Ash Fall Research Articles

A crystal concentration method for calculating ignimbrite volume from distal ash-fall deposits and a reappraisal of the magnitude of the Campanian Ignimbrite

Distribution of ignimbrites is controlled chiefly by preexisting topography forming thin veneer deposits on steep-slope relief and thicker, valley-ponding deposits in valley bottoms. The calculation of volumes of ignimbrites is difficult because of the nonlinear dependence of thickness with distance. Calculation using geometrical methods is reviewed and the uncertainty with each method is discussed. Based on the genetic relationship between vitric-enriched, co-ignimbrite air-fall ashes and crystal-enriched ignimbrites, a new method is proposed to calculate ignimbrite volume. A simple equation can be used if the volume of the associate and co-genetic distal ash fall and the ignimbrite vitric loss are known. This simple relation is unaffected by deposit geometry, paleotopography irregularities and post-depositional compaction and erosion. The proposed methodology is used to reassess the controversial volume estimates of the Campanian Ignimbrite (Campi Flegrei, southern Italy). The revised volume of the ignimbrite is 54km3 (25km3 DRE). The calculated magnitude of the collapsing phase (sum of the ignimbrite mass and co-ignimbrite ash mass) is 7.2.

Did ash fall from Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic complex affect ant abundance and richness in the Patagonian steppe?

Ecología Austral, 24:23-30 (2014)Natural disturbances are important components of ecosystem dynamics. Large scale disturbances produced by volcanoes, have been poorly studied because of their low frequency, the lack of baseline studies due to their unpredictability, the impossibility of replication, and the difficulty of conducting long-term studies to monitor ecosystem recovery. The recent eruption of the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic complex (June 2011), which produced an ash fall covering 24 million ha of Patagonia, provides a unique opportunity of studying this type of disturbance in areas with baseline data. The summer before the ash fall (2011) ant communities were characterized in areas of the Patagonian steppe which were later covered with 4 cm of fine ash. The aim of this study is to establish if ash deposition affected ant abundance, species richness and composition. In summers 2012 and 2013, sampling was repeated and data obtained were compared among years. Total ant abundance tended to be lower after the eruption, but species richness and composition were similar before and two seasons after the ash fall. The little effects on ant community is mainly a consequence of the timing of the eruption, ants’ social nature, and ash thickness. The eruption occurred at the end of the autumn when ant activity was reduced due to low temperatures. Also, the potential mortality of outside workers during the acute deposition phase does not risk colony survival since they represent a small percentage of it. Ash thickness was probably not high enough to produce severe effects. Only four out of 13 species changed their incidence after the ash fall, three of them not until the second season, showing a delayed response. This was probably a consequence of indirect effects mediated by resource and environmental changes. Long-term effects on other species cannot be discarded.

Puyehue Cordón –Caulle: post-eruption analysis of changes in stream benthic fauna of Patagonia

Ecologia Austral, 24:64-74 (2014) Volcanic eruptions are natural phenomena with the most diverse and varied consequences, and have important effects on both terrestrial and aquatic environments. On June 4 th , 2011 the volcanic Puyehue Cordon-Caulle complex (2.236 MASL, 40o 32´ S-72o 2´ W, Chile) erupted explosively ejecting on the first day, 950 million metric tons of ashes into the atmosphere. Due to predominant westerly winds, 24 million hectares of Argentinian Patagonia were covered by the ashfall. We studied three streams in northwestern Patagonia in order to explore the ash fall impact and possible recovery processes in water quality and macroinvertebrate communities. We selected three streams representing maximum, intermediate and minimum ash deposition levels. For each stream, we selected two sampling sites to measure pH, conductivity, total dissolved solids (TDS), turbidity (NTU) and to take three macroinvertebrate samples during summer 2012 and 2013. After the eruption of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle complex, substantial environmental changes were observed in association with the large amount of ash ejected by the volcano and deposited on the nearest areas. Low benthic fauna densities, as well as low values of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT) and Biotic Monitoring Patagonian Streams (BMPS) indexes, reflected changes in water quality due to ash fall, mainly in the two streams closer to the volcano. After eighteen months, the streams had not reached the density, taxa composition and structure of trophic webs comparable to other streams previously studied in the region. The exploratory analysis suggests that the main impact was a consequence of ash fall in terms of the amount and particle size proportions.

Impact of volcanic ash deposition on foliar productivity and insect herbivory in northern Patagonia deciduous forests

Volcanism has been a major force shaping the dynamics of Andean landscapes during the Holocene. Yet we still know little about the consequences of modern volcanic events on forest functioning. Ash fall may elicit multiple direct and indirect effects on key ecosystem attributes, with disturbance severity likely varying with distance to the crater. We examined the impact of ash deposition on foliage productivity and insect herbivory after the 2011 eruption of the Volcan Puyehue-Cordon Caulle system, in Nothofagus pumilio forests of northern Patagonia, Argentina. Tree leaf litterfall, a surrogate for annual foliar production, was measured before and after the event in wet and dry forest sites, which were located 22 km and 80 km east from the crater and were affected by mass deposition of coarse- and fine-grained tephra, respectively. Leaf damage by insects was monitored over a 10-year span (2004-2013) including the volcanic event. Foliar productivity in 2012 dropped by 60% in the wet forest, but did not change in the dry forest. Leaf area damaged by insects decreased abruptly in 2012, with post-eruption herbivory levels falling outside the range of annual variation recorded before the event. The impact was most severe in the dry forest wich normally supports the highest endemic herbivory. In contrast, leaf damage remained high in another dry forest located 98 km southeast from the crater and little affected by ashfall. Changes in foliar production and insect herbivory persisted for two years after the event. Our results show a widespread disruption of canopy-herbivore interactions in areas heavily affected by tephra. Remarkably, volcanic ash acted as a broad-spectrum insecticide on canopy herbivores. In the short-term, ashfall constrained the energy flow through the forest canopy and the arthropod consumer community, and thus temporarily overwhelmed previously existing differences in productivity and herbivory between wet and dry forest habitats. (Keywords: Canopy insects, disturbance, herbivory, long-term study, Nothofagus pumilio, productivity, volcanism)

Did ash fall from Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic complex affect ant abundance and richness in the Patagonian steppe?

Fil: Pirk, Gabriela Ines. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigacion en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Laboratorio de Ecotono; Argentina

Noeggerathiales as coal-forming plants in Cathaysia: conclusions from an Early Permian vegetational Pompeii in Inner Mongolia

Noeggerathiales are an extinct group of spore-bearing plants of uncertain systematic position that are known from Carboniferous and Permian age Euramerican and Cathaysian floras that occurred in present-day Europe, North America, and East Asia. The order Noeggerathiales includes over 50 species of more than 20 fossil genera, but their paleoecology is not well understood yet. Previously this group had been found only in extrabasinal floras or those inhabiting clastic wetlands. Noeggerathiales have never been recorded in coal ball floras. Thus, it is up to now uncertain whether this group has contributed to the formation of coal. Recent investigations of an Early Permian peat-forming flora of the Taiyuan Formation near Wuda, Inner Mongolia, which was preserved in a volcanic ash fall has provided evidence that noeggerathialean plants not only existed in the peat-forming vegetation but could even be the dominant group in some areas of the coal swamp. The Noeggerathiales in this particular peat-forming forest include Tingia unita, Paratingia wudensis, and a new species of Paratingia. Exceptionally well-preserved specimens indicate that these noeggerathialean plants are small trees with a canopy of compound leaves and strobili near the top of an unbranched (monocaulous) stem.

Volcanic risk assessment: Quantifying physical vulnerability in the built environment

This paper presents structured and cost-effective methods for assessing the physical vulnerability of at-risk communities to the range of volcanic hazards, developed as part of the MIA-VITA project (2009–2012). An initial assessment of building and infrastructure vulnerability has been carried out for a set of broadly defined building types and infrastructure categories, with the likelihood of damage considered separately for projectile impact, ash fall loading, pyroclastic density current dynamic pressure and earthquake ground shaking intensities. In refining these estimates for two case study areas: Kanlaon volcano in the Philippines and Fogo volcano in Cape Verde, we have developed guidelines and methodologies for carrying out physical vulnerability assessments in the field. These include identifying primary building characteristics, such as construction material and method, as well as subsidiary characteristics, for example the size and prevalence of openings, that may be important in assessing eruption impacts. At-risk buildings around Kanlaon were found to be dominated by timber frame buildings that exhibit a high vulnerability to pyroclastic density currents, but a low vulnerability to failure from seismic shaking. Around Fogo, the predominance of unreinforced masonry buildings with reinforced concrete slab roofs suggests a high vulnerability to volcanic earthquake but a low vulnerability to ash fall loading. Given the importance of agriculture for local livelihoods around Kanlaon and Fogo, we discuss the potential impact of infrastructure vulnerability for local agricultural economies, with implications for volcanic areas worldwide. These methodologies and tools go some way towards offering a standardised approach to carrying out future vulnerability assessments for populated volcanic areas.

Coupling eruption and tsunami records: the Krakatau 1883 case study, Indonesia

The well-documented 1883 eruption of Krakatau volcano (Indonesia) offers an opportunity to couple the eruption’s history with the tsunami record. The aim of this paper is not to re-analyse the scenario for the 1883 eruption but to demonstrate that the study of tsunami deposits provides information for reconstructing past eruptions. Indeed, though the characteristics of volcanogenic tsunami deposits are similar to those of other tsunami deposits, they may include juvenile material (e.g. fresh pumice) or be interbedded with distal pyroclastic deposits (ash fall, surges), due to their simultaneity with the eruption. Five kinds of sedimentary and volcanic facies related to the 1883 events were identified along the coasts of Java and Sumatra: (1) bioclastic tsunami sands and (2) pumiceous tsunami sands, deposited respectively before and during the Plinian phase (26–27 August); (3) rounded pumice lapilli reworked by tsunami; (4) pumiceous ash fall deposits and (5) pyroclastic surge deposits (only in Sumatra). The stratigraphic record on the coasts of Java and Sumatra, which agrees particularly well with observations of the 1883 events, is tentatively linked to the proximal stratigraphy of the eruption.

Bronze Age catastrophe and modern controversy: dating the Santorini eruption

The date of the volcanic eruption of Santorini that caused extensive damage to Minoan Crete has been controversial since the 1980s. Some have placed the event in the late seventeenth century BC. Others have made the case for a younger date of around 1500 BC. A recent contribution to that controversy has been the dating of an olive tree branch preserved within the volcanic ash fall on Santorini. In this debate feature Paolo Cherubini and colleagues argue that the olive tree dating (which supports the older chronology) is unreliable on a number of grounds. There follows a response from the authors of that dating, and comments from other specialists, with a closing reply from Cherubini and his team.

The olive-branch dating of the Santorini eruption

The date of the volcanic eruption of Santorini that caused extensive damage toMinoan Crete has been controversial since the 1980s. Some have placed the event in the late seventeenth century BC. Others have made the case for a younger date of around 1500 BC. A recent contribution to that controversy has been the dating of an olive tree branch preserved within the volcanic ash fall on Santorini. In this debate feature Paolo Cherubini and colleagues argue that the olive tree dating (which supports the older chronology) is unreliable on a number of grounds. There follows a response from the authors of that dating, and comments from other specialists, with a closing reply from Cherubini and his team.

Stable isotopic and chemical indicators of volcanic eruptions in tree rings from Parícutin, Mexico

Annual growth rings obtained from well dated tree ring cores from Parícutin, Mexico are examined for unique chemical signatures that reflect a known local volcanic eruption and its subsequent atmospheric and terrestrial inputs. Stable carbon isotopic profiles are combined with elemental analyses to construct a chemical profile before, during, and after the known eruptive years (1943-1952) when a cinder cone formed near the town of Parícutin. Data from this well documented eruption are combined with controls obtained from outside the ash fall zone. Carbon isotopes exhibit an enriched spike (~3‰) during the eruptive period followed by a subsequent return to baseline values. This in combination with other stable isotopic indicators and increases in phosphorus, sulfur, and possibly other elements, suggest a unique set of chemical inputs from the eruption. The analytical approach developed here potentially can be used to date unknown eruptions which in the past have often relied on the common dendrochronologic technique of tree ring width determination, or on historic human records. The former method can be somewhat subjective as changes in ring width can be attributed to multiple causes in addition to volcanically induced environmental stresses; the latter method is restricted to eruptions occurring in the last few thousand years. The quantitative approach of chemical analyses presented in this preliminary study can potentially be combined with standard dendrochronological and/or 14C dating to accurately identify eruption events and place them in an anthropologic context.

Effect of Revegetation on Soil Development and Water Infiltration Rates in Shallow Landslide Scars of Slopes Covered by Volcanic Ash and Pumice Fall

Effect of Revegetation on Soil Development and Water Infiltration Rates in Shallow Landslide Scars of Slopes Covered by Volcanic Ash and Pumice Fall

Quantifying bioturbation of a simulated ash fall event

Abstract Tephrochronology allows the establishment of ‘isochrons’ between marine, lacustrine, terrestrial and ice cores, typically based on the geochemical fingerprint of the tephra. The development of cryptotephrochronology has revealed a vast inventory of isochrons which hold the potential to improve stratigraphic correlation and identify systemic leads and lags in periods of rapid climate change. Unfortunately, bioturbation acts to blur these isochrons, reducing the temporal resolution in marine and lacustrine records. In order to better resolve these event horizons, we require a better understanding of bioturbative processes, and the depth and time over which they operate. To this end, an ash fall event was simulated on the intertidal zone of the Eden Estuary, Fife, Scotland and sediment cores were collected over 10 days. A novel approach to tephra quantification was developed, using the imaging software ImageJ. Our results showed limited bioturbation (mixed depth=18 mm), most likely owing to the fine grain size, low-energy environment and the resulting faunal composition of the sediments. These results imply a strong ecological control on bioturbation, and suggest that inferences may be made about palaeoenvironments from the observed bioturbation profiles. supplementary material: The ImageJ macro used in this study, as well as raw tephra concentration data and details of the method validation are available at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18725 .

Impact of Short-term Temporal Changes in Volcanic Ash Fall on Rainfall Threshold for Debris Flow Occurrence in Sakurajima, Japan

Impact of Short-term Temporal Changes in Volcanic Ash Fall on Rainfall Threshold for Debris Flow Occurrence in Sakurajima, Japan

Natural hazards in Santo Domingo de Heredia, Costa Rica, Central America

Santo Domingo de Heredia, Costa Rica is a county facing serious risks from natural hazards, specifically flooding, earthquakes, volcanic activity and landslides. In order to inform disaster risk reduction efforts and improve the safety and well-being of local residents, this article assessed these natural hazards using a geographical approach. First, we described the four hazards based on a review of reports from previous emergencies, scientific papers and newspaper articles. Second, we integrated spatial data on each hazard to create a hazard density index for the county at the level of the census unit (n = 140). Results demonstrate that river flooding has caused the most damage of the four hazards in recent times. Both seismic and volcanic risks (specifically ash fall from volcanic eruptions) affect the entire area of Santo Domingo. Landslides have affected localized, settled areas of steep river canyons in the southern part of the county. In general, the highest density of hazards is located in the southern reaches of Santo Domingo. As such, we recommend that local authorities concentrate their management efforts in that area.

フィリピン・ルソン島南部イロシン火砕流堆積物およびそれに伴う降下火山灰の熱ルミネッセンス（TL）年代

フィリピン・ルソン島南部イロシン火砕流堆積物およびそれに伴う降下火山灰の熱ルミネッセンス（TL）年代

The Key Tuffite, Matagami Camp, Abitibi Greenstone Belt, Canada: petrogenesis and implications for VMS formation and exploration

The Key Tuffite is a stratigraphic marker unit for most of the zinc-rich volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits of the Matagami Camp in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt. This 2- to 6-m-thick unit was previously interpreted as a mixture of ash fall (andesitic to rhyolitic tuffaceous components) and volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS)-related chemical seafloor precipitate (exhalative component). Previous attempts to develop geochemical exploration vectoring tools using metal content within the Key Tuffite were mostly inconclusive due to the complex nature of the Key Tuffite unit and a poor understanding of its composition, origin and relationship with the VMS-forming hydrothermal systems. Detailed mapping and thorough lithogeochemistry of the Key Tuffite in the vicinity of the Perseverance and Bracemac-McLeod deposits indicate that the Key Tuffite is a homogeneous calc-alkaline, andesitic tuff that was deposited before the VMS deposits were formed. The unit is mostly devoid of exhalative component, but it is strongly hydrothermally altered close to orebodies. This is characterized by a strong proximal chloritization and a distal sericitization, which grades laterally into the unaltered Key Tuffite. Neither the Key Tuffite nor the ore was formed by seafloor exhalative processes for the two studied deposits. This probably explains why previously proposed exploration models based on metal scavenging proved unsuccessful and suggests that a re-evaluation of the exhalative model should be done at the scale of the mining camp. However, as shown in this study, hydrothermal alteration can be used to vector towards ore along the Key Tuffite.

U–Pb LA–ICPMS dating using accessory mineral standards with variable common Pb

Precise and accurate U–Pb LA–ICPMS dating of many U-bearing accessory minerals (e.g. apatite, allanite, titanite and rutile) is often compromised by common Pb. LA–ICPMS dating of these U-bearing accessory phases typically requires a matrix-matched standard, and data reduction is often complicated by variable incorporation of common Pb not only into the unknowns but also particularly into the reference material. We present here a general approach to common Pb correction in U–Pb LA–ICP–MS dating using a modified version of the VizualAge U–Pb data reduction package for Iolite (VizualAge_UcomPbine). The key feature of the method is that it can correct for variable amounts of common Pb in any U–Pb accessory mineral standard as long as the standard is concordant in the U/Pb (and Th/Pb) systems following common Pb correction. Common Pb correction of the age standard can be undertaken using either the 204Pb, 207Pb or 208Pb(no Th) methods, and the approach can be applied to raw data files from all widely used modern multi-collector and single-collector ICPMS instruments.VizualAge_UcomPbine first applies a common Pb correction to the user-selected age standard integrations and then fits session-wide “model” U–Pb fractionation curves to the time-resolved U–Pb standard data. This downhole fractionation model is applied to the unknowns and sample-standard bracketing (using a user-specified interpolation method) is used to calculate final isotopic ratios and ages. 204Pb- and 208Pb(no Th)-corrected concordia diagrams and 204Pb-, 207Pb- and 208Pb(no Th)-corrected age channels can be calculated for user-specified initial Pb ratio(s). All other conventional common Pb correction methods (e.g. intercept or isochron methods on co-genetic analyses) can be performed offline.The approach was tested on apatite and titanite age standards (for which there are independent constraints on the U–Pb crystallization age) using a Thermo Scientific iCAP-Qc (Q–ICP–MS) coupled to a Photon Machines Analyte Excite 193nm ArF Excimer laser. Madagascar apatite, OLT1 titanite and R10 rutile were used as primary standards and were corrected for variable common Pb using the new VizualAge_UcomPbine DRS. The secondary Durango (31.44±0.18Ma) apatite standard yielded a U–Pb TW concordia intercept age of 31.97±0.59Ma (MSWD=1.09; primary standard corrected by the 207Pb-method) and a U–Pb concordia age of 31.82±0.40Ma (MSWD=1.4; primary standard corrected by the 204Pb-method). McClure Mountain (523.51±1.47Ma) yielded a U–Pb TW concordia intercept age of 524.5±3.7Ma (MSWD=0.72) while the Fish Canyon Tuff (28.201±0.046Ma) and Khan (522.2±2.2Ma) titanite standards yielded U–Pb TW concordia intercept ages of 28.78±0.41Ma (MSWD=1.4) and 520.9±3.9Ma (MSWD=4.2) respectively. The suitability of the 208Pb(no Th)-correction is demonstrated by the agreement between a U–Pb TW concordia intercept age of 452.6±4.7Ma (MSWD=0.89) and a 208Pb(no Th)-corrected TW concordia age of 448.6±4.5Ma (MSWD=1.4) on a c. 450Ma rutile which exhibits variable incorporation of common Pb.A range of LA–ICPMS U–Pb dating applications are presented and include U–Pb dating of apatite from >3.8Ga gneisses from Akilia, SW Greenland. These apatites host 13C-depleted graphite inclusions that are interpreted as biogenic in origin and representing the oldest indications of life on Earth. The U–Pb age profiles on single apatite grains presented here are characteristic of Pb loss by volume diffusion with core–rim age differences of up to 300Ma. These data explain the scatter and poor precision of earlier U–Pb apatite age determinations on Akilia apatite. Other LA–ICPMS dating applications include U–Pb apatite dating as a rapid method for determining the age of mafic intrusions, U–Pb titanite and apatite dating of ash fall tuffs, determining temperature–time histories using multiple U–Pb thermochronometers and improving concordance in LA–ICPMS primary zircon standard datasets by analysing young, common Pb-bearing primary zircon standards that have not accumulated significant radiation damage.

Neogene to Quaternary ash deposits in the Coastal Cordillera in northern Chile: Distal ashes from supereruptions in the Central Andes

Silicic volcanic ash deposits investigated at 14 localities between 22° and 25°S in the Chilean Coastal Cordillera are found to be the distal ash fall from supereruptions in the Central Andean cordillera several hundreds of kilometers to the east. Depositional textures, modal composition and granulometry of the ashes and tuffs (the latter lithified by halite and gypsum under ultra-arid conditions) allow for a distinction between primary fallout/aeolian deposits (mean 4–5 Φ, sorting 1.5–2 Φ) and secondary deposits that formed by down wash from hill slopes during local rain fall. Primary volcanic components comprise two types of glass shards (with small stretched vesicles and coarse-walled with rounded to elliptic vesicles), and biotite.Previously published studies on ash deposits in the north Chilean Coastal Cordillera reported 14 40Ar/39Ar and K/Ar ages on biotite or sanidine ranging between 6.66±0.13 and 0.6±0.4Ma. In this project, three 40Ar/39Ar ages on biotite have been determined for samples from the Cuenca del Tiburón, the northern margin of Salar de Navidad and from the Quebrada de la Chimba (3.9±0.1Ma, 4.1±0.1Ma, 6.0±0.1Ma, respectively). The range of the 17 ages coincides with the Late Miocene to Quaternary ages of the major ignimbrite-forming eruptions of the high Andes to the east such as the Altiplano Puna Volcanic Complex (APVC).Electron microprobe data of glass and biotite of the Coastal Cordillera ashes have been compared with data from major ignimbrites of the APVC, of other major Central Andean volcanic fields, and of marine ashes (ODP Leg 201). Additional new biotite microprobe data from three APVC ignimbrites (Pastos Grandes, Pujsa and Guacha) have been included in the present study. Biotite composition of the investigated Coastal Cordillera ashes is similar to those of ignimbrites from the APVC. In particular, based in Fe, Mg, Mn and Ti, distal equivalents of the 3.96±0.08Ma Atana and/or 4.09±0.02Ma Puripicar and of the 5.6±0.2Ma Pujsa and/or the 5.56±0.01Ma Guacha eruptions can be identified. In addition, based only on age relations, distal ash units of the Pastos Grandes, Tatio and Purico eruptions may be present in the Coastal Cordillera. Composition of glass is comparable to APVC ignimbrite matrix glass and to marine glass, however, significant alkali depletion and SiO2 enrichment is attributed to in situ alteration.The identification of these ashes demonstrates for the first time that the supereruptions in the southern Central Andes gave rise to voluminous ash clouds, most likely co-ignimbrite. The present outcrops represent ash dispersed by easterly winds, consistent with atmospheric models that show favorable westward-directed winds existing in the upper troposphere/stratosphere during the southern summer in the southern Central Andes. This requires that current volume estimates for the major eruptions to be considered minima with a significant augmentation likely.

Development of an automatic volcanic ash sampling apparatus for active volcanoes

We develop an automatic system for the sampling of ash fall particles, to be used for continuous monitoring of magma ascent and eruptive dynamics at active volcanoes. The system consists of a sampling apparatus and cameras to monitor surface phenomena during eruptions. The Sampling Apparatus for Time Series Unmanned Monitoring of Ash (SATSUMA-I and SATSUMA-II) is less than 10 kg in weight and works automatically for more than a month with a 10-kg lead battery to obtain a total of 30 to 36 samples in one cycle of operation. The time range covered in one cycle varies from less than an hour to several months, depending on the aims of observation, allowing researchers to target minute-scale fluctuations in a single eruptive event, as well as daily to weekly trends in persistent volcanic activity. The latest version, SATSUMA-II, also enables control of sampling parameters remotely by e-mail commands. Durability of the apparatus is high: our prototypes worked for several months, in rainy and typhoon seasons, at windy and humid locations, and under strong sunlight. We have been successful in collecting ash samples emitted from Showa crater almost everyday for more than 4 years (2008–2012) at Sakurajima volcano in southwest Japan.