Author(s)

Alberto Rangel-Durán¹, Vanessa Verónica Espejel-García¹, Alejandro Villalobos-Aragón¹, Daphne Espejel-García¹, Jorge Lucero-Álvarez², Abraham Gilberto Mendez-Salas¹

¹Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Chihuahua, México.
²Facultad de Zootecnia y Ecología, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Chihuahua, México.

This study undertook a comprehensive sedimentological and grain-size analysis of two previously uncharacterized volcanoclastic deposits exposed in the northwestern sector of Chihuahua City, Mexico. The primary objective was to propose a systematic genetic classification for these deposits, employing traditional sedimentological techniques and an advanced computerized granulometric analysis technique based on orthogonal images to discern their grain size distribution. Through these studies, evidence was sought to classify them genetically, presenting arguments to define them either as a lahar or a volcanic debris avalanche. Results were critically compared against existing literature data pertaining to lahars and debris avalanches, yielding moderate success. The analysis identified one of the deposits as a non-eruptive or post-eruptive lahar. This identification was substantiated by the delineation of distinct overbank and transition facies within the deposit, providing compelling evidence for its genetic classification.

Volcaniclastic, Lahar, Avalanche, Statistics, Chihuahua

Rangel-Durán, A. , Espejel-García, V. , Villalobos-Aragón, A. , Espejel-García, D. , Lucero-Álvarez, J. and Mendez-Salas, A. (2023) Volcaniclastic Deposit Analysis Using Grain Size, Digital and Stereological Techniques. Open Journal of Civil Engineering, 13, 723-741. doi: 10.4236/ojce.2023.134048.