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Report on Reventador (Ecuador) — 3 December-9 December 2014


Reventador

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 3 December-9 December 2014
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2014. Report on Reventador (Ecuador) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 3 December-9 December 2014. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (3 December-9 December 2014)

Reventador

Ecuador

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


IG reported moderate seismic activity including explosions, long-period earthquakes, harmonic tremor, and tremor at Reventador during 3-9 December. Cloudy conditions occasionally obscured views of the summit. Steam emissions on 3 December rose from the crater and drifted NW. On 4 December steam plumes with minor ash content rose 200 m and drifted S. On 5 December a webcam recorded a steam-and-gas emission associated with an incandescent lava flow on the E flank. Water vapor plumes rose 500-700 m and drifted NW on 7 December, and 1 km and drifted SW on 9 December.

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.

Source: Instituto Geofísico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional (IG-EPN)