Imaging the conduit size of the dome with cosmic-ray muons: The structure beneath Showa-Shinzan Lava Dome, Japan

Abstract

We developed a radiographic-technique to image a subsurface conduit shape using cosmic-ray muons. The test measurement was performed in Showa-Shinzan lava dome located in Hokkaido, Japan as an example. A muon detector with an area of 6000 cm2 was set up at the foot of the lava dome. Muon tracks recorded in nuclear emulsion films in the detector were analyzed to determine the level of energy absorption along different ray paths through subsurface beneath the lava dome. A typical angular resolution of the muon detector of 10 mrad corresponds to a spatial resolution of 10 m at a distance of 1 km, which is difficult to be addressed with seismological technique. We mapped differentially absorbed cosmic-ray muons, which depend upon the varying thickness and density beneath the dome. We successfully imaged the conduit shape and determined a conduit diameter of 102 ± 15 m, assuming the observed high absorption region beneath the dome is localized in the vent area. Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union.