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Report on Reventador (Ecuador) — 22 July-28 July 2020


Reventador

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 22 July-28 July 2020
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2020. Report on Reventador (Ecuador) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 22 July-28 July 2020. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (22 July-28 July 2020)

Reventador

Ecuador

0.077°S, 77.656°W; summit elev. 3562 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


On 23 July IG reported that activity at Reventador remained high. A slight increase in surficial activity during the previous two weeks was characterized by ash emissions along with pyroclastic flows that descended the W, N, and NE flanks. Ash plumes rose 0.7-1.3 km above the crater rim and drifted several kilometers NW, W, and SW. Incandescent blocks preferentially rolled down the N and NE flanks, though sometimes material was ejected onto all of the flanks.

Geological Summary. Volcán El Reventador is the most frequently active of a chain of Ecuadorian volcanoes in the Cordillera Real, well east of the principal volcanic axis. The forested, dominantly andesitic stratovolcano has 4-km-wide avalanche scarp open to the E formed by edifice collapse. A young, unvegetated, cone rises from the amphitheater floor to a height comparable to the rim. It has been the source of numerous lava flows as well as explosive eruptions visible from Quito, about 90 km ESE. Frequent lahars in this region of heavy rainfall have left extensive deposits on the scarp slope. The largest recorded eruption took place in 2002, producing a 17-km-high eruption column, pyroclastic flows that traveled up to 8 km, and lava flows from summit and flank vents.

Source: Instituto Geofísico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional (IG-EPN)