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Report on Sheveluch (Russia) — June 2005


Sheveluch

Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 30, no. 6 (June 2005)
Managing Editor: Richard Wunderman.

Sheveluch (Russia) Lava dome growth, ash falls, pyroclastic flows during early to mid-2005

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2005. Report on Sheveluch (Russia) (Wunderman, R., ed.). Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 30:6. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN200506-300270



Sheveluch

Russia

56.653°N, 161.36°E; summit elev. 3283 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


Following explosions from Shiveluch during 25 February to 4 March 2005 ash fell in Ust'-Hairyuzovo, about 250 km W (BGVN 30:02). From March 2005 until July 2005, Shiveluch remained at Concern Color Code Orange. Throughout March 2005 the lava dome at Shiveluch continued to grow and on several days ash-and-gas plumes and gas-and-steam plumes rose to a maximum of ~ 2.8 km above the dome. Satellite imagery showed a thermal anomaly at the dome during the first week of March and a large thermal anomaly over the recent pyroclastic-flow deposit during 11-12 March. Between 5-28 March a new lava extrusion added ~ 50 m height to the SW part of the dome.

During April 2005, intensive growth of the new extrusion at the W part of the dome continued, and the E and W parts of the lava dome became nearly level. Gas-and-steam plumes rose to a maximum of ~ 1.2 km above the dome during April 2005. Satellite imagery showed a large thermal anomaly at the dome during mid-April and a small anomaly associated with a pyroclastic flow on 19 April. On 25 April, a hot avalanche on the dome's W side produced an ash plume that rose ~ 2 km above the 2.5-km-high lava dome. Growth of the dome continued during May 2005 with a new extrusion to the W. Ash-and-gas plumes, some rising 2 km above the dome, were frequent. Satellite imagery showed a persistent thermal anomaly at the lava dome throughout May.

The dome continued to grow during June 2005. During 3-10 June, two shallow M 1.6-1.7 earthquakes occurred 0-5 km beneath the active dome. Gas-and-steam plumes rose as high as 400 m above the dome during June. A persistent thermal anomaly was visible throughout June. Fumarolic activity was reported during the week of 18-24 June. During the last week of June, satellite imagery showed a persistent thermal anomaly, and fumarolic activity produced steam to 4-5 km altitude. On 30 June, ash-and-gas plumes rose 3-5 km altitude. and drifted NW. Hot avalanches of volcanic material were also recorded. On 6 July ash-and-gas plumes rose to ~ 7 km altitude and drifted NW. On 7 July an 11-minute-long seismic event occurred, and ash-and-gas plumes may have reached a height of 10 km altitude. Around 8 July, KVERT raised the Concern Color Code from Orange to Red, the highest level. On 8 July 2005, video footage showed weak gas-and-steam plumes rising to ~ 5 km altitude. On 9 July 2005, the Concern Color Code was reduced to Orange.

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.

Information Contacts: Olga A. Girina, Kamchatka Volcanic Eruptions Response Team (KVERT), a cooperative program of the Institute of Volcanic Geology and Geochemistry, Far East Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Piip Ave. 9, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, 683006, Russia, the Kamchatka Experimental and Methodical Seismological Department (KEMSD), GS RAS (Russia), and the Alaska Volcano Observatory (USA); Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO), a cooperative program of the U.S. Geological Survey, 4200 University Drive, Anchorage, AK 99508-4667, USA (URL: http://www.avo.alaska.edu/), the Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska, PO Box 757320, Fairbanks, AK 99775-7320, USA, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, 794 University Ave., Suite 200, Fairbanks, AK 99709, USA.