Distribution of Quaternary volcanic dike under the edifices and evaluation of central conduit stability by topographic analysis using contour lines

Nishiyama, Nariaki  ; Kawamura, Makoto; Umeda, Koji*; Niwa, Masakazu   

It is important to accumulate research examples on the spatial distribution of dikes under volcanic edifices for risk assessment in volcanic disaster prevention and site selection and safety assessment for the geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. The topography of volcanoes is considered to represent the location of magma intrusion associated with volcanic activity and its history. In this study, we attempted to determine the predominant orientation of radial dikes and evaluate the central conduit stability based on the distribution, centroid, and area of contour lines comprising the volcanic edifices using GIS-based topographic analysis. As a result of the topographic analysis, the predominant orientation of the dikes was successfully shown for the volcanoes with stable conduits. On the other hand, this analysis was not suitable for determine the predominant orientation of dikes in volcanoes with unstable conduits, thus the applicable range of this analysis is considered to be determined by the conduit stability. In addition, the conduit stability can be evaluated by using the area data of contour polygons, which represents the scope of application to the method for determination of the predominant orientation of dikes. This means that the conduit stability during volcanic activity can be evaluated even for volcanoes of which activity history is not yet known, and that topographic analysis is a useful tool for this purpose. The use of topographic analysis in this study will be expected to provide a new scale for the history of volcanic activity.