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Report on Reventador (Ecuador) — 22 September-28 September 2010


Reventador

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 22 September-28 September 2010
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2010. Report on Reventador (Ecuador) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 22 September-28 September 2010. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (22 September-28 September 2010)

Reventador

Ecuador

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


The IG reported that on 28 September three seismic events from Reventador were recorded. Cloud cover prevented observations during the first event. During the second period of increased seismicity, observers noted that a steam plume with a small amount of ash rose 400-500 m above the crater and drifted N. The third episode was accompanied by a steam-and-ash plume that rose 2 km above the crater and drifted NW. Ash fell on Reventador.

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.

Source: Instituto Geofísico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional (IG-EPN)