Volcano Watch

[maryals]

Here's the link for USGS Volcano/

Where we can look at Volcanoes in the U.S. and don't forget the Russian Volcanoes just West of Alaska!

Currently "Cleveland" and "Okmok", both on the Aleutians, are code Orange. Here's a link to a good map of the Aleutians and the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula. The volcanoes of Kamchatka are not happy!
Russian Volcanoes West of Alaska

MaryAlice

[Divinorumus]

Yup, been watching for all volcano ever since I got that creepy feeling a couple weeks ago or whatever. We are likely entering the fringe of the dark rift now. A bumpy ride ahead indeed. If enough of them volcanos all go off at around the same time, it could suddenly become very cold and very snowy for quite a while all over the planet.

[Alpha]

Here's the link for USGS Volcano/

Where we can look at Volcanoes in the U.S. and don't forget the Russian Volcanoes just West of Alaska!

Currently "Cleveland" and "Okmok", both on the Aleutians, are code Orange. Here's a link to a good map of the Aleutians and the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula. The volcanoes of Kamchatka are not happy!
Russian Volcanoes West of Alaska

MaryAlice

Great links and thread mary

Thank you!!

Thought I'd just add this...I'm looking for a more interactive site and I'll post one if I can find it...if any of you have one for the earths volcanoes, please post it.

In the interim:

From:mapsofworld.com

World Map Of Volcanoes

[maryals]

Thank you Alpha Great Map. With the Changes that the Earth is going thru, the "Minor" Volcanoes must also be watched.
I was here the last time Mt Spurr dumped about 3 inches of ash on Anchorage and of course the surrounding areas.

Earthquakes, lava and ground covering ash aren't the only hazards. When the ash cloud shoots up to the flight level of airplanes, THAT is a real problem. One of my EX's responsibilities is forecasting just where that ash cloud is going to go, how much it will spread, etc. The FAA takes this info to re-route aircraft.

As Div said, the Earth can become a very cold and snowy place just from the millions of tons of ash from all the "Minor" Volcanoes as well as the major ones. If we had to choose, somehow had the ability to choose, better to have lava and quakes than ash.

MaryAlice to protect me from the falling ash

[Divinorumus]

Interesting. Maybe in retrospect, these indicators will become known as the signs of impending disaster that nobody paid any serious attention to.

Kilauea lava flow pauses for three days
Published: Dec. 26, 2008 at 1:36 PM

HONOLULU, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- The Kilauea volcano on the big island of Hawaii took a three-day break this week from its 26-year eruption.

Scientists said that lava stopped flowing at what is known as the Thanksgiving Eve Breakout on Monday and started up again on Christmas Eve, the Honolulu Advertiser reported Friday.

....

Montserrat volcano hurls lava, rocks, ash

...

[Divinorumus]

The year of the Alaska volcano: Eruptions keep observatory busy
18.12.2008

Three Alaska volcanoes erupted in midsummer 2008. Cleveland, Okmok and Kasatochi volcanoes, all located in Alaska’s Aleutian Chain, made for a hectic 20th anniversary for the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

Scientists from AVO and the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks will share details of their research on North Pacific volcanoes, highlighting some of the recent volcanic eruptions in Alaska, at a variety of presentations at the American Geophysical Union’s fall meeting in San Francisco, Dec. 15-19, 2008.

....

Alaska Volcano Observatory

AVO Webcams

other observatories:

Yellowstone Volcano Observatory

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

Cascades Volcano Observatory

Long Valley Observatory

Consortium of US Volcano Observatories - Alaska, Cascades, Hawaii, Long Valley, Yellowstone

Current Alerts for U.S. Volcanoes

[Judee]

DECEMBER 30, 2008

Is Yellowstone gonna blow?

BY CECIL ADAMS



More (1333)...My friend Melanie loves to watch the Discovery Channel and share what she has watched with others. The problem is she can never get the story straight. Her latest tale is about Yellowstone Park sitting on top of a supervolcano that has been dormant for 6,000-ish years. She said the supervolcano is showing signs its active. Is there any truth to her tale?

—Tina

Yeah, Melanie screwed up some details: it’s been 600,000-ish years since Yellowstone’s supervolcano has gone off full blast, not 6,000. She got the drift, though. It’s a question of when, not if.

A supervolcano is one that explodes in (natch) supereruptions. Definitions vary, but usually we’re talking a magnitude-eight (M8) eruption: one trillion metric tons of ash and other debris filling at least 100 cubic miles, typically upchucked over the course of about a week. Picture 1,000 Mount Saint Helenses, or 8 Tamboras. Besides causing regional devastation, supereruptions affect global climate. An Indonesian super 74,000 years ago kicked off a thousand-year drought that some contend caused a human population crash.

Yellowstone is both a supervolcano and a hotspot; the two don’t always go together. A hotspot is the business end of what’s known as a mantle plume, a stream of magma that rises hundreds of miles through a channel in the earth’s crust. The Yellowstone plume head, 50 miles underground, is several hundred miles wide. Over time, the hot head melts the overlying crust, forming a smaller magma chamber. Yellowstone’s magma chamber is just a few miles down and contains partially melted granite viscous enough to trap gas, allowing pressure to build. Periodically the pressure cracks the surface, ejecting gas and disintegrated rock into the surface world. After about a tenth of the chamber’s contents have erupted, pressure falls and the show’s over. Reheat and repeat.

The Yellowstone hotspot has produced dozens of large eruptions over the past 16 million years, the last three within the Yellowstone volcanic field: two supers and one M7.4 lightweight that created 68 cubic miles of debris. They left overlapping giant calderas, or craters, each 10 to 50 miles wide. Since filled with lava and eroded, the calderas went unrecognized till the 1960s.

These three big eruptions were 640,000 years ago, 660,000 years earlier, and 800,000 years before that. See a pattern? Lurid reports suggest we’re overdue, but the pattern is illusory. Over the past 4.5 million years, large Yellowstone eruptions have come at irregular intervals of 300,000 to 2.4 million years. Furthermore, a series of smaller eruptions (relatively; one was Krakatoa-esque in magnitude) between 170,000 and 70,000 years ago ejected as much material as a super—perhaps enough to relieve the pressure for a while.

Yellowstone has been eruption-free for 70,000 years, neglecting occasional steam explosions. Two centers of resurgence within the last caldera, where the land heaves up and down several feet over the course of decades, bear watching, but there’s no sign of imminent trouble.

What’s the chance of a supereruption anywhere in the world in the next 50 years? Estimates range from one chance in 1,000 to one in 10,000—hardly cause for panic. When it does happen, though, a lot of people are going to be toast. A supereruption could kill tens of millions. Within 10 to 50 miles of the next Yellowstone vent, you’ll be Pompeiiized beneath thousands of feet of hot ash. Ash and associated toxins could devegetate a third of the lower 48 (including some of the world’s most productive farmland) for years or decades, leading to mass starvation.

Grim, but so unlikely that the U.S. Geological Survey lists Yellowstone as only the 19th most dangerous American volcano. Pimples like Kilueha, Saint Helens, and Rainier top the list.

Elsewhere, some giant calderas are frightfully close to urban areas. Lake Taal in the Philippines is only 40 miles from Manila. In Italy the rim of Campi Flegrei lies only five miles from central Naples. The last near-supereruption there came 35,000 years ago; a much smaller one killed 24 in 1538. Pizza napoletana on my next Italian tour? Sure. But make mine to go.

http://www.connectsavannah.com:80/gy...id=oid%3A11877

[VOguy]

Judee,

Did you write the part below the --Tina?

[Divinorumus]

Note to self: add an extra case of face masks to my emergency survival supply hoarding stockpile.

[Judee]

Judee,

Did you write the part below the --Tina?

No VO, it's from a newspaper. I just thought it gave a fairly easily understood, albeit not entirely 'scientific', picture of supervolcanoes. There is no doubt that Yellowstone is 'burping and breathing', but then again, most everything having to do with 'nature' on our little planet is being perturbed these days isn't it? I hope Cayce is correct, that the 'shift' would be more gradual, rather than one big dramatic, life-ending event.

[VOguy]

OK. It was well written, I was going to pat you on the back for a job well done! (You should have claimed it)

There is no doubt that something is happening on the western coast. Where scientists disagree is with the where, when, and why, as well as the level of destruction.

I get a kick out of people that predict the area of devastation. It's great to say that for 300 miles east there will be chaos and casualties. The problem I have with this is the consistency of weather patterns.

If you take all the weather conditions from the last 6 months, and model them, if Yellowstone were to blow, there could be any number of combinations ... including affecting those in Washington, the SW US, and even north into Canada.

Same with the earthquake predictions. There could be any amount of real estate affected from where Fairbanks to Mexico City, and from Hawaii, to Utah. Take your pick.

And there is something to be said about when one plate shifts, others will follow, which includes those in MO, IL, IN, and OH as well. (Great!)

[Divinorumus]

Russia's Koryakski volcano on the eastern Kamchatka Peninsula erupted a couple days ago sending ash 6,000 metres (20,000 feet) into the air, according to the local geophysics service.

[maryals]

Kamchatkan and Northern Kuriles Volcanic Activity
KVERT INFORMATION RELEASE 04-09
Thursday, January 15, 2009, 22:45 UTC (Friday, January 16, 10:45 KST)

SUMMARY OF LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODES:

KAMCHATKA:
KLYUCHEVSKOY, SHEVELUCH and KARYMSKY: ORANGE
KORYAKSKY and BEZYMIANNY: YELLOW
TOLBACHIK PLOSKY, KIZIMEN, AVACHINSKY, MUTNOVSKY and GORELY: GREEN

NORTHERN KURILES:
CHIKURACHKI, EBEKO and ALAID: GREEN

SHEVELUCH VOLCANO: 56°38'N, 161°19'E; Elevation 3,283 m, the dome elevation ~2,500 m
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS ORANGE

The lava flow continues to effuse on the southern and northern flanks of the lava dome. Ash explosions up to 10 km (32,800 ft.) ASL could occur at any time. The activity of the volcano could affect international and low-flying aircraft.

Seismicity was above background levels all week. According to seismic data, probably ash plumes up to 7.3 km (23,900 ft) and 6.9 km (22,600 ft) ASL occurred at the volcano on January 09 and 14, respectively; and up to 5.5 km (18,000 ft) ASL in the other days last week. According to visual data, an ash plume rose up to 3.5 km (11,500 ft) ASL on January 09. Strong gas-steam activity was noted on January 08-10 and 12-14. Clouds obscured the volcano in the other days of the week. According to satellite data, a big thermal anomaly was registered over the lava dome all week. Gas-steam plumes extended about 70 km (43 mi) to the south, south-east and north-east from the volcano on January 9-11 and 13.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/current/shv/index.html

KLYUCHEVSKOY VOLCANO; 56° 03'N, 160° 39'E; Elevation 4,750 m
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS ORANGE

The eruption continues but an activity of the volcano decreased. However a danger for international and low-flying aircraft remains.

Seismic activity of the volcano was above background levels all week. Moderate Strombolian activity of the volcano was observed on January 09-10. Gas-steam plumes rose up to 6.8 km (22,300 ft) ASL and extended about 50 km (31 mi) to the southern and eastern directions from the volcano. Probably lava effusion on the north-western flank of the volcano finished. According to satellite data, a big thermal anomaly was registering over the volcano all week but a temperature of anomaly essentially decreased. Gas-steam plumes extended about 70 km (43 mi) to the west from the volcano on January 12.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/current/klch/index.html

KARYMSKY VOLCANO: 54°03'N, 159°27'E; Elevation 1,486 m
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS ORANGE

Probably activity of the volcano continues and ash explosions up to 6 km (or 19,700 ft.) ASL are possible. The explosive activity of the volcano could affect low-flying aircraft.

Seismic activity of the volcano was above background levels on January 10-14: possibly weak ash-gas explosions occurred at the volcano on these days. An intermittent volcanic tremor was registered on January 13-14. There was not seismic data on January 08-09 by technical reasons. According to satellite data, a thermal anomaly was registered over the volcano on January 8-12 and 14-15. Gas-steam plumes extended about 25 km (15.4 mi) to the south-east and north-east on January 08 and 12. Clouds obscured the volcano on the other days of the week.

KORYAKSKY VOLCANO; 53°19'N, 158°43'E; Elevation 3, 456 m
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS YELLOW

Fumarolic activity of the volcano continues. Possibly activities of the volcano will increase. The activity of the volcano could affect low-flying aircraft.

Seismic activity of the volcano was at background levels all week. According to visual data, strong fumarolic activity was registering on January 08-14: gas-steam plumes rose up to 4.5 km (14,800 ft) ASL and extended to the east, south-west and north-west from the volcano. According to satellite data, a weak thermal anomaly was registering over the volcano on January 11-14. Gas-steam plumes extended ~40 km (24.8 mi) to the south-east from the volcano on January 08. Ash plumes were not registered on satellite images during the past week.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/current/krk/index.html

BEZYMIANNY VOLCANO: 55°58'N, 160°36'E; Elevation 2,895 m
CURRENT LEVEL OF CONCERN COLOR CODE IS YELLOW

Growth of the lava dome continues. Sudden ash emission related to this activity could affect low-flying aircraft in the vicinity of the volcano.

Strong seismicity of Klyuchevskoy volcano does not allow to detach a seismicity of Bezymianny volcano. A moderate fumarolic activity of the volcano was observed on web-camera all week. According to satellite data, a weak thermal anomaly was registering over the volcano on January 10-14.


IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS, PLEASE CONTACT:

Dr. Olga Girina, KVERT, IVS FED RAS
E-mail: girina@kscnet.ru
Tel. (41522) 58627

Tatiana Kozhevnikova, KVERT, KB GS RAS
E-mail: ssl@emsd.ru
Tel. (41522) 59523

Dr. Tom Murray, Scientist-in-Charge, USGS
E-mail: tlmurray@usgs.gov
Tel. 907-786-7497

The Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) is a non-commercial cooperative program of the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO, USA), the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (IVS) FED RAS and the Kamchatkan Branch of Geophysical Survey (KB GS) RAS (Russia). KVERT staff is available in the office from 8:30 AM till 6:00 PM (KST or KDT) and by phone during the evenings. KVERT uses daily satellite imagery, information from remote scientific observation stations, real-time seismic data for 10 volcanoes, and other information to monitor activity at Kamchatkan and Northern Kuriles Volcanoes.

The official web-page of KVERT (the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology FED RAS): http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/index_eng.php
Archive of daily information KB GS RAS: ftp://emsd.iks.ru/pub/DATA/RTS/Volcanoes
KVERT Information Releases at the web-page of AVO (Alaska Volcano observatory): http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/a...p?view=kaminfo


KVERT Level of Concern Color Code
GREEN
No eruption anticipated. Volcano is in quiet, "dormant" state.
YELLOW
An eruption is possible in the next few weeks and may occur with little or no additional warning. Small earthquakes detected locally and (or) increased levels of volcanic gas emissions.
ORANGE
Explosive eruption is possible within a few days and may occur with little or no warning. Ash plume(s) not expected to reach 25,000 feet above sea level.Increased numbers of local earthquakes. Extrusion of a lava dome or lava flows (non-explosive eruption) may be occurring.
RED
Major explosive eruption expected within 24 hours. Large ash plume(s) expected to reach at least 25,000 feet above sea level. Strong earthquake activity detected even at distant monitoring stations. Explosive eruption may be in progress.