eklemetti | April 8, 2009Back in the ol' Wordpress days, I did try to have a Mailbag column here on Eruptions. I'd like to restart that here on ScienceBlogs, so if you have any volcano-related questions (or heck, any questions), please email them to me at ewklemett (at symbol) gmail (dot) com. After I get enough questions, I'll answer them in a weekly (biweekly? monthly?) column.
Also, if you're into this sort of thing, why not follow Eruptions via Facebook. Click on the link for "Networked Blogs" in the bottom left cover of this page.
While you're at it, if you like what you see here, recommend these articles on…
eklemetti | April 8, 2009Canlaon volcano, Philippines
Geothermal energy is one of those sources of energy that might be able to solve a lot of the planet's energy problems - heck, the Earth has a lot of heat it is trying to get rid of, so taking that heat and turning into energy seems like an easy (and clean?) way to stop using fossil fuels and the like. Of course, like any supposed panacea, it has its problems.
However, one aspect that gets people are riled is whether drilling into areas of active magmatism might actually cause volcanism. Just in the last few weeks, a controversy was sparked in the Philippines when…
eklemetti | April 8, 2009Image courtesy of KVERT, taken by L. Kotenko on Marhc 18, 2009.
To me, one volcanic arc about which I wish I knew more is the Kuril-Kamchatka arc. I'm well aware of how active it is, with giants composite volcanoes like Bezymianny, Koryak, Klyuchevskoi and many, many others. This arc of volcanoes, although in a sparsely populated part of the world, is important to monitor due to its proximity of air travel lanes to Asia. So, any time I find out a volcano in this area - usually one that I was previously unfamiliar - erupted, I am excited.
Today's example: Ebeko. Never heard of it. Yet, it is…
eklemetti | April 7, 2009Llaima erupting at night in April 2009.
Brief update for those of you following the somewhat spectacular eruption (above and below) going on at Llaima in Chile. The latest reports indicate the eruption is waning (in spanish) with less ash and explosions (in spanish) being produced. However, ONEMI, the Chilean Emergency Office, continues to keep the area on alert. So far, at least 81 people have been evacuated (in spanish) during the eruptions that gained strength over the weekend and flights between Buenos Aires and Neuquén were suspended due to the ash.
It is interesting to note the…
eklemetti | April 6, 2009Image courtesy of AVO/USGS taken by Kristi Wallace showing the eruption plume on March 31, 2009.
Today's update will be relatively brief: AVO has returned Redoubt to Orange/Watch status after this weekend's eruptions. The new dome continues to grow and this is accompanied by the usual volcanic seismicity associated with dome construction. We should expect to see the status fluctuate from Orange to Red as the eruption waxes and wanes - and likely get little to no warning of the next big explosive event.
The eruptions of Redoubt has forced Chevron to halt activity for all its Cook Inlet oil…
eklemetti | April 6, 2009Popocatépetl from the ISS on January 23, 2001
It might be (and is likely) just normal behavior for Popocatépetl in Mexico, but the volcano produced six plumes over the last 24 hours, according to a report out of Mexico City (in spanish). Officials from El Centro Nacional de Prevención de Desastres (The National Center for the Prevention of Disasters - Cenapred) say that the plumes appear to be mostly water vapor and other volcanic gases, but remind people living near the volcano to be vigilant.
Popocatépetl is only 70 km from Mexico City, so any major eruption from the volcano could…
eklemetti | April 5, 2009Ulawun Volcano, Papau New Guinea, one of the "Decade Volcanoes"
There was some discussion earlier about the so-called "Decade Volcanoes", so I thought I'd elaborate a bit on them (doubly so in light of certain other lists.) These volcanoes are defined by IAVCEI - the International Association of Volcanology and the Chemistry of the Earth's Interior - and are part of a program whose aim is
"to direct attention to a small number of selected, active volcanoes world-wide and to encourage the establishment of a range of research and public-awareness activities aimed at enhancing an understanding…
eklemetti | April 5, 2009Image 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 / 5 km-tall plume on Sunday was mostly water and volcanic gases. Eagle-eyed observers also noticed a plume on the lower flanks on the north side of the volcano that is believed to be steam generated by block & ash flows interacting with snow or water. These flow block & ash flows are coming…
eklemetti | April 5, 2009Llaima erupting in April 2009.
Just a quick note about the eruption currently ongoing at Llaima in Chile. The volcano continues to explosively (and effusively) erupt, sending ash ~22,000 feet / 7,000 meters into the air. This eruption has produced 37 hours of intense eruption (in spanish) so far and the ash from the eruption is drifting into Argentina, almost 100 km to the SE of the volcano. More evacuations are being called for by ONEMI and so far 71 people have left the vicinity of the volcano due to fears of lahars and significant ash fall (In spanish, but it does provide video of the…
eklemetti | April 4, 2009Today looks to be a doubleheader of volcano news:
RedoubtImage 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 Orange/Watch alert status after the volcano seem to settle down to small steam/ash plumes. Less than 12 hours later (at ~6:30 AM Alaska time), the volcano produced another large explosive eruption, sending an ash column up ~50,000 feet / 15 km and producing what seems to be a significant lahar that…
eklemetti | April 3, 2009Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai, taken in late March 2009
Redoubt did the tried-and-true American trick of shoving news of volcanoes in other parts of the world off the news pages, but shockingly, these international volcanoes continued to erupt. Remember that volcano in Tonga? Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'aapi? Still erupting, weeks after the volcano was first spotted. The volcano is still disrupting air traffic in and out of Tonga, which is now even affecting the economy of the islands. Now, the problem is that tourists are creeping ever closer to the emerging volcanic island. The thing about visiting…
eklemetti | April 3, 2009Image courtesy of USGS/CVO, taken March 8, 2005 from the Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, WA
For those of you looking for something to relax with and read this weekend, you could wander over to the USGS website and download yourself a copy (for free and legally) of "A Volcano Rekindled: the Renewed Eruption of Mount St. Helens, 2004-2006" (USGS Professional Paper 1750). The report comes in at a mere 872 pages (that's 697 MB download for the whole report), but you can download the pieces that interest you most as well instead of the whole shebang.
Now, I haven't read the whole thing,…
eklemetti | April 2, 2009Image courtesy of AVO/USGS by James Isaak. Photo taken 3/31/2009.
No, this isn't Battlestar Galactica, but the same can be said for the Drift River Oil Terminal: this has all happened before and will all happen again. Coast Guard officials have (finally) decided to move ~6.3 million gallons of crude oil from the Chevron-owned Drift River Oil Terminal at the base of Redoubt. The oil terminal has been a flashpoint since Redoubt began to make noise earlier this year and even up until yesterday, it was unclear what, if any, action the Coast Guard might take with the facility. It had been shut…
eklemetti | April 2, 2009
Image courtesy of Calvin Hall. Taken 3/28/2009 during an eruption at 10:59 AM3:28 PM.
UPDATE 4/2/2009 at 11 AM Pacific: I'm moving this up from the comments, but Eruptions reader Doug Cole pointed out (and I have no idea how I missed this) that Redoubt has a new webcam! This one is at the DFR seismic station, ~8 miles / 12 km northeast of the volcano. Great views on it today showing the extent of the ash around Redoubt and the steam/ash plume. This view will also be excellent if we get any dome collapse pyroclastic flows (see below).
After a week of explosions and ash fall, Redoubt seems to…
eklemetti | April 1, 2009For those of you looking for real volcanic eruption news (no, there was no "Yellowstone eruption"), here is this week's SI/USGS Volcano Activity Report.
And speaking of April Fools Jokes, this is by far my favorite (mostly by its combination of volcanoes and baseball. How could you go wrong with two of my favorite things - hat tip to Fletcher for finding the article).
Highlights (beyond Redoubt) include:
Earthquakes, tremors and steam at El Reventador in Ecuador
12,000-15,000 foot (4-5 km) steam/ash plumes were spotted at Colima, the Mexican volcano.
A shockwave was felt 10 km away from Fuego…
eklemetti | March 31, 2009
Photo courtesy of Calvin Hall. Taken from March 28, 2009, 50 miles from Redoubt.
Redoubt continues to huff and puff, with an almost constant ash plume of ~15,000 feet / 5,000 meters. This after ~4 PM (Alaska Time), an explosion produced a 25,000 foot / 8,000 meter ash column that disrupted flights in and out of Anchorage again. Also, the air in the Kenai Peninsula area is beginning to feel the effects of the eruption, as AVO notes:
Satellite images from this morning show a broad layer of volcanic haze extending east of the volcano over the Kenai Peninsula, the Anchorage Bowl, and the…
eklemetti | March 31, 2009Yellowstone Lake eruption, April 1, 2009
Well, after all the seismicity and uplift at Yellowstone caldera over the last few years, something finally happened. Early this morning, without much warning, an eruption occurred in Yellowstone Lake (see above) and sent steam and ash up 50,000 feet above the park. Luckily, no one was injured or killed in the event as we're well ahead tourist season, but it is unknown how this might affect access to the park for this summer.
Now, whether this eruption is really just the caldera "letting off steam" so to speak, possibly in the form of a phreatic…
eklemetti | March 30, 2009Image courtesy of the Southern California Earthquake Center
I have to admit, I've only been perpherially following the earthquake swarm currently going on in Southern California, near the end of one of the strands of the San Andreas fault out below the Salton Sea (see the bottom of the map above). The "Bombay Beach" swarm (as I'll call it ... beats me what most people are calling it) is being closely monitored by the USGS. However, from what I had heard from a friend of mine with a more structure/tectonics background, looked like tectonic quakes with "beachball focal mechanism solutions" that…
eklemetti | March 30, 2009Goma after the 2002 Eruption of Nyiragongo
The activity at Redoubt has captivated a lot of us, but in the grand scheme of things, its eruption are more likely to caused inconvenience and property damage rather than dramatically loss of life (unless something huge and unexpected occurs). However, the same cannot be said if Nyiragongo and/or Nyamuragira (a.k.a. Nyamulagira) in the Congo were to erupt. These volcanoes are close to the city of Goma, a city of nearly 600,000, not including refugees from the fighting in the region. Eruptions of Nyiragongo in 2002 prompted the displacement of 400,…
eklemetti | March 30, 2009Image courtesy of AVO/USGS by Tricia Joy Sadler. Taken 3/28/2009 at 3:29 PM
Redoubt did not stray from its pattern of explosive eruptions producing >20,000 foot / 10,000 meter ash columns over the weekend. However, what did change was the wind, and because of that, Anchorage began to feel the effects of the volcano. Ash prompted the closure of Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage for 22 hours on Saturday and Sunday. The airports near Redoubt are still experiencing delays and closure due to ash - remember, remobilized ash can be a problem as well, but many have reopened after ash…