Lusi is a sediment‐hosted hydrothermal system featuring clastic‐dominated geyser‐like eruption behavior in East Java, Indonesia. We use 10 months of ambient seismic noise cross correlations from 30 temporary seismic stations to obtain a 3‐D model of shear wave velocity anomalies beneath Lusi, the neighboring Arjuno‐Welirang volcanic complex, and the Watukosek fault system connecting the two. Our work reveals a hydrothermal plume, rooted at a minimum 6 km depth that reaches the surface at the Lusi site. Furthermore, the inversion shows that this vertical anomaly is connected to the adjacent volcanic complex through a narrow (~3 km wide) low velocity corridor slicing the survey area at a depth of ~4–6 km. The NE‐SW direction of this elongated zone matches the strike of the Watukosek fault system. Distinct magmatic chambers are also inferred below the active volcanoes. The large‐scale tomography features an exceptional example of a subsurface connection between a volcanic complex and a solitary erupting hydrothermal system hosted in a hydrocarbon‐rich back‐arc sedimentary basin. These results are consistent with a scenario where deep‐seated fluids (e.g., magmas and released hydrothermal fluids) flow along a region of enhanced transmissivity (i.e., the Watukosek fault system damage zone) from the volcanic arc toward the back arc basin where Lusi resides. The triggered metamorphic reactions occurring at depth in the organic‐rich sediments generated significant overpressure and fluid upwelling that is today released at the spectacular Lusi eruption site.

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The Plumbing System Feeding the Lusi Eruption Revealed by Ambient Noise Tomography

Sources of the eruption of Kambalny volcano (Southern Kamchatka) in March 2017 inferred from local earthquake tomography

We characterize the mineralogy and geochemistry of Fe, Zn, Pb, Sb, As, Hg, Ag sulfide assemblages from mud masses currently extruded by the onshore South Sakhalin and Pugachev mud volcanoes (Sakhalin Island, Russia). Abundant Tl-rich pyrite in sulfide concentrate samples from the mud volcanoes coexists with common Hg- and Ge-rich sphalerite, as well as with sporadic boulangerite, robinsonite, bournonite, galena, realgar, metacinnabar, cinnabar, acanthite, and chalcopyrite. Sphalerites are remarkably enriched in Hg (locally reaching 27 wt%) and coupled zwith permanent abnormal enrichment in Ge (3008–3408 ppm). According to single-crystal XRD analyses and Raman spectroscopy, both Hg-poor and Hg-rich sphalerites are single-phase (Zn,Hg)Scub compounds. Pyrite is of diagenetic origin, judging by its trace-element chemistry, particular morphology, and heavy S isotope composition. Another assemblage, composed of Pb-Sb-(Hg) sulfide minerals and lesser As, Cu, Ag, and Bi compounds, results from hydrothermal alteration and is genetically related to Neogene volcano-sedimentary rocks found among the ejecta of the mud volcanoes. The composition of impurities in sphalerite from mud masses indicates crystallization at temperatures lower than ~100 °C, under the leaching effect of mud volcano waters.

Ge-Hg-Rich Sphalerite and Pb, Sb, As, Hg, and Ag Sulfide Assemblages in Mud Volcanoes of Sakhalin Island, Russia: An Insight into Possible Origin

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Dmitry A. Safonov

Papers

Possible sources of hydrothermal activity and mud volcanism in southern Sakhalin inferred from local earthquake seismic tomography

The Earthquake of February 13, 2020, M = 7.0 and Seismotectonic Conditions at Intermediate Depths of the Southern Kuril Islands

Regional Magnitude Mwa in the Russian Far East