Logo link to homepage

Report on Ubinas (Peru) — 10 July-16 July 2013


Ubinas

Smithsonian / US Geological Survey Weekly Volcanic Activity Report,
10 July-16 July 2013
Managing Editor: Sally Kuhn Sennert

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2013. Report on Ubinas (Peru). In: Sennert, S K (ed.), Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 10 July-16 July 2013. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (10 July-16 July 2013)

Ubinas

Peru

16.355°S, 70.903°W; summit elev. 5672 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


The Buenos Aires VAAC reported that, although a pilot reported an ash plume from Ubinas rising to an altitude of 5.5 km (18,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifting W on [11 July], there was no ash detected in clear satellite images.

Geological Summary. A small, 1.4-km-wide caldera cuts the top of Ubinas, PerĂº's most active volcano, giving it a truncated appearance. It is the northernmost of three young volcanoes located along a regional structural lineament about 50 km behind the main volcanic front. The growth and destruction of Ubinas I was followed by construction of Ubinas II beginning in the mid-Pleistocene. The upper slopes of the andesitic-to-rhyolitic Ubinas II stratovolcano are composed primarily of andesitic and trachyandesitic lava flows and steepen to nearly 45 degrees. The steep-walled, 150-m-deep summit caldera contains an ash cone with a 500-m-wide funnel-shaped vent that is 200 m deep. Debris-avalanche deposits from the collapse of the SE flank about 3,700 years ago extend 10 km from the volcano. Widespread Plinian pumice-fall deposits include one of Holocene age about 1,000 years ago. Holocene lava flows are visible on the flanks, but historical activity, documented since the 16th century, has consisted of intermittent minor-to-moderate explosive eruptions.

Source: Buenos Aires Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)