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Report on Veniaminof (United States) — 4 September-10 September 2013


Veniaminof

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 4 September-10 September 2013
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2013. Report on Veniaminof (United States) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 4 September-10 September 2013. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (4 September-10 September 2013)

Veniaminof

United States

56.17°N, 159.38°W; summit elev. 2507 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


AVO reported continuous seismic tremor at Veniaminof during 4-10 September, and elevated surface temperatures detected in satellite images consistent with lava effusion and fountaining. Cloud cover sometimes prevented web cam views (from Perryville, 32 km SSE) of the intracaldera cone, although on 4 September a diffuse ash plume was observed rising several hundred feet above the cone and drifting E. On 7 September the web cam recorded a plume more steam-rich than in recent days. No ash emissions were visible in web cam images on 10 September. The Volcano Alert Level remained at Watch and the Aviation Color code remained at Orange.

Geological Summary. Veniaminof, on the Alaska Peninsula, is truncated by a steep-walled, 8 x 11 km, glacier-filled caldera that formed around 3,700 years ago. The caldera rim is up to 520 m high on the north, is deeply notched on the west by Cone Glacier, and is covered by an ice sheet on the south. Post-caldera vents are located along a NW-SE zone bisecting the caldera that extends 55 km from near the Bering Sea coast, across the caldera, and down the Pacific flank. Historical eruptions probably all originated from the westernmost and most prominent of two intra-caldera cones, which rises about 300 m above the surrounding icefield. The other cone is larger, and has a summit crater or caldera that may reach 2.5 km in diameter, but is more subdued and barely rises above the glacier surface.

Source: US Geological Survey Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO)