Teleseismic receiver functions (RFs) from a yearlong broadband seismological experiment in Kamchatka reveal regional variations in the Moho, anisotropy in the supra-slab mantle wedge, and, along the eastern coast, Ps converted phases from the steeply dipping slab. We analyze both radial- and transverse-component RFs in bin-averaged epicentral and backazimuthal sweeps, in order to detect Ps moveout and polarity variations diagnostic of interface depth, interface dip, and anisotropic fabric within the shallow mantle and crust. At some stations, the radial RF is overprinted by near-surface resonances, but anisotropic structure can be inferred from the transverse RF. Using forward modeling to match the observed RFs, we find Moho depth to range between 30 and 40 km across the peninsula, with a gradational crust –mantle transition beneath some stations along the eastern coast. Anisotropy beneath the Moho is required to fit the transverse RFs at most stations. Anisotropy in the lower crust is required at a minority of stations. Modeling the amplitude and backazimuthal variation of the Ps waveform suggests that an inclined axis of symmetry and 5 – 10% anisotropy are typical for the crust and the shallow mantle. The apparent symmetry axes of the anisotropic layers are typically trench-normal, but trench-parallel symmetry axes are found for stations APA and ESS, both at the fringes of the central Kamchatka depression. Transverse RFs from east-coast stations KRO, TUM, ZUP and PET are fit well by two anisotropic mantle layers with trench-normal symmetry axes and opposing tilts. Strong anisotropy in the supraslab mantle wedge suggests that the mantle ‘‘lithosphere’’ beneath the Kamchatka volcanic arc is actively deforming, strained either by wedge corner flow at depth or by trenchward suction of crust as the Pacific slab retreats.

The paper discusses the results of geodetic investigations performed in the region of the large 1975-1976 Tolbachik fissure eruption in Kamchatka. Using data from repeated triangu-lation and trigonometric levelings, horizontal and vertical displacements have been detected in an area of 3,500 km2. Two zones have been recognized: the tension and uplift zone that is probably due to magma intrusion from depths to the surface along the line of new cones and the extensive compensative subsidence zone located at a distance of 20-50 km from the nearest newly-formed cones.??Measurements made with small distance measuring device showed the dynamics of feeding basalt dykes intrusion and made it possible to determine their width (a little greater than 1 m) and magma and gas overpressure (50-250 bar). Data have been obtained on dimensions and growth of cones and on vertical ground deformation in the area of new cones during and after the eruption.??

Sheveluch Volcano is one of the most productive volcanoes in Kamchatka, characterized during the Holocene by alternating periods of predominantly extrusive and explosive activity. New data on the volumetric parameters of fine ash emissions have been obtained, indicating that the mass of erupted material of dacitic composition during a single moderate-strength eruption can exceed 2 million tons. In those years when gas and ash cloud eruptions were particularly frequent (sometimes more than twenty per month), the total mass of fine dacitic ash can be comparable to the annual discharge of andesitic material (extrusive lavas and tephra), providing a new perspective on the genesis of andesites.

A high-temperature (up to 940°C) fumarolic activity at Kudriavy volcano had been studied during 1990–1999. The maximum gas temperatures of the fumaroles were measured in 1992 as 940°C, then gradually decreased with time and reached to 907°C in 1999. Gas composition of the high-temperature fumarole became enriched in H2O and depleted in other gas components, in particular in CO2. Hydrogen isotopic compositions of the high-temperature fumarolic gases were gradually depleted in deuterium. The gradual and continuous decrease in temperature and changes in gas composition observed during the last 10-year suggest that a magmatic melt have been degassing in a relatively steady-state manner from a single magma chamber. The detail investigations in 1998 and 1999 revealed short-term changes in gas composition characterized by sporadic increases in H2, CO2, and Stotal after intense precipitations. Small-scale eruptions occurred on October 7, 1999 at the summit. The ratios of major gas components (C/S, C/Cl, S/Cl, C/F, S/F, and Cl/F) significantly increased just prior to the eruption. The eruption at the Kudriavy volcano in 1999 was likely a phreatic eruption as a result of the intense precipitations after unusually long dry period. Meteoric water penetrated into the hot zone of volcano edifice and rapidly boiled causing the eruption.