Keeping an eye on Redoubt

Redoubt Volcano, in Alaska, is one of the more troublesome volcanoes in the state. Not only is it relatively close to population centers, but it also lies directly within the aircraft corridors above the Aleutians for planes headed to Asia and beyond. This means that USGS and AVO geologists have to be especially vigilant in watching Redoubt's every move.

Currently, the volcano has been recently changed to a yellow (elevated) alert, due to increased steam/volcanic gas emissions (remember, the number one volcanic gas is water vapor) at the volcano. So far, there haven't been any reported eruptions of ash (i.e., juvenile, fresh magmatic material), but you never know how far behind rumblings and steam that could be (well, you can have an idea that it could be "not far"). It has been almost 19 years since the last eruption (see the famous image of the eruption column above) of Redoubt, so we're all on pins-and-needles to see whether this activity will lead to a new eruptive period.

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Today looks to be a doubleheader of volcano news: Redoubt Image courtesy of AVO/USGS, taken by Rick Wessels. An infrared image of the north slope of Redoubt showing the hot, new dome material and hot block & ash flows confined to the valley. At 11:30 AM yesterday, AVO put Redoubt back to…
Redoubt seems to be setting its pattern for this part of the new eruptive period. There was another small explosion this morning that produced at 15,000 foot / 5,000 meter ash column that moved to the NNW. The seismicity has settled down since the early morning eruption today (3/25) as well. These…
Image courtesy of AVO/USGS by Cindy Koplin showing the ash fall in Homer, AK on 4/4/09 Not much new to report about the eruption at Redoubt beyond the fact that it continues. AVO has kept the warning level at Red/Warning after briefly dropping it to Orange/Watch on Friday night. The 15,000 foot /…
Here it is, my attempt to recap a year's worth of volcanic events. By no means is this supposed to capture every event, but rather the highlight/lowlights and what most captivated me during 2009. I'll be announcing the winner of the 2009 Pliny for Volcanic Event of the Year tomorrow. Waimangu…

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