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Report on Semisopochnoi (United States) — 16 June-22 June 2021


Semisopochnoi

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 16 June-22 June 2021
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2021. Report on Semisopochnoi (United States) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 16 June-22 June 2021. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (16 June-22 June 2021)

Semisopochnoi

United States

51.93°N, 179.58°E; summit elev. 1221 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


AVO lowered Semisopochnoi’s Aviation Color Code to Yellow and the Volcano Alert Level to Advisory on 16 June, reporting that no explosions or ash emissions had been detected since 30 May and seismicity was relatively low. The report noted that elevated surface temperatures and sulfur dioxide emissions were recorded on several occasions during the previous few weeks, indicating continued volcanic unrest.

Geological Summary. Semisopochnoi, the largest subaerial volcano of the western Aleutians, is 20 km wide at sea level and contains an 8-km-wide caldera. It formed as a result of collapse of a low-angle, dominantly basaltic volcano following the eruption of a large volume of dacitic pumice. The high point of the island is Anvil Peak, a double-peaked late-Pleistocene cone that forms much of the island's northern part. The three-peaked Mount Cerberus (renamed Mount Young in 2023) was constructed within the caldera during the Holocene. Each of the peaks contains a summit crater; lava flows on the N flank appear younger than those on the south side. Other post-caldera volcanoes include the symmetrical Sugarloaf Peak SSE of the caldera and Lakeshore Cone, a small cinder cone at the edge of Fenner Lake in the NE part of the caldera. Most documented eruptions have originated from Young, although Coats (1950) considered that both Sugarloaf and Lakeshore Cone could have been recently active.

Source: US Geological Survey Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO)