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Report on Sheveluch (Russia) — 4 August-10 August 2010


Sheveluch

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 4 August-10 August 2010
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2010. Report on Sheveluch (Russia) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 4 August-10 August 2010. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (4 August-10 August 2010)

Sheveluch

Russia

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


KVERT reported that during 30 July-6 August seismic activity from Shiveluch was above background levels and suggested that possible ash plumes rose to an altitude of 4.5 km (14,800 ft) a.s.l. Gas-and-steam plumes were seen rising to an altitude of 4 km (13,100 ft) a.s.l. during 29-31 July. Cloud cover prevented observations the other days. Satellite imagery analysis showed a large daily thermal anomaly on the volcano. Based on analysis of satellite imagery, the Tokyo VAAC reported that an eruption on 9 August produced a plume that rose to an altitude of 6.7 km (22,000 ft) a.s.l. The Aviation Color Code level remained at 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.

Sources: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT), Tokyo Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)