Following reports of low-level steam-and-ash emissions from Veniaminof during the week of 15 February, satellite imagery on 22 February showed very localized ash deposits within the ice-filled caldera. No additional signs of volcanic activity were visible on satellite imagery during 23-27 February, and there were no more reports of ash-plume sightings from Perryville. Seismicity remained at low levels, and the thermal signature of the intracaldera cone was unchanged from previous months. AVO determined that the small ash bursts were most likely the result of minor explosions caused by the heating of ground water below the intracaldera cone. Veniaminof remained at Concern Color Code Green.

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)