Report on Sheveluch (Russia) — 20 May-26 May 2009
Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 20 May-26 May 2009
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2009. Report on Sheveluch (Russia) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 20 May-26 May 2009. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Sheveluch
Russia
56.653°N, 161.36°E; summit elev. 3283 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
KVERT reported that during 15-22 May seismic activity from Shiveluch was above background levels. A hot avalanche seen on a video camera on 16 May produced an ash plume that rose to an altitude of 4.5 km (14,800 ft) a.s.l. During 17-18 May, observers reported active fumaroles. Based on interpretations of seismic data, ash plumes were likely present during the reporting period; a possible ash plume rose to an altitude of 5.3 km (17,400 ft) a.s.l. on 21 May. Analysis of satellite imagery revealed a daily thermal anomaly over the lava dome. The Level of Concern Color Code remained at 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.