Lahar characteristics as a function of triggering mechanism at a seasonally snow-clad volcano: contrasting lahars following the 2014 phreatic eruption of Ontake Volcano, Japan

In association with the September 2014 phreatic eruption (VEI 1–2) at Ontake Volcano, a syn-eruptive and two post-eruptive lahars occurred in the Akagawa–Nigorigawa River, southern flank of the volcano. The present contribution describes and discusses the contrasting features of the two post-eruptive lahars, which caused a major impact on downstream river morphology, and re-examines the description of the syn-eruptive lahar in the previous study. The first post-eruptive lahar occurred 8 days after the eruption by the rainstorm (October 5, 2014, before the snowy season), and the second lahar was associated with the rain-on-snow (ROS) event on April 20, 2015, in the early spring of the snowmelt season. The October rain-triggered lahar, which can be interpreted as a cohesive debris flow, reached at least ~ 11 km downstream and left muddy matrix-rich sediments with high clay content (10–20 wt% of clay in matrix). The lahar deposits contain hydrothermally altered rock fragments, sulfide/sulfate minerals, and clay minerals and show extremely high total sulfur content (10–14 wt%) in matrix part, indicating source material from the September phreatic eruption deposits. The presence of “rain-triggered” clay-rich lahar and deposits originating from a single small phreatic eruption is important because usually such clay-rich lahars are known to occur in association with large-scale sector collapse and debris avalanches. The April ROS-triggered lahar was caused by the heavy rain and accompanying snow melting. The lahar was dilute and partly erosional and evolved into hyperconcentrated flow, which left fines-depleted sandy and gravelly deposits. Despite these lahars that originated from the same volcanic source and occurring within a 7-month period, the flow and resulting depositional characteristics are totally different. These different types of lahars after a single eruptive event need different simulations and mitigation of lahar hazards with timing (season) of the lahar onset. In comparison with rainfall intensity, snow-melting rate, and the contrasting lahars occurred in 2014/2015, it is postulated that the generation, size, and types of lahars can vary with the timing of eruption, whether it happens during the pre-snow season, snow season, or rainy season.