Double Reservoirs Imaged Below Great Sitkin Volcano, Alaska, Explain the Migration of Volcanic Seismicity

Abstract

Volcanic seismicity provides essential insights into the behavior of an active volcano across multiple time scales. However, to understand how magma moves as the eruption cycle develops, better knowledge of the geometry and physical properties of the magma plumbing system is required. In this study, using full-wave ambient noise tomography, we image the three-dimensional (3-D) crustal shear-wave velocity structure below Great Sitkin Volcano in the central Aleutian Arc. The velocity model reveals two low-velocity anomalies correlating with the migration of volcanic seismicity. With a bulk melt fraction of about 2.5%–9%, these low-velocity anomalies are interpreted as mushy magma reservoirs. We propose a six-stage eruption cycle to explain the migration of seismicity and the alternating eruption of the two reservoirs with different recharging histories. These findings have broad implications for the dynamics of magma plumbing systems and the structural control of eruption behaviors.