Report on Sarychev Peak (Russia) — 17 October-23 October 2018
Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 17 October-23 October 2018
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2018. Report on Sarychev Peak (Russia) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 17 October-23 October 2018. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Sarychev Peak
Russia
48.092°N, 153.2°E; summit elev. 1496 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
KVERT reported that a thermal anomaly over Sarychev Peak was visible in satellite images on 15 October. Weather clouds obscured views on the other days during 12-19 October. The Aviation Color Code remained at Orange.
Geological Summary. Sarychev Peak, one of the most active volcanoes of the Kuril Islands, occupies the NW end of Matua Island in the central Kuriles. The andesitic central cone was constructed within a 3-3.5-km-wide caldera, whose rim is exposed only on the SW side. A dramatic 250-m-wide, very steep-walled crater with a jagged rim caps the volcano. The substantially higher SE rim forms the 1496 m high point of the island. Fresh-looking lava flows, prior to activity in 2009, had descended in all directions, often forming capes along the coast. Much of the lower-angle outer flanks of the volcano are overlain by pyroclastic-flow deposits. Eruptions have been recorded since the 1760s and include both quiet lava effusion and violent explosions. Large eruptions in 1946 and 2009 produced pyroclastic flows that reached the sea.