Logo link to homepage

Report on Reventador (Ecuador) — 13 June-19 June 2007


Reventador

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 13 June-19 June 2007
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2007. Report on Reventador (Ecuador) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 13 June-19 June 2007. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (13 June-19 June 2007)

Reventador

Ecuador

0.077°S, 77.656°W; summit elev. 3562 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


Based on seismic interpretation, IG reported that lahars occurred on the flanks of Reventador on 15 and 19 June. According to the Washington VAAC, the IG reported that activity on 18 June possibly produced ash plumes that drifted NW. Ash was not visible on satellite imagery.

Geological Summary. Volcán El Reventador is the most frequently active of a chain of Ecuadorian volcanoes in the Cordillera Real, well east of the principal volcanic axis. The forested, dominantly andesitic stratovolcano has 4-km-wide avalanche scarp open to the E formed by edifice collapse. A young, unvegetated, cone rises from the amphitheater floor to a height comparable to the rim. It has been the source of numerous lava flows as well as explosive eruptions visible from Quito, about 90 km ESE. Frequent lahars in this region of heavy rainfall have left extensive deposits on the scarp slope. The largest recorded eruption took place in 2002, producing a 17-km-high eruption column, pyroclastic flows that traveled up to 8 km, and lava flows from summit and flank vents.

Sources: Instituto Geofísico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional (IG-EPN), Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)