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Report on Tolbachik (Russia) — 2 January-8 January 2013


Tolbachik

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 2 January-8 January 2013
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2013. Report on Tolbachik (Russia) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 2 January-8 January 2013. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (2 January-8 January 2013)

Tolbachik

Russia

55.832°N, 160.326°E; summit elev. 3611 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


KVERT reported that the S fissure along the W side of Tolbachinsky Dol, a lava plateau on the SW side of Tolbachik, continued to produce very fluid lava flows during 28 December-8 January. Strong seismicity was detected. Gas-and-ash plumes drifted in multiple directions, and a fifth cone continued to grow above the fissure. A very large thermal anomaly on the N part of Tolbachinsky Dol was visible daily in satellite imagery. The Aviation Color Code remained at Orange.

Based on information from KVERT, the Tokyo VAAC reported that on 7 January an ash plume rose to altitudes of 3.7-4.3 km (12,000-14,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted NE.

Geological Summary. The massive Tolbachik volcano is located at the southern end of the Kliuchevskaya volcano group. The massif is composed of two overlapping, but morphologically distinct, volcanoes. The flat-topped Plosky Tolbachik shield volcano with its nested Holocene calderas up to 3 km in diameter is located east of the older and higher sharp-topped Ostry Tolbachik stratovolcano. The summit caldera at Plosky Tolbachik was formed in association with major lava effusion about 6,500 years ago and simultaneously with a major southward-directed sector collapse of Ostry Tolbachik. Long rift zones extending NE and SSW of the volcano have erupted voluminous basaltic lava flows during the Holocene, with activity during the past two thousand years being confined to the narrow axial zone of the rifts. The 1975-76 eruption originating from the SSW-flank fissure system and the summit was the largest historical basaltic eruption in Kamchatka.

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