Report on Ubinas (Peru) — 18 September-24 September 2019
Smithsonian / US Geological Survey Weekly Volcanic Activity Report,
18 September-24 September 2019
Managing Editor: Sally Kuhn Sennert
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2019. Report on Ubinas (Peru). In: Sennert, S K (ed.), Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 18 September-24 September 2019. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Ubinas
Peru
16.355°S, 70.903°W; summit elev. 5672 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
During 16-22 September the number of seismic events totaled 4,356, with volcano-tectonic (VT) signals being the most numerous, averaging 567 events per day, and all having magnitudes under M 2.5. Hybrid events averaged 119 events per day. Continuous emissions of blueish gas and water vapor were recorded by the webcam rising to heights less than 1 km above the summit. Four thermal anomalies were recorded by the MIROVA system. The Alert Level remained at Orange (the second highest level on a four-color scale) and the public were warned to stay outside of a 10-km radius.
Geological Summary. A small, 1.4-km-wide caldera cuts the top of Ubinas, Perú's most active volcano, giving it a truncated appearance. It is the northernmost of three young volcanoes located along a regional structural lineament about 50 km behind the main volcanic front. The growth and destruction of Ubinas I was followed by construction of Ubinas II beginning in the mid-Pleistocene. The upper slopes of the andesitic-to-rhyolitic Ubinas II stratovolcano are composed primarily of andesitic and trachyandesitic lava flows and steepen to nearly 45 degrees. The steep-walled, 150-m-deep summit caldera contains an ash cone with a 500-m-wide funnel-shaped vent that is 200 m deep. Debris-avalanche deposits from the collapse of the SE flank about 3,700 years ago extend 10 km from the volcano. Widespread Plinian pumice-fall deposits include one of Holocene age about 1,000 years ago. Holocene lava flows are visible on the flanks, but historical activity, documented since the 16th century, has consisted of intermittent minor-to-moderate explosive eruptions.