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Report on Villarrica (Chile) — 25 July-31 July 2018


Villarrica

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 25 July-31 July 2018
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2018. Report on Villarrica (Chile) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 25 July-31 July 2018. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (25 July-31 July 2018)

Villarrica

Chile

39.42°S, 71.93°W; summit elev. 2847 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


POVI reported that on 24 July the vent in Villarrica’s summit crater was about 10-15 m in diameter and 90-100 m below the crater rim. Minor explosions and weak fumarolic emissions were noted. On 29 July a break in the cloud cover revealed more significant incandescence emanating from the summit than in the previous few days, and the largest thermal anomaly since August 2015 was identified in satellite images on 30 July. Ash and lapilli deposits on the E edge of the crater was also visible on 30 July.

Geological Summary. The glacier-covered Villarrica stratovolcano, in the northern Lakes District of central Chile, is ~15 km south of the city of Pucon. A 2-km-wide caldera that formed about 3,500 years ago is located at the base of the presently active, dominantly basaltic to basaltic-andesite cone at the NW margin of a 6-km-wide Pleistocene caldera. More than 30 scoria cones and fissure vents are present on the flanks. Plinian eruptions and pyroclastic flows that have extended up to 20 km from the volcano were produced during the Holocene. Lava flows up to 18 km long have issued from summit and flank vents. Eruptions documented since 1558 CE have consisted largely of mild-to-moderate explosive activity with occasional lava effusion. Glaciers cover 40 km2 of the volcano, and lahars have damaged towns on its flanks.

Source: Proyecto Observación Villarrica Internet (POVI)