Global Volcanism Program | Report on Chirinkotan (Russia)

Report on Chirinkotan (Russia) — December 2013

Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 38, no. 12 (December 2013)
Managing Editor: Richard Wunderman.

Chirinkotan (Russia) Gas-and-steam emissions and occasional thermal anomalies, beginning May 2013

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2013. Report on Chirinkotan (Russia) (Wunderman, R., ed.). Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 38:12. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN201312-290260

Chirinkotan

Russia

48.98°N, 153.48°E; summit elev. 724 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)

In 1979-1980, an eruption at Chirinkotan included a series of ash explosions and a lava flow (SEAN 05:06). In October and November 1986, airborne observers saw a column of thick gas and ash, and then fumarolic activity (SEAN 12:04). This report discusses events during 2013 through April 2014. The location of Chirinkotan in the Kuril Islands is shown in figure 1.

Figure 1. Map showing location of Chirinkotan. Courtesy of Google Earth.

According to the Sakhalin Volcanic Eruption Response Team (SVERT), gas-and-steam emissions occurred frequently in 2013-2014 (table 1). The Aviation Color Code was Green on 24-25 May 2013, when emissions were first reported, but raised to Yellow during early June 2013, where it has remained through April 2014, the end of this report. The volcano was often obscured by clouds.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, an M 8.3 earthquake occurred on 24 May 2013 beneath the Sea of Okhotsk, at a point is 656 km N of the volcano. The focal depth of the earthquake was ~ 600 km. The first reported gas-and-steam emission from Chirinkotan, which is in the Sea of Okhotsk, was on 24-25 May, suggesting a possible link between the two events.

Table 1. SVERT-reported dates on which gas-and-steam emissions were observed from 24 May 2013 through 30 April 2014, based on analysis of satellite images. Thermal alerts detected by SVERT and the MODVOLC satellite thermal alert system are also noted.

Date	Comments
24-25 May 2013	Gas-and-steam emissions
05, 07, 09 Jun	Gas-and-steam emissions
11 Jun	Strong gas-and-steam emission, possibly with ash
13 Jun	SVERT-reported thermal alert
16 Jun	Gas-and-steam emissions
21 Jun	SVERT-reported thermal alert
23 Jun	Gas-and-steam emissions
03 Jul	Gas-and-steam emissions
04 Jul	SVERT-reported thermal alert
12 Jul	Gas-and-steam emissions and SVERT-reported thermal alert on 12-13 Jul
16, 18 Jul	Gas-and-steam emissions and SVERT-reported thermal alert
22 Jul	MODVOLC thermal alert and SVERT-reported thermal alert
25 Jul	Gas-and-steam emissions
29-31 Jul	SVERT-reported thermal alert
02 Aug	MODVOLC thermal alert
05-09 Aug	Gas-and-steam emissions and SVERT-reported thermal alerts on 5, 7, and 9 Aug
12 Aug	SVERT-reported thermal alert
01 Sep	MODVOLC thermal alert (twice) and SVERT-reported thermal alert
28 Sep	MODVOLC thermal alert
04 Oct	MODVOLC thermal alert (3 pixels)
17-19 Oct	Gas-and-steam emissions drifted 30-60 km SE and SVERT-reported thermal alert
21-25 Oct	Gas-and-steam emissions and SVERT-reported thermal alert on 24 Oct
29-31 Oct	Gas-and-steam emissions and SVERT-reported thermal alert
04 Nov	MODVOLC thermal alert (2 pixels) and SVERT-reported thermal alert
05-06 Nov	Gas-and-steam emissions drifted 55-100 km SE and SVERT-reported thermal alerts
11 Nov	MODVOLC thermal alert (2 pixels)
13 Nov	MODVOLC thermal alert (2 times) and SVERT-reported thermal alert
14-15 Nov	Gas-and-steam emissions and SVERT-reported thermal alert
22 Nov	SVERT-reported thermal alert
25 Nov	Gas-and-steam emissions drifted more than 50 km SE
27 Nov	MODVOLC thermal alert
01 Dec	MODVOLC thermal alert (4 pixels)
02-04, 9 Dec	SVERT-reported thermal alerts
11 Dec	MODVOLC thermal alert
12, 15 Dec	SVERT-reported thermal alerts
18 Dec	Gas-and-steam emissions
25-26 Dec	SVERT-reported thermal alert
09, 12, 15 Jan 2014	SVERT-reported thermal alert
17 Jan	Gas-and-steam emissions and SVERT-reported thermal alert
21 Jan	SVERT-reported thermal alert
08 Feb	MODVOLC thermal alert and SVERT-reported thermal alert
09 Feb	Gas-and-steam emissions
12, 15 Feb	SVERT-reported thermal alerts
16 Feb	Gas-and-steam emissions
20, 25 Feb	SVERT-reported thermal alert
27 Feb	Gas-and-steam emissions
04 Mar	SVERT-reported thermal alert
07 Mar	MODVOLC thermal alert
08 Mar	MODVOLC thermal alert (2 times, 3 pixels on Terra satellite)
12 Mar	Gas-and-steam emissions drifted 80 km SE and MODVOLC thermal alert
17 Mar	MODVOLC thermal alert
20 Mar	Gas-and-steam emissions drifted 80 km SE
21-24 Mar	Gas-and-steam emissions
26 Mar	Gas-and-steam emissions drifted 80 km SE
27 Mar	Gas-and-steam emissions drifted 170 km SE
09 Apr	Gas-and-steam emissions drifted 170 km SE
14, 15, 17 Apr	SVERT-reported thermal alert
20, 25, 27 Apr	Gas-and-steam emissions
29 Apr	SVERT-reported thermal alert

Geological Summary. The small, mostly unvegetated 3-km-wide island of Chirinkotan occupies the far end of an E-W volcanic chain that extends nearly 50 km W of the central part of the main Kuril Islands arc. It is the emergent summit of a volcano that rises 3000 m from the floor of the Kuril Basin. A small 1-km-wide caldera about 300-400 m deep is open to the SW. Lava flows from a cone within the breached crater reached the shore of the island. Historical eruptions have been recorded since the 18th century. Lava flows were observed by the English fur trader Captain Snow in the 1880s.

Information Contacts: Sakhalin Volcanic Eruption Response Team (SVERT) (URL in English: http://www.imgg.ru/?id_d=659); Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP), MODVOLC Thermal Alerts System, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), Univ. of Hawai'i, 2525 Correa Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA (URL: http://modis.higp.hawaii.edu/); and Earthquake Hazards Program, US Geological Survey (URL: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/).