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Report on Veniaminof (United States) — 18 September-24 September 2002


Veniaminof

Smithsonian / US Geological Survey Weekly Volcanic Activity Report,
18 September-24 September 2002
Managing Editor: Gari Mayberry

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2002. Report on Veniaminof (United States). In: Mayberry, G (ed.), Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 18 September-24 September 2002. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (18 September-24 September 2002)

Veniaminof

United States

56.17°N, 159.38°W; summit elev. 2507 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


Pulses of low-frequency tremor were first recorded on 10 September by several seismic stations at Veniaminof. Until at least 20 September the overall level of seismicity decreased, but remained above background. AVO did not receive any reports of anomalous activity, and poor weather limited satellite observations. Due to the anomalous seismicity, the Concern Color Code remained at Yellow.

Geological Summary. Veniaminof, on the Alaska Peninsula, is truncated by a steep-walled, 8 x 11 km, glacier-filled caldera that formed around 3,700 years ago. The caldera rim is up to 520 m high on the north, is deeply notched on the west by Cone Glacier, and is covered by an ice sheet on the south. Post-caldera vents are located along a NW-SE zone bisecting the caldera that extends 55 km from near the Bering Sea coast, across the caldera, and down the Pacific flank. Historical eruptions probably all originated from the westernmost and most prominent of two intra-caldera cones, which rises about 300 m above the surrounding icefield. The other cone is larger, and has a summit crater or caldera that may reach 2.5 km in diameter, but is more subdued and barely rises above the glacier surface.

Source: US Geological Survey Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO)