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Quantitative estimates of magma storage are fundamental to evaluating volcanic dynamics and hazards. Yet our understanding of subvolcanic magmatic plumbing systems and their variability remains limited. There is ongoing debate regarding the ephemerality of shallow magma storage and its volume relative to eruptive output, and so whether an upper-crustal magma body could be a sign of imminent eruption. Here we present seismic imaging of subvolcanic magmatic systems along the Cascade Range arc from systematically modelling the three-dimensional scattered wavefield of teleseismic body waves. This reveals compelling evidence of low-seismic-velocity bodies indicative of partial melt between 5 and 15 km depth beneath most Cascade Range volcanoes. The magma reservoirs beneath these volcanoes vary in depth, size and complexity, but upper-crustal magma bodies are widespread, irrespective of the eruptive flux or time since the last eruption of the associated volcano. This indicates that large volumes of melts can persist at shallow depth throughout eruption cycles beneath large volcanoes.
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Time-evolving surface and subsurface signatures of Quaternary volcanism in the Cascades arc
Abstract Increased resolution of data constraining topography and crustal structures provides new quantitative ways to assess province-scale surface-subsurface connections beneath volcanoes. We used a database of mapped vents to extract edifices with known epoch ages from digital elevation models (DEMs) in the Cascades arc (western North America), deriving volumes that likely represent ∼50% of total Quaternary eruptive output. Edifice volumes and spatial vent density correlate with diverse geophysical data that fingerprint magmatic influence in the upper crust. Variations in subsurface structures consistent with volcanism are common beneath Quaternary vents throughout the arc, but they are more strongly associated with younger vents. Geophysical magmatic signatures increase in the central and southern Cascade Range (Cascades), where eruptive output is largest and vents are closely spaced. Vents and correlated crustal structures, as well as temporal transitions in the degree of spatially localized versus distributed eruptions, define centers with lateral extents of ∼100 km throughout the arc, suggesting a time-evolving spatial focusing of magma ascent.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1848554
- PAR ID:
- 10233912
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Geology
- Volume:
- 48
- Issue:
- 11
- ISSN:
- 0091-7613
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1088 to 1093
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1130/G47706.1
