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A phreatic eruption at Mount Ontake (3067 m) on September 27, 2014, led to 64 casualties, including missing people. In this paper, we clarify the eruption sequence of the 2014 eruption from recorded images (photographs and videos obtained by climbers) and interviews with mountain guides and workers in mountain huts. The onset of eruption was sudden, without any clear precursory surface phenomena (such as ground rumbling or strong smell of sulfide). Our data indicate that the eruption sequence can be divided into three phases. Phase 1: The eruption started with dry pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) caused by ash column collapse. The PDCs flowed down 2.5 km SW and 2 km NW from the craters. In addition, PDCs moved horizontally by approximately 1.5 km toward N and E beyond summit ridges. The temperature of PDCs at the summit area partially exceeded 100 °C, and an analysis of interview results suggested that the temperature of PDCs was mostly in the range of 30-100 °C. At the summit area, there were violent falling ballistic rocks. Phase 2: When the outflow of PDCs stopped, the altitude of the eruption column increased; tephra with muddy rain started to fall; and ambient air temperature decreased. Falling ballistic rocks were almost absent during this phase. Phase 3: Finally, muddy hot water flowed out from the craters. These models reconstructed from observations are consistent with the phreatic eruption models and typical eruption sequences recorded at similar volcanoes.

Publisher's copyright statement:The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com Additional information: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. were available for determination of whether the ash was sufficiently fine to present a 33 respiratory hazard. In this study, we review the existing studies and carry out mineralogical, 34 geochemical and toxicological analyses to address whether the ash from Sakurajima has the 35 potential to cause respiratory health problems. The results show that the amount of respirable 36 (< 4 μm) material produced by the volcano is highly variable in different eruptions (1.1-18.8 37 vol. %). The finest samples derive from historical, plinian eruptions but considerable 38 amounts of respirable material were also produced from the most recent vulcanian eruptive 39 phase (since 1955). The amount of cristobalite, a crystalline silica polymorph which has the 40 potential to cause chronic respiratory diseases, is ~3-5 wt. % in the bulk ash. SEM and TEM 41 imaging showed no fibrous particles similar to asbestos particles. Surface reactivity tests 42showed that the ash did not produce significant amounts of highly reactive hydroxyl radicals 43

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This paper presents a one-dimensional steadystate model to investigate the sensitivity of the dynamics of sustained eruption columns to radius variations with height due to thermal expansion of the entrained air, and decreases in atmospheric pressure with height. In contrast to a number of previous models using an equation known as the entrainment assumption, the new model is based on similarity arguments to derive an equation set equivalent to the model proposed by Woods [Bull Volcanol 50:169-193, 1988]. This approach allows investigation of the effect of gas compressibility on the entrainment rate of ambient air, which has been little examined for a system in which a decrease in pressure significantly affects the density stratification of a compressible fluid. The new model provides results that include two end members: one in which the volume change within the eruption columns affects only the radial expansion without changing the vertical motion, and the other is the converse. The Woods [Bull Volcanol 50:169-193, 1988] model can be regarded as being between those two end members. The range of uncertainty arises because the extremely high temperature of discharged materials from a volcanic vent, and the exceptional terminal height of the eruption columns, allow significant expansion of the gas component in the eruption columns, making them behave differently from common turbulent plumes. This study indicates that the maximum height of the eruption columns is affected considerably by this uncertainty, particularly when the eruption columns extend above a height of 10 km, at which the pressure is about one-fourth the pressure at the ground surface. Column collapse may also be suppressed in wider parameter ranges than previously estimated. However, the uncertainty can be reduced Editorial responsibility: J.D.L. White Y. Ishimine ( ) by measuring column radii through a vertical profile during actual volcanic eruptions. Accordingly, this paper suggests that appropriate observation of eruption column shapes is essential for improving our understanding of the dynamics of eruption columns.