Report on Bezymianny (Russia) — December 2007
Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 32, no. 12 (December 2007)
Managing Editor: Richard Wunderman.
Bezymianny (Russia) Correction to plume description in November 2007
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2007. Report on Bezymianny (Russia) (Wunderman, R., ed.). Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 32:12. Smithsonian Institution.
Bezymianny
Russia
55.972°N, 160.595°E; summit elev. 2882 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
In BGVN 32:11, we erroneously reported a cloud height of 35 km from Bezymianny on 10 November 2007. The plume on that day was a steam plume that extended ~35 km downwind.
Reference. Cergey Ushakov, Kamchatkan and Northern Kuriles Volcanic Activity, KVERT INFORMATION RELEASE 57-07, Saturday, November 10, 2007, 03:30 UTC (15:30 KDT).
Geological Summary. Prior to its noted 1955-56 eruption, Bezymianny had been considered extinct. The modern volcano, much smaller in size than its massive neighbors Kamen and Kliuchevskoi, was formed about 4700 years ago over a late-Pleistocene lava-dome complex and an ancestral edifice built about 11,000-7000 years ago. Three periods of intensified activity have occurred during the past 3000 years. The latest period, which was preceded by a 1000-year quiescence, began with the dramatic 1955-56 eruption. This eruption, similar to that of St. Helens in 1980, produced a large horseshoe-shaped crater that was formed by collapse of the summit and an associated lateral blast. Subsequent episodic but ongoing lava-dome growth, accompanied by intermittent explosive activity and pyroclastic flows, has largely filled the 1956 crater.
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