Report on Sheveluch (Russia) — 13 December-19 December 2006
Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 13 December-19 December 2006
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2006. Report on Sheveluch (Russia) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 13 December-19 December 2006. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Sheveluch
Russia
56.653°N, 161.36°E; summit elev. 3283 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
According to observations and video data, KVERT reported that ash plumes from Shiveluch rose to 4 km (13,100 ft) a.s.l. and drifted NW and ESE on 8 and 12 December, respectively. Based on satellite imagery, ash plumes rose to altitudes of 6-7.5 km (19,700-24,600 ft) a.s.l. and drifted E and NE during 8-15 December. Seismic activity was generally at background levels. The Tokyo VAAC and KVERT reported that ash plumes rose to altitudes of 7.6-10 km (25,000-32,800 ft) a.s.l. and drifted E and NW on 16 and 17 December.
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)