Seismic structure beneath the Avacha and Koryaksky volcanoes in Kamchatka based on the data of permanent and temporary networks

Avacha and Koryaksky are active volcanoes located in the vicinity of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the main city of Kamchatka, and they represent a serious hazard to the surrounding population and infrastructure. Here we investigate the upper-crustal structure beneath these volcanoes by implementing local earthquake tomography based on data from permanent seismic stations and from a temporary network installed in 2018-2019. Although the total amount of seismic rays recorded by the temporary network dataset is much lower, adding this data and attributing an appropriate weight lead to considerable increase of the resolution compared to the case of using merely the permanent network data. The resulting distributions of the P and S wave velocities, and especially the Vp/Vs ratio, reveal two magma reservoirs located below Avacha and Koryaksky volcanoes. Different depths of their upper limits explain differences in the eruption activity styles of these volcanoes. Below the Avacha Pass, we observe a thick layer of low-velocity soft volcaniclastic sediments formed due to the activity of both volcanoes. A conservative numerical estimate of a steady-state conductive temperature field around the magma source below Avacha demonstrates that the high temperature zone can be reached by drilling a well to a reasonable depth, thus suggesting that the area might be exploited as a source of geothermal energy.

Automated summary

The upper-crustal structure beneath Avacha and Koryaksky volcanoes has been investigated, revealing two magma reservoirs and a thick layer of volcaniclastic sediments. These findings help explain the differences in eruption activity and suggest potential for geothermal energy development.