Mantle and Crustal Sources of Magmatic Activity of Klyuchevskoy and Surrounding Volcanoes in Kamchatka Inferred From Earthquake Tomography

Abstract

Klyuchevskoy and surrounding volcanoes in central Kamchatka form the Northern Group of Volcanoes (NGV), which is an area of particularly diverse and intensive Pleistocene‐Holocene volcanism. In this study, we present a new seismic tomographic model of the crust and uppermost mantle beneath NGV based on local earthquake data recorded by several permanent and temporary seismic networks including a large‐scale experiment that was conducted in 2015–2016 by an international scientific consortium. Having an unprecedented resolution for this part of Kamchatka, the new model reveals many features associated with the present and past volcanic activity within the NGV. In the upper crust, we found several prominent high‐velocity anomalies interpreted as traces of large basaltic shield volcanoes, which were hidden by more recent volcanic structures and sediments. We interpret the mantle structure to reflect asthenospheric flow up through a slab window below the Kamchatka‐Aleutian junction that feeds the entire NGV. The interaction of the hot asthenospheric material with fluids released from the slab determines the particular volcanic activity within the NGV. We argue that the eastern branch of the Central Kamchatka Depression, which is associated with a prominent low‐velocity anomaly in the uppermost mantle, was formed as a recent rift zone separating the NGV from the Kamchatka Eastern Ranges.

Key Points:

We present a new high‐resolution seismic model of the crust and upper mantle beneath the Northern Group of Volcanoes in Kamchatka. The volcanoes of the Northern group are fed by an asthenosphere flow ascending from a slab window below the Kamchatka‐Aleutian junction. Eastern branch of the Central Kamchatka Depression is a rift separating the Northern Group of Volcanoes from the Eastern Ranges.