Global Volcanism Program | Zavaritzki Caldera

Most Recent Bulletin Report: March 1989 (SEAN 14:03) Cite this Report

Gas emission near the 1957 dome; caldera lake

During a 14 January overflight, strong gas emission was observed near the 1957 dome, in the N part of the caldera. A lake occupied the caldera center.

Information Contacts: G. Steinberg, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Zavaritzki Caldera.

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.

12/1981 (SEAN 06:12) No fumarolic activity

03/1989 (SEAN 14:03) Gas emission near the 1957 dome; caldera lake

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

December 1981 (SEAN 06:12) Cite this Report

No fumarolic activity

No apparent fumarolic or solfataric activity was observed [during an aerial inspection of Kuril Island volcanoes on 20 September 1981].

Information Contacts: G. Steinberg, Sakhalin Complex Institute.

March 1989 (SEAN 14:03) Cite this Report

Gas emission near the 1957 dome; caldera lake

During a 14 January overflight, strong gas emission was observed near the 1957 dome, in the N part of the caldera. A lake occupied the caldera center.

Information Contacts: G. Steinberg, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

290180

1957 CE

612 m / 2,008 ft

46.9178°N
151.9518°E

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Caldera

Volcano Types
Caldera
Lava dome(s)
Pyroclastic cone

Rock Types

Major
Andesite / Basaltic Andesite
Basalt / Picro-Basalt
Dacite

Tectonic Setting

Subduction zone
Oceanic crust (< 15 km)

Population

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

46
46
61
118

Geological Summary

The Zavaritzki volcano on Simushir Island in the central Kuril Islands contains three nested calderas 10, 8, and 3 km in diameter. The steep-walled youngest caldera was formed during the Holocene and includes several young cones and lava domes near the margins of Biryuzovoe Lake. The current lake surface is at ~40 m elevation with the bottom ~30 m below sea level, but lacustrine sediments overlying pumice deposits indicate that the surface of an earlier caldera lake lay at 200 m above sea level. A small 500-m-diameter scoria cone, sketched by Gorshkov (1958, CAVW) that reportedly grew between 1916 and 1931, formed a peninsula extending into the lake from the NE caldera wall. Explosive eruptions in 1957 removed the cone and filled much of the NW part of the lake, including emplacement of a 350-m-wide, 40-m-high dome. Hutchison et al. (2024) provided convincing evidence that Zavaritski Caldera was the source for a significant sulfur-rich eruption in 1831 CE, which was previously known only from ice core data and thought to have possibly originated from Babuyan Claro volcano.

References

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

Erlich E N, 1986. Geology of the calderas of Kamchatka and Kurile Islands with comparison to calderas of Japan and the Aleutians, Alaska. U S Geological Survey Open-File Report, 86-291: 1-300. https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr86291

Gorshkov G S, 1958. Kurile Islands. Catalog of Active Volcanoes of the World and Solfatara Fields, Rome: IAVCEI, 7: 1-99.

Gorshkov G S, 1970. Volcanism and the Upper Mantle; Investigations in the Kurile Island Arc. New York: Plenum Publishing Corp, 385 p.

Green J, Short N M, 1971. Volcanic Landforms and Surface Features: a Photographic Atlas and Glossary. New York: Springer-Verlag, 519 p.

Hutchison W, Sugden P, Burke A, Abbott P, Ponomareva V V, Dirksen O, Portnyagin M V, MacInnes B, Bourgeois J, Fitzhugh B, Verkerk M, Aubry T J, Engwell S L, Svensson A, Chellman N J, McConnell J R, Davies S, Sigl M, Plunkett G, 2024. The 1831 CE mystery eruption identified as Zavaritskii caldera, Simushir Island (Kurils). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) 122:1, e2416699122. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2416699122

Eruptive History

There is data available for 2 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

1957 Nov 12 - 1957 Dec 1 Confirmed Eruption (Explosive / Effusive) VEI: 3

Episode 1 | Eruption (Explosive / Effusive)

N end of inner caldera

1957 Nov 12 - 1957 Dec 1

Evidence from Observations: Reported

Explosive activity in November 1957 ended with the emplacement of a 250-m-diameter lava dome that rises ~40 m above the lake surface in the NW part of the inner caldera, just SW of the previous scoria cone. Most of the previous lake area, from the SE end of the dome extending 1 km to the NW caldera wall, was filled in.

List of 10 Events for Episode 1 at N end of inner caldera

Start Date	End Date	Event Type
- - - -	- - - -	Explosion
- - - -	- - - -	Lava flow
- - - -	- - - -	Lava dome
- - - -	- - - -	Cinder Cone
- - - -	- - - -	Ash
- - - -	- - - -	Bombs
- - - -	- - - -	Scoria
- - - -	- - - -	Lahar or Mudflow
1957 Nov 12	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)
1957 Nov 28	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)

1923 ± 8 years Confirmed Eruption (Explosive / Effusive) VEI: 1

Episode 1 | Eruption (Explosive / Effusive)

N end of inner caldera

1923 ± 8 years - Unknown

Evidence from Observations: Reported

A scoria cone about 250 m in diameter, aerially photographed and sketched by Gorshkov (1958 CAVW, and in Green and Short, 1971) reportedly grew between 1916 and 1931, forming the end of a peninsula extending into the lake from the NE caldera wall. A small lava dome was also noted within the crater of the cone.

List of 3 Events for Episode 1 at N end of inner caldera

Start Date	End Date	Event Type
- - - -	- - - -	Explosion
- - - -	- - - -	Cinder Cone
1923 ± 8 years	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)

This compilation of synonyms and subsidiary features may not be comprehensive. Features are organized into four major categories: Cones, Craters, Domes, and Thermal Features. Synonyms of features appear indented below the primary name. In some cases additional feature type, elevation, or location details are provided.

Synonyms

Midori | Midoriiko

Photo Gallery

Zavaritzki volcano contains three nested calderas that are 10, 8, and 3 km in diameter. The walls of the youngest caldera are seen here in an aerial view taken before a 1957 eruption that formed a new lava dome and decreased the size of the caldera lake. A scoria cone (top center in this view with N to the right) forms a peninsula on the N side of the caldera. The small lava dome in the center of the crater and the small lava dome island to the lower right were emplaced sometime between 1916 and 1931.

Photo courtesy of G.S. Gorshkov, Institute of Volcanology, Petropavlovsk (published in Green and Short, 1971).

Biryuzovoe lake partially fills the youngest of three nested calderas of Zavaritzki volcano in central Simushir Island. The largest caldera is 10 km wide. The surface of the lake in the youngest 3-km-wide caldera is at about 40 m elevation and its bottom lies about 30 m below sea level. The lava below the lower side of the lake in this International Space Station view (N is to the lower left) was emplaced during a 1957 eruption.

NASA International Space Station image ISS005-E-6512, 2002 (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/).

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Zavaritzki Caldera 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 Zavaritzki Caldera. 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 Zavaritzki Caldera. 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 Zavaritzki Caldera

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).