Report on Sheveluch (Russia) — 4 September-10 September 2002
Smithsonian / US Geological Survey Weekly Volcanic Activity Report,
4 September-10 September 2002
Managing Editor: Gari Mayberry
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2002. Report on Sheveluch (Russia). In: Mayberry, G (ed.), Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 4 September-10 September 2002. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Sheveluch
Russia
56.653°N, 161.36°E; summit elev. 3283 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
During 30 August- 6 September, volcanic and seismic activity at Shiveluch were at similar levels to the previous week. Seismicity remained above background levels, with the occurrence of four earthquakes with magnitudes 2-2.1, and many smaller ones. Seismic data indicated possible avalanches and ash-and-gas explosions that may have sent material 2-2.5 km above the lava dome. Volcanic tremor continued to slowly decrease. On 2 September, a ~15-minute-long episode of strong high-frequency tremor was registered that may have been indicative of an avalanche rolling down the side of the dome. Gas-and-steam plumes rose to 2 km above the lava dome. Thermal anomalies were visible on satellite imagery, but ash was not. Shiveluch remained at Concern Color Code Yellow.
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.