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Brownish discoloration of the summit crater lake of Mt. Shinmoe-dake, Kirishima Volcano, Japan: volcanic–microbial coupled origin

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Abstract

A drastic change in lake water color from blue-green to brown was observed in the summit crater lake of Mt. Shinmoe-dake, Kirishima Volcano about 8 months after its 2008 eruption. The color change lasted for about 2 months (April–June 2009). The discoloration was attributed to a brownish color suspension that had formed in the lake water. X-ray fluorescence and Fourier transform infrared analyses of a sample of the suspension identified schwertmannite (Fe8O8(OH)6(SO4)). A cultivation test of iron-oxidizing bacteria for the sampled lake water with lakebed sediment revealed that the crater lake hosts iron-oxidizing bacteria, which likely participated in schwertmannite formation. We suggest that pyrite (FeS2) provided an energy source for the iron-oxidizing bacteria since the mineral was identified in hydrothermally altered tephra ejected by the August 2008 eruption. From consideration of these and other factors, the brownish discoloration of the summit crater lake of Mt. Shinmoe-dake was inferred to have resulted from a combined volcanic–microbial process.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to staff at Kagoshima Local Meteorological Observatories of the Japan Meteorological Agency for their assistance in sampling of lake water and the lakebed sediments and also to Taketoshi Mishima and Takuya Sakai for their technical assistance in chemical analyses of the water samples. For mineral identification of the lake water suspension sample, we thank Rika Harui of ThermoFisher Scientific Inc. for conducting FT-IR measurements. We are grateful to Dr. Dmitri Rouwet and an anonymous referee for reviewing the manuscript. Dr. Clive Oppenheimer is appreciated for editing the manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. Hiroshi Yamauchi

    Present address: Oita Local Meteorological Observatory, JMA, Nagahama-cho 3-1-38, Oita, 870-0023, Japan

  2. Tomoyuki Koeda

    Present address: Kagoshima Local Meteorological Observatory, JMA, Higashi-kori-motomachi 4-1, Kagoshima, 890-0068, Japan

  3. Yoshihisa Kataoka

    Present address: Fukuoka Aviation Weather Station, JMA, Yashiki 295, Kamiusui, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, 810-0005, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beppu Geothermal Research Laboratory, Institute for Geothermal Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Noguchibaru 3088, Beppu, Oita, 874-0903, Japan

    Shinji Ohsawa

  2. Department of Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Toho University, Omori-nishi 5-21-16, Ota-ku, Tokyo, 143-8540, Japan

    Kenji Sugimori

  3. Fukuoka District Meteorological Observatory, Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), Ohori 1-2-36, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka, 810-0052, Japan

    Hiroshi Yamauchi, Tomoyuki Koeda, Hiroaki Inaba & Yoshihisa Kataoka

  4. Aso Volcanological Laboratory, Institute for Geothermal Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Minami-Aso, Aso, Kumamoto, 869-1404, Japan

    Tsuneomi Kagiyama

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  1. Shinji Ohsawa
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Correspondence to Shinji Ohsawa.

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Editorial responsibility: C. Oppenheimer

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Ohsawa, S., Sugimori, K., Yamauchi, H. et al. Brownish discoloration of the summit crater lake of Mt. Shinmoe-dake, Kirishima Volcano, Japan: volcanic–microbial coupled origin. Bull Volcanol 76, 809 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-014-0809-7

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