The deep structure, Wadati-Benioff zone (focal zone) geometry and the magma feeding system of Shiveluch volcano are investigated based on 1962–1994 detailed seismic surveillance. A focal zone beneath Shiveluch is dipping at an angle of 70° at depths of 100–200 km. Based on the revealed interrelations between seismicity at depths of 105–120 km and an extrusive phase of its eruptions in 1980 through 1994, it is inferred that primary magmas, periodically feeding the crustal chamber, are melted at depths of at least 100 km. An upsurge of extrusive-explosive activity at the volcano is preceded and accompanied by the increasing number and energy of both volcanic earthquakes beneath the dome and tectonic or volcano-tectonic earthquakes in the zones of NW-striking crustal faults near the volcano.The eruption of April 1993 has been the most powerful since 1964. It was successfully predicted based on interactive use of all seismic data. At the same time the influence of seismicity at depths of 105–120 km under the volcano on the style (and consequently on prediction) of its activity is decisive.

The eruptive history of the Shiveluch andesite volcano included two Holocene events, during which
the volcano erupted unusual rocks: medium-potassium, amphibole-bearing magnesian basalts (7600 years ago)
and high-potassium magnesian basalts with phlogopite and amphibole (3600 years ago). The volumes of tephra
were approximately 0.1 and 0.3 km3, respectively. Some of the mineralogical and geochemical features of the
Holocene basalts were inherited by the subsequent basaltic andesites and andesites. These are similar in Mg
variation ranges of olivine, clinopyroxene, and amphibole phenocrysts, high Mg contents, and high Cr and Ni
concentrations. This and the results of mass-balance calculations do not contradict the view that the Shiveluch
volcanic rocks originated during the crystal fractionation of Holocene basalt melts. However, the other
geochemical features of the Shiveluch rocks, e.g., their similar REE contents, cast doubt on the formation of
the magnesian basaltic andesites through fractional crystallization of magnesian basalt magma and suggest that
they originated as a result of interaction between magnesian basalt magma and a depleted mantle material at a
shallow depth. At the same time, the different mineral compositions of the Holocene medium- and high-potassium
basalts and the results of mass-balance calculations indicate that their parental magmas might be produced
by the melting of different rocks.