Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 8 October-14 October 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, 8 October-14 October 2014. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey. https://volcano.si.edu/showreport.cfm?gvpvar=GVP.WVAR20141008-354020
IGP and INGEMMET reported that the Alert Level for Ubinas was lowered to Yellow on 10 October; seismicity, the number of explosions, and sulfur dioxide output had all declined. The report noted that sporadic ash emissions as well as explosions were expected to continue.
Sources: Instituto Geofísico del Perú (IGP), Instituto Geológico Minero y Metalúrgico (INGEMMET)
Geological Summary. The truncated appearance of Ubinas, Perú's most active volcano, is a result of a 1.4-km-wide crater at the summit. 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°. The steep-walled, 150-m-deep summit crater 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 from about 1,000 years ago. Holocene lava flows are visible on the flanks, but activity documented since the 16th century has consisted of intermittent minor-to-moderate explosive eruptions.