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Revealing the timing and dispersal of large explosive eruptions at Aso volcano (Japan) by integrating proximal and distal tephra records over the last 130 kyrs

Sophie O. Vineberg, Paul Albert Orcid Logo, Danielle McLean, Takehiko Suzuki, Yasuo Miyabuchi, Hideo Hoshizumi, Hannah Buckland, Gwydion Jones, Fumikatsu Nishizawa, Richard A. Staff, Keitaro Yamada, Ikuko Kitaba, Junko Kitagawa, Christina J. Manning, Takeshi Nakagawa, Victoria C. Smith

Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, Volume: 468, Start page: 108436

Swansea University Authors: Paul Albert Orcid Logo, Hannah Buckland, Gwydion Jones

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DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2025.108436

Abstract

Aso caldera in central Kyushu, SW Japan, is one of the largest and most active volcanoes in the world. The Aso system has experienced four caldera-forming eruptions (Aso-1 to −4) and inter-caldera activity from multiple central cones. This study provides detailed glass geochemistry of previously unc...

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Published in: Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research
ISSN: 0377-0273 1872-6097
Published: Elsevier BV 2025
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70326
Abstract: Aso caldera in central Kyushu, SW Japan, is one of the largest and most active volcanoes in the world. The Aso system has experienced four caldera-forming eruptions (Aso-1 to −4) and inter-caldera activity from multiple central cones. This study provides detailed glass geochemistry of previously uncharacterised near-source, predominantly silicic, tephra units so that they can be correlated to ashfall layers preserved in distally located sedimentary records. Here the near-source glass data from twenty eruption deposits are integrated with the distal tephra fall deposits recorded in the high-resolution Lake Suigetsu record (situated approximately 525 km to the north-east), to better constrain the eruption timing, frequency, and ash dispersal of pre-30 ka Aso eruptions. The glass chemistry of these large Aso eruptions typically straddles the trachy-dacitic to rhyolitic compositional boundary. While some units share overlapping or similar glass chemistries, many can be distinguished from each other using major (SiO2, K2O, CaO and FeOt) and trace element (Sr) contents. The newly available near-source volcanic glass dataset has enabled the identification and correlation of an additional six tephra and cryptotephra deposits within the Lake Suigetsu record to known Aso eruptions. Consequently, nine of the twenty deposits in the Lake Suigetsu record (SG06/SG14 cores) displaying an Aso glass composition have now been correlated to near-source eruption units; these include, from youngest to oldest: Aso-Kpfa, Upper ACP4, Lower ACP4, ACP6, YmP5, Aso-4, Aso-ABCD, Aso-EF and Aso-HI. Significantly, the identification of these tephra deposits in Lake Suigetsu provides improved age estimates for the eruptions, and helps constrain the repose periods between eruptions; for instance ~400 years are resolved between two eruptions associated with the ACP4 Plinian activities. Our integrated proximal-distal record also indicates a higher frequency of activity in the 10 kyrs leading up to Aso-4 caldera-forming eruption. Eleven Aso-derived eruption deposits in the Lake Suigetsu record have not yet been recognised in the exposed near-vent sequences, perhaps suggesting that Aso caldera has been responsible for more silicic high-intensity eruptions and widespread ashfall events than previously thought. This research demonstrates the merit of integrating proximal-distal records to better constrain eruption timing, frequencies and ash dispersals of pre-historic events.
Keywords: Aso; Aso-4; Tephra; Volcanic glass geochemistry; Cryptotephra; Lake Suigetsu; Eruption history
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Funders: S.O.V. is funded by NERC as part of the Environmental Research Doctoral Training Programme at the University of Oxford (NERC; NE/S007474/1). This research was funded through a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (FLF) awarded to P.G.A (MR/S035478/1 and MR/Y011767/1), which also supported D.M., H.M.B and G.J. Furthermore, V.C.S and T.N. acknowledge funding from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS; KAKENHI-15H021443). The SG06 coring campaign was funded by the UK Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC; NE/ D000289/1) New Investigators Award to T.N. The Fukui-SG14 coring campaign was funded by the Fukui Prefectural government, Japan. T.S. acknowledges funding from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS; KAKENHI-22H02380). D.M was supported by a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship (ECF-2020-151) and the John Fell Fund (#9438) at the University of Oxford. F.N. acknowledges funding from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS; KAKENHI-JP19K13438).
Start Page: 108436

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