The Volcanism Blog

Smithsonian/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report 28 March to 3 April 2012 5 April 2012 Posted by admin in activity reports, Alaska, Caribbean, Chile, Cleveland, Colombia, Ecuador, Etna, Fuego, Guatemala, Hawaii, Iliamna, Indonesia, Italy, Kamchatka, Karymsky, Kilauea, Lewotobi, Mexico, Nevado del Ruiz, Popocatépetl, Puyehue, Russia, Shiveluch, Soufrière Hills, Sundoro, Tengger Caldera, Tungurahua…

Smithsonian/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report 14-20 March 2012 22 March 2012 Posted by admin in activity reports, Caribbean, Chile, Cleveland, Colombia, Ecuador, Etna, Hawaii, Iliamna, Italy, Japan, Kamchatka, Karymsky, Kilauea, Kizimen, Mexico, Nevado del Ruiz, Popocatépetl, Puyehue, Russia, Sakura-jima, Shishaldin, Soufrière Hills, Tungurahua, United States, Villarrica, Weekly Volcanic Activ…

Kilauea to star in BBC ‘Volcano Live’ series in July 16 March 2012 Posted by admin in Kilauea, media, volcano culture.Tags: BBC, volcanoes in the media trackback The BBC likes to do big-budget live TV specials from time to time: they are of course very expensive and complicated, so the corporation has to choose its favoured subjects very carefully. Recently we’ve had natural history (Springwatch)…

Smithsonian/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report 7-13 March 2012 15 March 2012 Posted by admin in activity reports, Alaska, Bezymianny, Chile, Cleveland, Colombia, eruptions, Hawaii, Ijen, Iliamna, Indonesia, Japan, Kamchatka, Karymsky, Kilauea, Kizimen, Lamongan, Marapi, Nevado del Ruiz, Puyehue, Russia, Sakura-jima, Santa María, Shiveluch, Tungurahua, United States, Villarrica, Weekly Volcanic …

Cleveland, Alaska: another small explosion 15 March 2012 Posted by admin in activity reports, Alaska, Cleveland, eruptions, Iliamna, United States.trackback Cleveland volcano in the Aleutians had another small eruption on the afternoon of 13 March, reports the Alaska Volcano Observatory, the third such event in a week (the previous eruptions were on 7 March and 10 March). The AVO status report, i…

Santorini shows signs of restlessness 14 March 2012 Posted by admin in activity reports, Greece, Santorini.trackback The almost unbelievable beauty and visual drama of the Greek island group known as Santorini in the southern Aegean Sea is the result of a complex geological history. Santorini is the site of several shield volcanoes which overlap and are cut by a number of calderas created by succ…

Alert level raised at Ijen, Indonesia 13 March 2012 Posted by admin in activity reports, Ijen, Indonesia.trackback VolcanoDiscovery reports that the alert level for Ijen volcano in eastern Java, Indonesia, has been raised to level 3, ‘alert’ (the second-highest level) because of an increase in activity. Ijen’s alert level was last raised to 3 in December 2011, but was lowered to 2 in February. Co…

Sakura-jima: eruptive activity increases 13 March 2012 Posted by admin in activity reports, eruptions, Japan, Sakura-jima.trackback Situated in the south of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main islands making up the Japanese archipelago, Sakura-jima is one of the world’s most active volcanoes. The Global Volcanism Program records Sakura-jima’s current eruption as having begun in October 1955…

A complete chain of active volcanoes exists along the whole line of the Aleutian islands, and serves to connect the volcanoes of Kamtschatka and Cook’s Inlet. Near the latter sea rises the Ilaman mountain, to a height of 12,066 feet (1,000 feet higher than Aetna), emitting fire and smoke incessantly, yet covered with perpetual snow […]

Smoke was belching out continuously as if from a furnace and, where the surface of the mountain had been split by a long line of fires, under pressure from the winds inside (which on that day were raging quite violently), it also forced an exit for itself in many places; sometimes it even broke out […]

The Alaska Volcano Observatory reports another small explosive event at Cleveland volcano, following the small explosion detected on 7 March. This one happened in the afternoon (local time) of 9 March, as the AVO Volcanic Activity Notification reports: Another small, short duration explosion from Cleveland Volcano was detected on distant seismic stations and infrasound arrays on about […]

Increased seismic activity has been evident at Iliamna volcano in Alaska since late last year. The Alaska Volcano Observatory has been watching Iliamna closely, and has decided that the elevated activity is significant enough to merit an increase in the volcano’s alert level. The new status of Iliamna is Advisory/Yellow. The AVO volcanic activity notice reads […]

It is a basic goal of volcanology to investigate what causes the change from an inactive or weakly active state to an active phase, as well as the accompanying phenomena, We can only deduce from observations and plausible arguments that over the long term, increased activity is a consequence of the rise of a batch […]

The eruption under way at the Puyehue Cordón Caulle volcanic complex in Chile, which began in June 2011 and which caused large-scale evacuations and much disruption last year, may yet reach its first anniversary but appears to be waning. The NASA Earth Observatory has published images of the volcano captured in February and March 2012 […]

Exciting news from the website of the wonderful Reaktion Books: this spring sees the launch of a new series under the title Earth, exploring the natural and cultural history of natural phenomena, and one of the first books to be published in this series is Volcano: Nature and Culture by James Hamilton. Author of books […]

Beautiful, symmetrical Cleveland volcano in the Aleutians, which has been rumbling on and off over the last few months as its lava dome has grown, produced a small eruption last night, reports the Alaska Volcano Observatory: A small, short duration explosion was detected from Cleveland Volcano on distant seismic stations and infrasound arrays. The time […]

As the scientists at the Kamchatka Volcano Emergency Response Team (KVERT) anticipated, Bezymianny has erupted. KVERT reported at 2226Z last night: Strong explosive eruption began about 21:27 UTC on March 08 – according to seismic data. Explosive eruption will continue and strong ash explosions up to 43,000 ft (13 km) a.s.l. possible at any time. […]

It will perhaps at first sight be thought by some of your readers that an article on volcanoes has little to do with missionary work; and so it has, and I only entitle the contribution I am sending you ‘Tongariro Volcano’ because of the close connection that mountain has with the Maori superstition of ‘Tapu’. […]

The latest Smithsonian Institution and United States Geological Survey Weekly Volcanic Activity Report has been published by the Global Volcanism Program, covering the week 29 February to 6 March 2012. The report is compiled by Sally Kuhn Sennert. Some of the highlights of the volcanic week: Continuing activity at Etna including strombolian eruptions, lava fountaining […]

When Java was lost to the Mohammedans 485 years ago, so the legend goes, the disgusted Hindu gods hunted around for a new home. They chose the island of Bali, and since their exalted rank demanded a high dwelling place, they created a chain of mountains. On the most sacred eastern end of the island, […]