Smithsonian/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report 16-22 November 2011
From: "Kuhn, Sally" <KUHNS@xxxxxx>
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Smithsonian/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report
16-22 November 2011
Sally Kuhn Sennert - Weekly Report Editor
URL: http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/
New Activity/Unrest: | Hierro, Canary Islands (Spain) | Nyamuragira, Democratic Republic of Congo | Nyiragongo, Democratic Republic of Congo
Ongoing Activity: | Cerro Hudson, Southern Chile | Karymsky, Eastern Kamchatka (Russia) | Kilauea, Hawaii (USA) | Kizimen, Eastern Kamchatka (Russia) | Popocatépetl, México | Puyehue-Cordón Caulle, Central Chile | Sakura-jima, Kyushu | Sangay, Ecuador | Shiveluch, Central Kamchatka (Russia)
The Weekly Volcanic Activity Report is a cooperative project between the Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Program and the US Geological Survey's Volcano Hazards Program. Updated by 2300 UTC every Wednesday, notices of volcanic activity posted on these pages are preliminary and subject to change as events are studied in more detail. This is not a comprehensive list of all of Earth's volcanoes erupting during the week, but rather a summary of activity at volcanoes that meet criteria discussed in detail in the "Criteria and Disclaimers" section. Carefully reviewed, detailed reports on various volcanoes are published monthly in the Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network.
Note: Many news agencies do not archive the articles they post on the Internet, and therefore the links to some sources may not be active. To obtain information about the cited articles that are no longer available on the Internet contact the source.
New Activity/Unrest
HIERRO Canary Islands (Spain) 27.73°N, 18.03°W; summit elev. 1500 m
Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN) reported that during 16-22 November the submarine eruption continued S of El Hierro Island. During this period, the amplitude of the tremor showed two rapid changes, a decrease in amplitude at 2200 on 17 November and an increase at 1710 on 19 November. Seismic amplitudes decreased between late 20 November and mid-day on 21 November, and then remained stable at values similar to those noted during 19-25 October. Superficial activity over the emission center was rare, characterized by alternating days without seawater discoloration and days where there was minor gas and tephra content in the water and persistent discoloration.
During the period, 200 seismic events were located, most of them offshore to the N of the island at depths of 16-23 km and a maximum magnitude of 3.7. Seventeen of these events were felt by residents at a maximum intensity value of III using EMS-98 (European Macroseismic Scale). GPS data analyses showed little deformation in the horizontal components, while in the vertical component stations located in the N of the island showed uplift and the rest showed subsidence.
Geologic Summary. The triangular island of Hierro is the SW-most and least studied of the Canary Islands. The massive Hierro shield volcano is truncated by a large NW-facing escarpment formed as a result of gravitational collapse of El Golfo volcano about 130,000 years ago. The steep-sided 1500-m-high scarp towers above a low lava platform bordering 12-km-wide El Golfo Bay, and three other large submarine landslide deposits occur to the SW and SE. Three prominent rifts oriented NW, NE, and south at 120 degree angles form prominent topographic ridges. The subaerial portion of the volcano consists of flat-lying Quaternary basaltic and trachybasaltic lava flows and tuffs capped by numerous young cinder cones and lava flows. Holocene cones and flows are found both on the outer flanks and in the El Golfo depression. Hierro contains the greatest concentration of young vents in the Canary Islands. Uncertainty surrounds the report of an historical eruption in 1793.
Source: Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN) http://www.01.ign.es/ign/layout/volcaVolcanologia.do
NYAMURAGIRA Democratic Republic of Congo 1.408°S, 29.20°E; summit elev. 3058 m
On 18 November, Virunga National Park reported that lava flows from the eruption along a fissure 11-12 km ENE of Nyamuragira's main crater had possibly stalled. An observer aboard an overflight a few days before noted that the lava did not appear to have moved any further N. A photo taken from the Rumangabo headquarters (7.5 km NE of the eruption site) on 16 November showed a tall cinder cone with lava fountains rising above the rim.
Geologic Summary. Africa's most active volcano, Nyamuragira (Also spelled Nyamulagira) is a massive basaltic shield volcano N of Lake Kivu and NW of Nyiragongo volcano. Lava flows from Nyamuragira cover 1,500 sq km of the East African Rift. The 3058-m-high summit is truncated by a small 2 x 2.3 km summit caldera that has walls up to about 100 m high. About 40 historical eruptions have occurred since the mid-19th century within the summit caldera and from numerous fissures and cinder cones on the volcano's flanks. A lava lake in the summit crater, active since at least 1921, drained in 1938. Twentieth-century flank lava flows extend more than 30 km from the summit, reaching as far as Lake Kivu.
Sources Virunga National Park http://gorillacd.org/
NYIRAGONGO Democratic Republic of Congo 1.52°S, 29.25°E; summit elev. 3470 m
According to NASA's Earth Observatory, a satellite image of Nyiragongo acquired on 15 November showed heat coming from the active lava lake in the summit crater.
Geologic Summary. One of Africa's most notable volcanoes, Nyiragongo contained an active lava lake in its deep summit crater that drained catastrophically through its outer flanks in 1977. In contrast to the low profile of its neighboring shield volcano, Nyamuragira, Nyiragongo displays the steep slopes of a stratovolcano. Benches in the steep-walled, 1.2-km-wide summit crater mark the levels of former lava lakes, which have been observed since the late 19th century. About 100 parasitic cones are located on the volcano's flanks and along a NE-SW zone extending as far as Lake Kivu. Monitoring is done from a small observatory building located in Goma, ~18 km S of the Nyiragongo crater.
Source: NASA Earth Observatory http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/
Ongoing Activity
CERRO HUDSON Southern Chile 45.90°S, 72.97°W; summit elev. 1905 m
OVDAS-SERNAGEOMIN reported that satellite imagery and an area web camera showed no plumes rising from Cerro Hudson during 7-15 November. Seismic activity decreased significantly, reaching a low level characterized by no more than four earthquakes per hour and the absence of tremor. The Alert Level remained at Yellow, Level 4.
Geologic Summary. The ice-filled, 10-km-wide caldera of the remote Cerro Hudson volcano was not recognized until its first 20th-century eruption in 1971. Cerro Hudson is the southernmost volcano in the Chilean Andes related to subduction of the Nazca plate beneath the South American plate. The massive, 1905-m-high Cerro Hudson covers an area of 300 sq km. The compound caldera is drained through a breach on its NW rim, which has been the source of mudflows down the Río de Los Huemeles. Two cinder cones occur north of the volcano and others occupy the SW and SE flanks. Hudson has been the source of several major Holocene explosive eruptions. An eruption about 6700 years ago was one of the largest known in the southern Andes during the Holocene; another eruption about 3600 years ago also produced more than 10 cu km of tephra. An eruption in 1991 was Chile's second largest of the 20th century and formed a new 800-m-wide crater in the SW part of the caldera.
Source: Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería (SERNAGEOMIN) http://www.sernageomin.cl/
KARYMSKY Eastern Kamchatka (Russia) 54.05°N, 159.45°E; summit elev. 1536 m
KVERT reported that seismic activity continued at a moderate level at Karymsky during 11-18 November, and indicated that possible ash plumes rose to an altitude of 3.9 km (12,800 ft) a.s.l. Satellite imagery showed ash plumes that drifted 172 km E on 11 November and a thermal anomaly on the volcano during 11-12 November. The Aviation Color Code remained at Orange.
Geologic Summary. Karymsky, the most active volcano of Kamchatka's eastern volcanic zone, is a symmetrical stratovolcano constructed within a 5-km-wide caldera that formed about 7,600-7,700 radiocarbon years ago. Construction of the Karymsky stratovolcano began about 2,000 years later. The latest eruptive period began about 500 years ago, following a 2,300-year quiescence. Much of the cone is mantled by lava flows less than 200 years old. Historical eruptions have been Vulcanian or Vulcanian-Strombolian with moderate explosive activity and occasional lava flows from the summit crater. Most seismicity preceding Karymsky eruptions has originated beneath Akademia Nauk caldera, which is located immediately S of Karymsky volcano and erupted simultaneously with Karymsky in 1996.
Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/index_eng.php
KILAUEA Hawaii (USA) 19.421°N, 155.287°W; summit elev. 1222 m
During 16-22 November, HVO reported that the lava lake circulated and periodically rose and fell in the deep pit within Kilauea's Halema'uma'u Crater, remaining below the inner ledge (75 m below the crater floor). Almost daily measurements indicated that the gas plume from the vent continued to deposit variable amounts of ash and fresh spatter nearby. Incandescence was visible from the E and W edges of the Pu'u 'O'o crater floor, and from the 21 September fissure on the SE flank of Pu'u 'O'o cone. Pahoehoe flows, fed through lava tubes from the fissure, continued to be active about 5 km SE of Pu'u 'O'o based on intermittent views from satellite. Incandescence from a skylight on the lava tube was also observed. During 18-19 November the vent on the E edge of the crater produced lava flows that partially filled the depression left by the flank fissure eruption in September. There were also two brief and small lava-flow effusions from the W edge vent. Intermittent lava flows continued from the E vent during 20-22 November.
Geologic Summary. Kilauea, one of five coalescing volcanoes that comprise the island of Hawaii, is one of the world's most active volcanoes. Eruptions at Kilauea originate primarily from the summit caldera or along one of the lengthy E and SW rift zones that extend from the caldera to the sea. About 90% of the surface of Kilauea is formed of lava flows less than about 1,100 years old; 70% of the volcano's surface is younger than 600 years. A long-term eruption from the East rift zone that began in 1983 has produced lava flows covering more than 100 sq km, destroying nearly 200 houses and adding new coastline to the island.
Source: US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/
KIZIMEN Eastern Kamchatka (Russia) 55.130°N, 160.32°E; summit elev. 2376 m
KVERT reported moderate seismic activity at Kizimen during 10-18 November and a thermal anomaly that was detected on 11-14 and 17 November in satellite images. Video observations showed gas-and-steam activity during 10 and 13-14 November. A large lava flow on the NE and E flanks continued to effuse, and the crater was incandescent at night during 13-14 November. The Aviation Color Code remained at Orange.
Geologic Summary. Kizimen is an isolated, conical stratovolcano that is morphologically similar to Mount St. Helens prior to its 1980 eruption. The summit of Kizimen consists of overlapping lava domes, and blocky lava flows descend the flanks of the volcano, which is the westernmost of a volcanic chain north of Kronotsky volcano. The 2,376-m-high Kizimen was formed during four eruptive cycles beginning about 12,000 years ago and lasting 2,000-3,500 years. The largest eruptions took place about 10,000 and 8300-8400 years ago, and three periods of longterm lava-dome growth have occurred. The latest eruptive cycle began about 3,000 years ago with a large explosion and was followed by lava-dome growth lasting intermittently about 1,000 years. An explosive eruption about 1,100 years ago produced a lateral blast and created a 1.0 x 0.7 km wide crater breached to the NE, inside which a small lava dome (the fourth at Kizimen) has grown. A single explosive eruption, during 1927-28, has been recorded in historical time.
Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/index_eng.php
POPOCATEPETL México 19.023°N, 98.622°W; summit elev. 5426 m
During 16-20 November CENAPRED reported steam-and-gas emissions from Popocatépetl. A series of emissions was detected on 18 November; clouds prevented ground observations and no ashfall was reported. Based on information from the Mexico City MWO however, the Washington VAAC reported that an ash plume rose to an altitude of 7.6 km (25,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted SW that same day. Satellite imagery showed another ash plume drifting E at an approximate altitude of 9.1 km (30,000 ft) a.s.l. CENAPRED noted that at 1201 on 20 November an explosion produced an ash plume that rose approximately 2 km above the crater and drifted N. The explosion was heard in Amecameca (19 km NW). Steam-and-gas plumes rose from the crater during 21-22 November.
Geologic Summary. Popocatépetl, whose name is the Aztec word for smoking mountain, towers to 5,426 m 70 km SE of Mexico City and is North America's second-highest volcano. Frequent historical eruptions have been recorded since the beginning of the Spanish colonial era. A small eruption on 21 December 1994 ended five decades of quiescence. Since 1996 small lava domes have incrementally been constructed within the summit crater and destroyed by explosive eruptions. Intermittent small-to-moderate gas-and-ash eruptions have continued, occasionally producing ashfall in neighboring towns and villages.
Sources: Centro Nacional de Prevencion de Desastres (CENAPRED) http://www.cenapred.unam.mx/es/
Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/VAAC/messages.html
PUYEHUE-CORDON CAULLE Central Chile 40.590°S, 72.117°W; summit elev. 2236 m
Based on seismicity during 16-20 November, OVDAS-SERNAGEOMIN reported that the eruption from the Cordón Caulle rift zone, part of the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic complex, continued at a low level. Cloud cover prevented web camera views on 16 November, but satellite imagery showed an ash plume drifting 100 km SW and sparse ashfall to the E. During 18-20 November plumes observed with the web camera rose 2.5-3 km above the crater. Satellite imagery showed ash clouds drifting E and SE on 18 November and an ash plume drifting 250 km SE on 19 November. During the night on 20 November the crater was incandescent. Cloud cover prevented observations on 21 November. The Alert Level remained at Red.
According to a news article, flights in Uruguay and Argentina were disrupted or cancelled on 22 November due to the presence of ash.
Geologic Summary. The Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic complex (PCCVC) is a large NW-SE-trending late-Pleistocene to Holocene basaltic-to-rhyolitic transverse volcanic chain SE of Lago Ranco. The 1799-m-high Pleistocene Cordillera Nevada caldera lies at the NW end, separated from Puyehue stratovolcano at the SE end by the Cordón Caulle fissure complex. The Pleistocene Mencheca volcano with Holocene flank cones lies NE of Puyehue. The basaltic-to-rhyolitic Puyehue volcano is the most geochemically diverse of the PCCVC. The flat-topped, 2236-m-high Puyehue volcano was constructed above a 5-km-wide caldera and is capped by a 2.4-km-wide summit caldera of Holocene age. Lava flows and domes of mostly rhyolitic composition are found on the eastern flank of Puyehue. Historical eruptions originally attributed to Puyehue, including major eruptions in 1921-22 and 1960, are now known to be from the Cordón Caulle rift zone. The Cordón Caulle geothermal area, occupying a 6 x 13 km wide volcano-tectonic depression, is the largest active geothermal area of the southern Andes volcanic zone.
Sources: Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería (SERNAGEOMIN) http://www.sernageomin.cl/,
Agence France-Presse http://www.interaksyon.com/article/17953/volcanic-ash-disrupts-air-travel-in-uruguay-argentina
SAKURA-JIMA Kyushu 31.585°N, 130.657°E; summit elev. 1117 m
Based on information from JMA, the Tokyo VAAC reported that during 16-17 and 19-22 November explosions from Sakura-jima produced plumes that rose to altitudes of 1.8-3 km (6,000-10,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted S, SE, E, and N. Satellite imagery on 16 and 21 November showed ash emissions that later dissipated. On 19 November a pilot reported an ash plume at an altitude of 3 km (10,000 ft) a.s.l.
Geologic Summary. Sakura-jima, one of Japan's most active volcanoes, is a post-caldera cone of the Aira caldera at the northern half of Kagoshima Bay. Eruption of the voluminous Ito pyroclastic flow was associated with the formation of the 17 x 23-km-wide Aira caldera about 22,000 years ago. The construction of Sakura-jima began about 13,000 years ago and built an island that was finally joined to the Osumi Peninsula during the major explosive and effusive eruption of 1914. Activity at the Kita-dake summit cone ended about 4,850 years ago, after which eruptions took place at Minami-dake. Frequent historical eruptions, recorded since the 8th century, have deposited ash on Kagoshima, one of Kyushu's largest cities, located across Kagoshima Bay only 8 km from the summit. The largest historical eruption took place during 1471-76.
Source: Tokyo Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/VAAC/OTH/JP/messages.html
SANGAY Ecuador 2.002°S, 78.341°W; summit elev. 5230 m
The Washington VAAC reported that on 20 November an ash plume from a possible eruption at Sangay was observed by a pilot and drifted at an altitude of 5.9 km (19,500 ft) a.s.l. Ash was not detected in partly-cloudy satellite imagery.
Geologic Summary. The isolated Sangay volcano, located E of the Andean crest, is the southernmost of Ecuador's volcanoes, and its most active. It has been in frequent eruption for the past several centuries. The steep-sided, 5,230-m-high glacier-covered volcano grew within horseshoe-shaped calderas of two previous edifices, which were destroyed by collapse to the E, producing large debris avalanches that reached the Amazonian lowlands. The modern edifice dates back to at least 14,000 years ago. Sangay towers above the tropical jungle on the E side; on the other sides flat plains of ash from the volcano have been sculpted by heavy rains into steep-walled canyons up to 600 m deep. The earliest report of an historical eruption was in 1628. More or less continuous eruptions were reported from 1728 until 1916, and again from 1934 to the present. The more or less constant eruptive activity has caused frequent changes to the morphology of the summit crater complex.
Source: Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/VAAC/messages.html
SHIVELUCH Central Kamchatka (Russia) 56.653°N, 161.360°E; summit elev. 3283 m
KVERT reported that moderate seismic activity was detected at Shiveluch during 11-18 November, and indicated that possible ash plumes rose to a maximum altitude of 4.5 km (14,800 ft) a.s.l. Ground-based observers noted that a viscous lava flow continued to effuse in the crater formed during a 2010 eruption. Strong fumarolic activity at the lava dome was observed during 13-14 November; cloud cover prevented observations on the other days. Satellite imagery showed a thermal anomaly over the lava dome during 11-14 and 17 November and gas-and-steam plumes containing ash drifted 100 km E on 14 November. The Aviation Color Code remained at Orange.
Geologic Summary. The high, isolated massif of Shiveluch volcano (also spelled Sheveluch) rises above the lowlands NNE of the Kliuchevskaya volcano group and forms one of Kamchatka's largest and most active volcanoes. The currently active Molodoy Shiveluch lava-dome complex was constructed during the Holocene within a large breached caldera formed by collapse of the massive late-Pleistocene Strary Shiveluch volcano. At least 60 large eruptions of Shiveluch have occurred during the Holocene, making it the most vigorous andesitic volcano of the Kuril-Kamchatka arc. Frequent collapses of lava-dome complexes, most recently in 1964, have produced large debris avalanches whose deposits cover much of the floor of the breached caldera. Intermittent explosive eruptions began in the 1990s from a new lava dome that began growing in 1980. The largest historical eruptions from Shiveluch occurred in 1854 and 1964.
Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/index_eng.php
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Sally Kuhn Sennert
SI/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report Editor
Global Volcanism Program
http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History
Department of Mineral Sciences, MRC-119
Washington, D.C., 20560
Phone: 202.633.1805
Fax: 202.357.2476
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