Since Bezymianny Volcano resumed its activity in 1956, eruptions have been frequent; recently with up to 1–2 explosive events per year. To investigate deformation related to this activity we installed a GPS network of 8 continuous and 6 campaign stations around Bezymianny. The two striking observations for 2005–2010 are (1) rapid and continuous network-wide subsidence between 8 and 12 mm/yr, which appears to affect KAMNET stations more than 40 km away where we observe 4–5 mm/yr of subsidence, and (2) only the summit station BZ09 shows slight deviations from the average motion in the north component at times of eruptions.
The network-wide subsidence cannot be explained by tectonic deformation related to the build-up of interseismic strain due to subduction of the Pacific plate. A first order model of surface loading by eruptive products of the Kluchevskoy Group of Volcanoes also explains only a fraction of the subsidence. However, a deep sill at about 30 km under Kluchevskoy that constantly discharges material fits our observations well. The sill is constrained by deep seismicity which suggests 9.5 km width, 12.7 km length, and a 13° dip-angle to the south-east. We infer a closing rate of 0.22 m/yr, which implies a volume loss of 0.027 km3/yr (0.16 m/yr and 0.019 km3/yr considering surface loading). Additional stations in the near and far field are required to uniquely resolve the spatial extent and likely partitioning of this source.
We explain the eruption related deformation at BZ09 with a very shallow reservoir, likely within Bezymianny's edifice at a depth between 0.25 km and 1.5 km with a volume change of 1–4 × 10− 4 km3. Much of the material erupted at Bezymianny may be sourced from deeper mid-crustal reservoirs with co-eruptive volume changes at or below the detection limit of the GPS network. Installation of more sensitive instruments such as tiltmeters would allow resolving of subtle co-eruptive motion.

Abstract We provide results of a detailed study of the first peridotite xenoliths of proven mantle origin reported from Bezymyanny volcano in the Klyuchevskoy Group, northern Kamchatka arc. The xenoliths are coarse spinel harzburgites made up mainly of Mg-rich olivine as well as subhedral orthopyroxene (opx) and Cr-rich spinel, and also contain fine-grained interstitial pyroxenes, amphibole and feldspar. The samples are unique in preserving the evidence for both initial arc mantle substrate produced by high-degree melt extraction and subsequent enrichment events. We show that the textures, modal and major oxide compositions of the Bezymyanny xenoliths are generally similar to those of spinel harzburgite xenoliths from Avacha volcano in southern Kamchatka. However, coarse opx from the Bezymyanny harzburgites has higher abundances of light and medium rare earth elements and other highly incompatible elements than coarse opx from the Avacha harzburgites. We infer that (1) the sub-arc lithospheric mantle beneath both Avacha and Bezymyanny (and possibly between these volcanoes) consists predominantly of harzburgitic melting residues, which experienced metasomatism by slab-related fluids or low-fraction, fluid-rich melts and (2) the degrees of metasomatism are higher beneath Bezymyanny. By contrast, xenolith suites from Shiveluch and Kharchinsky volcanoes 50–100 km north of the Klyuchevskoy Group include abundant cumulates and products of reaction of mantle rocks with silicate melts at high melt/rock ratios. The high melt flux through the lithospheric mantle beneath Shiveluch and Kharchinsky may be related to the asthenospheric flow around the northern edge of the sinking Pacific plate; lateral propagation of fluids in the mantle wedge south of the plate edge may contribute to metasomatism in the mantle lithosphere beneath the Klyuchevskoy Group volcanoes.

Abstract Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) images reveal a pre-eruption deformation signal at Kizimen volcano, Kamchatka, Russia, where an ongoing eruption began in mid-November, 2010. The previous eruption of this basaltic andesite-to-dacite stratovolcano occurred in 1927–1928. InSAR images from both ascending and descending orbital passes of Envisat and ALOS PALSAR satellites show as much as 6 cm of line-of-sight shortening from September 2008 to September 2010 in a broad area centered at Kizimen. About 20 cm of opening of a nearly vertical dike provides an adequate fit to the surface deformation pattern. The model dike is approximately 14 km long, 10 km high, centered 13 km beneath Kizimen, and strikes NE–SW. Time-series analysis of multi-temporal interferograms indicates that (1) intrusion started sometime between late 2008 and July 2009, (2) continued at a nearly constant rate, and (3) resulted in a volume expansion of 3.2 × 107 m3 by September 2010, i.e., about two months before the onset of the 2010 eruption. Earthquakes located above the tip of the dike accompanied the intrusion. Eventually, magma pressure in the dike exceeded the confining strength of the host rock, triggering the 2010 eruption. Our results provide insight into the intrusion process that preceded an explosive eruption at a Pacific Rim stratovolcano following nearly a century of quiescence, and therefore have implications for monitoring and hazards assessment at similar volcanoes elsewhere.

Кекукнайский массив сформировался в результате тектоно-магматической деятельности, выразившейся образованием щитообразного вулкана, кальдерной депрессии с сопутствующим внедрением экструзий, и завершившейся интенсивным посткальдерным ареальным вулканизмом. Проведено детальное рассмотрение особенностей минералогического состава пород массива. Использование уже имеющихся и дополнительно выявленных индикаторных возможностей породообразующих минералов позволило восстановить общую картину эволюции магматических расплавов и условия кристаллизации пород (различная флюидонасыщенность-обводненность и окисленность системы). Существенно островодужные или внутриплитные характеристики в составе пород массива проявлены на разных стадиях развития единой флюидно-магматической системы. Декомпрессионная эволюция материнской глубинной базанитовой магмы была реализована появлением в промежуточных очагах дочерних магм трахибазальтового (докальдерный этап развития системы) или гавайитового (ареальный вулканизм) состава. Дальнейшая эманационно-магматическая дифференциация этих расплавов в сочетании с кристаллизационной дифференциации в условиях меняющейся P-T-f02 обстановки и привела к образованию всего многообразия пород Кекукнайского массива.

We present the results of time-dependent local earthquake tomography for the Kluchevskoy group of volcanoes in Kamchatka, Russia. We consider the time period from 1999 to 2009, which covers several stages of activity of Kluchevskoy and Bezymianny volcanoes. The results are supported by synthetic tests that recover a common 3D model based on data corresponding to different time windows. Throughout the period, we observe a robust feature below 25 km depth with anomalously high Vp/Vs values (up to 2.2). We interpret this feature as a channel bringing deep mantle materials with high fluid and melt content to the bottom of the crust. This mantle channel directly or indirectly determines the activity of all volcanoes of the Kluchevskoy group. In the crust, we model complex structure that varies over time. During the pre-eruptive period, we detected two levels of potential magma storage: one in the middle crust at 10–12 km depth and one close to the surface just below Kluchevskoy volcano. In 2005, a year of powerful eruptions of Kluchevskoy and Besymiyanny volcanoes, we observe a general increase in Vp/Vs throughout the crust. In the relaxation period following the eruption, the Vp/Vs values are generally low, and no strong anomalous zones in the crust are observed. We propose that very rapid variations in Vp/Vs are most likely due to abrupt changes in the stress and deformation states, which cause fracturing and the active transport of fluids. These fluids drive more fracturing in a positive feedback system that ultimately leads to eruption. We envision the magma reservoirs beneath the Kluchevskoy group as sponge-structured volumes that may quickly change the content of the molten phases as fluids pulse rapidly through the system.

Very few age controls exist for Quaternary deposits over the vast territory of the East Russian Arctic, which hampers dating of major environmental changes in this area and prevents their correlation to climatic changes in the Arctic and Pacific marine domains. We report a newly identified ~177 ka old Rauchua tephra, which has been dispersed over an area of >1,500,000 km2 and directly links terrestrial paleoenvironmental archives from Arctic Siberia with marine cores in the northwest Pacific, thus permitting their synchronization and dating. The Rauchua tephra can help to identify deposits formed in terrestrial and marine environments during the oxygen isotope stage 6.5 warming event. Chemical composition of volcanic glass from the Rauchua tephra points to its island-arc origin, while its spatial distribution singles out the Kamchatka volcanic arc as a source. The Rauchua tephra represents a previously unknown, large (magnitude >6.5) explosive eruption from the Kamchatka volcanic arc.

We report tephrochronological and geochemical data on early Holocene activity from Plosky volcanic massif in the Kliuchevskoi volcanic group, Kamchatka Peninsula. Explosive activity of this volcano lasted for ~1.5 kyr, produced a series of widely dispersed tephra layers, and was followed by profuse low-viscosity lava flows. This eruptive episode started a major reorganization of the volcanic structures in the western part of the Kliuchevskoi volcanic group. An explosive eruption from Plosky (M~6), previously unstudied, produced tephra (coded PL2) of a volume of 10–12 km3 (11–13 Gt), being one of the largest Holocene explosive eruptions in Kamchatka. Characteristic diagnostic features of the PL2 tephra are predominantly vitric sponge-shaped fragments with rare phenocrysts and microlites of plagioclase, olivine and pyroxenes, medium- to high-K basaltic andesitic bulk composition, high-K, high-Al and high-P trachyandesitic glass composition with SiO2 = 57.5–59.5 wt%, K2O = 2.3–2.7 wt%, Al2O3 = 15.8–16.5 wt%, and P2O5 = 0.5–0.7 wt%. Other diagnostic features include a typical subduction-related pattern of incompatible elements, high concentrations of all REE (>10× mantle values), moderate enrichment in LREE (La/Yb ~ 5.3), and non-fractionated mantle-like pattern of LILE. Geochemical fingerprinting of the PL2 tephra with the help of EMP and LA-ICP-MS analyses allowed us to map its occurrence in terrestrial sections across Kamchatka and to identify this layer in Bering Sea sediment cores at a distance of >600 km from the source. New high-precision 14C dates suggest that the PL2 eruption occurred ~10,200 cal BP, which makes it a valuable isochrone for early Holocene climate fluctuations and permits direct links between terrestrial and marine paleoenvironmental records. The terrestrial and marine 14C dates related to the PL2 tephra have allowed us to estimate an early Holocene reservoir age for the western Bering Sea at 1,410 ± 64 14C years. Another important tephra from the early Holocene eruptive episode of Plosky volcano, coded PL1, was dated at 11,650 cal BP. This marker is the oldest geochemically characterized and dated tephra marker layer in Kamchatka to date and is an important local marker for the Younger Dryas—early Holocene transition. One more tephra from Plosky, coded PL3, can be used as a marker northeast of the source at a distance of ~110 km.