Mineral King valley in California. Well, we are in the peak of the summer, so Eruptions will be running a bit of summer schedule while I'm off away from the interweb tubes. First off, from July 11-20, I'll be off in the mountains, doing some much-needed fieldwork with my (first) undergraduate research student. We'll be up in the Mineral King area of Sequoia National Park looking at some old rhyolites and granites - we're talking Triassic and Jurassic submarine and subaerial calderas! We'll hopefully be taking a look at zircons in these rocks to help constrain the timescales of these enigmatic…
Quick hits to wrap up the week: Looking into a skylight at Kilauea. Image taken July 8, 2010, courtesy of HVO/USGS. Following up some news about Changbaishan/Changbai caldera in North Korea, Yang Qingfu, director of earthquake and volcano analysis and forecast center with the seismology bureau of northeast China's Jilin Province, says that the volcano appears to be quiet and that there are no signs of an impending eruption - at least not in the next dozen years. The bigger news (in my mind) is that China will be installing full monitoring (gravity, deformation, electromagnetics, fluid monitor…
So, I'm a little late with this thanks to a little hiatus, but I thought I would post the latest GVP Weekly Volcanic Activity Report. Thanks again to the Smithsonian, USGS and especially Sally Kuhn Sennert! Some highlights include: There were more ash explosions spotted at Ebeko in Kamchatka, producing ~1.8 km (5,900 foot) ash columns. This activity prompted KVERT to raise the Alert Status to Yellow. This goes along with news from a pile of other Kamchatka/Kuril Island volcanoes: Gorely, Tiatia, Karymsky, Kliuchevskoi and Shiveluch. More activity at Arenal in Costa Rica - its almost always…
Thanks for all the words/advice about Pepsigeddon here at SB. If you missed it, the powers that be have officially pulled the plug on the PepsiBlog. However, this crisis (as much as blogging can be a crisis) has reinforced a lot of long-standing problems with the management here at SB, so not to sound like Fox Mulder, there is a lot more going on than meets the eye. Now that PepsiBlog is down, I'll return to posting at SB (for the time being at least). However, SB has lost a lot of credibility and very good bloggers as well, so times, they are a'changin'. I strongly believe in keeping a…
This hiatus for Eruptions lead me to do one thing I said I would never do ... but strange times call for strange measures. Eruptions has opened up a Twitter account (and I feel a little dirty about it), so if you want to follow the sporadic posts that might show up there, you can follow the blog - eruptionsblog. Now, I can't guarantee a lot of tweets, but for now, if something comes up, you can look there ... and we'll see where it goes from there.
If you haven't heard, ScienceBlogs HQ has put its foot squarely in its jaw thanks to a little poor decision-making. Now, Eruptions is a little outside the mainstream of ScienceBlogs - there aren't many corporations that might influence my posting (unless you suddenly see "Eruptions - brought to you by RyanAir" the next time an Icelandic volcano erupts), so I would hope that the credibility of this blog is hopefully not too threatening by the PepsiBlog, but I feel for my other ScienceBloggers who may be adversely effected for various reasons. In solidarity with them, Eruptions will be quiet…
A few very quick hits: Ever-looming Mt. Rainier, with Tacoma, Washington in the foreground. PHIVOLCS is pondering whether to lower the Alert Status at Taal back to Level 1. The volcano has been on Alert Level 2 for the past month after increasing signs of potential eruptive activity. However, seismicity is down at Taal, so PHIVOLCS will be sending a ground team to do a survey before deciding whether to lower the Alert Level. The heightened state of alert at Taal has lead to some people taking advantage of the populace, with little more than a fake text message to cause panic. Just how tall is…
We'll try again with a finding a good Mystery Volcano Photo! The last MVP was Mt. Meru in Tanzania, submitted by Michael Dalton-Smith. Now, I thought this image was going to be a little harder than it turned out to be as the shot of Meru on Wikipedia is a very similar shot, but that happens sometimes - and it did take 9 guesses this time! Congrats to MK in Alberta for getting that MVP. As for Meru, the last known eruption from this African volcano was in 1910, a VEI 2 explosive event from the aptly named "Ash Cone". Meru appears to have been relatively active during the late 1800's and early…
Serpentine (as known as serpentinite), the current (and potentially soon-to-be ex-) state rock of California. This does not have a direct connection to volcanoes, but it sure is about geology and the science in the news. State Senator Gloria Romero of California has sponsored a bill to change the California state rock from serpentine because, as she claims: "[Serpentine] contains the deadly mineral chrysotile asbestos, a known carcinogen, exposure to which increases the risk of the cancer mesothelioma ... California should not designate a rock known to be toxic to the health of its residents…
So, I've had requests on the blog to help to do some defining of volcanologic terms on the blog, so I thought I'd try a new column called Eruptions Word of the Day. I'm not sure how often it will run, but let's give it a try. Eruptions Word of the Day for July 5, 2010: Dacite Dacite is a magma type defined by silica (SiO2) content between 63-68 (or 69) weight percent. That is the textbook definition, but some other typical characteristics of dacite lavas (or magmas) is the presence of certain minerals: plagioclase feldspar and hydrous minerals (containing water in their mineral structure)…
Maybe I should be pleased that in the last Mystery Volcano Photo took a whole five guesses rather than one or two, so I count it as success! The correct guess was made by Dr. Boris Behncke, so that elevates him into a tie for first. Current Standings: The Bobs - 3 Don Crain - 3 Boris Behncke - 3 gijs - 2 volcanista - 1 Lockwood - 1 Elizabeth - 1 Ralph - 1 Anne - 1 Cam - 1 gg - 1 Damon Hynes - 1 Marco - 1 Doug C. - 1 Diane - 1 Stephen - 1 The 21st MVP was submitted by Eruptions reader David Tucker, who snapped it while flying over the Kamchatka Peninsula on his way to Japan. The volcano in…
Just a reminder, if you any questions for Sally Kuhn Sennert of the Smithsonian/USGS Global Volcanism Program - about the Weekly Report, about life at the GVP, about volcanoes - be sure to send them to me soon at . Now, on to this week's update! Some highlights (not including Gorely): Lahars from Tungurahua in Ecuador moved blocks upwards of 2 m in diameter downstream over the last week and ash fall was reported over 20 km from the volcano's vent. For some reason, FoxNews decided to use an image of Tungurahua for an article on stats of natural disasters in 2009 - nice image, but the volcano…
An explosion at the Santiaguito dome at Santa Maria in Guatemala. Now, we've been talking recently about funding volcano monitoring - specifically with the threat that KVERT in Russia will close down after today (June 30). Well, Jessica Ball over at Magma Cum Laude has another worthy volcano observatory that needs your help. The Santiaguito Volcano Observatory, run by the INSIVUMEH in Guatemala, is the main station to watch over the activity at Santa Maria and the (very) active Santiaguito domes near the Pacific coast of the country. However, this observatory is run an a shoestring budget if…
After last week's attempt to revive Mystery Volcano Photo - and the discovery (by me, thanks to you readers) of Tin Eye - I've had to ponder how to continue. Well, I think the best thing to do is to try using reader images that hopefully aren't hiding out on the web somewhere. So, that is what we'll try ... As for MVP #20, the answer was, indeed, Edziza in Canada (congrats to Stephen). Edziza is an eroded composite stratovolcano that last erupted ~950 AD (+/- 1,000 years ... !) The volcano has erupted basalts to more felsic magmas, many of which were subglacial eruptions. The current…
News! The summit crater lake at Gorely in Russia, taken on June 21, 2010. Image courtesy of KVERT. Eruptions readers have been abuzz about how KVERT will be closing shop (yet again) at the end of June. This would, of course, leave no local monitoring and expertise in the very active Kamchatka Peninsula and Kuril Islands in Russia. Right now Shiveluch and Gorely are both showing signs of increased eruption (along with other volcanoes in the arc). In fact, Gorely, which hasn't erupted since 1986, looks primed to have an eruption, with increased tremors, steam-and-gas emissions and a new summit…
It has been a quiet week, volcanically-speaking that is. Maybe they're all watching the World Cup, but there hasn't been a lot of new and exciting news to report this week. So, I thought this might be a good time to bring back Mystery Volcano Photo! Now, for those of you just joining us, I post a volcano photo and you have to identify it. The first person to get it right scores a point. We haven't done an MVP in a while (mostly because you all are too good at it), so to refresh our memories, the current standings: The Bobs - 3 Don Crain - 3 gijs - 2 Boris Behncke - 2 volcanista - 1 Lockwood…
The latest news from the world of volcanoes, brought to us by the Global Volcanism Program, USGS and the Smithsonian Institution. They are also brought to us by Sally Kuhn Sennert - and if you have a question for her about her job at the GVP preparing the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report and all things volcanic (and hopefully it won't end like another recent volcanically-mitigated interview). Some highlights (not including Gorely and Sakurajima): Ioto (aka Iwojima) in the Volcano Islands of Japan produced an ash plume of unknown height. The volcano has frequent phreatic eruptions and abundant…
As a part of my continuing Q&A series, I am pleased to announce that Sally Kuhn Sennert, compiler and author of the weekly Global Volcanism Program Volcanic Activity Reports, is the next up to take your questions. A little bit about Sally: Sally Kuhn Sennert graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Anthropology from the University of Pittsburgh in 1997. She worked with non-human primates for several years before deciding to switch gears and pursue her first love, Geology. She returned to the University of Pittsburgh, and completed her Master's degree in 2003 under the direction of Dr. Mike…
Sakurajima in Japan erupting in 2000. Sometimes, it is the volcanoes that erupt out of the blue that get all the attention, leaving the ones that are constant producers to be ignored by the fawning media. Sakurajima in Japan is just one of those constant erupting volcanoes that doesn't get its just due. Well, over the weekend, Sakurajima broke its own record as it produced its 549th explosive event this year - in June no less - marking the most explosions (video) in a single year at the volcano on record. The previous record for most explosive eruptions in a single year at Sakurajima was 548…
Africa is threatened by "scorching hot blobs of magma" according to the CSM. Nothing like some fabulous headlines to make your day. The first (courtesy of the Christian Science Monitor)Massive blob of scorching magma discovered under southern Africa Oh my! Yes, again, it seems that the many people in the media seem to be very confused about the nature of magma when it is underground - always expecting giant vats of swirling, molten magma rising up to destroy us all. Very few have a good sense of the real state of the Earth's mantle - mostly solid. The article is in fact about a recent study…