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Geology News
Volcanoes Current Events

The Fall 2009 issue of Oregon Geology features field trip guides and information about the new state geologic map…

* Field trip guide to the middle Eocene Wildcat Mountain caldera, Ochoco National Forest, Crook County, Oregon

* Field trip guide to the Oligocene Crooked River caldera: Central Oregon’s supervolcano, Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson Counties, Oregon

* Field trip guide to the Neogene stratigraphy of the Lower Crooked Basin and the ancestral Crooked River, Crook County, Oregon

* Portland, Oregon, geology by tram, train, and foot

NASA’s Earth Observatory has released a satellite image of lava flows in Kilauea Volcano’s East Rift Zone. The image shows many generations of flows and the trace of craters that mark the center of the rift zone.

The city center of Arequipa, Peru is only 11 miles away from the summit of El Misti. Arequipa has nearly 1 million residents and much of the building stone for Arequipa was quarried from pyroclastic flow deposits produced by El Misti.

A large rift in Ethiopia’s Afar desert may be the beginnings of a new ocean. An eruption from the Dabbahu volcano triggered the rift’s formation, when the ground split about 6 meters (20 feet) in the course of a few days.

Related: East Africa’s Great Rift Valley: A Complex Rift System

A previously unknown volcanic eruption in 1809 kicked off the coldest decade in the past 500 years. This eruption was larger than the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo and was followed in 1815 by the eruption of Tambora. The result was a global lowering of temperature.

“Every year an average of 50 volcanoes erupt worldwide, putting lives, economic productivity, and homes in danger. USAID is responding to that risk with the world’s only volcano crisis response team. ” Quoted from the USAID press release.

Related article: Volcanic Hazards by Jessica Ball

Galeras Map by USGS

Galeras, a stratovolcano in Colombia, is threatening to erupt. Local officials have issued a code orange alert and say that it could erupt at any time.

Glen Cushing, a U.S. Geological Survey space scientist, suggests that craters near Mars’ Arsia Mons volcano could be collapse features above caves or lava tubes.

Soufriere Hills Volcano on the Island of Montserrat began its most recent series of eruptions in 1995. Since then much of the southern part of the island has been buried by ash fall, lahars and pyroclastic flows. Explore this image to see what can happen to communities near such eruptions.

View Larger Map

NASA’s Earth Observatory released an astronaut photograph of Soufrière Hills, a volcano on the island of Montserrat. In addition to the eruption plume the image shows ground features such as lahar deposits, pyroclastic flow deposits, ash deltas and more.

The recently discovered “Supervolcano” near Prineville and Portland’s amazing geologic history are featured in the new 96-page issue of Oregon Geology Magazine, published by the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries.

COROT-7b is an exoplanet that orbits the star COROT-7. It it so close to the star that temperatures are thought to be high enough to vaporize silicate rocks. Above the surface the vapors can cool to produce a rain of igneous rocks.

Researchers have determined that magma can rise very rapidly during some types of explosive volcanic eruptions. If magma can rise rapidly then deep magma might be able to produce an eruption in less than the time needed to detect, confirm, communicate and evacuate.

After 10 months of relative quiet, Soufriere Hills volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat blasted ash into the sky in early October 2009. This satellite image, acquired by NASA’s Terra spacecraft, shows a plume of ash extending westward from Soufriere Hills on October 12, 2009. According to the U.S. Air Force Weather Agency, ash extended 540 kilometers (330 miles) at an elevation of approximately 4,000 meters (13,000 feet).

NASA Image

This NASA satellite image shows the Craters of the Moon lava fields in Idaho. The dark basaltic lava flows are between 2,100 and 15,000 years old.

“After 10 months of relative quiet, Soufriere Hills volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat blasted ash into the sky in early October 2009. This natural-color satellite image shows a plume of ash extending westward from Soufriere Hills on October 6, 2009, a day after eruptive activity resumed on October 5th.” Quoted from the NASA image caption.

Shiveluch Volcano, on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, has displayed intermittent activity over the past several months. This NASA image from October 3, 2009 shows a plume of ash and/or steam streaming from the volcano. The satellite also detected a hot spot in the summit caldera which is probably a sign of lava dome growth.

“Scientists have found the “Rosetta Stone” of supervolcanoes, those giant pockmarks in the Earth’s surface produced by rare and massive explosive eruptions that rank among nature’s most violent events. The eruptions produce devastation on a regional scale — and possibly trigger climatic and environmental effects at a global scale.” Quoted from the SMU press release.

An article at Parade.com profiles Tristan da Cunha, one of several volcanic islands in the Tristan da Cunha archipelago located in the South Atlantic Ocean. At 1750 miles from the nearest land it is designated as the most remote inhabited island in the world.

Explosive eruptions at Ol Doinyo Lengai Volcano in 2008 built a cone over 100 meters (330 feet) high with a steep-walled crater. This NASA image shows the gray ash-covered landscape and other eruption effects.

Australia has two active volcanoes and hundreds that are inactive. This article explores the historical record and the certainty that future eruptions will occur.

Mayon Volcano in the Philippines produced a small ash and gas eruption on September 15th. More details at the Eruptions Blog.

Learn some basics about the East Africa Rift System from this article by James Wood and Alex Guth of Michigan Technological University.

It’s not lava flows or ash falls. However, if one of these events would occur today about 100,000 people live in areas that would be buried.

Related: Articles about volcanoes.

“Vesuvius is the only active volcano in mainland Europe, and has produced some of the continent’s largest volcanic eruptions. Vesuvius is most famous for the 79 AD eruption which destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.” Quoted from the article by Jessica Ball.

Insurance companies providing homeowners coverage in Hawaii have used USGS maps to set their rates for a long time. Now some companies are modifying rates or dropping coverage and homeowners want to know if the lava flow hazard maps – which were made 35 years ago – still represent the hazard accurately.

NASA Image from a previous eruption.

Dr. Erik Klemetti reports that a large eruption is underway at Shiveluch Volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula of eastern Russia. It could have an adverse impact on air traffic in that area and east to North America.

On April 10, 1815, Tambora Volcano produced the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history. A NASA image provides a look at the summit caldera from June, 2009.

USGS names Mount Rainier in Washington as the most dangerous volcano in the Cascade Range. Part of its danger is attributed to the 26 glaciers on the mountain which, if melted by an eruption, could produce enormous lahars.

The BBC sent a team to Mount Bosavi, in the Papua New Guinea rainforest, to explore the volcano’s crater. During their visit, they found some new and intriguing species.