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Report on Reventador (Ecuador) — 4 November-10 November 2009


Reventador

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 4 November-10 November 2009
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2009. Report on Reventador (Ecuador) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 4 November-10 November 2009. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (4 November-10 November 2009)

Reventador

Ecuador

0.077°S, 77.656°W; summit elev. 3562 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


Based on a pilot observation, the Washington VAAC reported that on 5 November an ash plume from Reventador rose to an altitude of 7 km (23,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted NE. Ash was not seen in satellite imagery, although meteorological clouds were present. IG reported that an ash plume rose 500 m above the crater on 7 November.

Geological Summary. Volcán El Reventador is the most frequently active of a chain of Ecuadorian volcanoes in the Cordillera Real, well east of the principal volcanic axis. The forested, dominantly andesitic stratovolcano has 4-km-wide avalanche scarp open to the E formed by edifice collapse. A young, unvegetated, cone rises from the amphitheater floor to a height comparable to the rim. It has been the source of numerous lava flows as well as explosive eruptions visible from Quito, about 90 km ESE. Frequent lahars in this region of heavy rainfall have left extensive deposits on the scarp slope. The largest recorded eruption took place in 2002, producing a 17-km-high eruption column, pyroclastic flows that traveled up to 8 km, and lava flows from summit and flank vents.

Sources: Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), Instituto Geofísico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional (IG-EPN)