Report on Ubinas (Peru) — 12 March-18 March 2014
Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 12 March-18 March 2014
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2014. Report on Ubinas (Peru) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 12 March-18 March 2014. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Ubinas
Peru
16.355°S, 70.903°W; summit elev. 5672 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
Based on analyses of satellite imagery, the Buenos Aires VAAC reported that diffuse plumes from Ubinas, possibly containing ash, drifted WNW on 13 March and SW on 15 March. Satellite images on 16 March showed a diffuse gas plume containing some ash drifting WSW.
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.