The eruption that began 13 February continued between 28 February and 21 March. The cone on the south side of the caldera floor continued to emit lava and intermittent steam and ash plumes. Fort Glenn residents who climbed to the rim of the caldera saw a lava flow that was <500 m in length. On 19 February, ash fell on the flanks of the volcano associated with one of the larger steam-and-ash plumes. The largest plume during this period occurred on 11 March; a pilot noted a short-lived steam and ash plume that reached ~10.5 km and drifted NW.

Satellite imagery during this period revealed significant hot spots in the caldera and showed occasional plumes drifting as far as 85 km downwind.

Geological Summary. The basaltic Okmok shield volcano forms the NE end of Umnak Island in the Aleutian Islands. The summit of the low, 35-km-wide volcano is cut by two overlapping 10-km-wide calderas formed during eruptions about 12,000 and 2,050 years ago when dacitic pyroclastic flows reached the coast. More than 60 tephra layers from Okmok have been found overlying the 12,000-year-old caldera-forming tephra layer. Numerous cones and lava domes are present on the flanks down to the coast, including the SE-flank Mount Tulik, which is almost 200 m higher than the caldera rim. Some of the post-caldera cones show evidence of wave-cut lake terraces; more recent cones were formed after the caldera lake, once 150 m deep, disappeared. Eruptions have been reported since 1805 from cinder cones within the caldera, where there are also hot springs and fumaroles.

Information Contacts: Tom Miller, Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO); NOAA/NESDIS Satellite Analysis Branch (SAB).