"According to seismic data, a large eruptive event began at 6:25 UTC on February 27 at Sheveluch volcano. ... Ash deposits were noted at Klyuchi at 21:00 on February 27. The thickness of ash mixed with snow was about 1 cm. Clouds obscured the volcano all time. According to satellite data from Russia, a ... thermal anomaly was registered near the dome. Probably this anomaly connects with a large pyroclastic flow on the south-western flank of the volcano. An ash cloud of length about 45 km (28 mi) was noted in 13-16 km elevation to the north-west from the volcano at this time."
Lava flow entering the sea on La Réunion island on 26th Feb. 2005 (Photo: IMaz Press )
New interesting developments take place on La Réunion island, where the eruption has entered e new phase: While visual lava emission from the vents in the Plaine des Osmondes at about 1600 m a.s.l. more or less stopped on the 24th, a large river of lava, believed to originate from accumulation beneath the flow field emerged from there on the afternoon of the 25th, travelling about 5 km in less than 2 hours down the Grandes Pentes (the steep ocean-side slope inside the horse-shoe-like open caldera), cutting the national road and entering the ocean. From Thursday 24th on, shallow earthquakes appeared seismicity beneath Dolomieu crater on the summit of the volcano, increasing to a swarm with several hundreds of quakes up to magnitude 3 on Saturday 26th. This might be an indicator of the formation of a new pit crater. At the same time, a new vent opened on the North East rift zone above "Bois Blanc" within the "Trou de Sable" on the northern boarder of the enclos at 450 m altitude. A new lava flow progressed within the enclos and stopped about 100 m above the national road. The volcano observatory warnes that an eruption "hors enclos" (outside the caldera) now should be considered a possibility within the next days. The area is being kept under under close surveillance.
- abbreviated from a report by Thomas Staudacher, head of the volcano observatory
AVO did not receive reports of activity at Korovin volcano in the Atka volcanic center after the original report of ash-and-steam emissions on 24 February. During 25 February to 4 March, cloud cover prohibited satellite views of the volcano and no unusual seismicity was registered. ----------------
Augustine volcano seen from the air on 4 January, 2006 (photo courtesy: G. McGimsey, USGS-AVO)
Augustine volcano, Alaska, is showing more and more unrest and the Alaskan Volcan Observatory announced an increase of alert level to ORANGE, which means that an eruption is considered possible within a short time.
Since May 2005, seismic activity at Augustine has been gradually increasing. The increase in earthquakes located directly under the summit of the volcano has also been accompanied by a detectable swelling (up to a total of 5 cm as in early Jan) of the volcano. In early and mid December, a number of small steam explosions were recorded by seismic instruments on the volcano. Views of the summit following these explosions revealed new steaming cracks and localized deposits of debris. In addition, airborne gas measurements and thermal imaging measurements have shown an increase in the output of volcanic gas and heat at the summit of the volcano. The highest temperature recorded, on January 4, was 390 C (750 F). AVO interprets these changes as a sign that new magma is accumulating beneath the volcano's summit. Based on an analysis of past and current earthquake locations, GPS, gas, and heat data, this new magma may have risen to sea level or higher.
--- Source: adapted from information on the AVO's website (11 Jan).
Aerialphoto of the summit of Fourpeaked volcano on an overflight on the 24th of Sep 2006 showing several steaming vents on its summit. (Photo courtesy: Cyrus Read, AVO/USGS)
The first known historic eruption of Fourpeaked volcano on the Alaska peninsula is taking its course. Several vents emitting gasses and ash have appeared on the glacier-topped volcano and are slowly melting the ice cap.
On September 17, an explosion of ash, gas, and steam from Fourpeaked Mountain 320 km (200 mi) SW of Anchorage on the Alaska Peninsula marked the onset of unrest at this long-dormant, ice-clad volcano. AVO elevated the level of concern color code to YELLOW on September 20. Since then, AVO has gathered aerial and ground-based information and also initiated installation of geophysical instrumentation to better track activity at Fourpeaked. Based on our observations and limited geologic understanding of the volcano, it is possible that significant eruptive activity could occur in the coming days to weeks. Over the weekend and continuing today, AVO flew a variety of missions to Fourpeaked volcano. The main findings are as follows: (1) Observers saw a linear series of vents running north from the summit for about 1 km (0.6 mi). Most of these vents were vigorously emitting steam and other volcanic gasses. In the immediate vicinity of the vents, the glacier had been disrupted and showed signs of subsidence. (2) Gas measurements reveal that emission rates of sulfur dioxide, hydrogren sulfide, and carbon dioxide were all high. The sulfur dioxide emission rate was roughly equivalent to that measured at Augustine before its January 2006 eruptions. A distinct sulfur smell was evident up to 50 km (30 mi) from Fourpeaked's summit. (3) Marked scouring of a glacier flowing west from the summit indicates flooding, probably from the September 17th event.
Enjoying a break during a long hike (Bob, Phil, Tom, and Pam; l. to r.)
The two volcano tours on Hawai'i have come to an end, or better, the time to enjoy these fresh memories has now started. We look back on 10 days packed with impressions from exceptional activity at Kilauea volcano,- we have been incredibly lucky both as to activity (Kilauea was/still is in one of its most active phases since the start of the eruption in 1983), and the weather and last but not least thanks to the great mix of people we have had on board. Not only got we to see lots of lava during the 5 days each, but we also had our great share of fun, met interesting new people from all over and did many other interesting and nice activities aside. Tom took many photos, some of which will soon be available (mainly on www.decadevolcano.net).
Due to the sucess of the tour, the VolcanoDiscovery Hawai'i team (Tom, Phil and Philippe) can offer to repeat the tour for individuals or small groups at almost any date on request, in English and/or French as well as Portuguese. In addition, two new fixed dates, now open for inscriptions, are now set up for mid November: 13-18 and 20-25 November, 2005. Details of the tour can be found at this page. (Since Tom will be on location as well during these tours, the languages the tour can be done, are: German, English, French, Danish, Italian, Greek and Portuguese or a mix of these).
On repeated visits by the Volcano Discovery Hawaii Team during the past 10 days, activity levels at Kilauea volcano were seen to be at very high levels:
Two large clusters of lava sea entries were/are active, fed by two early separated tube systems, with the eastermost one being the most active one. Large and many breakouts of lava occur over a wide area, both on the various lavashields below and around Pu'u O'o, on the steep pali (the steeper hillside towards the ocean, corresponding a major fault, where the coastal section of Big Island is moving downwards to the ocean), and on the flat coastal flowfield. Some of the breakouts on the pali produced long channelled flows, estimated to be about 200-500m long, beautifully visible at night. On the E part of the Pali an area of about 1km width has been covered with recent flows during the past few days and the whole area could be seen glowing. Immediately next to Pu'u O'o, a glowing E-aligned row of hornitos, some spattering, mark the underground path of the lava. Inside Pu'u O'o, the crater floor is just a few meters lower than the lowest part of the N rim, covered by recent overflows from the northermost cluster of vents. During a vist on the 17th of Feb., at least 7 different vents inside the crater were spattering, throwing lava up to 30m high; other 5-7 ones were glowing brightly. On another visit on the 23rd, spattering activity had largely ceased.
The eruption at Piton de la Fournaise volcano on La Réunion island continues, sending lava flows down the steep flank of the volcano's E flank towards the sea. A brief pause during the eruption occurred between 21 and 23 Feb., where lava emission and eruption tremor were at very low levels, and many believed the eruption was actually over. The following is a report from Thomas Staudacher, head of the volcano observaotry of Piton de la Fournaise:
"After a periode of low activity, eruption tremor increased again from Monday, Feb 21 and is actually at a quite high level. Two eruption sites were active, the first one being the principal vent at 1600 m altitude above la Plaine des Osmondes, a second vent is active from the northern caldera wall at about 1200 m altitude within the Plaine des Osmondes. The first vent is releasing a volcanic plume and several pahoehoe type lava flows, but no lava fountains are visible. The second vent releases also very fluid pahoehoe lava flows with a quite large debit. The associated lava flows cover a large area within the Plaine des Osmondes and smaller lava flows reach now about 600 m altitude in the Grand Brûlé."
24 Feb. 2005 As the INGV reports, Etna's SE crater has resumed its emissions of dense black ash on the morning of the 24th.- The SE crater, the youngest of Etna's 4 summit craters, had been the site of vigourous activity throughout much of 1998-2001, but remained quiet after the end of the July-August 2001 summit and flank eruption. In early 2005, sporadic ash emissions resumed, sometimes accompanied by visible glow at night, indicating that magma once more has risen inside its conduit. More spectacular activity from this crater might follow during the next weeks or months.
Kilauea is erupting a lot of lava and the expedition is a huge sucess (so far)... Two active ocean entries, uncountable breakouts on the flowfield and the upper slopes as well as an intense activity at and around the Pu'u O'o cone are present. Tom and his small group are on location,- more photos and reports will be posted when time permitting.
Piton de la Fournaise has its first eruption in 2005. This is from a report sent to the volcano listserv by Thomas Staudacher (Observatoire volcanologique du Piton de la Fournaise):
"A new seismic crisis started at Piton de la Fournaise volcano at about 13h local time (on the 17th of Feb.) with about 100 events within 90 minutes. After that the crisis weakened down but restarted at 17h38 local time with several hundreds of seismic events. Strong deformations are observed at the same time by the tiltmeter and extensometer network. Eruption tremor appeared from 20h35, first at a very low level but from 20h50 tremor became very strong. Eruption site seems to be situated close to Nez Coupé de Sainte Rose and the gendarme de Sainte Rose observed very strong lava flows in the Grand Brûlé."
Since the 31th of January, lava from Kilauea volcano, Big Island, Hawai'i, is flowing into the sea again at two different entry points. Both entries, about 6 km apart, are well alimentated and consits of clusters of 10-15 separated entries, some as lava falls over older cliffs, some as lava gushing out from tubes directly into the surf or temporary black-sand beaches. A great number of breakouts occur all over the slope connecting the vent Pu'u O'o and the coastal flat as well as on the coastal area itself. Pu'u O'o itself is brightly glowing at night, with about 15 active vents, some of which were observed violently spattering (as on Thu., 10th). The VolcanoDiscovery team is on location and has visited the areas a few days ago and will probably post more updates including photographs in the coming days.
As our colleague Charles Rivière reports, some new activity from the summit craters occurred today at around 3pm local time,- probably from the SE crater which had shown minor, sporadic ash emissions in the past weeks already, of Etna . The activity could not be observed because of bad weather conditions, but was registered by the seismic network of the INGV (the Italian volcanology research council). Fall of black, fresh ash was observed to the SE of the volcano including the city of Catanaia. Source:Charles Rivière's website (in French)
The following is an abbreviated report following a message posted on the Volcano Listserv (9 Feb. 2005) and a message from the Volcanological Survey of Indonesia who monitor the Indonesian volcanoes:
Renewed activity occured at Egon volcano (Lesser Sunda islands, Indonesia) on 6 and 7 February 2005. The eruptions were preceded by an increase in tremor, and consisted of the ejection of "glowing lava" and lapilli-sized material deposited on the volcano's S flank. A new fissure on the volcano's souther slope was detected streching down as far as 1000m from the crater. Before and after the 7 February eruption there was a strong scent of sulfur in the villages of Hebing and Hale. One villager was knocked unconscious due to the gas. All of the vegetation along a fissure on the volcano's S flank had died, also indicating that there was a strong gas emission.
The eruption plume of Manam volcano, New Guinea, seen from space - Image Source: NASA Terra/MODIS, October 2004, 1:05 UTC
A large explosive eruption occured at Manam volcano in Papua New Guinea, as Andrew Tupper, a Senior Meteorologist from the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, reports via the Volcano Listserv:
"There was a large volcanic eruption at Manam, Papua New Guinea around 14UTC on 27/1/05 (last week), which has received little media attention. One person died (thousands of people evacuated months ago), a number of people were injured, and according to the reports that we have received from Rabaul Volcano Observatory, the volcanic observatory on the island destroyed, along with its HF radio, seismograph, and a satellite phone that an airline had donated a few weeks ago to help with eruption warnings. According to the PNG National, some people had returned on that day from the displacement camps on the PNG mainland to gather food from their gardens, only to have their boat destroyed by rocks from the eruption. The Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre has put some satellite images of the eruption cloud at this page.
We put a maximum height of 21 km on the eruption cloud in real time, but inpost-analysis, 21-24 km may be a better estimate. The cloud was extremely difficult to track as it was ice-rich and mixed with monsoonal storms, but dispersion models and our satellite analysis suggest that amid-tropospheric portion spread quite quickly westwards over Irian Jaya, while higher cloud remained near the eruption site for some time."
After weeks of intense work, the new website of VOLCANO DISCOVERY is finally online and the small company has found its virtual "home". I am now running VOLCANO DISCOVERY together with my friend and partner Tobias Schorr, whom some of you might know from Methana already.
A warm welcome from our side to invite you to have a look at our new pages. There might be some bugs and phrasing / type errors still in them, please let us know if you find something. As usual, feedback is highly welcome.
Welcome on this website - we're looking foreward to welcome you on one of our tours soon!
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