Is this unrest part of the Solar Activity, part of Elenin, or both? What do you know about this?
SAKURA-JIMA Kyushu 31.585°N, 130.657°E; summit elev. 1117 m
Based on information from JMA, the Tokyo VAAC reported that during 27 July-2 August plumes from Sakura-jima rose to altitudes of 1.8-3 km (6,000-10,000 ft) a.s.l. During 28-30 July and 1 August, pilots observed ash plumes that rose to altitudes of 2.1-3 km (7,000-10,000 ft) a.s.l. Plumes occasionally drifted SW, S, SE, and W.
Geologic Summary. Sakura-jima, one of Japan's most active volcanoes, is a post-caldera cone of the Aira caldera at the northern half of Kagoshima Bay. Eruption of the voluminous Ito pyroclastic flow was associated with the formation of the 17 x 23-km-wide Aira caldera about 22,000 years ago. The construction of Sakura-jima began about 13,000 years ago and built an island that was finally joined to the Osumi Peninsula during the major explosive and effusive eruption of 1914. Activity at the Kita-dake summit cone ended about 4,850 years ago, after which eruptions took place at Minami-dake. Frequent historical eruptions, recorded since the 8th century, have deposited ash on Kagoshima, one of Kyushu's largest cities, located across Kagoshima Bay only 8 km from the summit. The largest historical eruption took place during 1471-76.
Map
Source: Tokyo Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)
Sakura-jima Information from the Global Volcanism Program
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KILAUEA Hawaii (USA) 19.421°N, 155.287°W; summit elev. 1222 m
HVO reported that two lava lakes at Kilauea were active during 27 July-2 August. The level of the summit lava lakefluctuated deep in the 150-m-diameter vent inset within the E wall of Halema'uma'u Crater and circulated with various patterns. Periodic measurements indicated that the gas plume from the vent continued to deposit variable amounts of ash and occasionally fresh spatter nearby.
Lava from the Puka Nui and MLK pits, smaller craters to the W of the main Pu'u 'O'o crater, continued to overflow to the SW, producing a tube-fed pahoehoe flow that had advanced about 700 m from the Puka Nui rim during 25-30 July. Lava from the base of the NE crater filled a trough between the crater wall and the perched lava lake. Uplift of the crater floor and lava lake continued until 30 July, when a breakout lava flow started along the base of the crater's S wall and the lake slowly subsided. Subsidence continued the next day but switched to inflation on 1 August. The preliminary sulfur dioxide emission rate from all east rift zone sources was calculated at 1,700, 1,000, and 800 tonnes/day on 29 and 30 July, and 1 August, respectively.
Geologic Summary. Kilauea, one of five coalescing volcanoes that comprise the island of Hawaii, is one of the world's most active volcanoes. Eruptions at Kilauea originate primarily from the summit caldera or along one of the lengthy E and SW rift zones that extend from the caldera to the sea. About 90% of the surface of Kilauea is formed of lava flows less than about 1,100 years old; 70% of the volcano's surface is younger than 600 years. A long-term eruption from the East rift zone that began in 1983 has produced lava flows covering more than 100 sq km, destroying nearly 200 houses and adding new coastline to the island.
Rivers Of Lava Flow From Kilauea Volcano In Hawaii
By MARK DUNPHY - Fri Aug 05, 12:43 pm
Image by Greg Santos, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park
Experts say the crater floor and lava lake within Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō collapsed and lava flowed out of its west flank on Wednesday, leading to the closure of some local roads in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.
The USGS stated: “Measurements today showed that the Pu’u ‘Ō’ō crater floor collapsed about 80-85 m (260-280 ft). The Pu’u ‘Ō’ō crater rim remained extremely unstable, with continued collapses along the crater walls sending blocks of rock onto the crater floor. Gas emissions from east rift zone sources remain elevated.
...Wednesday’s activity was preceded on Tuesday by a 3.5 magnitude earthquake, 18 kilometres (11 miles) from the Kilauea volcano. The shallow tremor was recorded at 1:54 AM local time at a depth of 8.5 km (5.3 miles).
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) the tremor’s epicentre was located 16 km (10 miles) S (176°) from Fern Forest, 18 km (11 miles) S (185°) from Eden Roc, 42 km (26 miles) S (185°) from Hilo, and 358 km (222 miles) SE (127°) from Honolulu.
Kilauea volcano marked on Google Earth
Kilauea presently is the world’s longest-lived volcanic eruption. Cycles of activity at the volcano’s summit have been stable for months, however, ever since lava flows at the Kamoamoa Fissure subsided in March 2011.
Deep within Halema’uma’u Crater (which is itself in the Kilauea Caldera) a small lava lake rises and falls as magma ebbs and flows within the volcano. Sensitive instruments monitor these movements by recording the tilt of the summit: decreasing tilt reflects deflation of the magma chamber, increasing tilt inflation. Each cycle of deflation and inflation usually lasts several days.
The above natural-color satellite image from earlier this week shows the summit of Kilauea Volcano, near the southern coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. Kilauea Caldera and Halema’uma’u Crater are both visible, as well as the Hawaii Volcano Observatory and the village of Volcano. The northeast, windward side of Kilauea is covered in dark green Ohia forest. The dry, leeward side is a nearly barren brown. Fresh lava flows are dark gray. A blue-tinted volcanic plume rises from within a pit near the southeastern edge of Halema’uma’u.
The volcanic plume, rich in sulfur dioxide gas, is emitted from the surface of a lava lake. In addition to falling and rising synchronously with the deflation-inflation events of the Kilauea Summit, the elevation of the lava lake varies in a series of fill-and-drain cycles that last minutes to hours. Sulfur dioxide emissions increase when the lake falls, and decrease when the lake rises. This suggests that gas within the lava lake is trapped when the surface of the lava hardens, and pushes the lake up like a piston. When gas is released, the lake level falls.
http://www.irishweatheronline.com/news/earthquakesvolcanos/rivers-of-lava-flow-from-kilauea-volcano-in-hawaii/29842.html
Video: Spectacular Collapse of Hawaiian Volcano Crater
Aug 5, 2011 10:40 AM ET
By OurAmazingPlanet Staff
Hawaii's constantly active volcano, Mount Kilauea, is back in action.
The Hawaiian volcano's Pu`u `Ō `ō crater collapsed in spectacular fashion on Aug. 3.
Volcanic craters are large holes created by volcanic activity. Inside of craters are vents that erupt lava. A live webcam positioned above the Pu`u `Ō `ō crater caught the latest action, and one viewer created a time-lapse video using the footage.
At the same time as the 40-minute collapse, lava broke out of the Pu`u `Ō `ō cone and began to flow on Kilauea's flanks and drained the lava lake from the crater, according to the Big Think's Eruptions Blog. The lava was near the Kamoamoa Fissure that erupted earlier this year.
The lava flow was also caught on video here.
The crater can be viewed on an Hawaii Volcano Observatory webcam here.
Kilauea is a shield volcano with a low angle and broad shape like the shields used by Hawaiian warriors of the past. Shield volcanoes are usually built from the successive lava flows piling one on top of the other. The volcano's current active period has been ongoing since 1983.
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CLEVELAND Chuginadak Island 52.825°N, 169.944°W; summit elev. 1730 m
AVO reported that on 2 August the Volcano Alert Level for Cleveland was raised to Watch and the Aviation Color Code was raised to Orange due to the formation of a 40-m-wide lava dome in the summit crater that was observed on 29 July. The lava dome was extruded sometime after 7 July following the last clear view of the summit area, however thermal anomalies observed since 19 July suggested that the dome had extruded since that time.
Geologic Summary. Symmetrical Mount Cleveland stratovolcano is situated at the western end of the uninhabited dumbbell-shaped Chuginadak Island in the east-central Aleutians. The 1,730-m-high stratovolcano is the highest of the Islands of Four Mountains group and is one of the most active in the Aleutians. Numerous large lava flows descend its flanks. It is possible that some 18th to 19th century eruptions attributed to Carlisle (a volcano located across the Carlisle Pass Strait to the NW) should be ascribed to Cleveland. In 1944 Cleveland produced the only known fatality from an Aleutian eruption. Recent eruptions from Mt. Cleveland have been characterized by short-lived explosive ash emissions, at times accompanied by lava fountaining and lava flows down the flanks.
Source: Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO)
Cleveland Information from the Global Volcanism Program
Aleutian Volcano Lava Dome Growing, Agency Raises Alert Level
Courtesy Alaska Volcano Observatory
Alaska — TheAlaska Volcano Observatoryraised its alert level for the Cleveland Volcano to “watch” yesterday in response to growth of a new lava dome in the summit crater.
The Cleveland Volcano is in the Aleutian Island chain, west of Unalaska and Dutch Harbor and Atka.
The observatory also raised its aviation color code to orange, meaning there's an "increased potential of an eruption" or that an eruption is underway with no or minor volcanic-ash emissions.
“New observations from August 2 show that the lava dome has grown from about 40 meters (131 feet) to about 50 meters (164 feet) in diameter since July 29,” the Alaska Volcano Observatory reported in a daily statement on their website.
The observatory says that the lava dome “increases the possibility” of an explosive eruption “but does not necessarily indicate that one will occur.”
http://articles.ktuu.com/2011-08-03/lava-dome_29848489
Volcano watchers raise alert status for Mount Cleveland
MOUNT CLEVELAND: Unrest causes alert level to be raised.
By CASEY GROVE
casey.grove@adn.com
Published: August 4th, 2011 11:49 AM
Last Modified: August 4th, 2011 11:50 AM
Signs of lava at Mount Cleveland prompted volcanologists to raise their alert level Tuesday afternoon for the Aleutian Islands volcano.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory reports "heightened or escalated unrest" and the possibility of an eruption at the 5,676-foot volcano, according to the observatory's website.
Cleveland Volcano comprises the western half of Chuginidak Island, which sits about 115 miles west of Dutch Harbor and 950 miles southwest of Anchorage.
Satellite data and visual observations in late July revealed a lava dome about 140 feet in diameter growing in the volcano's crater, said volcanologist Chris Waythomas. The dome grew another 10 feet or so between Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the observatory.
"Sometimes lava domes like that can be explosive and lead to ash production," Waythomas said.
The volcano observatory raised the advisory status from "advisory" to "watch" and the aviation warning level from yellow to orange.
Cleveland is capable of blasting volcanic ash more than 20,000 feet into the sky -- a significant danger to air traffic in the vicinity -- so staff at the observatory decided to warn aviators of a possible explosive eruption, the researcher said.
Still, it's not certain that any ash-producing eruption will occur, Waythomas said.
"This could be the end of a little pulse of magma that's come into the volcano to form a little dome in there, and that'll be that, or it could lead to something more explosive," he said.
...
Read more: http://www.adn.com/2011/08/03/1999210/volcano-watchers-raise-alert-status.html#ixzz1UBBDnac0
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ETNA Sicily (Italy) 37.734°N, 15.004°E; summit elev. 3330 mSezione di Catania - Osservatorio Etneo reported that in the evening of 28 July Strombolian explosions from the active vent on the E flank of Etna's SE Crater cone were weak and sporadic, then ceased during the night. Throughout 29 July the crater was quiet. In the early morning of 30 July intermittent incandescence from the crater gradually intensified and became more frequent, then was followed by intense Strombolian activity accompanied by loud detonations. Lava bombs ejected several tens of meters fell back into the crater or around the rim. A diffuseash plume drifted E. A small lava flow on the E flank descended about 100 m then rapidly chilled. The activity was accompanied by a distinct increase in the mean amplitude of volcanic tremor that, along with the activity, abruptly decreased in the early afternoon.
Later that day the mean amplitude of volcanic tremor increased again along with Strombolian activity. A diffuse gas-and-ash plume again drifted E. Strombolian activity intensified and incandescent jets became continuous. At the same time lava flowed E and the effusion rate rapidly increased; lava flowed 3 km down the W slope of the Valle del Bove. The ash plume became more dense and ashfall was reported in the Ionian area (18 km E). During the most intense period, fragments of fluid lava were ejected 450-500 m above the crater and fell onto the flanks of the pyroclastic cone to distances of 200-300 m. Lava fountains jetted from at least two vents located within the crater and on the upper E flank, roughly aligned WNW and ESE. The activity ceased just after midnight. The event on 30 July was the eighth paroxysmal event in 2011.
Geologic Summary. Mount Etna, towering above Catania, Sicily's second largest city, has one of the world's longest documented records of historical volcanism, dating back to 1500 BC. Historical lava flows cover much of the surface of this massive basaltic stratovolcano, the highest and most voluminous in Italy. Two styles of eruptive activity typically occur at Etna. Persistent explosive eruptions, sometimes with minor lava emissions, take place from one or more of the three prominent summit craters, the Central Crater, NE Crater, and SE Crater. Flank eruptions, typically with higher effusion rates, occur less frequently and originate from fissures that open progressively downward from near the summit. A period of more intense intermittent explosive eruptions from Etna's summit craters began in 1995. The active volcano is monitored by the Instituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Volcanologia (INGV) in Catania.Etna Information from the Global Volcanism Program
Mount Etna Volcanic Eruptions More and More Frequent
By Anissa Haddadi | August 2, 2011 9:00 AM GMT
As the Mt. Etna volcano came to life again and started erupting in the southern Italy on the island of Sicily, inhabitants were not worried but rather bemused.
The volcanic eruption took place as on July 30 2011 in Catania-the eight time this year that the volcano erupts- but fortunately, the lava that flown into a valley overnight did not represent a danger to inhabited areas.
Etna is the highest active volcano in Europe at 3,295 metres (10,810 feet), and during its latest eruption, flames coming out of the lava were fired in the air, reaching an altitude of about 250 meters, according to witnesses.
There were concerns that the ash could block flights out of nearby Catania airport but according to observers, strong winds managed to blow away the ash rapidly not affecting the Islands inhabitants or the Island's airport and no flights had been cancelled or delayed.
First reports that Mt. Etna volcano erupts appeared on Saturday morning with the volcano demonstrating its activity through Saturday and Sunday, following a six month period of inactivity.
No one suffered injuries and no property was damaged during the volcano eruptions, which have in the last year become much more frequent.
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SHIVELUCH Central Kamchatka (Russia) 56.653°N, 161.360°E; summit elev. 3283 m
KVERT reported that seismic activity at Shiveluch was moderate during 22-29 July and indicated that possible ashplumes rose to an altitude of 4.7 km (15,400 ft) a.s.l. during 23 and 25-27 July. Satellite imagery showed a thermal anomaly on the lava dome on 22 July; cloud cover prevented observations on other days. Ground-based observers noted fumarolic activity on 24 July. The Aviation Color Code remained at Orange.
Based on information from KEMSD, the Tokyo VAAC reported that on 1 August an eruption produced a plume that rose to an altitude of 7 km (23,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted E. Ash was seen in subsequent satellite images that same day.
Geologic Summary. The high, isolated massif of Shiveluch volcano (also spelled Sheveluch) rises above the lowlands NNE of the Kliuchevskaya volcano group and forms one of Kamchatka's largest and most active volcanoes. The currently active Molodoy Shiveluch lava-dome complex was constructed during the Holocene within a large breached caldera formed by collapse of the massive late-Pleistocene Strary Shiveluch volcano. At least 60 large eruptions of Shiveluch have occurred during the Holocene, making it the most vigorous andesitic volcano of the Kuril-Kamchatka arc. Frequent collapses of lava-dome complexes, most recently in 1964, have produced large debris avalanches whose deposits cover much of the floor of the breached caldera. Intermittent explosive eruptions began in the 1990s from a new lava dome that began growing in 1980. The largest historical eruptions from Shiveluch occurred in 1854 and 1964.
Sources: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT), Tokyo Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)
Shiveluch Information from the Global Volcanism Program
KIZIMEN Eastern Kamchatka (Russia) 55.130°N, 160.32°E; summit elev. 2376 m
KVERT reported that photos taken of Kizimen on 20 July showed that the lava flow on the E flank, which began in January, remained active. During 22-29 July seismicity was above background levels and weak volcanic tremor continued to be detected. Satellite images showed a bright thermal anomaly on the volcano all week and seismic data indicated that possible ash plumes rose to an altitude of 3 km (10,000 ft) a.s.l. Seismologists in the area observed the active lava flow on the E flank. The Aviation Color Code remained at Orange.
Geologic Summary. Kizimen is an isolated, conical stratovolcano that is morphologically similar to Mount St. Helens prior to its 1980 eruption. The summit of Kizimen consists of overlapping lava domes, and blocky lava flows descend the flanks of the volcano, which is the westernmost of a volcanic chain north of Kronotsky volcano. The 2,376-m-high Kizimen was formed during four eruptive cycles beginning about 12,000 years ago and lasting 2,000-3,500 years. The largest eruptions took place about 10,000 and 8300-8400 years ago, and three periods of longterm lava-dome growth have occurred. The latest eruptive cycle began about 3,000 years ago with a large explosion and was followed by lava-dome growth lasting intermittently about 1,000 years. An explosive eruption about 1,100 years ago produced a lateral blast and created a 1.0 x 0.7 km wide crater breached to the NE, inside which a small lava dome (the fourth at Kizimen) has grown. A single explosive eruption, during 1927-28, has been recorded in historical time.
KARYMSKY Eastern Kamchatka (Russia) 54.05°N, 159.45°E; summit elev. 1536 m
KVERT reported that during 22-29 July moderate seismic activity continued at Karymsky and possible ash plumes rose from the crater. A thermal anomaly on the volcano was detected by satellite during 22 and 24-27 July; cloud cover prevented observations on the other days. The Aviation Color Code remained at Orange.
Based on information from Yelizovo Airport (UHPP), the Tokyo VAAC reported that on 30 July an ash plume rose to an altitude of 2.1 km (7,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted SW.
Geologic Summary. Karymsky, the most active volcano of Kamchatka's eastern volcanic zone, is a symmetricalstratovolcano constructed within a 5-km-wide caldera that formed about 7,600-7,700 radiocarbon years ago. Construction of the Karymsky stratovolcano began about 2,000 years later. The latest eruptive period began about 500 years ago, following a 2,300-year quiescence. Much of the cone is mantled by lava flows less than 200 years old. Historical eruptions have been Vulcanian or Vulcanian-Strombolian with moderate explosive activity and occasional lava flows from the summit crater. Most seismicity preceding Karymsky eruptions has originated beneath Akademia Nauk caldera, which is located immediately S of Karymsky volcano and erupted simultaneously with Karymsky in 1996.
Sources: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT), Tokyo Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)
Karymsky Information from the Global Volcanism Program
Russian Volcano Shows Signs Of Impending Eruption
By MARK DUNPHY - Fri Aug 05, 4:22 pm
Kamchatka Peninsula marked on GOOGLE EARTH
The Kamchatka Peninsula, along Russia’s Pacific coast, is currently the most volcanically active area in the world: four volcanoes are erupting simultaneously, and a fifth is showing signs of an impending eruption.
Ash plumes from two of these volcanoes are visible in this natural-colour satellite image.Along the northern (top) edge of the imageShiveluch emits a broad gray plume from the lava dome growing on its southern flank. 90 kilometres (60 miles) to the southwest a much smaller plume escapes from Bezymianny.
This image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite on August 3, 2011. Bright green vegetation covers the river floodplains and mountainsides, which gives way to bare rock and eventually snow at higher elevations.
The view from space on Friday 05 August 2011. Image MODIS
NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-GSFC. Caption by Robert Simmon. Instrument: Aqua – MODIS.
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MARAPI Sumatra (Indonesia) 0.381°S, 100.473°E; summit elev. 2891 mCVGHM reported increased seismicity from Marapi during 21 June-3 August. Observers noted that during June and July white plumes rose 15-75 m above the summit craters. On 1 August white plumes rose 15 m above the main crater; fog prevented observations the next day. On 3 August dense gray plumes rose 300-1,000 m above the crater on eight occasions. That same day CVGHM raised the Alert Level to 2 (on a scale of 1-4). Visitors and residents were prohibited from going within a 3-km radius of the summit.
Geologic Summary. Gunung Marapi, not to be confused with the better known Merapi volcano on Java, is Sumatra's most active volcano. Marapi is a massive complex stratovolcano that rises 2,000 m above the Bukittinggi plain in Sumatra's Padang Highlands. A broad summit contains multiple partially overlapping summit craters constructed within the small 1.4-km-wide Bancah caldera. The summit craters are located along an ENE-WSW line, along which volcanism has migrated to the W. More than 50 eruptions, typically consisting of small-to-moderate explosive activity, have been recorded since the end of the 18th century; no historical lava flows outside the summit craters have been reported.Marapi Information from the Global Volcanism Program
Indonesians flee volcano eruption on Sulawesi
Mount Lokon spewed ash, sand and rocks thousands of metres into the airThousands of people on an Indonesian island have been forced to flee a fierce volcanic eruption.
Mount Lokon, on Sulawesi, started erupting at around 2230 local time (1530 GMT) on Thursday, according to reports.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
...http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14164522
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POAS Costa Rica 10.20°N, 84.233°W; summit elev. 2708 m
OVSICORI-UNA reported that on 23 July a group of observatory scientists visited Poás to document changes that had occurred there during the previous weeks. They noted that the subtle, semicircular scarp observed a few months earlier had rapidly progressed to a sharp scarp on the SE shore of Laguna Caliente. The 60-m-wide, 2.5-m-high scarp degassed and geyser activity was observed on the W end, next to the steaming lake. In an area about 40 m above the surface of the lake where there were fractured rocks and vigorous gas venting, incandescence emanated from the lava dome and a temperature of 670 degrees Celsius was measured.
Geologic Summary. The broad, well-vegetated edifice of Poás, one of the most active volcanoes of Costa Rica, contains three craters along a N-S line. The frequently visited multi-hued summit crater lakes of the basaltic-to-dacitic volcano, which is one of Costa Rica's most prominent natural landmarks, are easily accessible by vehicle from the nearby capital city of San José. A N-S-trending fissure cutting the 2,708-m-high complex stratovolcanoextends to the lower northern flank, where it has produced the Congo stratovolcano and several lake-filled maars. The southernmost of the two summit crater lakes, Botos, is cold and clear and last erupted about 7,500 years ago. The more prominent geothermally heated northern lake, Laguna Caliente, is one of the world's most acidic natural lakes, with a pH of near zero. It has been the site of frequent phreatic and phreatomagmatic eruptions since the firsthistorical eruption was reported in 1828. Poás eruptions often include geyser-like ejection of crater-lake water.
Poás Information from the Global Volcanism Program
RABAUL New Britain 4.271°S, 152.203°E; summit elev. 688 m
RVO reported that white vapor occasionally tinted blue rose from Rabaul caldera's Tavurvur cone during 1-28 July. Dull incandescence emanated from a small caved-in vent on the floor of the crater. The start of an ash eruption on 29 July was marked by an emergent low-frequency tremor and slowly rising gray ash plumes. One explosion on 30 July possibly produced light ashfall to the NW. Seismic data indicated forceful degassing on 1 August.
Geologic Summary. The low-lying Rabaul caldera on the tip of the Gazelle Peninsula at the NE end of New Britain forms a broad sheltered harbor. The outer flanks of the 688-m-high asymmetrical pyroclastic shield volcano are formed by thick pyroclastic-flow deposits. The 8 x 14 km caldera is widely breached on the E, where its floor is flooded by Blanche Bay. Two major Holocene caldera-forming eruptions at Rabaul took place as recently as 3,500 and 1,400 years ago. Three small stratovolcanoes lie outside the northern and NE caldera rims. Post-caldera eruptions built basaltic-to-dacitic pyroclastic cones on the caldera floor near the NE and western caldera walls. Several of these, including Vulcan cone, which was formed during a large eruption in 1878, have produced major explosive activity during historical time. A powerful explosive eruption in 1994 occurred simultaneously from Vulcan and Tavurvur volcanoes and forced the temporary abandonment of Rabaul city.
Source: Rabaul Volcano Observatory (RVO)
Rabaul Information from the Global Volcanism Program
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Tanzania to conduct research on Mt Kilimanjaro volcano
Tanzania plans to conduct a research on Mt Kilimanjaro to check signs of volcanic activity following recent volcanic incidents in different parts of the world.
Terezya Huvisa, state minister for environment in the vice president’s office, said this to parliament in Dodoma, the new capital, Xinhua reported.
Mt Kilimanjaro has three peaks which occurred due to volcanic eruptions about one million years ago, among which Mawenzi and Shira peaks have become “dead” and there was no possibility of eruption, according to experts, the minister said.
However, the Kibo peak was reportedly active as ashes and fire had been spotted recently, said Huvisa.
The last eruption at Kibo peak occurred 200 years ago, resulting in an ash pit which exists till today.
Mt Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa with a height of 5,895 metres. Various studies conducted on the mountain show that the snow cap is melting drastically. Latest reports indicate that Mt Kilimanjaro’s glacier would disappear by 2025.
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PUYEHUE-CORDON CAULLE Central Chile 40.590°S, 72.117°W; summit elev. 2236 m
During 25 July-1 August, OVDAS-SERNAGEOMIN reported that the eruption from the Cordón Caulle rift zone, part of the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic complex, continued and seismicity indicated that the lava flow remained active. Cloud cover prevented observations by a video camera on 25 July, though satellite imagery detected a plume that drifted 200 km SE. On 26 July the camera recorded a plume that rose 2 km above the crater and incandescence up to 500 m above the crater was observed at night. Satellite imagery showed a plume drifting 100 km SE. Cloud cover again prevented camera observations during 27-28 July, but on 28 July a 150-km-long plume was observed in satellite imagery drifting SE. During 29-31 July plumes rose 2-5 km above the crater and satellite imagery showed plumes drifting 80-400 km SW, N, and NE. Incandescence was observed up to 300 m above the crater at night during 29-30 July. Cloud cover prevented observations on 1 August. The Alert Level remained at Red.
Geologic Summary. The Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic complex (PCCVC) is a large NW-SE-trending late-Pleistocene to Holocene basaltic-to-rhyolitic transverse volcanic chain SE of Lago Ranco. The 1799-m-highPleistocene Cordillera Nevada caldera lies at the NW end, separated from Puyehue stratovolcano at the SE end by the Cordón Caulle fissure complex. The Pleistocene Mencheca volcano with Holocene flank cones lies NE of Puyehue. The basaltic-to-rhyolitic Puyehue volcano is the most geochemically diverse of the PCCVC. The flat-topped, 2236-m-high Puyehue volcano was constructed above a 5-km-wide caldera and is capped by a 2.4-km-wide summit caldera of Holocene age. Lava flows and domes of mostly rhyolitic composition are found on the eastern flank of Puyehue. Historical eruptions originally attributed to Puyehue, including major eruptions in 1921-22 and 1960, are now known to be from the Cordón Caulle rift zone. The Cordón Caulle geothermal area, occupying a 6 x 13 km wide volcano-tectonic depression, is the largest active geothermal area of the southern Andes volcanic zone.
Puyehue-Cordón Caulle Information from the Global Volcanism Program
Chile’s Puyehue-Cordón Caulle Continues To Spew Ash
By MARK DUNPHY - Tue Aug 02, 1:44 am
Nearly two months after ash and steam began spewing from a fissure in Chile’s Puyehue-Cordón Caulle Volcanic Complex, the volcano continues to erupt.
OnSunday 31 July, SERNOGEOMIN, Chile’s geology and mineral agency, reported that a minor eruption was in progress at Puyehue-Cordón Caulle. The volcano released gas and ash, accompanied by a continuous volcanic tremor.
An average of one low-magnitude earthquake per hour occurred beneath the volcano. Cameras installed around the site showed an eruption column height of 2 kilometres (1 mile).
NASA Earth Observatory image created by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using EO-1 ALI data provided courtesy of the NASA EO-1 team. Caption by Michon Scott and Robert Simmon. Instrument: EO-1 - ALI
The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite captured the above natural-color image on July 31, 2011.
A pale ash plume rises above erupting fissures, then fans out toward the north and east. The plume casts a shadow over the lava flow along the western (left) edge of the image. To the south of the plume, areas that have not been coated with lava sport instead a dendritic pattern of white snow and brown ash.
The eruption at Puyehue-Cordón Caulle began on June 4, 2011. The eruption sent an ash plume high into the atmosphere, and winds sent the ash around the Southern Hemisphere.
http://www.irishweatheronline.com/news/earthquakesvolcanos/chiles-puyehue-cordon-caulle-continues-to-spew-ash/29382.html
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Three active volcanoes spotted on satellite imagery from NASA
July 11, 2011 By Rob Gutro
NASA's Terra satellite captured this image of the Nabro Volcano located in the African country of Eritrea. The image was taken on July 6 at 07:50 UTC (3:50 a.m. EDT) and the red spots indicate heat. The light brown area over the Gulf of Aden (right) is blowing dust from northern Somalia (right) in the image. Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team
(PhysOrg.com) -- From space, NASA keeps a watchful eye on volcanic activity around the world with many satellites. NASA has just released satellite images showing activity this week from volcanoes in the countries of Eritrea, Chile and Indonesia.
NASA's Terra satellite and the GOES-11 satellite captured ash plumes or heat coming from the Nabro volcano, the Puyehue-Cordón volcano, and the Soputan volcano, respectively, over the past week. There are a number of other volcanoes showing activity around the world, but thanks to good visibility these three volcanoes were more easily seen from space this week.
NASA’s Terra satellite flew over the Nabro volcano in Eritrea on July 6 at 07:50 UTC (3:50 a.m. EDT) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument captured "heat signatures" or hot areas in the volcano. The MODIS images are created by the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The team provides images from the MODIS instrument (that flies on both the Terra and Aqua satellite) every day.
This GOES-13 image from July 3 at 14:45 UTC (10:45 a.m. EDT) shows the light brown ash plume from the Puyehue-Cordón volcano blowing to the west-northwest. Credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project, Dennis Chesters
Nabro is located in the State of Eritrea, a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea's neighboring countries include Ethiopia to the south, Djibouti to the southeast and Sudan to the west. An ash plume was difficult to pinpoint on the imagery because of dust blowing in the direction of the volcano and over the Gulf of Aden from nearby Somalia.An image from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite called GOES-11 (a satellite managed by NOAA) showed a light brown ash plume from the Puyehue-Cordón volcano at 14:45 UTC (10:45 a.m. EDT) n July 3, 2011. The image was created by the NASA/NOAA GOES Project at NASA Goddard, and clearly shows an ash plume blowing into the eastern Pacific Ocean. On Thursday, July 7, ash continued streaming from the volcano and grounding flights in South America.
The Puyehue-Cordón Caulle Volcano is located in the Andes Mountains of centralChile, near the Argentina border. According to Volcanolive.com, it consists of Puyehue volcano and Cordón Caulle fissure complex.
The MODIS instrument on NASA's Terra satellite captured an image of an ash plume from the eruption of the Soputan volcano, Sulawesi Island, Indonesia on July 3, 2011 at 02:25 UTC (July 2, 10:25 p.m. EDT).
The MODIS instrument on NASA's Terra satellite captured this image of an ash plume from the eruption of the Soputan volcano, Sulawesi Island, Indonesia on July 3, 2011 at 02:25 UTC (July 2, 10:25 p.m. EDT). Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team
Mount Soputan is located in the North Sulawesi province. It erupted on July 3 and sent ash and smoke more than three miles (five kilometers) high, according to news.au.com. On July 3, sixteen flights from Manado International Airport were canceled or postponed, according to earthquake-report.com.Mount Soputan last erupted in 2008 and is located in a sparsely populated area. By July 7, the Mount Soputa
More Than 720 Earthquakes Recorded On El Hierro In One Week
By MARK DUNPHY - Wed Jul 27, 9:58 pm
El Hierro (circled) in The Canary Islands. Google Earth
An unprecedented 720 earthquakes have been recorded on El Hierro, the smallest of the Canary Islands, during the past week.
The earthquake swarm has even prompted the Canary Islands Government to convene the first ever meeting of the Steering Committee and Volcanic Monitoring, reflected in the Specific Plan Protection Civil and Emergency for Volcanic Risk, given what it described “the significant increase in seismic activity”.
The National Geographic Institute (IGN) and Volcanological Institute of the Canary Islands is continuing to record scores of earthquakes, measuring between 1 and 3 on the Richter Scale, each day. The majority of earthquakesare being recorded at a depth of between 5km and 15 km.
According to Actualidad Volcánica de Canarias (AVCAN), the vast majority of the tremors have been recorded in the northwest of the 278.5-square-kilometre island at El Golfo, the location of a massive landslide that created a 100-metre high tsunami almost 50,000 years ago (more below).
There is no indication at present that the low magnitude seismic activity is a precursor to any significant volcanic activity or, indeed, stronger earthquake activity.
In a statement issued at the weekend, the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Government Security Canary said: “According to data provided by the seismic monitoring station IGN’s located in Valverde, one can conclude that from the noon on July 17 there has been a significant increase of low magnitude seismic activity in the municipality of Border of the island of El Hierro. To improve the location of this activity, has deployed a seismic network densification operational since July 21 has helped increase the number of earthquakes located, and can be viewed at Web www.ign.es”.
El Hierro’s Volcanic/Seismic Past
El Hierro is situated in the most southwestern extreme of the Canaries. The island was formed after three successive eruptions, and consequent accumulations, the island emerged from the ocean as an imposing triangular pyramid crowned by a volcano more than 2,000 metres high.
El Golfo, El Hierro, The Canary Islands (Spain)
According to ElHierro.com: “Although over 200 years have elapsed since the last eruption, El Hierro has the largest number of volcanoes in the Canaries with over 500 open sky cones, another 300 covered by the most recent outflows, and some 70 caves and volcanic galleries, notably the Don Justo cave whose collection of channels surpasses 6km in length.”
El Hierro is located south of Isla de la Palma (population 86,000), currently the most volcanically active of the Canary Islands. About a half a million years ago, the volcano, Taburiente, collapsed with a giant landslide, forming the Caldera de Taburiente. Since the Spanish occupation, there have been seven eruptions.
Taburiente, La Palma, marked on Google Earth
Caldera de Taburiente. Image wiki
In a BBC Horizon programme broadcast on October 12, 2000, two geologists (Day and McGuire) hypothesised that during a future eruption, the western flank of the Cumbre Vieja, with a mass of approximately 1.5 x1015 kg, could slide into the ocean. This could then potentially generate a giant wave which they termed a “megatsunami” around 650–900 m high in the region of the islands. The wave would radiate out across the Atlantic and inundate the eastern seaboard of North America including the American, the Caribbean and northern coasts of South America some six to eight hours later. They estimate that the tsunami will have waves possibly 160 ft (49 m) or more high causing massive devastation along the coastlines. Modelling suggests that the tsunami could inundate up to 25 km (16 mi) inland – depending upon topography.
Mojave Desert quake, volcanic eruption debunked
July 25, 2011 4:05 PM
BARSTOW • A YouTube user who claimed to have discovered a volcanic eruption in the Mojave Desert over the weekend was mistaken, U.S. Geological Survey officials said Monday.
A YouTube video posted Saturday evening displayed radar images and Google Earth maps as a narrator described what he believed to be evidence of a volcanic eruption over Pisgah Crater, a young volcanic cylinder cone between Barstow and Needles about 2.5 miles south of Interstate 40.
“There was no indication of a volcanic eruption on that date and time, and nor is there one brewing today,” USGS spokeswoman Clarice Ransom said.
Dr. John Eichelberger, program coordinator of volcano hazards for USGS, said the video didn’t appear to be a hoax, but rather a misinterpretation of the data.
This month's breaking news from the Central Mojave: The Pisgah Crater, a cinder cone two miles south of Interstate 40 near Ludlow, California that has likely been dormant for at least 20,000 years, is not erupting.
That's right: not erupting. The US Geological Survey has even issued a press statement to that effect, after two agency geologists were interviewed by local press. Why? Because a fellow going by the name of Dutch Sinse, a conspiracy buff far from the Mojave Desert, viewedNEXRAD doppler radar videos of what would seem to be monsoonal storm cells and declared them to be "volcanic plumes" -- an eruption, of sorts, in progress.
Sinse, who generally writes about alleged tampering with weather by the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), has a significant following on his blog and YouTube channel. Here's the video in which Sinse announces the eruption:
In the video, Sinse states that the "plume" cannot possibly be a wildfire, in part because there have been no news reports of wildfires in the area. (The similar lack of news reports on volcanic eruptions two miles off Interstate 40 escapes mention.) One YouTube commenter responds to the video saying:
I live 15 miles from the Pisgah crater and no we did not have an earthquake nor did the crater erupt! No smoke plumes no nothing just a lot of desert storms.
Sinse responds, in part:
within 3 days of this last week there was a 6.0 south in baja
The epicenter of said quake, a 5.9, was in the Sea of Cortez off Los Mochis on the Mexican mainland. Pisgah Crater is closer to Denver, Colorado than it was to that quake, which was far too weak to have been associated with a minor volcanic eruption 775 miles north.
In all likelihood, what Sinse pointed out in the above and subsequent videos were local storm cells, a wave of which has been running roughshod over the California Deserts in recent weeks. In summer, when superheated air rises from the desert floor and meets moist air coming in from the Sea of Cortez, thunderstorm cells can materialize seemingly out of nowhere, often creating small and intensely violent storms surrounded by many miles of clear sky.
The USGS had this response:
Inquiries have come to the USGS regarding a potential eruption in the vicinity of Lavic Lake Volcanic Field (LLVF) in Southern California. The inquiries stem from a citizen report noting a plume-like feature on NEXRAD radar imagery from July 23, 2011. USGS volcanologists evaluating the situation find nothing to indicate that the NEXRAD feature results from volcanic activity. Satellite images from the same period do not show the steam or ash clouds that accompany volcanic activity, and there is no seismicity in the vicinity indicative of volcanic unrest/eruption. No earthquakes were located within 20 miles of LLVF during the last week (USGS-Caltech Seismic Net update 14:10 PDT July 27, 2011 ). No reports of eruptive activity have come in from ground observers (LLVF is within 2 miles of Interstate 40) or from regional pilots (Barstow Daggett County Airport is within 10 miles of LLVF).
To sum up: a guy in the Midwest watches a doppler radar video of Mojave storm activity on the Internet and decides, in part due to apparent ignorance of Mojave weather patterns and a lack of familiarity with basic concepts of geology and mathematics, that a volcano is erupting, despite eyewitness accounts that said volcano is resting as peacefully as it has for the last 20,000 years or more. Why would the USGS bother issuing a response?
In part, it's because Dutch Sinse has a following, a network of conspiracy buffs who seem to see a new volcanic eruption in the Mojave -- and a subsequent USGS "coverup" -- as part of a vague but widespread threat to the US connected with secret HAARP research involvingweather control as a war weapon,, the perennial and persistent chemtrails scare, secret plans to impose martial law on the US, and -- for some of his fans -- the looming end of the world forecast for 2012.
Sinse's prognostications spread quickly throughout the net. Within four days of the July 23 "eruption" I'd received three or four questions about it from different sets of online acquaintances. For one reason or another, this particular conspiracy theory gained traction, even inspiring some people to go out and document the plumes for themselves -- like these women, who ended up filming what looks like a convective updraft at what they thought was Pisgah Crater -- but which was actually Amboy Crater about 35 miles east of Pisgah.
Oddly, Amboy Crater's recent history offers one of the most compelling rebuttals to Dutch Sinse's speculations about Pisgah. At the end of World War II witnesses saw a thick plume of black smoke emerging from the crater, which is a few miles south of Route 66. Word spread quickly. Within a few hours the Los Angeles Times had chartered an airplane to fly over the crater to investigate. The aircraft's occupants saw firsthand the source of the smoke: a huge pile of tires and creosoted wood that a few Barstow High School students had stockpiled in the crater and ignited as a prank.
If it was that easy in the mid-1940s to check on a small volcano in the remote Mojave Desert to see if it was erupting, it certainly would be far easier now. Thousands of people see Pisgah Crater every day, and USGS vulcanologists would relish the chance to study a Mojave Desert volcanic eruption. This is the stuff of which dissertations are made and departmental budgets fortified. Few people would be more excited about a volcano coming to life in southern California than your typical USGS field scientist. An agency less likely to cover up an eruption is hard to imagine.
Dutch Sinse is far from the first person to make statements about the American deserts without actually knowing anything about them. That practice reaches at least as far back as 1845, when Lansford Hastings published a guidebook to a route across northern Utah that he had never actually seen, indirectly sending the ill-fated Donner Party to their doom. They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's unlikely Dutch Sinse's nonsense will hurt anyone the way Hastings did. Still. The Internet offers its users the best library in world history, and learning about the world is now far easier for the average American than it was just twenty years ago, but when you start deciding you know more about what's happening in a far away section of the Mojave Desert than do the people who actually live there, and the scientists who've made a life work of studying it, it's probably time to turn off the computer and go outside.
And take a map: you don't want to get your volcanic craters mixed up when you go. That would be embarrassing.
Govt mulls Mount K`njaro study to check volcano
3rd August 2011
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The government, through Tanzania National Parks (Tanapa), will soon conduct a research on Mount Kilimanjaro’s Kibo peak to check signs of volcanic eruption following recent volcanic incidents in different parts of the world.
State Minister in the Vice-President’s Office (Environment) Terezya Huvisa revealed this in Parliament yesterday when responding to a question by Betty Machangu (CCM).
She said that there was no any thorough research conducted to look into the possibility of volcanic eruption at Kibo peak, but following recent eruptions in different parts of the world, the government through Tanapa intends to conduct research at Kibo peak.
“The government through Tanapa is planning to look for experts who will conduct research at the Kibo peak to check whether there was any possibility of volcanic eruption in the future,” Huvisa said.
She further explained that Mt Kilimanjaro had three peaks which occurred due to volcanic eruptions about one million years ago. “Experts’ reports have confirmed that Mawenzi and Shira peaks had dead volcanic and there is no possibility of eruption,” she said.
However, Huvisa said the Kibo peak was reportedly active as ashes and fire had been spotted recently. “The last incident of eruption at this peak occurred 200 years ago resulting in ash pit which exists until today,” Huvisa said.
In her supplementary question, Machangu had wanted to know the measures taken by the government after latest experts’ reports indicated that Mt. Kilimanjaro’s glacier would disappear by 2025.
The Minister admitted that it was true that the ice cap the mountain was melting due to climate changes, but used the opportunity to request the people to preserve the environment to contain the problem.
Quake-volcano links probed
Taizan Emura / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
It is not unusual for dormant volcanoes to erupt several months or years after a great earthquake. But is there a causal relationship between massive earthquakes and volcanic eruptions? Will the Great East Japan Earthquake affect volcanoes in this country? Researchers have been trying to answer these questions.
Two days after a magnitude-9.5 earthquake struck Chile in 1960, the Puyehue volcano in southern Chile erupted. The volcano erupted again in June this year, following a magnitude-8.8 temblor in February last year.
It is difficult to establish a statistical correlation between massive earthquakes and volcanic eruptions given the low frequency of such events. But research conducted by Masaaki Churei, a former chief of volcanology of the Meteorological Agency, shows a historical correlation between the two phenomena.
"Volcanic eruptions in the Tohoku region spiked before and after great earthquakes off the Sanriku coast in the region," Churei said.
According to a research paper by Churei published in 2002, 13 volcanic eruptions, including those of Mt. Chokai and Mt. Azuma, occurred in six prefectures of the Tohoku region over a period of 156 years from 1841 to 1996.
During that period, four magnitude-8-class earthquakes--including the Meiji Sanriku Earthquake of 1896 and the Ansei Hachinohe Earthquake of 1856--occurred in the Japan Trench.
Of the 13 eruptions, 12 occurred within eight years before or after the massive earthquakes, Churei's research found. It also showed that volcanoes became active three or four years after the major earthquakes.
Churei found similar phenomena in the Hyuganada sea off eastern Miyazaki Prefecture.
Toshitsugu Fujii, professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo and chairman of the Coordinating Committee for the Prediction of Volcanic Eruptions, said, "If accurate statistical data could be compiled based on exact eruption records, correlations between volcanic eruptions and earthquakes could be seen in various parts of the world."
A link between volcanoes and massive earthquakes can be found under the sea.
In the sea off the eastern coast of the Tohoku region, for example, the Pacific tectonic plate moves westward and subducts beneath the North American continental plate to create the Japan Trench, which extends from north to south. The westward-moving plate contains much moisture and transfers some of it to the continental plate during subduction.
In the presence of moisture, it is believed that rocks at a certain depth tend to turn into magma when subject to high temperature and high pressure. Indeed, just above where this magma is generated is a "volcanic front" along a north-south axis in the Tohoku region in parallel with the Japan Trench.
A major earthquake occurs when the edge of an oceanic plate suddenly slides under a continental plate. The positional and dynamic relations of the two plates change, possibly affecting magma formation. Thus, earthquakes and volcanoes essentially are closely linked.
But it is estimated to take from several thousand years to tens of thousands of years for magma created deep in a plate to rise to the Earth's surface. Therefore, a different mechanism seems to be at work when a massive earthquake affects volcanic activities shortly after its occurrence.
In the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake, underground volcanic activity spiked at 20 volcanoes throughout the country, including below Mt. Yakedake straddling Nagano and Gifu prefectures, Mt. Hakone on the border of Kanagawa and Shizuoka prefectures and Mt. Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture. Earthquakes that can be sensed by humans also occurred.
Commenting on the cause of this phenomenon, the Meteorological Agency said: "Magma chambers below the volcanoes were shaken by seismic waves, causing gases in magma to create magma bubbles. This resulted in earthquake swarms."
Many volcanologists are focusing on the hypothesis that crustal movements triggered by earthquakes squeeze out magma to cause volcanic eruptions. One such scientist is Eisuke Fujita, a senior researcher of the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention. He has researched how the gravitational pressure from rocks around the magma chamber of Mt. Fuji changed in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake compared with that before the disaster.
Mt. Fuji erupted 49 days after the Hoei Earthquake of 1707. A simulation conducted by Fujita showed that if a spherically shaped magma chamber with a radius of three kilometers existed 18 kilometers underground, movements in faults near the chamber would change its shape, squeezing out magma.
But Fujita assumes that the deformation would not be enough to create significant movement of magma.
He plans to conduct similar research of volcanoes in Tohoku, including Mt. Iwate in Iwate Prefecture.
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