Logo link to homepage

Report on Sheveluch (Russia) — 30 June-6 July 2010


Sheveluch

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 30 June-6 July 2010
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2010. Report on Sheveluch (Russia) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 30 June-6 July 2010. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (30 June-6 July 2010)

Sheveluch

Russia

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


KVERT reported that during 24 June-2 July seismic activity from Shiveluch was above background levels and suggested that possible ash plumes occasionally rose to an altitude of 6.6 km (21,600 ft) a.s.l. On 24 and 29 June ash plumes from hot avalanches rose to an altitude of 4.5 km (14,800 ft) a.s.l. Strong fumarolic activity was also noted on these days. On 1 July, seismicity increased and may have indicated ash plumes rose to an altitude of 8 km (26,200 ft) a.s.l. Ashfall was reported in Klyuchi village, 50 km SW. Satellite imagery showed a large daily thermal anomaly over the lava dome. Based on analysis of satellite imagery and information from Yelizovo Airport (UHPP), the Tokyo VAAC reported that on 3 July an ash plume rose to an altitude of 6.1 km (20,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted N. Satellite imagery showed a possible eruption the next day. The Aviation Color Code level 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.

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