Global Volcanism Program | Kuril Arc at 46.3°N

Most Recent Bulletin Report: May 1978 (SEAN 03:05) Cite this Report

Zone of bubbling water seen in late March

The crew of the fishing boat Shinano Maru observed a 300 x 70 m zone of bubbling, light-colored water 7.7 km E of Urup Island between 1730 and 1745 on 31 March 1978. It is not certain whether the activity was caused by submarine volcanism. JMA seismographs recorded no accompanying earthquakes.

Information Contacts: Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), Tokyo.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Kuril Arc at 46.3°N.

Bulletin Reports - Index

Reports are organized chronologically and indexed below by Month/Year (Publication Volume:Number), and include a one-line summary. Click on the index link or scroll down to read the reports.

05/1972 (CSLP 33-72) Submarine eruption from unknown source detected acoustically

05/1978 (SEAN 03:05) Zone of bubbling water seen in late March

Information is preliminary and subject to change. All times are local (unless otherwise noted)

May 1972 (CSLP 33-72)

Submarine eruption from unknown source detected acoustically

Card 1393 (19 May 1972) Submarine eruption from unknown source detected acoustically

"Seismic-type drum recordings of sound-power level at deep-ocean sound channel (SOFAR) hydrophones at Wake, Midway, and Oahu islands show a signal which I interpret to be from a shallow submarine eruption in the Kuril Islands, probably between Simushir Island and Urup Island. (The acoustic record is similar to that of the... Myojinsho eruption of 1970.) It began at 29 April 0830 UT and the major activity was over by 1930 UT although scattered events may have occurred for another day."

Information Contacts: Roger A. Norris, Hawaii Institute of Geophysics, University of Hawaii.

May 1978 (SEAN 03:05) Cite this Report

Zone of bubbling water seen in late March

The crew of the fishing boat Shinano Maru observed a 300 x 70 m zone of bubbling, light-colored water 7.7 km E of Urup Island between 1730 and 1745 on 31 March 1978. It is not certain whether the activity was caused by submarine volcanism. JMA seismographs recorded no accompanying earthquakes.

Information Contacts: Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), Tokyo.

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

290130

Unknown - Evidence Uncertain

-100 m / -328 ft

46.2944°N
150.8526°E

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Composite

Rock Types

Major
No Data (checked)

Tectonic Setting

Subduction zone
Crustal thickness unknown

Population

Within 5 km
Within 10 km
Within 30 km
Within 100 km

0
24
328
390

Geological Summary

A shallow flat-topped edifice ~8 km in diameter, with depths from 0-50 m, is located in the Urup Strait ~15 km S of the Chernyye Brat'ya (Black Brothers) islands and ~20 km ENE of Urup Island in the Kuril Islands. Although visible using satellite bathymetry and appearing simply as a shallow platform on a map in Blokh et al. (2019) rather than a previously identified volcanic seamount, there is no available research about this edifice. Two reports of uncertain volcanic activity are assigned to this feature. This volcano number was previously created and placed at a location 7.5 km SE of the coast of Urup (~35 km SW), due to reported bubbling water seen from a fishing boat in March 1978 (SEAN 03:05), but was removed from the catalog due to insufficient evidence of any volcanic features. Hydrophones signals detected in April 1972 were interpreted to be from a submarine eruption in the Kuriles, probably between Simushir and Urup Island (Smithsonian CSLP 33-72). This activity was previously arbitrarily linked to Arkhangelsky, the submarine feature most centrally located between Urup and Simushir Islands, but has been reassigned following research showing a Pleistocene age for that massif.

References

The following references have all been used during the compilation of data for this volcano, it is not a comprehensive bibliography.

Blokh Yu I, Bondarenko V I, Dolgal A S, Novikova P N, Petrova V V, Pilipenko O V, Rashidov V A, Trusov A A, 2019. Integrated geologic-geophysical investigation of the Archangelsky submarine volcanic massif (Kurile Island Arc). Bulletin of Kamchatka Regional Association, 44:4, 35-50. Educational-Scientific Center, Earth Sciences.. https://doi.org/10.31431/1816-5524-2019-4-44-35-50

Smithsonian Institution-SEAN, 1975-89. [Monthly event reports]. Bull Scientific Event Alert Network (SEAN), v 1-14.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 0 confirmed eruptive period.

[ 1978 Mar 31 ] Uncertain Eruption

Episode 1 | Uncertain

7.7 km E of Urup Island

1978 Mar 31 - Unknown

Evidence from Unknown

JMA reported that the crew of the fishing boat Shinano Maru observed a 300 x 70 m zone of bubbling, light-colored water 7.7 km E of Urup Island between 1730 and 1745 on 31 March 1978. It is not certain whether the activity was caused by submarine volcanism. JMA seismographs recorded no accompanying earthquakes. The longitude was given as 151°30'E in the original JMA report, but the described locality appears to be near 150°30'E, latitude 46°06'N was not changed. Bathymetric work does not show any submarine volcanoes east of Urup Island (Antonov 1991, pers. comm.).

List of 1 Events for Episode 1 at 7.7 km E of Urup Island

	Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
	1978 Mar 31	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)

[ 1972 Apr 29 - 1972 Apr 30 ] Uncertain Eruption

Episode 1 | Uncertain

1972 Apr 29 - 1972 Apr 30

Evidence from Observations: Hydrophonic

Roger Norris (Hawaii Institute of Geophysics, University of Hawaii) reported that seismic-type drum recordings of sound-power level at deep-ocean sound channel (SOFAR) hydrophones at Wake, Midway, and Oahu islands show a signal that he interpreted to be from a shallow submarine eruption in the Kuril Islands, probably between Simushir Island and Urup Island. (The acoustic record is similar to that of the Myojinsho eruption of 1970.) It began at 0830 on 29 April 1972 (UTC) and the major activity was over by 1930 UTC, although scattered events may have occurred for another day.

List of 1 Events for Episode 1

	Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
	1972 Apr 29	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)

The Global Volcanism Program has no synonyms or subfeatures listed for Kuril Arc at 46.3°N.

Photo Gallery

The Global Volcanism Program has no photographs available for Kuril Arc at 46.3°N.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Kuril Arc at 46.3°N in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences Rock and Ore collection.

External Sites

Copernicus Browser

The Copernicus Browser replaced the Sentinel Hub Playground browser in 2023, to provide access to Earth observation archives from the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem, the main distribution platform for data from the EU Copernicus missions.

MIROVA

Middle InfraRed Observation of Volcanic Activity (MIROVA) is a near real time volcanic hot-spot detection system based on the analysis of MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) data. In particular, MIROVA uses the Middle InfraRed Radiation (MIR), measured over target volcanoes, in order to detect, locate and measure the heat radiation sourced from volcanic activity.

MODVOLC Thermal Alerts

Using infrared satellite Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, scientists at the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i, developed an automated system called MODVOLC to map thermal hot-spots in near real time. For each MODIS image, the algorithm automatically scans each 1 km pixel within it to check for high-temperature hot-spots. When one is found the date, time, location, and intensity are recorded. MODIS looks at every square km of the Earth every 48 hours, once during the day and once during the night, and the presence of two MODIS sensors in space allows at least four hot-spot observations every two days. Each day updated global maps are compiled to display the locations of all hot spots detected in the previous 24 hours. There is a drop-down list with volcano names which allow users to 'zoom-in' and examine the distribution of hot-spots at a variety of spatial scales.

WOVOdat
   Single Volcano View
   Temporal Evolution of Unrest
   Side by Side Volcanoes

WOVOdat is a database of volcanic unrest; instrumentally and visually recorded changes in seismicity, ground deformation, gas emission, and other parameters from their normal baselines. It is sponsored by the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) and presently hosted at the Earth Observatory of Singapore.

GVMID Data on Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure The Global Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure Database GVMID, is aimed at documenting and improving capabilities of volcano monitoring from the ground and space. GVMID should provide a snapshot and baseline view of the techniques and instrumentation that are in place at various volcanoes, which can be use by volcano observatories as reference to setup new monitoring system or improving networks at a specific volcano. These data will allow identification of what monitoring gaps exist, which can be then targeted by remote sensing infrastructure and future instrument deployments.

Volcanic Hazard Maps

The IAVCEI Commission on Volcanic Hazards and Risk has a Volcanic Hazard Maps database designed to serve as a resource for hazard mappers (or other interested parties) to explore how common issues in hazard map development have been addressed at different volcanoes, in different countries, for different hazards, and for different intended audiences. In addition to the comprehensive, searchable Volcanic Hazard Maps Database, this website contains information about diversity of volcanic hazard maps, illustrated using examples from the database. This site is for educational purposes related to volcanic hazard maps. Hazard maps found on this website should not be used for emergency purposes. For the most recent, official hazard map for a particular volcano, please seek out the proper institutional authorities on the matter.

IRIS seismic stations/networks

Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Data Services map showing the location of seismic stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 0.18° (about 20 km at mid-latitudes) from the given location of Kuril Arc at 46.3°N. Users can customize a variety of filters and options in the left panel. Note that if there are no stations are known the map will default to show the entire world with a "No data matched request" error notice.

UNAVCO GPS/GNSS stations

Geodetic Data Services map from UNAVCO showing the location of GPS/GNSS stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 20 km from the given location of Kuril Arc at 46.3°N. Users can customize the data search based on station or network names, location, and time window. Requires Adobe Flash Player.

DECADE Data

The DECADE portal, still in the developmental stage, serves as an example of the proposed interoperability between The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program, the Mapping Gas Emissions (MaGa) Database, and the EarthChem Geochemical Portal. The Deep Earth Carbon Degassing (DECADE) initiative seeks to use new and established technologies to determine accurate global fluxes of volcanic CO₂ to the atmosphere, but installing CO₂ monitoring networks on 20 of the world's 150 most actively degassing volcanoes. The group uses related laboratory-based studies (direct gas sampling and analysis, melt inclusions) to provide new data for direct degassing of deep earth carbon to the atmosphere.

Large Eruptions of Kuril Arc at 46.3°N

Information about large Quaternary eruptions (VEI >= 4) is cataloged in the Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions (LaMEVE) database of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

EarthChem

EarthChem develops and maintains databases, software, and services that support the preservation, discovery, access and analysis of geochemical data, and facilitate their integration with the broad array of other available earth science parameters. EarthChem is operated by a joint team of disciplinary scientists, data scientists, data managers and information technology developers who are part of the NSF-funded data facility Integrated Earth Data Applications (IEDA). IEDA is a collaborative effort of EarthChem and the Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS).