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Report on Pavlof (United States) — January 1976


Pavlof

Natural Science Event Bulletin, vol. 1, no. 4 (January 1976)
Managing Editor: David Squires.

Pavlof (United States) Intermittent steam and ash emissions

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 1976. Report on Pavlof (United States) (Squires, D., ed.). Natural Science Event Bulletin, 1:4. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.NSEB197601-312030



Pavlof

United States

55.417°N, 161.894°W; summit elev. 2493 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


3-4 January: intermittent steam, grey smoke, and black ash. 5 January: black ash. 11-12 January: steam. At 2130 on 11 January a pilot reported the volcano erupting red-hot mud/lava up to 300 meters above the cone. 17 January: grey smoke. 22 January: steam. 24-25 January: grey smoke and steam. 29-30 January: constant steam. 31 January: very intermittent steam.

Geological Summary. The most active volcano of the Aleutian arc, Pavlof is a Holocene stratovolcano that was constructed along a line of vents extending NE from the Emmons Lake caldera. Pavlof and Pavlof Sister to the NE form a dramatic pair of symmetrical, glacier-covered stratovolcanoes that overlook Pavlof and Volcano bays. Little Pavlof is a smaller cone on the SW flank of Pavlof volcano, near the rim of Emmons Lake caldera. Unlike Pavlof Sister, eruptions have frequently been reported from Pavlof, typically Strombolian to Vulcanian explosive eruptions from the summit vents and occasional lava flows. The active vents lie near the summit on the north and east sides. The largest recorded eruption took place in 1911, at the end of a 5-year-long eruptive episode, when a fissure opened on the N flank, ejecting large blocks and issuing lava flows.

Information Contacts: P. Sventek, USAF, Cold Bay.