Helium anomaly preceded Mount Ontake eruption
Aug. 25, 2015
Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute
2014 Mount Ontake eruption © 2015 Earthquake Research Institute, The University of Tokyo.
University of Tokyo researchers discovered an increase in a helium isotope during a ten-year period before the 2014 Mount Ontake eruption in central Japan. The finding suggests that this helium isotope anomaly is related to activation of the volcano’s magma system and could be a valuable marker for the long-term risk mitigation concerning volcanic eruptions.