Magma chamber recharging and tectonic influence on reservoirs: The 1986 eruption of Izu-Oshima

Although analytical expressions for deformation due to simple reservoirs and planar dikes have been in use for decades, seldom are there sufficient data to provide well-constrained detailed models of volcanic activity. Deformation due to the eruption of Miharayama, Izu-Oshima, Japan, in November 1986 was captured by a wider array of monitoring than usual at that time. Here we show that the first eruptive stage requires a shallow non-spherical source, extended perpendicular to the axis of maximum tectonic tension, together with a deeper reservoir. The shallow reservoir was partially recharged, from a deeper reservoir, during the eruption, with a magma ascent rate of ~ 10 km/day; this has important implications for estimation of reservoir gas content. Precursory changes starting 2 h before the second phase require dike propagation from at least 10 km depth. Surface elevation changes are indicative of a long sub-surface dike. A model incorporating dikes and a deep (10 km) reservoir, extended in the same direction as the dikes, provides a very good match to the data. Such reservoir geometry may explain why the eruption was unexpected.