Report on Veniaminof (United States) — 26 June-2 July 2013
Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 26 June-2 July 2013
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2013. Report on Veniaminof (United States) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 26 June-2 July 2013. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Veniaminof
United States
56.17°N, 159.38°W; summit elev. 2507 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
AVO reported that the ongoing low-level eruption of Veniaminof, characterized by lava effusion and emission of minor amounts of ash and steam, continued during 26 June-2 July, indicated by nearly continuous volcanic tremor and occasional small explosions detected by the seismic network. Satellite images showed elevated surface temperatures at the cinder cone inside the caldera consistent with lava effusion. During 26-30 June web camera images from Perryville (32 km SSE) showed a small light-colored plume rising above the cone to just above the rim of the caldera, and night time images showed persistent incandescence from the cone. The Volcano Alert Level remained at Watch and the Aviation Color code remained at Orange.
Geological Summary. Veniaminof, on the Alaska Peninsula, is truncated by a steep-walled, 8 x 11 km, glacier-filled caldera that formed around 3,700 years ago. The caldera rim is up to 520 m high on the north, is deeply notched on the west by Cone Glacier, and is covered by an ice sheet on the south. Post-caldera vents are located along a NW-SE zone bisecting the caldera that extends 55 km from near the Bering Sea coast, across the caldera, and down the Pacific flank. Historical eruptions probably all originated from the westernmost and most prominent of two intra-caldera cones, which rises about 300 m above the surrounding icefield. The other cone is larger, and has a summit crater or caldera that may reach 2.5 km in diameter, but is more subdued and barely rises above the glacier surface.
Source: US Geological Survey Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO)