainsize paramet-
relation. Deposits numbered as Table 2 ers such as maximum clast size (MP, ML), median

DISPERSAL INDEX D km 2 D km2

500 50000
5 SURTSEYAN500 50000 0 !
SURTSEYAN : ~8b ~

oF- ~I z m
,~ i / o ~v/ _ s: ,. /~~aX\ -. ~ 1 2XL~~ ~

il7q7/~ I '~
~,= / ~/~/ /

"1 l~ i
CO~IE-LIKE
il:o_l
i P';~~.. 7.. I / , / ..... I, s"~'~";-~-'~<,~l "r 4 ~ .
SHEET-LIK
0.1 1.0 10 100 0.1 1.0 10 100
THICKNESS HALF-DISTANCE bt km THICKNESS HALF-DISTANCE bt km
a b
Fig. 15. a Revised classification scheme for tephra fall deposits. The half-distance ratio represents the total grainsize population
and the thickness half-distance represents the dispersal. The figure is contoured for the clast half-distance b and total column
height in km [HT for eruptions into still air, Eq. (11)]. Walker's dispersal index is shown for comparison. Proposed subdivisions are
chosen to be integer values of be. b Data from selected eruptions (from Table 2a) drawn using the new scheine. Most plinian
deposits plot between the contours of b = 3 km and 8 km. The Taupo deposit (no. 23) lies outside the HT= 55 km (still air) curve,
reflecting its eruption into a crosswind
Pyle: Thickness, volume and grainsize of tephra fall deposits
grainsize (Md) and median terminal velocity. This
exponential 'fall-off characterises both coarse,
proximal deposits from > 10 m to < 1 mm thick-
ness and thinner, widely dispersed ashes. The ma-
jor consequences of this systematic behaviour are
as follows:
1) Thickness-area data for tephra fall deposits
should be plotted on ln(thickness)-(isopach
area) 1/2 graphs on which exponential decay is
shown by straight-line behaviour, rather than on
the conventional ln(T)-ln(A) plots where field
data fall on curves. This reduces the potential for
erroneous extrapolations when tephra fall vol-
umes are calculated by integration.
2) The rates of decay of the thickness and grain-
size are characterised by their respective "half-
lives"; bs the thickness half-distance and b the
clast half-distance.
3) b, describes the morphology of the deposit --
whether it is more cone-like or sheet-like -- and
may be used to calculate deposit volumes, where
V= 13.08Tob 2.
'4) b is related to, and may be used to estimate,
model column heights.
5) The half-distance ratio be~b, is a measure of the
entrained grainsize or fragmentation. A deposit
with a low half-distance ratio will show a large
and predictable increase in particle number den-
sity away from the source, have a large dispersal
for a given column height and a fines-rich total
grainsize population. A high half-distance ratio
indicates the converse. Most tephra fall deposits
have bc/bt ~ 1-2.
Acknowledgements. This work was supported by an N E R C
studentship. Many points in this paper were clarified by com-
prehensive discussions and careful reviews by Steve Sparks
and Colin Wilson. Thorough reviews by Steve Carey and the
comments of Peter Francis, Hans Schmincke and George
Walker are very gratefully acknowledged. E. S. Contribution
number 1214.
Appendix 1
Calculation o f tephra fafl volumes
The method given below assumes (1) exponential thickness de-
cay away from the vent and (2) ellipitical isopach distribution,
with the source at one focus. Let b, = thickness "half-distance"
along minor axis of isopach plot; e=isopach eccentricity;
To = extrapolated maximum deposit thickness; V= tephra vol-
ume; z = t e p h r a thickness at (r,O). Then
z = To e x p ( - k r ) (A1.1)
where k=ln2/b Considering a small cone element: volume
d V= dz. x . y . ~ (y, x in minor and major axis directions, re-
13
spectively). Let y / x = a = ( 1 - e 2 ) 1/2, then dV=(jry2.dz)/a.
Substituting dz=kTo e x p ( - k r ) dr and integrating across r
V= 7 [m'2 " kTo e x p ( - k r ) - dr]/a (A1.2)
o
I = [ - To7/r2- exp ( - kr)] + 7 2 ToJrr. exp ( - kr). dr/ct
0
- [ 2 T o r e . exp(-kr)/(ak)] + 7 2ToTr- e x p ( - k r ) , dr/(ak)
0
- [2To~ exp( - kr)/(ak2)] (A1.3)
V= 2~To/(ak2)= 2~Tob2 /[a(ln 2)2]=13.08Tob~ /a (A1.4)
For the ideal case, a = 1 and this simplifies to
V= 2~TobZ,/(ln 2) 2 = 13.08 Tob2 (A1.5)
Equation (A1.5) may be used to calculate volumes from the
new thickness-area plots, when bt is calculated from the
slope on the area plot. For thickness-area plots characterised
by two straight-line segments of different slope, the volume
may be estimated by calculating (A1.3) for the limits 0 to R
and R to infinity.
Appendix 2
The empirical models o f Suzuki and Hayakawa
In two valuable studies, Suzuki (1981, 1983) and Hayakawa
(1985) attempted to relate tephra fall volumes to the product
of an arbitrarily defined isopach thickness with the area en-
closed by that isopach. Both noted that many deposits fall on
a roughly linear trend on ln-ln area diagrams. From Fig. 1 it is
clear that this is merely an artefact. Suzuki (1981) derived an
empirical formula for the calculation of deposit volumes by
curve-fitting. Below it is shown that his expressions depend
implicitly on the fact that deposits thin exponentially. It is sug-
gested that the empirical description developed in this paper
should be used in preference to Suzuki's expressions (though
they are ultimately identical) since the former are more
straightforward to interpret in terms of the physical behaviour
of the deposit.
Suzuki proposed a "thinning index" n given by
n = [log,o(To/L)]/[log,o(A/Ao)] (A2.1)
where To is the extrapolated maximum thickness of the depos-
it, A0 is the area enclosed by the To isopach, arbitrarily set to
10 -z and T and A are, respectively, the thickness and area
enclosed by the isopach at the inflection point on the ln-ln
area curve. Suzuki (1981) and Hayakawa (1985) showed that
this inflection point represents the largest "volume", by com-
paring this point with the isovolume contours (Fig. 1). Thus
(TA)mx= TAc
Using an exponential model to describe A in terms of T and
To, we obtain
TA = (T/k2)[ln(T/To] 2 (A2.2)
14
To find (TA) . . . . set the derivative with respect to T to zero.
Hence,
1/k2{ln T)2-2 In T01n T+(ln To)2
+ 2 In T - 2 In To}= 0 (A2.3)
solving
In T= In To (trivial solution) or In T= (In To-2).
thus
T=O.135To
from Eq. (A2.2)
TA= {0.135To. ln(O.135)2}/k2=3.54Tob2t
since the exponential model gives V=13.08Tob 2 thus, from
Eqn. (7) c=0.38.
Hayakawa used a slightly different approach, since he did
not specify the thickness T at which the proposed relationship
[V=12.2TA, Eq. (6)] should hold. Clearly, as the thickness
tends to zero or to To, then V also tends to zero. Hence, V
cannot represent a constant for any deposit unless the thick-
ness is specified.
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Received March 16, 1988/Accepted June 6, 1988