eklemetti | October 13, 2008
On Sunday afternoon, a large ash eruption occurred at Halemaumau Caldera at Kilauea. Not only did the volcano belch more grey ash than usual, but also red-hot incandescent material can be clearly seen being thrown from the vent during the vigorous eruption. The coolest thing about the eruption is that it was all caught on film by the USGS/HVO. Take a look (at three times speed) - this video is from the morning of October 12, but there are a series of video from the whole weekend on the website.
eklemetti | October 13, 2008Â
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I'm a little behind on the news after spending the weekend field tripping at Lassen Peak. I'll be catching up soon, but to tide you over, here is a picture I took of some bubbling mudpots/springs at Bumpass Hell near Lassen Peak. The dark areas are pyrite crystals floating on the stew!
eklemetti | October 9, 2008
If you ever want your research to be picked up by the popular press, you pretty much need to publish in the journal Science. It (along with Nature) are seen as the Premier League of scientific publication, and even though there isn't a lot of agreement on whether what gets published in these journals is the best science has to offer (or whether it is just the most flashy), it definitely gets the press' attention.
Right now, there has been a lot of noise in the science press about a recent article that discusses predicting volcanic eruption. This research on Montserrat in the West Indies,…
eklemetti | October 7, 2008
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UPDATE 10.9.08: This photo is not from the current eruption (see the comments below), so disregard any comments I might have about the current state of activity.
Contrary to some of the earlier reports, the eruption at Soputan in Indonesia might be more impressive than previously though. Pictures of the eruption (above) show a fairly healthy eruption column coming from the volcano, although it is hard to tell if the image is just an eruption column or a column with an associated column-collapse pyroclastic flow heading down the far side of the volcano (in the picture). The former would…
eklemetti | October 7, 2008
Nevado del Huila in Colombia continues to keep officials in the southeast region of the country on their toes as they wait to see what the volcano might do. There was increased seismicity over the weekend according to Jair Cardoso of the Attention, Prevention and Disasters Committee, along with minor steam and ash emissions. The Colombian geological survey, INGEOMINAS, will be sending experts (including Marta Calvache and Cesar Eduardo Lopez) to examine the current state of the volcano and try to decipher what state the magmatic system is in: ready to erupt or just gurgling away.Â
(Of…
eklemetti | October 6, 2008
There are a few brief reports of a minor eruption at Soputan in Indonesia. The reports from the Associated Press mention a small eruption column that reached ~1,000 meters and was accompanied by ash fall and explosions. From the sound of it, the eruption(s) are minor Strombolian types, common at arc stratovolcanoes like Soputan. Indonesia officials have warned people to watch for potential lava extrusion that might follow these explosive, possible "throat-clearing" blasts. Soputan was reported to have erupted earlier this year and has erupted frequently over the last decade.
eklemetti | October 4, 2008
Finally, after a rather quiet week, we have news that yet another Aleutian volcano is showing signs of potential activity. Redoubt Volcano was seen steaming away in a recent flight over the stratovolcano. When combined with reports of "booming noises" and the scent of sulfur it all points towards increased chance of eruption. However, AVO points out that they have not seen any increase in seismicity at Redoubt so far, making it difficult to predict exactly what the future will bring for the volcano. The volcano last erupted in 1990 and an eruption in 1989Â (above)Â produced a VEI 3 blast…
eklemetti | September 29, 2008
The Discovery Channel brings us a story on how the exact (well, semi-exact if you read the article) date for the 79 A.D. eruption of Vesuvius has been nailed down by dating, well, fish sauce. The findings? The records of antiquity were right, it was probably around August 24, 79 A.D. and if you get to page 2, you'll find that the researchers - workers at the Pompeii's Applied Research Laboratory - say the fish sauce dates the eruption to somewhere in mid-August to mid-September. Why is this important? Recent archeological studies at Pompeii found a coin that dates to October of 79 A.D., so…
eklemetti | September 26, 2008
It has been awhile since we've talked of Chaiten, so I thought I'd touch upon "the eruption of 2008" (really, no one else is close). Spring time has arrived in southern Chile, and the Patagonia area has cleaned up a lot of the ash from the eruption (but not the town of Chaiten). National Tourism Service says that most towns and parks in the region are ready for tourists and even some tourist companies near Chaiten are good to go.
As for the volcano itself, the latest USGS update reports ash columns still being erupted and reaching up to 12,000 ft (3,700 meters), along with a "thermal…
eklemetti | September 26, 2008
Shiveluch in Kamchatka experience a small eruption today. Russian authorities reported a ~4,500 meter ash column with associated local earthquakes, likely related to the eruption. In the same article, both Karymsky and Klyuchevskaya Sopka (also known as Kliuchevskoi) are erupting or showing signs of increased activity.
Shiveluch is one of the many active volcanoes along the Kamchatkan arc that is on the far eastern side of Russia. It has been continuously erupting since 1999, mostly in the form of small explosions, pyroclastic flows and lava flows/domes - your typical arc volcano.
eklemetti | September 25, 2008
Thanks to everyone who has responded to my Eruptions poll so far. Looks like we have a couple clear favorites, based on the results right now:
Profiles of historic eruptions - 35%
Profiles of active volcanoes - 33%
Discussion of monitoring techniques - 18%
Discussion of volcanic hazards - 15%
So, I'll start thinking about some historic eruptions and active volcanoes for the next lull in activity. Thanks for everyone's input!
eklemetti | September 25, 2008
If anyone has been watching the earthquakes worldwide today, you might have noticed that there have been three >M2.5 earthquakes in the Yellowstone Caldera today at depths <10 km. Not to say that it is anything, but just something to note.
eklemetti | September 25, 2008
This might not be directly related to a volcanic eruption, but it has been picked up by a lot of news sources, so I thought I'd give it a mention. A report from researchers at University of Texas hypothesize that some very large coral boulders (up to 10 meters tall) that can be found on the shores of Tongatapu are, in fact, tsunami deposits. That is news enough, but they go on to say that the tsunami could have been volcanically triggered (i.e., started by an eruption or volcanic landslide). The corals are ~122,000 years old and a soil has formed on the corals, so the event was likely…
eklemetti | September 23, 2008
As you could probably figure out, sometimes there isn't much new volcano-related news out there in the get interwebs. I've been trying to think of ways to fill in some of that time, but I thought I'd ask you, the readers, what you'd like to see. Please respond to the poll (below) and leave me comments on any ideas you might have for material that you might find interesting here on Eruptions
The Eruptions Poll
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I look forward to your suggestions!
(Sorry about pushing you offsite for the poll. I can't seem to get a poll to embed itself here on Wordpress.…
eklemetti | September 21, 2008
It seems that a new fissure eruption has begun at Piton de la Fournaise on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean*. In fact, the report goes onto say that a small lava lake has formed at the main crater of the eruption. This marks the first eruption at Piton de la Fournaise since March 2007.
Piton de la Fournaise is a large shield volcano associated with the Reunion Island Hotspot. The volcano has frequent eruptions, mostly in the form of effusive lava flows of basalt, similar to the Hawaiian volcanoes. This could be an interesting new eruption because the initial eruptions suggest this is a…
eklemetti | September 18, 2008
Ruapehu is a noisy volcano, showing signs of eruptions on a yearly basis. It is also a potentially very hazardous volcano as it produces abundant lahars and has the capacity to generate a catastrophic lahar if the crater lake at the summit were to be breached by an eruption. This is why Ruapehu is one of the most closely watched volcanoes in the world, with all of its vitals being monitored on a daily basis. GNS Science in New Zealand is reporting that Ruapehu is headed into a new heating cycle, citing the increase in lake water temperature from 16 to 22C since August - and that seems like…
eklemetti | September 16, 2008
It is always fun to me when we discover that a volcano long considered dormant or extinct has seen activity in the recent past. I bring this up because Mount Nantai in Japan, a volcano that was considered to have last erupted over 10,000 to 20,000 years ago (if not longer) looks to have actually erupted as recently as 7,000 years ago. This might not seem like a big different to some folks, but this definitely puts the volcano in the "active" category if this date turns out to be accurate. The volcano looks to have had a number of explosive ash and pumice eruptions along with some dacite lava…
eklemetti | September 16, 2008
For those of us who track volcanoes and the hazards they present, the general consensus is that Mount Vesuvius in Italy is probably the most dangerous volcano in the world today. This is not because it is the biggest or most powerful, but because it is located on the outskirts of Naples, Italy, a city with over 2 million inhabitants (including the surrounding area). Evacuating such an area quickly and efficiently during a time of crisis might be, well, impossible. We know that Vesuvius can be destructive - just look at the fact that much of the Naples area is built on the deposits of the…
eklemetti | September 16, 2008
After the news of a sizable earthquake under Nevado del Huila, we can add Nevado del Ruiz to the list of volcanoes that have been shaken up recently. There was a M5.7 earthquake underneath Ruiz on Saturday (9/13), which is a pretty significant event. However, the earthquake was located at over 100 km depth, so likely it is not related to any magma movement at Ruiz. I will keep my eyes open for any reports of increasing unrest at Ruiz and at Huila in the coming days.
eklemetti | September 11, 2008
(Note: Yes, I am posting when I said I wouldn't, but I felt I needed to post about Colombia).
Colombian authorities are evacuating the area around Nevada del Huila after increased seismicity suggests that the volcano will erupt soon. There have been over 700 earthquakes - many of which are clearly related to moving magma - over the last week or so, indicating that Huila might be entering a new period of eruption.
One thing to note: The article I've linked to mentions an avalanche at Huila that was related to an eruption in 1994. I can't find any evidence that there was any volcanic activity…