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Report on Sheveluch (Russia) — 19 December-25 December 2007


Sheveluch

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 19 December-25 December 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, 19 December-25 December 2007. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (19 December-25 December 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 above background levels during 14-21 December. Based on seismic interpretation, a series of explosions during 18-19 December produced ash plumes that rose to altitudes of 6.5-8.7 km (21,300-29,000 ft) a.s.l. Ash plumes were observed on satellite imagery and drifted more than 130 km W on 18 December and 300 km to the NW and SW on 19 December. Ashfall was reported in the town of Klyuchi, about 30 km SW on 19 December. Based on visual observations, large pyroclastic flow deposits 8-9 km from the lava dome were noted on the S flank. On 20 December, KVERT reported that the Level of Concern Color Code was raised to Red. On 21 December, the Level of Concern Color Code was lowered back to Orange.

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.

Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)