Kuju volcano, located within Beppu-Shimabara graben central Kyushu, Southwest Japan, has been active in the recent 200,000 years. The 54 ka Handa eruption, as large as VEI 5 or 6 and the largest one of the volcano, released large-scale pyroclastic flow deposits (Handa pfd; Kj-Hd) and a wide-spread tephra (Kj-D ash and Kj-P1 pumice fall deposits) that has been reported at more than 500 km from the source. The stratigraphic relationships among the deposits from the Handa eruption are important for volcanology and disaster prevention, and have been studied in various studies, but there is no consensus on the stratigraphy. In this study, we examined the stratigraphic relationships and the eruption history based on the stratigraphic and petrographic studies around Kuju volcano, as well as on Shikoku and Honshu Islands.
As the results, the stratigraphic relationships were revealed as follows.
1) The pumice fall deposit, that has been named Kj-Yu, was previously included in Kj-D ash layers, but is revealed to be a much older ejecta than Kj-D ash, along with the tephras newly named Kj-Tb1 and 2.
2) The clay-rich layer just below Kj-D was previously considered to be soil, but it contains a large number of volcanic ash particles so that it is defined as Kj-Y ash layer.
3) Three light brown fine ash layers, newly named Kj-D-U2, 4 and 6, sandwich between the blue grey sandy ash layers i.e. Kj-D-U1, 3, 5 and 7, are revealed to be the co-ignimbrite ash derived from Kj-Hd 1, 2 and 3 pfd, respectively. It suggests that the Kj-Hd1, 2 and 3 pfd are interbedded with Kj-D-U ash layers.
4) Kj-P1 overlies on Kj-D-U7 ash layer that mantled the reworked deposit of Kj-Hd3.
5) Kj-P1 is divided into lower and upper units based on the grain-size analysis, petrography, the chemical composition of glass shards and the isopach maps. Kj-S pfd was formed in the same time as the upper unit.
Based on the results, the eruption history is assumed as follows.
Pre-Handa eruption: the activity was low and the small-scale explosive eruptions that had released the pumice and volcanic fragments in loam (Kj-Y), followed by a relatively large explosive eruption that had formed Kj-AL.
Early phase: the eruption started with phreatic eruption, sub-plinian eruption that deposited the lower unit of Kj-D ash. Subsequently, the eruption changed to vulcanian eruptions that ejected Kj-D-U. This eruption continued for a long period time. During the time, three large-scale pyroclastic flow eruptions happened and has formed Kj-Hd1, 2 and 3. Their co-ignimbrite ashes generated from the Kj-Hd pfds were deposited as Kj-D-U2, 4 and 6. Lahar were generated after Kj-Hd2 and 3 deposition. This phase was terminated by the deposition of Kj-D-U7 ash.
Late phase: the plinian plumes occurred twice and deposited lower and upper lalyers of Kj-P1. The second one is the largest plinian eruption in the whole volcano history, with a large umbrella plume producing a wide-spread tephra at more than 500 km from the source and an intraplinian pyroclastic flow (Kj-S).
