Study is made for the first time on morphological peculiarities of microstructure of three samples from the unbroken marker ash layers of the Shiveluch volcano. In this paper we give the qualitative analysis of tephra structure, i.e. size and shape of particles and type of microstructure, describe structural relationships between deposit components, etc. and make the quantitative analysis of porosity of Sh2 and Sh1 tephra at magnification of 200 and 1,000. Hollow globules of volcanic glass were found for the first time in Sh2 ashes.

Eight strong eruptions of four Kamchatka volcanoes (Bezymyannyi, Klyuchevskoi, Shiveluch, and Karymskii) and Chikurachki Volcano on Paramushir Island, North Kurils took place in 2007. In addition, an explosive event occurred on Mutnovskii Volcano and increased fumarole activity was recorded on Avacha and Gorelyi volcanoes in Kamchatka and Ebeko Volcano on Paramushir Island, North Kurils. Thanks to close cooperation with colleagues involved in the Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) project from the Elizovo Airport Meteorological Center and volcanic ash advisory centers in Tokyo, Anchorage, and Washington (Tokyo VAAC, Anchorage VAAC, and Washington VAAC), all necessary precautions were taken for flight safety near Kamchatka.

Mafic enclaves preserve a record of deep differentiation of primitive magmas in arc settings. We analyze the petrology and geochemistry of mafic enclaves from Shiveluch volcano in the Kamchatka peninsula to determine the differentiation histories of primitive magmas and to estimate their pressures, temperatures, and water contents. Amphibole inclusions in high forsterite olivine suggest that the primitive melt was superhydrous (i.e. >8 wt% H2O) and was fractionating amphibole and olivine early on its liquid line of descent. We find that the hydrous primitive melt had liquidus temperatures of 1062±48°C and crystallized high Mg# amphibole at depths of 23.6-28.8 km and water contents of 10-14 wt% H2O. The major and trace element whole rock chemistry of enclaves and of published analyses of andesites suggest that they are related through fractionation of amphibole-bearing assemblages. Quantitative models fractionating olivine, clinopyroxene, and amphibole reproduce geochemical trends defined by enclaves and andesites in variation diagrams. These models estimate 0.2%-12.2% amphibole fractionated from the melt to reproduce the full range of enclave compositions, which overlaps with estimates of the amount of amphibole fractionated from parental melts based on whole rock dysprosium contents. This contribution extends the published model of shallow processes at Shiveluch to greater depths. It provides evidence that primitive magmas feeding arc volcanoes may be more hydrous than estimated from other methods, and that amphibole is an important early fractionating phase on the liquid line of descent of superhydrous, primitive mantle-derived melts.