Late Pleistocene - Holocene Volcanism on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Northwest Pacific Region

Late Pleistocene-Holocene volcanism in Kamchatka results from the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the peninsula and forms three volcanic belts arranged in en echelon manner from southeast to northwest. The cross-arc extent of recent volcanism exceeds 250 km and is one of the widest worldwide. All the belts are dominated by mafic rocks. Eruptives with SiO2>57% constitute ~25% of the most productive Central Kamchatka Depression belt and ~30% of the Eastern volcanic front, but <10% of the least productive Sredinny Range belt. All the Kamchatka volcanic rocks exhibit typical arc-type signatures and are represented by basalt-rhyolite series differing in alkalis. Typical Kamchatka arc basalts display a strong increase in LILE, LREE and HFSE from the front to the back-arc. La/Yb and Nb/Zr increase from the arc front to the back arc while B/Li and As, Sb, B, Cl and S concentrations decrease. The initial mantle source below Kamchatka ranges from N-MORB-like in the volcanic front and Central Kamchatka Depression to more enriched in the back arc. Rocks from the Central Kamchatka Depression range in 87Sr/86Sr ratios from 0.70334 to 0.70366, but have almost constant Nd isotopic ratios (143Nd/144Nd 0.51307–0.51312). This correlates with the highest U/Th ratios in these rocks and suggest the highest fluid-flux in the source region. Holocene large eruptions and eruptive histories of individual Holocene volcanoes have been studied with the help of tephrochronology and 14C dating that permits analysis of time-space patterns of volcanic activity, evolution of the erupted products, and volcanic hazards

An eruption of the veer cone as a volcanic event during the increase of volcanic activity in Kamchatka at the beginning of the Christian Era

Tephrochronologic studies conducted in the Levaya Avacha River valley helped determine the true age of the Veer cinder cone, which formed approximately in 470 AD (1600 14C BP). These data refute the existing idea that it was generated in 1856. The monogenetic Veer cone should be cancelled from the catalogs of historical eruptions and active volcanoes in Kamchatka. The eruption of this cone was a reflection of the all-Kamchatkan increase in the activity of endogenous processes that occurred in 0–650 AD

Eruptive history of Karymsky volcano, Kamchatka, USSR, based on tephra stratigraphy and 14C dating

Eruptions of the active Karymsky stratovolcano began about 5300 (6100 C-14) B.P. from within a pre-existing caldera which formed 7700 C-14 B.P. As indicated by 32 C-14 determinations on buried soils and charcoal, the volcano has gone through two major cycles of activity, separated by a 2300 year period of repose. The first cycle can be divided into two stages (6100-5100 and 4300-2800 B.P.). The earlier stage began with especially intense eruptions of basaltic andesite to dacite. The later stage was characterized by moderate-strength eruptions of andesite. The second cycle, which is characterized by weak to moderate intermittent eruptions of andesite, started 500 B.P. and continues to the present. Eruptive patterns suggest that this cycle may continue for at least another 200 years with an eruptive character similar to that of the recent past

The ages of calderas, large explosive craters and active volcanoes in the Kuril-Kamchatka region, Russia

The ages of most of calderas, large explosive craters and active volcanoes in the Kuril-Kamchatka region have been determined by extensive geological, geomorphological, tephrochronological and isotopic geochronological studies, including more than 600 14C dates. Eight ‘Krakatoa-type’ and three ‘Hawaiian-type’ calderas and no less than three large explosive craters formed here during the Holocene. Most of the Late Pleistocene Krakatoa-type calderas were established around 30 000–40 000 years ago. The active volcanoes are geologically very young, with maximum ages of about 40 000–50 000 years. The overwhelming majority of recently active volcanic cones originated at the very end of the Late Pleistocene or in the Holocene. These studies show that all Holocene stratovolcanoes in Kamchatka were emplaced in the Holocene only in the Eastern volcanic belt. Periods of synchronous, intensified Holocene volcanic activity occurred within the time intervals of 7500–7800 and 1300–1800 14C years BP

Radiocarbon dating and tephrochronology in Kamchatka

We discuss results of 14C dates obtained from areas of young volcanoes in Kamchatka. We apply these dates to reconstructing regional volcanic activity during the Holocene

Most recent fall deposits of Ksudach Volcano, Kamchatka, Russia

Three of four Plinian eruptions from Ksudach Volcano are among the four largest explosive eruptions in southern Kamchatka during the past 2000 years. The earliest of the eruptions was voluminous and was accompanied by an ignimbrite and the fifth and most recent caldera collapse event at Ksudach. The isopach pattern is consistent with a column height of 23 km. The three more recent and smaller eruptions were from the Shtyubel' Cone, within the fifth caldera. Using isopach and grain size isopleth patterns, column heights ranged from ≥ 10 to 22 km. Although the oldest eruption may have produced a large acidity peak in the Greenland ice, the three Shtyubel' events may not be related to major acid deposition. Thus it is possible that few if any of the uncorrelated acidity peaks of the past 2000 years in Greenland ice cores result from eruptions in southern Kamchatka