This paper reports a study of the Rikord volcanic massif. The massif consists of four volcanic edifices that coalesce in their bases, and is most likely Quaternary. The massif discharged basaltic and basaltic andesite lavas during its earlier life. The observed high natural remanent magnetization that was found in dredged rocks is due to high concentrations of single-domain and pseudo-single-domain grains of titanomagnetite and magnetite. We have identified the directions of the conduits and the presence of peripheral magma chambers. A 3D model has been developed for the central part of the Rikord volcanic massif; the model includes ten large disturbing magnetic blocks that are most likely cooled, nearly vertical, conduits.

The primary goal of this paper is to summarize all of the published data on the Tolbachik volcanic massif in order to provide a clear framework for the geochronologic, petrologic, geochemical and to a lesser extent the geophysical and tectonic characteristics of the Tolbachik system established prior to the 2012–2013 eruption. The Tolbachik massif forms the southwestern part of the voluminous Klyuchevskoy volcanic group in Kamchatka. The massif includes two large stratovolcanoes, Ostry (“Sharp”) Tolbachik and Plosky (“Flat”) Tolbachik, and a 70 km long zone of the basaltic monogenetic cones that form an arcuate rift-like structure running across the Plosky Tolbachik summit. The Tolbachik massif gained international attention after the 1975–1976 Great Tolbachik Fissure Eruption (GTFE), which was one of the largest eruptions of the 20th century and one of the six largest basaltic fissure eruptions in historical time. By the end of the GTFE, 2.2 km3 of volcanic products of variable basaltic compositions with MORB-like isotopic characteristics covered an area of > 1000 km2. During the following three decades more than 700 papers on various aspects of this eruption have been published both in national and international journals. Although the recent 2012–2013 eruption, which is the main topic of this volume, was not as long as the {GTFE} in duration or as large in area and volume of the erupted deposits, it brought to the surface a unique volcanic material never found before. In order to understand the data from new eruptions and make significant progress towards a better understanding of the Tolbachik magmatic system it is important to be able to put the new results into the historic context of previous research.

Annually, from 3 to 6 Kamchatkan volcanoes produce eruptions, during which the explosions eject ash to 10-15 km a.s.l., and ash clouds spread thousands of kilometers from volcanoes. Ash clouds pose a serious threat to the modern jet aviation. Scientists of KVERT have conduct daily monitoring of Kamchatka volcanoes since 1993, to mitigate volcanic hazards to airline operations and population. Since 2014, satellite monitoring of volcanoes they carried out with the VolSatView (Remote monitoring of active volcanoes of Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands) (http://volcanoes.smislab.ru) IS. The system utilize all the available satellite data, weather and video observations to ensure continues monitoring and study of volcanic activity in Kamchatka. The VolSatView work with distributed information resources and computation systems. This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 16-17-00042.

Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands are home to 36 active volcanoes with yearly explosive eruptions that eject ash to heights of 8 to 15 km above sea level, posing hazards to jet planes. In order to reduce the risk of planes colliding with ash clouds in the north Pacific, the KVERT team affiliated with the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IV&S FEB RAS) has conducted daily satellite-based monitoring of Kamchatka volcanoes since 2002. Specialists at the IV&S FEB RAS, Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SRI RAS), the Computing Center of the Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (CC FEB RAS), and the Far East Planeta Center of Space Hydrometeorology Research (FEPC SHR) have developed, introduced into practice, and were continuing to refine the VolSatView information system for Monitoring of Volcanic Activity in Kamchatka and on the Kuril Islands during the 2011–2015 period. This system enables integrated processing of various satellite data, as well as of weather and land-based information for continuous monitoring and investigation of volcanic activity in the Kuril–Kamchatka region. No other information system worldwide offers the abilities that the Vol-SatView has for studies of volcanoes. This paper shows the main abilities of the application of VolSatView for routine monitoring and retrospective analysis of volcanic activity in Kamchatka and on the Kuril Islands.