eklemetti
Posts by this author
July 1, 2009
A wrap up of the week's volcanism, brought to you by Sally Kuhn Sennert and the USGS/SI Global Volcanism Program.
Highlights, not including Sarychev Peak, Redoubt and Shiveluch (busy week in the north Pacific), include:
A small ash cloud was spotted at Bagana in Papua New Guinea.
The Tavurvur cone…
June 30, 2009
The NASA Earth Observatory has posted some excellent images of Matua Island in the Kurils that show the before and after of the Sarychev Peak eruption of June 2009. There are some impressive changes ... so lets see if you can spot them! Post your comments on whats changed and why and I'll chime in…
June 30, 2009
Redoubt steaming in early 2009. Image courtesy of Calvin Hall.
It has been a while since we spoke of Redoubt, but now it seems the reason why might be that the eruption is ending. AVO lowered the Alert Level at Redoubt to Yellow from Orange, indicating that they believe the volcano is less likely…
June 29, 2009
Shiveluch volano in Russia.
Just like last summer seemed like a busy time for the Aleutians (Cleveland, Okmok and Kasatochi), this summer could be dubbed the "summer of Kamchatka-Kurils" (alright, it isn't that catchy, sorry). The biggest news was/is, of course, the sizeable eruption from Sarychev…
June 26, 2009
Drilling in Iceland lead by geologists from UC Davis hit magma this week. Image courtesy of Peter Schiffman, UC Davis.
Quick props to my officemate here at UC Davis, Naomi Marks, who happened to be part of a team (with UC Davis geology faculty Peter Schiffman and Robert Zierenberg) that drilled…
June 26, 2009
Chaiten in Chile erupting in January 2009. Even after over a year of activity, Eruptions readers are still captivated by the volcano.
Thanks for sending me your questions about volcanoes and volcanism. I'll try to tackle some hear - but as always, keep the questions coming! Send them to
For those…
June 25, 2009
The Q&A post will be coming over the weekend (there's still time to send me a question!)
Icy cold volcanoes (well, geysers) on Enceladus, a moon of Saturn.
In the meantime, here are a few quick hits:
Mt. Cleveland in the Aleutians had a small eruption. The plume was only ~15,000 feet / ~3 km.…
June 24, 2009
Busy busy analysing on the multicollector ICP-MS today (but not busy enough to miss this).
Here's your weekly volcano news roundup from the USGS/Smithsonian GVP.
Highlights (not including Sarychev Peak) include:
Continued dome growth and degassing at Bezymianny in Russia. Starting next year, there…
June 23, 2009
A few quick news bits ... and thanks for the questions so far. Keep 'em coming!
Tungurahua, Ecuador erupting in 2006.
Ash fall from Tungurahua (in spanish) in Ecuador is affecting the farm towns around the volcano. Farmers in Manzano, a village nearby, fear the ash is significant enough to damage…
June 22, 2009
I'm buried knee-deep in lab work this week, so I don't know how much internet scouring I will be able to do for new news, however, I should have time for a mailbag column.
So, do you have a burning (no pun intended) volcano question you want answered? Email the question(s) to me and I will try to…
June 19, 2009
Some volcano news before the weekend:
The Barujari vent at Mt. Rinjani erupting in May 2009.
Barujari, the small basaltic volcano located in the crater at Mt. Rinjani, is "spewing 200-meter-high lava", at least according to recent reports. It is unclear if the eruption is, in fact, a fountain or…
June 18, 2009
Sarychev Peak erupting on June 12th. Image taken on the ISS, courtesy of the NASA EO.
The eruption as Sarychev Peak seems to be waning a bit, at least according to some of the latest images from the NASA Earth Observatory's collection of MODIS shots. The ash plume is less prominent - and strikingly…
June 17, 2009
Your weekly dose of volcano news brought you by the Smithsonian Institute GVP and the USGS.
This week's highlights (not counting Sarychev Peak and Turrialba) include:
13,000 foot / 4 km ash plumes from Rinjani in Indonesia. This is part of the continuing eruption there.
The alert level was lowered…
June 17, 2009
Flight path for Continental Flight 009 from Newark to Tokyo, diverted back to Newark due to the threat of ash from Sarychev Peak. Image courtesy of Flight Aware.
The eruption at Sarychev Peak is continuing to disrupt all sorts of flights that head towards Asia. There are lots of unhappy travelers…
June 17, 2009
Arenal in Costa Rica, erupting in July 2007. Image courtesy of Arenal.net.
Arenal in Costa Rica is one of the most active volcanoes in Central America. It is almost one of the most picturesque (see above) and, dare I say, touristy, volcanoes in the world. However, even volcanoes that seem "benign…
June 16, 2009
Matua Islands (also known as Matsuwa Island), home of Sarychev Peak.
The eruption of Sarychev Peak in the Kuril Islands has been wreaking havoc on flights to and from Asia for the past few days (as many Eruptions readers can attest). You can see the latest VAAC (Volcano Ash Advisory Center)…
June 15, 2009
Sarychev Peak in the Kuril Islands in 2007, the source of the large ash column currently disrupting transpacific air traffic.
It seems that the eruption at Sarychev Peak in the Kuril Islands of Russia might be a lot bigger than it first seemed. I've gotten a couple reports of flights to Tokyo from…
June 14, 2009
I won't try to recap all the news from last week, but I did notice a few articles from this weekend worth noting:
The Big Obsidian Flow at Newberry Volcano. This rhyolite lava flow erupted at ~1,300 years ago.
Geologists in Greece are keeping an eye on a submarine volcano called Columbus.…
June 14, 2009
Sarychev Peak in Russia erupting on June 14, 2009. Image courtesy of the NASA Earth Observatory.
The transpacific air routes over the Aleutians, the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kuril Islands are a prime location for the threat of ash to commercial aviation. Many of these volcanoes, especially on…
June 14, 2009
Mt. Saint Helens in Washington state, USA
I'm back from my sojourn to New England and its time to play catch up. First things first!
There has been a lot of chatter in my inbox and on the comments here at Eruptions about the study/press release from Graham Hill's research group talking about the…
June 9, 2009
Now that we've had three Volcano Profiles: Rabaul, Hood and Vesuvius, now it is time to vote on the next volcano. Take your pick and leave comments!
What volcano should be featured as the next "Volcano Profile"?(polling)
June 7, 2009
The latest in my Volcano Profiles Series, we turn to Europe and Vesuvius. You could fill many, many volumes with the works produced on Vesuvius since Roman times. This profile will barely scratch the surface when it comes to the vast geologic and human history surrounding the volcano, but it is a…
June 4, 2009
One brief note before I head out the door ...
Fissures formed in western Saudi Arabia during the earthquake swarm near Harrat Lunayyir during May and June 2009. Image courtesy of Ahmed Al-Hussaini.
The earthquakes in the Harrat Lunayyir region of western Saudi Arabia seem to be like a character out…
June 4, 2009
Post any new volcano news you find here! I'll be back on June 15.
Ol Doinyo Lengai in Tanzania. Image courtesy of Peter Elliston, taken in 2006.
June 4, 2009
This will likely be my last new post for the next week or so. I'll be off to my home town for a wedding and a reunion. If you're jonesing for up to date volcano info, be sure to visit the Volcanism Blog or the European Volcanological Society news page. Feel free to post any other links you know or…
June 3, 2009
We've already talked about how many active volcanoes reside in Indonesia, but this week's USGS/SI update just drives that point home. Listed in the update are no less than 5 volcanoes were activity is being seen or is on the increase (Karangetang, Slamet, Dukono, Batu Tara and Makian). This doesn't…
June 3, 2009
This week's edition of Wednesday Whatzits could have been called "Miércoles Materia" as all the updates are for South American volcano. Enjoy!
Tungurahua in Ecuador
(Note: all links in spanish)
INGEOMINAS in Colombia is reporting that Nevado del Huila experienced 343 earthquakes over the past week…
June 2, 2009
Turrialba volcano in Costa Rica.
Turrialba, one of Costa Rica's active volcanoes, is apparently showing signs of life according to a brief report by Teletica 7 (in spanish). There is increased seismic activity and elevated gas emissions at the volcano that last erupted in 2007* and 1866 prior to…
June 1, 2009
Fissures formed by seismicity in the Al-Ais region of Saudi Arabia. Image courtesy of Ahmed Al-Hussaini.
Although it seemed last week that the earthquakes in western Saudi Arabia were subsiding last week, there have been a number of reports that there was still significant seismicity in the area…
June 1, 2009
Karangetang in Indonesia erupting during the mid 1990s. Image courtesy of VolcanoWorld.
The alert level at Karangetang, one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia, was raised to Orange over the weekend and people living near the volcano have been evacuated. The volcano is apparently already…