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Report on Veniaminof (United States) — 19 September-25 September 2018


Veniaminof

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 19 September-25 September 2018
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2018. Report on Veniaminof (United States) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 19 September-25 September 2018. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (19 September-25 September 2018)

Veniaminof

United States

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


AVO reported that the eruption at Veniaminof continued during 19-25 September, as evidenced by nighttime incandescence recorded by the FAA web camera in Perryville (35 km S), elevated surface temperatures in thermal satellite data, and elevated seismic activity. A gas plume was occasionally visible during clear daytime conditions. A lava flow had traveled 800 m down the S flank of the summit cone by 14 September, though satellite images from 18 September indicated no further advancement. The Aviation Color Code remained at Orange and the Volcano Alert Level remained at Watch.

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)