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Report on Saunders (United Kingdom) — 4 November-10 November 2020


Saunders

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 4 November-10 November 2020
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2020. Report on Saunders (United Kingdom) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 4 November-10 November 2020. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (4 November-10 November 2020)

Saunders

United Kingdom

57.8°S, 26.483°W; summit elev. 843 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


Gas emissions from Michael volcano on Saunders Island were possibly visible in satellite images drifting NE on 24 October. A clear view of the crater on 6 November revealed a thermal anomaly on the crater floor. Weather clouds often obscure views of Michael.

Geological Summary. Saunders Island consists of a large central volcanic edifice intersected by two seamount chains, as shown by bathymetric mapping (Leat et al., 2013). The young Mount Michael stratovolcano dominates the glacier-covered island, while two submarine plateaus, Harpers Bank and Saunders Bank, extend north. The symmetrical Michael has a 500-m-wide summit crater and a remnant of a somma rim to the SE. Tephra layers visible in ice cliffs surrounding the island are evidence of recent eruptions. Ash clouds were reported from the summit crater in 1819, and an effusive eruption was inferred to have occurred from a N-flank fissure around the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. A low ice-free lava platform, Blackstone Plain, is located on the north coast, surrounding a group of former sea stacks. A cluster of cones on the SE flank, the Ashen Hills, appear to have been modified since 1820 (LeMasurier and Thomson, 1990). Analysis of satellite imagery available since 1989 (Gray et al., 2019; MODVOLC) suggests frequent eruptive activity (when weather conditions allow), volcanic clouds, steam plumes, and thermal anomalies indicative of a persistent, or at least frequently active, lava lake in the summit crater. Due to this observational bias, there has been a presumption when defining eruptive periods that activity has been ongoing unless there is no evidence for at least 10 months.

Sources: South Sandwich Islands Volcano Monitoring Blog, Sentinel Hub