Eruption profile
eklemetti | May 3, 2009Chaiten erupting in May 2008. Image courtesy of ONEMI.
Speaking of anniversaries, this weekend is the one-year mark for the Chaiten eruption (in spanish) in Chile, the first eruption at the volcano in ~9,000 years. Yes, indeed, the rhyolite eruption that caught most everyone by surprise is still going strong one year later, with two domes growing within the caldera (in spanish). The eruption produced some of the most impressive and sustained ash columns in years (see below) - climbing to 16 km/9 mi, abundant lahars and pyroclastic flows from the emergence and growth/collapse of the domes and…
eklemetti | April 23, 2009Back in the days when Eruptions was on Wordpress, I held a vote about what volcano should be the next to be profiled on this blog. The winner was Mt. Hood in Oregon, and after much waiting, the profile is here. I will actually be out of town until Monday doing some house shopping in this little town. Enjoy this look at one of the most picturesque (and hazardous - #4 in fact) volcanoes in the lower 48 states.
VOLCANO PROFILE: MT. HOOD
Mt. Hood, Oregon in August 2008 taken by Erik Klemetti.
Location: Oregon, U.S.A.
Height: 3,426 m / 11,240 ft
Geophysical location: Along the Cascade arc where…
eklemetti | April 9, 2009Tambora, Indonesia
There are big eruptions, then there are big eruptions. On April 10, 1815, Tambora, a volcano in Indonesia, produced one of the largest eruptions in human history. This eruption produced what became known as the "year without a summer" after the volcanic aerosols from the eruption produced some of the coldest summers in many parts of the world. The Tambora eruption in 1815 was a VEI 7, on a scale that goes to, well, 7*, putting it in a class of some of the largest and most violent eruptions imaginable - and I, for one, can hardly imagine what might happen if an eruption of…