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Report on Sheveluch (Russia) — 15 August-21 August 2007


Sheveluch

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 15 August-21 August 2007
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2007. Report on Sheveluch (Russia) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 15 August-21 August 2007. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (15 August-21 August 2007)

Sheveluch

Russia

56.653°N, 161.36°E; summit elev. 3283 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


KVERT reported that seismic activity at Shiveluch was slightly above background levels during 10-17 August. Based on seismic interpretation, avalanches and ash plumes that rose to an altitude of 10 km (32,800 ft) a.s.l. occurred during the reporting period. Growth of the E part of the lava dome, summit incandescence, and incandescent avalanches were visible from the town of Klyuchi, about 50 km SW, during 11-12 August. A diffuse ash plume was visible on satellite imagery drifting SE on 11 August. On 14 August, two avalanches were accompanied by ash plumes that rose to an altitude of 4.5 km (14,800 ft) a.s.l. and drifted NW. Observations of satellite imagery revealed that a thermal anomaly was present in the crater during 10-17 August. The Level of Concern Color Code remained at Orange.

Based on information reported from KEMSD, the Tokyo VAAC reported that an eruption plume rose to 5.2 km (17,000 ft) a.s.l. on 21 August. Ash was not identified on satellite imagery.

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.

Sources: Tokyo Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)