Thermomechanical controls on magma supply and volcanic deformation: application to Aira caldera, Japan.

ABSTRACT: Ground deformation often precedes volcanic eruptions, and results from complex interactions between source processes and the thermomechanical behaviour of surrounding rocks. Previous models aiming to constrain source processes were unable to include realistic mechanical and thermal rock properties, and the role of thermomechanical heterogeneity in magma accumulation was unclear. Here we show how spatio-temporal deformation and magma reservoir evolution are fundamentally controlled by three-dimensional thermomechanical heterogeneity. Using the example of continued inflation at Aira caldera, Japan, we demonstrate that magma is accumulating faster than it can be erupted, and the current uplift is approaching the level inferred prior to the violent 1914 Plinian eruption. Magma storage conditio

SUBMITTER: Hickey J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5020646 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature