We conducted long‐period magnetotelluric observations in northeastern Japan from 2010 to 2013 to investigate the three‐dimensional electrical resistivity distribution of the subduction zone. Incorporating prior information of the subducting slab into the inversion scheme, we obtained a three‐dimensional resistivity model in which a vertically continuous conductive zone is imaged from the subducting slab surface to the lower crust beneath the Ou Backbone Range. The conductive body indicates a saline fluid and/or melt pathway from the subducting slab surface to the lower crust. The lower crust conductor is less than 10 Ω m, and we estimate a saline fluid and/or melt fraction of at least 0.7 vol. %. Other resistivity profiles in the across‐arc direction reveal that the conductive body segregates from the subducting slab surface at 80–100 km depth and takes an overturned form toward the back arc. The head of the conducting body reaches the lower crust just beneath Mt. Gassan, one of the prominent back‐arc volcanoes in the system.

An electrical resistivity model beneath Azumayama Volcano, NE Japan, is explored using magnetotelluric method to probe the magma/hydrothermal fluid distribution. Azumayama is one of the most concerning active volcanoes capable of producing a potential eruption triggered by the 2011 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake. The three-dimensional resistivity model reveals a conductive magma reservoir (< 3 Ωm) at depths of 3–15 km below sea level (bsl). The 67% and 90% confidence intervals of resistivity are 0.2–5 Ωm and 0.02–70 Ωm, respectively, for the magma reservoir. We assumed dacitic melt + rock at a shallow depth of 4 km bsl and andesitic melt + rock at a greater depth of 9 km bsl. The confidence interval of resistivity cannot be explained by using dacitic melt + rock condition at a depth of 4 km bsl. This suggests that very conductive hydrothermal fluids coexist with dacitic melt and rock in the shallow part of the magma reservoir. For the depth of 9 km bsl, the 67% confidence interval of resistivity is interpreted as water-saturated (8.0 weight %) andesitic melt–mafic rock complex with melt volume fractions greater than 4 volume %, while the shear wave velocity requires the fluid and/or melt volume fraction of 6–7 volume % at that depth. Considering the fluid and/or melt volume fraction of 6–7 volume %, the conductive hydrous phase is likewise required to explain the wide range of the 67% confidence interval of resistivity. The Mogi inflation source determined from geodetic data lies on the resistive side near the top boundary of the conductive magma reservoir at a depth of 2.7 or 3.7 km bsl. Assuming that the resistivity of the inflation source region is above the upper bound of the confidence interval of resistivity for the conductive magma reservoir and that the source region is composed of hydrothermal fluid + rock, the resistivity of the source region is explained by a hydrothermal fluid volume fraction below 5 volume %, which is the percolation threshold porosity in an effusive eruption. This indicates that the percolation threshold characterizes the inflation source region.

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An electrical resistivity image beneath Azumayama Volcano, NE Japan is modeled using magnetotellurics to probe the magma/hydrothermal fluid distribution. The 3-D inversion modeling images the conductive magma reservoir beneath Oana crater at depths of 3–15 km. The resolution scale for the conductor is 5 km by checkerboard resolution tests and the 67 % and 90 % confidential intervals of resistivity are 0.2–5 Ωm and 0.02–70 Ωm, respectively, for the region of less than 3 Ωm resistivity. The shallower part of the conductor is not explained by a water-saturated (5.5 wt %) dacitic melt, and the more probable interpretation is that it consists of a water-saturated, dacitic melt-silicic rock-hydrothermal fluid complex. The deeper part of the conductor is interpreted as a water-saturated (8 wt %) andesitic melt-mafic rock complex. The Mogi inflation source determined from GNSS and tilt data is located near the top boundary of the conductor at a depth of 2.7–3.7 km, which suggests that the ascent of hydrothermal fluids exsolved from the dacitic melt is interrupted by the impermeable wall and conduit. Assuming two phases of hydrothermal fluid and silicic rock, the resistivity at the inflation source, regarded as the upper bound resistivity of the conductor, is realized by the hydrothermal fluid fraction below the percolation threshold porosity in an effusive eruption. This indicates that the percolation threshold porosity in an effusive eruption characterizes the impermeable wall and conduit associated with the Mogi inflation source.