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On June 29, 2015, a small phreatic eruption occurred in the most intensively steaming area of Hakone volcano, Japan. A previous magnetotelluric survey for the whole volcano revealed that the eruption center area (ECA) was located near the apex of a bell-shaped conductive body (resistivity < 10 Ωm) beneath the volcano. We performed local, high-resolution magnetotelluric surveys focusing on the ECA before and after the eruption. The results from these, combined with our geological analysis of samples obtained from a steam well (500 m deep) in the ECA, revealed that the conductive body contained smectite. Beneath the ECA, however, the conductive body intercalated a very local resistive body located at a depth of approximately 150 m. This resistive body is considered a vapor pocket. For the 2 months prior to eruption, a highly localized uplift of the ECA had been observed via satellite InSAR. The calculated depth of the inflation source was coincident with that of the vapor pocket, implying that enhanced vapor flux during the precursory unrest increased the porosity and vapor content in the vapor pocket. In fact, our magnetotelluric survey indicated that the vapor pocket became inflated after the eruption. The layer overlaying the vapor pocket was characterized by the formation of various altered minerals, and mineral precipitation within the veins and cracks in the layer was considered to have formed a self-sealing zone. From the mineral assemblage, we conclude that the product of the 2015 eruption originated from the self-sealing zone. The 2015 eruption is thus considered a rupture of the vapor pocket only 150 m below the surface. Even though the eruption appeared to have been triggered by the formation of a considerably deeper crack, as implied by the ground deformation, no geothermal fluid or rocks from significantly deeper than 150 m were erupted.

Global navigation satellite system data from Hakone volcano, central Japan, together with GEONET data from the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, were used to investigate the processes associated with the volcanic activity in 2015, which culminated in a small phreatic eruption in late June 2015. Three deep and shallow sources, namely spherical, open crack, and sill, were employed to elucidate the volcanic processes using the observed GNSS displacements, and the MaGCAP-V software was used to estimate the volumetric changes of these sources. Our detailed analysis shows that a deep inflation source at 6.5 km below sea level started to inflate in late March 2015 at a rate of ~ 9.3 × 10 4 m 3 /day until mid-June. The inflation rate then slowed to ~ 2.1 × 10 4 m 3 /day and ceased at the end of August 2015. A shallow open crack at 0.8 km above sea level started to inflate in May 2015 at a rate of 1.7 × 10 3 m 3 / day. There was no significant volumetric change in the shallow sill source during the volcanic unrest, which is evident from interferometric synthetic aperture radar analysis. The inflation of the deep source continued even after the eruption without a significant slowdown in inflation rate. The inflation stopped in August 2015, approximately 1 month after the eruption ceased. This observation implies that the transportation of magmatic fluid to a deep inflation source (6.5 km) triggered the 2015 unrest. The magmatic fluid may have then migrated from the deep source to the shallow open crack. The phreatic eruption was then caused by the formation of a crack that extended to the surface. However, steam emissions from the vent area during and after the eruption were apparently insufficient to mitigate the internal pressure of the shallow open crack. which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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