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Report on Okmok (United States) — April 1997


Okmok

Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 22, no. 4 (April 1997)
Managing Editor: Richard Wunderman.

Okmok (United States) Activity waning by month's end

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 1997. Report on Okmok (United States) (Wunderman, R., ed.). Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 22:4. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN199704-311290



Okmok

United States

53.43°N, 168.13°W; summit elev. 1073 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


The activity that began on 13 February continued through the first half of May, but appeared to be waning by month's end. Prior to 9 May, hot lava flows were observed within the caldera. Also, satellite imagery revealed thin low-level ash plumes. Activity was continuing at a relatively low level on 16 May. By 23 May, satellite images contained no signs of activity or hotspots. Okmok is not monitored seismically.

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: Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO).