Broadband magnetotelluric (MT) measurements were conducted in 2010 and 2011 in the vicinity of Shinmoe-dake Volcano in the Kirishima volcano group, Japan, where sub-Plinian eruptions took place 3 times during 26-27 January 2011. By combining the new observations with previous MT data, it is found that an anomalous phase in excess of 90°is commonly observed in the northern sector of the Kirishima volcano group. Because the anomalous phase is not explained by 1-D or 2-D structure with isotropic resistivity media, 3-D inversions were performed. By applying small errors to the anomalous phase, we successfully estimated a 3-D resistivity structure that explains not only the normal data but also the anomalous phase data. The final model shows a vertical conductor that is located between a deep-seated conductive body (at a depth greater than 10 km) and a shallow conductive layer. By applying the findings of geophysical and petrological studies of the 2011 sub-Plinian eruptions, we infer that the subvertical conductor represents a zone of hydrothermal aqueous fluids at temperatures over 400°C, in which a magma pathway (interconnected melt) is partially and occasionally formed before magmatic eruptions. To the north of the deep conductor, earthquake swarms occurred from 1968 to 1969, suggesting that these earthquakes were caused by volcanic fluids.

We analyzed the 3-D resistivity structure beneath Naruko volcano, northeastern Japan, with the aim of imaging 3-D distribution of fluids in the crust for its volcanic and seismogenic implications. The data were recorded at 77 sites in total: 30 sites are new and are arranged in an approximately 5 × 5 km grid whereas the remaining older sites constitute two separate east-west profiles. We ran a 3-D inversion using full components of impedance tensors in the period range between 0.13 and 400 s. The resulting model showed that a sub-vertical conductor exists a few kilometers below Naruko volcano. The conductor extends from the surface of the volcano and dips towards the south, away from the volcano towards the backbone range. High levels of seismicity are observed in the upper crust above and around the conductors. We suggest that the seismicity is fluid driven and that a fluid trap is created by the precipitation of quartz owing to a reduction in solubility at shallow depth. The Quaternary volcanic front is characterized by a sharp resistivity contrast and a high-resistivity zone and extends 10 to 15 km towards the east. A fore-arc conductor was observed at mid-crustal levels even farther towards the east. The sub-vertical conductors along the arc and the fore-arc conductor have resistivities of 1 to 10 Ωm. Assuming a Hashin-Shtrikman model with saline fluids of 0.1-Ωm resistivity, a porosity of 1.5% to 15% is required to explain the observed conductive anomalies.

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On 29 June 2015, a small phreatic eruption occurred at Hakone volcano, Central Japan, forming several vents in the Owakudani geothermal area on the northern slope of the central cones. Intense earthquake swarm activity and geodetic signals corresponding to the 2015 eruption were also observed within the Hakone caldera. To complement these observations and to characterise the shallow resistivity structure of Hakone caldera, we carried out a threedimensional inversion of magnetotelluric measurement data acquired at 64 sites across the region. We utilised an unstructured tetrahedral mesh for the inversion code of the edge-based finite element method to account for the steep topography of the region during the inversion process. The main features of the best-fit three-dimensional model are a bell-shaped conductor, the bottom of which shows good agreement with the upper limit of seismicity, beneath the central cones and the Owakudani geothermal area, and several buried bowl-shaped conductive zones beneath the Gora and Kojiri areas. We infer that the main bell-shaped conductor represents a hydrothermally altered zone that acts as a cap or seal to resist the upwelling of volcanic fluids. Enhanced volcanic activity may cause volcanic fluids to pass through the resistive body surrounded by the altered zone and thus promote brittle failure within the resistive body. The overlapping locations of the bowl-shaped conductors, the buried caldera structures and the presence of sodium-chloride-rich hot springs indicate that the conductors represent porous media saturated by highsalinity hot spring waters. The linear clusters of earthquake swarms beneath the Kojiri area may indicate several weak zones that formed due to these structural contrasts.

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We estimate the mass and energy budgets for the 2018 phreatic eruption of Mt. Motoshirane on Kusatsu–Shirane volcano, Japan, based on data obtained from a network of eight tiltmeters and weather radar echoes. The tilt records can be explained by a subvertical crack model. Small craters that were formed by previous eruptions are aligned WNW–ESE, which is consistent with the strike of the crack modeled in this study. The direction of maximum compressive stress in this region is horizontal and oriented WNW–ESE, allowing fluid to intrude from depth through a crack with this orientation. Based on the crack model, hypocenter distribution, and MT resistivity structure, we infer that fluid from a hydrothermal reservoir at a depth of 2 km below Kusatsu–Shirane volcano has repeatedly ascended through a pre-existing subvertical crack. The inflation and deflation volumes during the 2018 eruption are estimated to have been 5.1 × 105 and 3.6 × 105 m3, respectively, meaning that 1.5 × 105 m3 of expanded volume formed underground. The total heat associated with the expanded volume is estimated to have been ≥ 1014 J, similar to or exceeding the annual heat released from Yugama Crater Lake of Mt. Shirane and that from the largest eruption during the past 130 year. Although the ejecta mass of the 2018 phreatic eruption was small, the eruption at Mt. Motoshirane was not negligible in terms of the energy budget of Kusatsu–Shirane volcano. A water mass of 0.1–2.0 × 107 kg was discharged as a volcanic cloud, based on weather radar echoes, which is smaller than the mass associated with the deflation. We suggest that underground water acted as a buffer against the sudden intrusion of hydrothermal fluids, absorbing some of the fluid that ascended through the crack.