eklemetti | July 30, 2009The next up in my Volcano Profiles Series, is one of the most remote volcanoes on the planet, yet also one of the more closely studied and monitored (albeit from afar). Joining Vesuvius, Hood and Rabaul is Mt. Erebus, an active volcano on Ross Island in Antarctica and it definitely has some unique features.
VOLCANO PROFILE: MT. EREBUS
Mt. Erebus in Antarctica with a local resident in the foreground.
Location: Antarctica* (technically, it is on the part of Antarctica claimed by New Zealand, but the Antarctic Treaty System more or less makes the continent an international zone.)
Height: 3,794…
eklemetti | July 30, 2009This is likely my last update until the end of next week sometime, so feel free to use it for any new volcano news you might see. Look for the Erebus Volcano Profile to be posted on Friday sometime, followed by the vote for the next Profile. Next time I post I'll be (back) in the eastern time zone!
With that, I leave you with the latest USGS/SI Weekly Volcano Report.
Highlights (not counting Shiveluch) include:
Small ash plumes were spotted several times from Batu Tara in Indonesia.
Explosions, ashfall and earthquakes were reported at Nevado del Huila in Colombia.
There were reports of…
eklemetti | July 27, 2009Again, sorry about the paucity of posts. Getting prepared to move 3/4 of the way across a continent will do that. Look for the next Volcano Profile, this time for Erebus in Antarctica, to be posted sometime in the next week or so.
We did get some news over the weekend of a large eruption at Shiveluch. The volcano in Kamchatka has been active all summer, but on Saturday it produced a 5,000 meter / ~23,000 foot ash plume. This was accompanied by 170 earthquakes and multiple avalanches, likely produced by the collapsing dome on the summit of the volcano. There is a little more information about…
eklemetti | July 22, 2009Your volcano news!
Thanks, as always, to the USGS/SI Global Volcanism Program.
Highlights include:
The alert level at Sakurajima was raised from 2 to 3 by the Japanese Meteorological Agency. This was due to the increasing frequency of explosions at the volcano, some of which produced ash plumes up to 1.8-2.7 km / 6-9,000 feet.
Ash was reported up to 3 km away from Ibu in Indonesia. However, officials in Indonesia lowered the alert from 3 to 2, but tourists are still restricted from going with 2 km of the volcano.
Lots of activity at Shiveluch in Kamchatka. You can see some of the activity in…
eklemetti | July 21, 2009The servers and software behind the scenes here at ScienceBlogs will be getting upgraded tonight (7/21). After 7 PM (Eastern), commenting will be turned off (even though the comment form will still be visible). Hopefully things will be up and running by the morning, but if things seem squirrelly, rest assured the honchos at sB are on it.
eklemetti | July 20, 2009Starting today and going until early August, you might see fewer posts on Eruptions than you're accustomed. This is because I'm in the process of moving to Ohio to get set up to start my new job as an assistant professor at Denison University. I'm excited about the move, but as you can imagine, trying to pull up stakes in California and trek two-thirds of the way across the continent will take up a lot of my time. I will miss the easy access to volcanoes here on the Left Coast, but I am excited to get (mostly) permanent employment, set up my own lab and to be able to teach geology again!…
eklemetti | July 17, 2009Some of the articles you might have missed this week ...
A lava flow from Kilauea breaks local traffic laws in the Royal Gardens subdivision, Hawai'i
The Mayon Watch continues in the Philippines. No eruption yet, but some of the local newspapers are printing stories talking about "odd animal behavior" and other local "myths" about predicting the volcano, such as the wells drying up. Now, this is not to say that these things might have some predictive value (especially changes in the water table near the volcano as it inflates/deflates), but so far there are no robust scientific studies that…
eklemetti | July 16, 2009
Shishaldin volcano in Alaska.
Yesterday I mentioned in the SI/USGS Weekly Report update that things appear to be afoot at Shishaldin in the Aleutians. Well, I checked the Shishaldin webicorder today and indeed, [SPECULATION] something seems suspect. Now, the increasing signal might be wholly unrelated to any magmatic activity, but it is interesting to see an increase in the seismicity after the increase in the intensity of thermal anomaly at the summit crater.
AVO's latest statement (from yesterday) seems to think that nothing too much is up:
Cloudy conditions prevented views of Shishaldin…
eklemetti | July 15, 2009Your weekly dose of volcanism from the USGS/Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program.
Highlights (not counting Mayon), include:
The activity at Mando Hararo in Ethiopia appears to be a fissure eruption. Ground observations saw a 4-5 kilometers / ~2.5-3 mile fissure with new predominantly 'a'a lava flows that were 2-3 m thick ... the fissure was lined with scoria ramparts 30-50 m high. They did not see any active lava, though.
As some Eruptions readers have pointed out from the OMI SO2 maps, Sarychev Peak (Russia) is still producing gas-and-steam (with some ash) plumes, mostly drifting off to the…
eklemetti | July 13, 2009
Anak Krakatau erupting as seen from Rataka Island. Image taken by Marco Fulle of Stromboli Online.
I frequent the Astronomy Picture of the Day website run by NASA on a daily basis. Yet somehow today I didn't check the site until well into the evening and was greeted by one of the best astronomy-volcano images I've seen in a while. Marco Fulle of Stromboli Online captured this image of Anak Krakatau erupting (in 2008 or 2009 ... its unclear in the caption) with Ursa Major rising over the volcano. There have been quite a few volcano-related images on APOD, but alas, they don't have a "volcano…
eklemetti | July 13, 2009
Mayon erupting in August 2004.
The increasing unrest at Mayon in the Philippines has prompted National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) to recommend the evacuation of over 75,000 people from around the volcano. This, however, will only happen if the activity at the volcano continues to increase. The volcano currently sits at Alert Level 2 (increasing unrest) and if it were to increase to Level 3 (increased tendency towards eruption), then the evacuations of the first ~1,800 families closest to the volcano would begin. Only if the volcano reached Alert Level 4 (hazardous eruption imminent…
eklemetti | July 12, 2009I haven't done too many interviews in my day, so this was kind of fun. Wander on over to The Reef Tank and you can read my interview - mostly about the role of water in its many forms on Earth in understanding magmatism and volcanism. Thanks to Ava from The Reef Blog for the interview!
And if you run a blog or website and want to interview me, feel free to drop me a line:
eklemetti | July 10, 2009Another fun weekend for me analyzing zircon on the SHRIMP-RG at Stanford University! I really know how to live it up during the summer.
Some news bits:
The 2009 dome at Redoubt in Alaska steaming on July 2, 2009. Image taken by Cyrus Read, courtesy of USGS/AVO
In another sign that Redoubt's 2009 eruption might be at an end, AVO has ceased 24 hour staffing of their operations center. They still warn that Redoubt might still have more activity up its sleeve, but as of now, things are pretty quite. The latest update on Redoubt reports that the new dome continues to steam away and seismicity…
eklemetti | July 9, 2009Hydrothermal fields are tricky beasts. They can wax and wane as the magmatic system heats and cools, as the water table rises and falls and as other events such as earthquakes or explosions might change the conduit systems. Changes are relatively common, as we've seen in recent events in the Yellowstone Basin and with the changes within the Waimangu Valley in New Zealand. Understanding the cause-and-effect relationships in these fields can be a challenge even to the most seasoned volcanologist.
Prikolny Geyser near Uzon Caldera in Kamchatka. Image taken in July 2009.
Case in point is the…
eklemetti | July 8, 2009All the volcano news that is fit to print, all thanks to the USGS/Smithsonian GVP!
Highlights (not include Manda Hararo, Kilauea and Mayon) include
San Miguel in El Salvador has been experiencing increased seismicity. The last time the volcano erupted was in 2002.
A pilot spotted a ~10,000 foot / 3 km ash plume emanating from Anak Krakatau in Indonesia.
Another ash plume, this time at Ubinas, Peru, was spotted by pilots rising to ~6.7-9.1 km / 20-30,000 feet.
Explosions were heard from Suwanose-jima in Japan, but no associated ash plumes were spotted.
It sounds like a lava dome has been…
eklemetti | July 8, 2009Two papers submitted, one to go. Keeps you quite busy, let me tell you.
Lava flow from a 2006 eruption on Mayon in the Philippines.
A few bits of news today:
A few more details about the ongoing watch of Mayon in the Philippines . There have been apparently no changes in the shape of the floor of the crater as you might expect if magma was rising underneath. However, there has been an overall inflation of Mayon since the unrest began a few weeks ago. PHIVOLCS will be checking the sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide output of the volcano soon as well.
Lots of articles this week about the "…
eklemetti | July 6, 2009A quick update on the rockfall in the Halema`uma`u (got it right this time!) Crater at Kilauea. Last week a rockfall blocked the vent that had been glowing for most of the year from the lava below, but the debris clogged the vent, producing minor accidental tephra explosion.
Lava in the recently "clogged" Halema`uma`u vent at Kilauea. Taken July 6, 2009, courtesy of HVO.
Well, it didn't take long for lava to retake the "clogged" vent. New video from HVO shows lava bubbling back up through the clogged vent (see the video in the above link). The lava has formed a small lava and even produced…
eklemetti | July 6, 2009Sorry about the lack of posts - the holiday and "real life" had stepped in the way.
On with the news!
Mayon Volcano in the Philippines with Legazpi City in the foreground.
Mayon, one of the most active volcanoes in the Philippines, is causing concern due to increasing signs of activity. Renato Solidum, the director of PHIVOLCS (Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology), said that there has been increasing seismic activity and "glow" at the summit of the volcano near (~20 miles / 45 km) Legazpi City. However, even after this sense of increasing activity, the alert level (1) has not…
eklemetti | July 2, 2009
The Halema'uma'u Crater at Kilauea on June 29, 2009, prior to a rockfall on June 30th that has blocked the vent. Image courtesy of HVO.
There is a bit of a buzz today about significant rockfalls that occurred in Halema'uma'u Crater at Kilauea on June 30th. Some articles have suggested that the rockfall has "snuffed out" glowing vent in the Crater. Well, this is partially true. HVO is reporting that the glow that has been seen at Halema`uma`uma has been, in fact, gone since the rockfall. Here is the report of the event:
A sequence of rockfalls, some quite large, within the Halema'uma'u vent…
eklemetti | July 2, 2009Three days ago, I received an email from Eruptions reader Gijs de Reijke who was curious about something he noticed in the daily OMI SO2 images:
OMI sulfur dioxide map over Ethiopia for June 30, 2009.
Now, I wasn't quite sure what to make of it other than the fact that there was an awful lot of sulfur dioxide in the vicinity of Addis Ababa, which seemed odd. If we look at a map of the active volcanoes in Ethiopia (below), a majority of the ones we might suspect if the SO2 was volcano are to the north (Erte Ale, Dallafilla), but this patch is smack-dab in the middle of the country, looking…