map showing location of Mount Okmok. Image source: Cameron, Cheryl, courtesy of the Alaska Volcano Observatory / Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys

map showing location of Mount Okmok. Image source: Cameron, Cheryl, courtesy of the Alaska Volcano Observatory / Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys

Latest news:

Thursday, Aug 21, 2008
Okmok volcano (Aleutian Islands) activity update: low-level steam-and-ash plumes

AVO reported that on 13 August low-level steam-and-ash plumes from Okmok were visible on satellite imagery drifting SE at altitudes of 3-4.6 km (10,000-15,000 ft) a.s.l. During 14-17 August satellite observations were hindered due to cloud cover; seismic levels fluctuated possibly indicating that st...

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Tuesday, Aug 05, 2008
Okmok volcano (Aleutian Islands) activity update: continuing strong ash emissions
View of Okmok's ash plume emitting from multiple vents near intracaldera Cone D, taken at about 1:30 pm on August 3, 2008 by Jessica Larsen.

ash emissions emitting plumes reaching several kilometers height continue at Okmok volcano.

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Okmok volcano

Volcano type Central shield complex with nested caldera
Location Aleutian islands, 1383 km (859 mi) from Anchorage, 53.397° N / 168.166° W
Summit elevation 1073 m (3520 ft)
Last eruptions 1817, 1824, 1878(?), 1899, 1931, 1935, 1936, 1938, 1943, 1945, 1958, 1960, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1997, 2008
Typical eruption style Explosive and effusive

Background:

Okmok Volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian chain. It consists of a complex of shields truncated by a caldera and several active vents inside the caldera, which have built small cones and lava flows.
Okmok's caldera was formed by at least two collapses following catastrophic pyroclastic eruptions, at around 8200 y B.P. and 2400 y. B.P.
Within the caldera, the oldest volcanic deposits are brecciated pillow lavas and pyroclastic rocks once deposited in a caldera lake. The lake attained a maximum depth of about 150 m and the upper surface reached an elevation of about 475 m, at which point it overtopped the low point of the caldera rim. A small shallow lake near the outlet of the caldera is all that remains today. Three dissected tuff cones may have been produced by eruptions beneath the former caldera lake. Other cinder cones occur atop pillow lavas; such cones apparently breached the surface of the former lake. Cinder cones and associated lava flows that are younger than the caldera lake are identified by structures and textures characteristic of subaerial eruption. The documented eruption of 1945 occurred at a cinder cone near the southwest caldera wall; this cone may have been the site of all historical activity of Okmok volcano. Hot springs and fumaroles occur both within Okmok caldera and at Hot Springs cove, 20 km to the southwest.
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Source: abbreviated from AVO (http://www.avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/volcinfo.php?volcname=Okmok)