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Report on Sheveluch (Russia) — 17 July-23 July 2013


Sheveluch

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 17 July-23 July 2013
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2013. Report on Sheveluch (Russia) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 17 July-23 July 2013. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (17 July-23 July 2013)

Sheveluch

Russia

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


Based on visual observations and analyses of satellite data, KVERT reported that during 12-19 July a viscous lava flow effused on the N flank of Shiveluch's lava dome, accompanied by hot avalanches, incandescence, and fumarolic activity. Based on notices from Yelizovo Airport (UHPP), the Tokyo VAAC reported that on 15 July an ash plume rose to an altitude of 4.6 km (15,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted E. KVERT noted that satellite images detected a thermal anomaly on 15, 17, and 18 July; cloud cover prevented observations on the other days. The Aviation Color Code 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)