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Report on Sheveluch (Russia) — 17 December-23 December 2008


Sheveluch

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 17 December-23 December 2008
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2008. Report on Sheveluch (Russia) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 17 December-23 December 2008. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (17 December-23 December 2008)

Sheveluch

Russia

56.653°N, 161.36°E; summit elev. 3283 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


KVERT reported that seismic activity at Shiveluch was above background levels during 12-19 December. Based on interpretations of seismic data, ash plumes rose to an altitude of 4.5 km (14,800 ft) a.s.l. Visual observations of weak gas-and-steam emissions were noted during 12-14 and 18 December. Analysis of satellite imagery revealed a daily thermal anomaly on the lava dome. The Level of Concern Color Code remained at Orange.

Based on information from KVERT and analysis of satellite imagery, the Tokyo VAAC reported that during 21-22 December eruptions produced plumes to altitudes of 5.8-8.5 km (19,000-28,000 ft) a.s.l.

Geological Summary. The high, isolated massif of Sheveluch volcano (also spelled Shiveluch) rises above the lowlands NNE of the Kliuchevskaya volcano group. The 1,300 km3 andesitic volcano is one of Kamchatka's largest and most active volcanic structures, with at least 60 large eruptions during the Holocene. The summit of roughly 65,000-year-old Stary Shiveluch is truncated by a broad 9-km-wide late-Pleistocene caldera breached to the south. Many lava domes occur on its outer flanks. The Molodoy Shiveluch lava dome complex was constructed during the Holocene within the large open caldera; Holocene lava dome extrusion also took place on the flanks of Stary Shiveluch. Widespread tephra layers from these eruptions have provided valuable time markers for dating volcanic events in Kamchatka. Frequent collapses of dome complexes, most recently in 1964, have produced debris avalanches whose deposits cover much of the floor of the breached caldera.

Sources: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT), Tokyo Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)