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Yasuo Ogawa

Publications and source records attributed to Yasuo Ogawa.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Trans-crustal structural control of CO2-rich extensional magmatic systems revealed at Mount Erebus Antarctica

Erebus volcano, Antarctica, with its persistent phonolite lava lake, is a classic example of an evolved, CO 2 -rich rift volcano. Seismic studies provide limited images of the magmatic system. Here we show using magnetotelluric data that a steep, melt-related conduit of low electrical resistivity originating in the upper mantle undergoes pronounced lateral re-orientation in the deep crust before reaching shallower magmatic storage and the summit lava lake. The lateral turn represents a structural fault-valve controlling episodic flow of magma and CO 2 vapour, which replenish and heat the high level phonolite differentiation zone. This magmatic valve lies within an inferred, east-west structural trend forming part of an accommodation zone across the southern termination of the Terror Rift, providing a dilatant magma pathway. Unlike H 2 O-rich subduction arc volcanoes, CO 2 -dominated Erebus geophysically shows continuous magmatic structure to shallow crustal depths of < 1 km, as the melt does not experience decompression-related volatile supersaturation and viscous stalling.

Nature Communications

Temporal magnetotellurics reveals mechanics of the 2012 Mount Tongariro, NZ eruption

Monitoring dynamics of volcanic eruptions with geophysics is challenging. In August and November 2012, two small eruptions from Mount Tongariro provided a unique opportunity to image subsurface changes caused by the eruptions. A detailed magnetotelluric survey of the Tongariro volcanic complex completed prior to the eruption (2008–2010) provides the preeruption structure of the magmatic system. A subset of the initial measurement locations was reoccupied in June 2013. Significant changes were observed in phase tensor data at sites close to the eruptive center. Although subsurface electrical resistivity changed, the geometry of the preeruptive reservoir did not. These subsurface resistivity variations are interpreted as being predominantly caused by interaction of partial melt and the overlying brine layer causing volume reduction of the brine layer through phreatic eruption. The ability to detect significant changes associated with the magma reservoir suggests that magnetotellurics can be a valuable volcano monitoring tool.

Mount Tongariro