佐野 恭平

To reveal the cooling process of a rhyolite-obsidian flow, we studied the morphology of plagioclase microlites in the Tokachi-Ishizawa lava of Shirataki, northern Hokkaido, Japan, where the structure of the lava can be observed from obsidian at the base of the flow to the innermost rhyolite. Needle-like micron-scale textures, known as "projections", occur on the short side surfaces of the plagioclase microlites. Using FE-SEM we discovered a positive correlation between the lengths and spacings of these projections. On the basis of the instability theory of an interface between melt and crystal, and to understand the length and spacing data, we developed a model that explains the positive correlation and allows us to simultaneously estimate growth rates and growth times. Applying the model to our morphological data and the estimated growth rates and growth times, we suggest that the characteristics of the projections reflect the degree of undercooling, which in turn correlates with lava structure (the obsidian at the margin of the flow experienced a higher degree of undercooling than the interior rhyolite). The newly developed method provides insights into the degree of undercooling during the final stages of crystallization of a rhyolitic lava flow. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Very few quantitative textural data exist for viscous obsidian lava eruptions, and it is still unclear from the mechanical behavior of ascending magmas if outgassing is controlled dominantly by brittle or ductile deformation. In order to obtain insights into how degassing and ascent proceed in such highly viscous magmas, we conducted textural and chemical analyses of the Tokachi-Ishizawa (TI) obsidian lava, in the Shirataki rhyolite volcanic area, northern Hokkaido, Japan, and estimated the water exsolution rate and ascent rate. The storage conditions of the TI lava are estimated from the Rhyolite-MELTS program as T = 840-860 degrees C and P = 50 MPa using the mineral assemblages and the chemical compositions of plagioclase phenoctysts and glass. To estimate the magma ascent rate, we measured the length, width, and number of oxide microlites using three-dimensional techniques. Textural analysis indicates that the microlite number densities (Nv [number/m(3)]) of oxide microlites in TI lava samples are 2.1 x 10(13) to 1.4 x 10(14), which correspond to water exsolution rates of 3.5 x 10(-9) to 1.7 x 10(-8) wt.%/s and ascent rates of 1.7 x 10(-6) to 1.1 x 10(-5) m/s. Together with an estimate of viscosity, the inferred ascent velocities allow us to examine the mechanical behavior of the magma in the conduit. We conclude that the development of permeability leading to outgassing is controlled by ductile deformation rather than brittle fracturing. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Shirataki obsidian-rhyolite field (Shirataki Geopark, Hokkaido) contains many outcrops of densely compact obsidian layers of excellent quality. The Shirataki obsidian lavas (SiO<sub>2</sub>=76.7-77.4 wt.%) were erupted at ca. 2.2 Ma and formed a monogenetic volcano comprising 10 obsidian-rhyolite lava units. The thickness of the units ranges from 50 to ＞ 150m, and each unit comprises a surface clastic zone, an upper dense obsidian zone, an upper banded obsidian zone, a central thick rhyolite zone, a lower banded obsidian zone, a lower dense obsidian zone, and a lower clastic zone. The dense obsidian is ＞ 98% glass with microlites of mainly magnetite and plagioclase, and rare plagioclase phenocrysts. Obsidian and rhyolite within single lava flows have similar bulk-rock compositions and number density of microlites, although the rhyolite contains glass with perlitic cracks and a large amount of crystalline material (spherulites and lithophysae), while the dense obsidian contains 0.4-0.8 wt.% H<sub>2</sub>O. These geological and petrological features indicate that the formation of obsidian and rhyolite layers in the lava units was controlled mainly by the timing of the vesiculation and degassing of magmas, in addition to the cooling effect.

The 850 m diameter crater of the Shinmoedake volcano was filled by andesitic lava after three subplinian eruptions on 26-27 January 2011. We analyzed blocks thrown from the lava-filled crater by subsequent Vulcanian explosions to estimate the lava's viscosity and evaluate the possibility of drain-back processes in the crater. Petrographic work on the ejecta, including bulk and glass chemistry, phenocryst and microlite modes, and the water content of the glass enabled us to estimate the bulk viscosity of the lava to be 10(9.8(+1.5-1.2)) Pa s. The conduit radius is constrained to 4.5 to 6 m by the eruption rate of preceding subplinian eruptions (450-740 m(3)/s dense rock equivalent). We estimate the simple drain-back rate of the lava to be 3 x 10(-2) similar to 2 x 10(-5) m(3)/s. At this rate, less than 1 percent of the total amount of the effused lava could drain back within 100 days. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) observations did not reveal evidence of drain-back after the eruption, possibly because the chamber was sustained, at least in part by repressurization and refilling as observed by global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurements of the volcano. This study showed that degassing and crystallization of the andesitic magma during emplacement increased magma viscosity by more than five orders of magnitude, prohibiting drain-back of the lava that filled the crater after the emplacement.