Magma reservoir beneath Azumayama Volcano, NE Japan, as inferred from a three-dimensional electrical resistivity model explored by means of magnetotelluric method

Abstract An electrical resistivity model beneath Azumayama Volcano, NE Japan, is explored using magnetotelluric method to probe the magma/hydrothermal fluid distribution. Azumayama is one of the most concerning active volcanoes capable of producing a potential eruption triggered by the 2011 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake. The three-dimensional resistivity model reveals a conductive magma reservoir (< 3 Ωm) at depths of 3–15 km below sea level (bsl). The 67% and 90% confidence intervals of resistivity are 0.2–5 Ωm and 0.02–70 Ωm, respectively, for the magma reservoir. We assumed dacitic melt + rock at a shallow depth of 4 km bsl and andesitic melt + rock at a greater depth of 9 km bsl. The confidence interval of resistivity cannot be explained by using dacitic melt + rock condition at a depth of 4 km bsl. This suggests that very conductive hydrothermal fluids coexist with dacitic melt and rock in the shallow part of the magma reservoir. For the depth of 9 km bsl, the 67% confidence interval of resistivity is interpreted as water-saturated (8.0 weight %) andesitic melt–mafic rock complex with melt volume fractions greater than 4 volume %, while the shear wave velocity requires the fluid and/or melt volume fraction of 6–7 volume % at that depth. Considering the fluid and/or melt volume fraction of 6–7 volume %, the conductive hydrous phase is likewise required to explain the wide range of the 67% confidence interval of resistivity. The Mogi inflation source determined from geodetic data lies on the resistive side near the top boundary of the conductive magma reservoir at a depth of 2.7 or 3.7 km bsl. Assuming that the resistivity of the inflation source region is above the upper bound of the confidence interval of resistivity for the conductive magma reservoir and that the source region is composed of hydrothermal fluid + rock, the resistivity of the source region is explained by a hydrothermal fluid volume fraction below 5 volume %, which is the percolation threshold porosity in an effusive eruption. This indicates that the percolation threshold characterizes the inflation source region