Russian Volcano Erupts, Spewing Massive Ash Cloud and Putting Air Travel on Watch

Russian Volcano Erupts, Spewing Massive Ash Cloud and Putting Air Travel on Watch

A volcanic eruption in Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula spewed a massive ash cloud that covered nearby towns and villages. Aviation officials warned of possible impacts for international air travel.

The eruption of the Shiveluch volcano in the northeastern region of the Kamchatka peninsula sent ash billowing more than 26,200 feet into the sky, according to the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team. Explosions were continuing, it said.

Ash clouds drifted about 300 miles south and southwest of the volcano, blanketing homes and vehicles in a thick layer of dust. Further explosions of up to 9 miles could occur at any time, the agency said.

“Ongoing activity could affect international and low-flying aircraft,” said the agency, which is responsible for providing information on volcanic activity to international air navigation.

The volcano had been showing signs of increasing activity for over a year.

Danila Chebrov, the team’s director, told the news agency Reuters that the volcano had shown signs of an imminent eruption for at least a year and that further explosions could send more debris into the atmosphere. But he added that lava flows should not reach local villages.

Scientists believe that Shiveluch, with a summit more than 10,000 feet above sea level, has erupted around 60 times in the past 11,000 years. Its latest era of increased activity, which began in 1999, has led to frequent emissions of ash and lava that have grounded some flights, including an Alaska Airlines flight in 2015.

The eruption was the largest recorded in the region for  nearly 60 years.

Shiveluch, one of Kamchatka´s most active volcanoes, started erupting early Tuesday, spewing dust over 500 kilometers (more than 300 miles) northwest and engulfing several villages in grey volcanic dust in the largest fallout in nearly 60 years.

The Kamchatka branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Geophysical Survey said the eruption continued Wednesday, spewing clouds of dust 10 kilometers (more than 6 miles) into the sky.

Kamchatka Peninsula is a giant geological laboratory that is located along the Pacific Ring of Fire.

…Kamchatka is one of the most volcanically active places in the world, with around 160 volcanoes, 29 of which are considered active ones, and its remoteness helps to bring an air of mystery to this region that belongs to the Far East Russia. In fact, Kamchatka was closed to visitors till 1991, so we started to know about this area and its beauty only a few years ago.

Shiveluch means “smokey mountain” in a regional language. The volcano is the northernmost active volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula and is a stratovolcano known from producing massive amounts of ash during eruptions.

It is also the largest active andesitic eruption center in Kamchatka, with a volume of about 1000 cubic kilometers. The Aleutian Island Arc and the Kurile-Kamchatka Arc subduction zones meet near Shiveluch and probably explain its high magma output. Shiveluch complex comprises the remains of “Old Shiveluch” (3283 m), a voluminous, predominantly effusive, conical edifice which suffered catastrophic collapse at least 10,000 years ago and “Young Shiveluch” (2800 m), a lava dome complex which has grown in the resulting 7 km wide collapse scar.

Young Shiveluch is notable for a relatively high frequency of edifice failures leading to massive debris avalanches inundating the landscape to the south and southwest of the Young Shiveluch lava domes. More than 13 large scale sector collapse events appear to have occurred in the last 6000 years, with the largest event in approx. 1430 having a volume of over 3 cubic km and inundating an area of over 200 square kilometers.

The most recent was in 1964, when 2 cubic km of dome material was mobilized and inundated an area of 98 sq. km. The landslide triggered a Plinian eruption in a sequence of events probably similar to those at most previous sector collapses of Shiveluch.

One volcanologist studying the area had a little fun.

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