Logo link to homepage

Report on Karymsky (Russia) — March 1999


Karymsky

Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 24, no. 3 (March 1999)
Managing Editor: Richard Wunderman.

Karymsky (Russia) Ash eruptions continue during February

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 1999. Report on Karymsky (Russia) (Wunderman, R., ed.). Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 24:3. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN199903-300130



Karymsky

Russia

54.049°N, 159.443°E; summit elev. 1513 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


Seismicity remained above background during February and March, and the Level of the Concern Color Code remained at Yellow. Low-level Strombolian eruptive activity that has characterized the volcano for more than 3 years continued with ~150-200 daily earthquakes and gas explosions.

An ash plume observed on 10 February rose ~5 km above the summit. Satellite images on 15 and 17 February showed a thermal anomaly. Small earthquakes close to Karymsky Lake began to be recorded on 7 February. According to a pilot's report, an ash plume on the morning of 25 February rose as high as 3,500 m.

Geological Summary. Karymsky, the most active volcano of Kamchatka's eastern volcanic zone, is a symmetrical stratovolcano constructed within a 5-km-wide caldera that formed during the early Holocene. The caldera cuts the south side of the Pleistocene Dvor volcano and is located outside the north margin of the large mid-Pleistocene Polovinka caldera, which contains the smaller Akademia Nauk and Odnoboky calderas. Most seismicity preceding Karymsky eruptions originated beneath Akademia Nauk caldera, located immediately south. The caldera enclosing Karymsky formed about 7600-7700 radiocarbon years ago; construction of the stratovolcano began about 2000 years later. The latest eruptive period began about 500 years ago, following a 2300-year quiescence. Much of the cone is mantled by lava flows less than 200 years old. Historical eruptions have been vulcanian or vulcanian-strombolian with moderate explosive activity and occasional lava flows from the summit crater.

Information Contacts: Olga Chubarova, Kamchatka Volcanic Eruptions Response Team (KVERT), Institute of Volcanic Geology and Geochemistry; Tom Miller, Alaska Volcano Observatory.