eklemetti | September 28, 2009A bit of news for your last Monday in September:
Pumice deposits from the ~13,000 year old Laacher See eruption. Image by Erik Klemetti, taken in August 2007.
More press for Dr. Joyce and his campaign to make the people of Australia terrified that volcanoes will destroy them. He warns of "new volcanoes" springing up in the Ballarat region to the northwest of Melbourne (which, incidentally, is where I pointed out might be the most likely place for future volcanism). Yes, sure, we should expect that a new, unknown scoria cone may form in the Newer Volcanic Province - I mean, that is what…
eklemetti | September 25, 2009OK, I admit it, this was a tough one. The MVP photo wasn't entirely distinctive, but the basaltic rift volcano of Ardoukôba in this small African nation was the answer. Nice job, Anne, for narrowing down the possible locations and nailing it.
MVP Standings (as of 9/25/2009)
volcanista - 1
Elizabeth - 1
Ralph - 1
Cam - 1
Anne - 1
Ardoukôba volcano in Djibouti.
To give a little info on the volcano, Ardoukôba is a rift volcano that is part of the East African/Red Sea rift system in Djibouti. As the picture implies, the volcano is a low, broad rift extending 12 kilometers / 7.5 miles between…
eklemetti | September 24, 2009So far, Eruptions readers have nailed every one of the Mystery Volcano Photos posted, usually within the first two guess. That leaves our standings as:
volcanista - 1
Elizabeth - 1
Ralph - 1
Cam - 1
The field - 0
Here's a MVP for you to identify. Good luck!
eklemetti | September 23, 2009I missed the weekly report last week (sorry), but here is the new USGS/SI volcano activity report.
Highlights include:
Shiveluch in Kamchatka is still erupting away, producing ~7 km / 20,000 foot ash columns as the lava dome grows. There has also been pyroclastic flows spotted emanating from the new lava dome.
There was a report of a ~7.5 km / 25,000 foot ash-and-steam plume from El Reventador in Ecuador.
More small plumes and incandescent lava bombs were spotted at the Tavurvur Crater at Rabaul in Papau New Guinea
eklemetti | September 23, 2009Some brief tidbits for your Wednesday:
The view of Mt. Saint Helens from the Johnston Ridge Observatory.
There is a decent article about research being done at a dissected caldera system in the Italian Alps' Sesia Valley. The caldera in question is the Permian in age (248-298 million years old) so don't expect to find it in the GVP database, but the outcrops of this ancient caldera are especially well exposed, allowing for a cross section of volcano and plutonic rocks across 25 km of crustal depth (all of which is now at the surface thanks to hundreds of millions years of tectonics). It does…
eklemetti | September 22, 2009The Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland, Australia.
Nothing makes me shudder like any article titled "Blankety-blank volcano is overdue". Typically the article that follows is full of nothing but vapid speculation and media fear-mongering. So, it wasn't too surprising that an article titled "Volcano eruption 'overdue'" in the Brisbane Times (amongst many other sites) didn't disappoint (or, in particular, it did). Dr. Bernie Joyce is quoted as saying "It is much more likely to be a matter of when, rather than if..." in regards to potential future volcanism on the Australian continent.…
eklemetti | September 21, 2009Eruptions reader Doug pointed out in a recent comment that the seismicity at Mt. Rainier in Washington has increased over the last month or so. Take a look for yourself:
Mt. Rainier seismicity over the last year (8/2008 to 9/2009). Image courtesy of PNSN
Taking a closer look, over the last week there has been 7 earthquakes over the last 5 days - all between M1-3 - near Rainier, most calculated to be between 1.5 to 5.8 km depth.
Any thoughts? I see a lot more noise (earthquakes) between 3-6 km depth. It could as benign as seismicity due to fluid in the extensive hydrothermal system at Rainier…
eklemetti | September 21, 2009Sarigan Island in the Marianas - your MVP #4.
I have to hand it to all of you, each time I've tried to make the Mystery Volcano Photo a challenge, you beat it with flying colors. The photo is, in fact, of Sarigan in the Mariana Islands (thanks to Dr. Ed Kohut for providing the photo). Eruptions reader Cam got the volcano on the second guess, leaving our current standings at:
MVP Standings
volcanista - 1
Ralph - 1
Elizabeth - 1
Cam - 1
everybody else - 0
Not much is known about Sarigan - it is an island composite volcano in the Mariana Islands. The last few eruptions have produced lava dome…
eklemetti | September 16, 2009I'll be off in the mountains of Virginia until Monday, so no updates for the rest of the week. I'll leave you all with a new Mystery Volcano Photo sent in by a friend (I don't want to give any clues away just yet) ... hopefully one that might be a bit more challenging. Enjoy the weekend!
Mystery Volcano Photo #4
eklemetti | September 15, 2009Mayon in the Philippines, taken in 2007
There has been a lot of waiting over the summer to see if Mayon in the Philippines was going to begin a new eruption sequence. This morning, the volcano had its first "eruption" since August 2008, producing a very small (~700 m / 2000 foot) ash-and-gas column that drifted to the southwest. PHIVOLCS reports that the plume had very minimal ash, but it is still worth noting. No new evacuations were called, but the 6-km "danger zone" and 7-8-km "extended danger zone" are still in effect.
Mayon is one of the most active volcanoes in the Philippines, erupting…
eklemetti | September 15, 2009There are a couple article out today concerning volcanoes and the economy, one on the plus side, one on the minus side.
Volcano Buono in Italy near Naples.
First off, nothing like volcanism to get me stoked for buying stuff, eh? Actually, I have to admit, the Volcano Buono mall (yes, mall) in Italy near Naples (and yes, near Vesuvius) is one of the rather more attractive malls I've seen in a long time (above). It is designed to look like a volcano - I suppose it looks most like a monogenetic scoria cone, a little out of place for that part of Italy - but its design was based on trying use…
eklemetti | September 14, 2009Monday is here again already ...
A pyroclastic flow from Soufriere Hills heading towards the ocean. Note the large volcaniclastic debris fan being formed by repeated flows. Dated March 2006.
The "Science Advisory Committee" at Montserrat in the West Indies suggests that the current eruption of Soufriere Hills on the small island could be drawing to a close. This is mostly based on the ever-decreasing seismicity under the volcano and that the volcano has not experienced any new dome growth or explosions over the last 6 months. Gas emissions have remained relatively constant over the last 18…
eklemetti | September 11, 2009Undated photo of Shiveluch volcano in Russia.
In case you haven't seen the report yet, Shiveluch in Kamchatka has gone, as they say, "non-linear". KVERT has raised the alert level at the volcano to "Red" with reports of many strong explosions and an ash plume of >32,800 feet / >10 km. This all suggests that the volcano might have experienced [WARNING SPECULATION] a massive dome collapse followed by rapid decompression of the magma under the dome - causing the plinian eruption that seems to be underway. The size of this eruption plume will definitely have some effect on air travel over…
eklemetti | September 11, 2009OK, well, apparently MVP #2 was waaay too easy because Elizabeth got it on the first try - it was indeed Villarrica in Chile - I'll post something on Villarrica later this weekend. Anyway, for the weekend, I'll leave you with this photo. Hopefully it won't be so easy ... but then again, you all seem to be pretty good at this.
Scoreboard
volcanista - 1
Elizabeth - 1
all the rest of you - 0
The new photo:
Good luck.
eklemetti | September 11, 2009The first Mystery Volcano Photo worked out so well, I thought I'd try a second one, this time culled from my personal collection. I'll try to figure out a way to post the scoreboard on the blog so you can keep track of your standing as MVP continues.
Take your best guess!
Enjoy the weekend.
eklemetti | September 11, 2009To the updates!
Batu Tara volcano in Indonesia. The volcano is currently producing small ash plumes.
I was distracted enough by trying to figure out a way to teach about Miller Indices that I plum forgot to post this week's USGS/SI Weekly Volcanic Activity Report. It was a fairly quiet week so you didn't miss much. Enjoy it at your leisure.
Rabaul must be positioned on the globe in such a way that NASA's Aqua satellite always gets a good shot at it. The Earth Observatory posted a new image of the plume from Rabaul and it looks thicker and more ash-laden than the image posted a few weeks ago.…
eklemetti | September 9, 2009The first Mystery Volcano Photo (MVP, for short) seem to go well and indeed, the volcano in question was Concepcion in Nicaragua. Congratulations to volcanista for nailing it on the first try. I'll have to keep a tally of the winners for each MVP to name a, well, MVP MVP. So far, the scoresheet looks like that.
Volcanista - 1
All the rest of yous - 0
I think we know who has the upper hand.
Volcan Concepcion on Isla Omtepe in Nicaragua.
Anyway, Concepcion! The volcano is a stratovolcano on the island of Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua, which it shares with Madera, another active stratocone. It is…
eklemetti | September 8, 2009I'm going to start a little feature on these slow volcano days ... Introducing the "Mystery Volcano Photo"! I'll post a picture of a volcano and feel free to take a whack at identifying the volcano. I'll follow up with information on the volcano ... right now you can play for community honor, but who knows, maybe I'll get some prizes to give away.
So, without further ado, Mystery Volcano #1 (9/8/2009). Make your guess(es) in the comments. Good luck!
eklemetti | September 6, 2009San Cristobal in Nicaragua
I don't have much in the way of details, but the Associated Press is reporting that San Cristobal in Nicaragua has erupted this evening. The volcano reportedly experienced an explosive eruption and that nearby villages (how nearby is unclear) have received ash fall from the eruption. If it is any indication, government officials did issue a warning to 25 districts around the volcano and so far no casualties have been reported.
UPDATE 8:30 AM (EDT) 9/7/2009: A few more details have come out about the eruption. The ash plume reached ~8,000 m / 26,000 feet, although…
eklemetti | September 4, 2009Lets get right to it!
"Manmade volcanoes": can they solve global warming?
It does indeed seem that something is happening beneath Kanlaon in the Philippines. PHIVOLCS reports that the volcano experienced 257 volcanic earthquakes from August 23 to September 1, well above the usually "background" level of ~20-30 a week. Most of this seismicity is centered on the northwest slope of the volcano, suggesting that if magma is moving, it is moving up under this side of the system. However, the seismicity doesn't necessarily have to be magma moving up to erupt. It could very easily be moving up in the…