Recent Volcanic Activity of Bandai Volcano, Northeast Japan

Abstract

The Red Relief Image Map of Bandai volcano (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport) shows that there are many young craters around the volcano’s summit and NW flank. In this paper, I reveal the recent eruptive activities that formed these young craters based on stratigraphic correlations and ¹⁴C dating of ejecta as follows. The Numanotaira crater was active with vigorous fumaroles in the Edo period (1603 to 1868 AD). A phreatic eruption occurred at the Kagaminuma craters around one thousand several hundred years ago. The Nakanoyu craters were formed during a phreatic fissure eruption around 600 cal BC to 800 cal BC associated with the Biwasawa debris avalanche. The ca. 11,000 cal BC eruption of the Happodai craters emplaced the Bokodai lava flow. The Nakanoyu eruption was the largest Holocene eruption at Bandai volcano. Although some references report an eruption in 806 AD, a new review of historical documents suggests that damming of the Sukawa River (along the eastern foot of volcano) and subsequent dam failure occurred at that time. Therefore, this disaster was probably caused not by an eruption, but rather by the collapse of Mt. Kushigamine.