This impressive scientific resource presents up-to-date information on ten thousand years of volcanic activity on Earth. In the decade and a half since the previous edition was published new studies have refined assessments of the ages of many volcanoes, and several thousand new eruptions have been documented. This edition updates the book's key components: a directory of volcanoes active during the Holocene; a chronology of eruptions over the past ten thousand years; a gazetteer of volcano names, synonyms, and subsidiary features; an extensive list of references; and an introduction placing these data in context. This edition also includes new photographs, data on the most common rock types forming each volcano, information on population densities near volcanoes, and other features, making it the most comprehensive source available on Earth's dynamic volcanism.

Klyuchevskoy is one of the most active volcanoes on Earth, erupting lavas at a rate of ∼1 m3/s, equivalent to a 50 km length of mid-ocean ridge. Bezymianny is located 20 km south of the summit vent of Klyuchevskoy and has been erupting silicic andesites since its spectacular avalanche eruption in 1956. Major and trace element concentrations and long-lived radiogenic isotope data suggest that basalts and basaltic andesites from Klyuchevskoy and andesites from Bezymianny were derived by different degrees of partial melting of nearly identical mantle sources. Lavas with higher SiO2 concentrations represent the differentiation products of lower degrees of melting after the mantle was fluxed with a fluid derived almost entirely from subducted altered basaltic crust with little or no sediment contribution. The higher SiO2 concentrations for lavas derived from smaller degree melts suggest that they underwent more fractionation because of the loss of their higher water contents. High Th isotope compositions for all lavas from both volcanoes suggest that a significant time transpired between U addition by a slab-fluid and melting. If the excess 226Ra in the lavas is from the slab-fluid, then long term multistage fluxing before melting is required to maintain these 226Ra excesses. An alternative model attributes the excess Ra to melting caused by upwelling mantle in association with rifting of the central Kamchatka depression. The greater Ra excess for Klyuchevskoi’s basaltic andesites compared to its basalts is consistent with generation of the Ra excesses during decompression melting, and a less than few thousand year time frame of differentiation after melting. The lower Ra excesses for Bezymianny’s andesites compared to the more mafic lavas suggest a time frame of fractionation that is longer than this by several thousand years. When time since eruption is accounted for, all samples have (210Pb/226Ra) within 2σ analytical error of one, suggesting that significant long-term gas fluxing of 222Rn into or out of both magma systems has not occurred.

Lavas from Klyuchevskoy and Bezymianny volcanoes, Kamchatka, appear to show a link between the extent of partial melting in their mantle source region and the subsequent degree of fractionation suffered by the magmas during passage through the crust. This fractionation may have occurred on timescales significantly less than 1000 years if observed 226Ra excesses largely reflect variable residual porosity in the source melting region. Unlike most arc lavas, those with the highest MgO contents and Ba/Th ratios have the lowest 226Ra excess. Forward models suggest that those portions of the source which had undergone the greatest addition of U by fluids from the subducting plate also underwent the greatest extents of partial melting at the highest residual porosity. At Kluchevskoy, a change from eruption of high-MgO to high-Al2O3 basaltic andesites around 1945 is reflected in an increase in size of 226Ra excess which seems to require a simultaneous decrease in residual porosity and suggests a rapid changes in the melting regime. The eruption of andesites at Bezyminanny, simultaneous with the eruption of basaltic andesites at Klyuchevskoy, further suggests that different degree melts produced at differing residual porosity can be formed and extracted from the melt region at the same time. Thus, the melting processes beneath Klyuchevskoy and Bezyminanny are demonstrably complex. They have clearly been influenced by both fluid addition from the subducting plate and extension and decompression beneath the Central Kamchatka Depression. Finally, the 210Pb data are, with one or two exceptions, in equilibrium with 226Ra, suggesting that there was restricted relative magma-gas movement in this highly productive magmatic system.

Abstract For the past few decades, Bezymianny volcano has erupted once to twice per year. Here, I examine eight eruptive events between 2006 and 2010. This is the first time period for which proximal or broadband seismic data have been recorded at Bezymianny. Several recurring patterns are demonstrated in advance of eruptions. Eruptions are generally preceded by 12–36 h of tremor energy elevated by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude. Locatable earthquake activity is quite erratic in the days before eruptions. For eruptions of juvenile magma, however, the cumulative moment magnitude increases with the repose time since the previous eruption. Though tenuous, this relationship is statistically significant and could improve forecasts of Bezymianny eruptions. The most energetic eruptions demonstrate increasing multiplet activity in the run-up, followed by a rapid cessation at the time of eruption. When present, this behavior marks increasing pressure in the conduit system as degassing eclipses the capacity for venting. Very long period seismicity (> 20 s periods) accompanies some eruptions. These tend to be the same short-lived high-energy eruptions that exhibit multiplet precursors. Four eruptions are examined in detail to illustrate the variety in eruption mechanisms. Lava dome collapses, sustained eruptions, singular paroxysmal explosions and post-explosion lava flows occur in different combinations demonstrating that more than one eruption trigger is regulating Bezymianny. Compared to Bezymianny's fifty-year modern history, recent eruptions have been shorter-lived and separated by longer repose times. Some evidence suggests that these eruptions may be increasingly explosive—a speculation that carries significant hazard implications. If true, however, this threat is tempered by solid evidence that the most explosive eruptions are preceded by the clearest precursors, suggesting an ability to improve the already excellent eruption forecasts available for Bezymianny.