著者

星住 英夫 宮縁 育夫 宮城 磯治 下司 信夫 宝田 晋治

出版者

特定非営利活動法人 日本火山学会

雑誌

火山 (ISSN:04534360)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.67, no.1, pp.91-112, 2022-03-31 (Released:2022-04-26)

参考文献数

71

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Aso volcano produced four huge ignimbrite-forming eruptions named Aso-1, 2, 3 and 4 in ascending order, among which Aso-4 is considered the largest eruption in Japan in the last 1 million years. This paper describes the tephra sequence between the Aso-4 and Aso-3 eruptions (Aso-4/3 tephra group). The reconstruction of the eruptive history for Aso-4/3 tephra group presented here provides a valuable contribution to the understanding of caldera volcanism by outlining the preparatory processes of a catastrophic ignimbrite eruption. The eruption sequence of the Aso-4/3 tephra group, which is composed of at least 37 units of pumice-fall, scoria-fall, and ash-fall deposits, is divided into five stages. Stage 1 is characterized by the eruption of mafic scoria (VEI 3-4) during 133-114.1 ka, after the eruption of Aso-3. Stage 2 is characterized by the frequent eruptions of mafic scoria and ash (VEI 3-4) during 114.1-108.4 ka. The magma composition became more felsic during explosive eruptions (VEI 3-4) from 108.4-104.7 ka (Stage 3). During the most active stage from 104.7-97.7 ka (Stage 4), voluminous felsic pumice-falls erupted (VEI 4-5). The ABCD tephra (97.7 ka) is the largest plinian pumice-fall deposit of Aso volcano. Stage 5 (97.7-88 ka) is a relatively dormant period, during which only a biotite dacite pumice-fall was deposited (VEI 4). The low number of eruptions during stage 5 suggests that the magma supply rate decreased during the 10 thousand years that preceded the Aso-4 ignimbrite eruption. The estimated total tephra volume for the Aso-4/3 tephra group is 23 km3, which corresponds to 10 km3 in dense rock equivalent (DRE). The estimated the long-range tephra discharge rate (0.23 km3 DRE/ky) is similar to that in the post-caldera stage of Aso-4 (0.2 km3 DRE/ky).