Uturuncu Decoded, Magma Injecting Into Deep Chamber, Upset By Earthquakes

In an earlier post about the Bolivian volcano Uturuncu, I had pointed out that this volcano was rapidy inflating at a rate of up to 1.5cm a year (breakneck inflation geologically speaking). At the time I was not able to find out a whole lot of info about Uturuncu volcano, but the story I wrote got massive attention by several websites, and eventually some of the more professional media picked up on the story. I'll provide links to those articles below.

After reading the articles, which actually include a comprehensive scientific analysis of Uturuncu and its magma chamber, it has become apparent that this is a volcano to keep an eye on. It is massive, and has active fumeroles at the summit, however it has not erupted for hundreds of thousands of years. The article states that seismicity has been mapped, and a low-velocity zone lies underneath the volcano. They are at this point assuming that the low velocity zone implies partially melted crustal material, which they refer to as "crystal mush". This is similar to Yellowstone Volcano's low-velocity zone, and Campi Flegrei, Naples.

The articles and scientific analysis state that after a large 8.8 earthquake in the area in 2010, hundreds of quakes were recorded afterward under Uturuncu. This means that the crust has become upset with the activity, and is allowing magma to feed into the chamber of Uturuncu, thus the inflation we are seeing today. This does not, however, mean an eruption is imminent or close to happening. Magma chambers often can inflate with little to no surface activity... just look at Yellowstone.

Indeed due to the size of the volcano, the pressures would need to be IMMENSE to cause a full scale eruption, and at this point that is unlikely to occur in a short period of time. If inflation is consistent and the uplift does not cease at some point, this likely would lead to a large eruption. Thankfully, this volcano is not very close to any population centers, but an explosion would likely generate a very significant amount of ash, which can travel very long distances once it is picked up by the jetstream.

Check out the links below and get all the cool facts about this fascinating sleeping giant!

http://www.science20.com/tuff_guy/earthquakes_uturuncu_volcano-85017
http://www.springerlink.com/content/p2q52un028226h7v/

Indonesia's Mount Gamalama Forces Evacuations

Indonesia

Mount Gamalama erupted with force today, forcing residents of Ternate Island out of their homes on the slope of the volcano, and into five shelters. A total of 1,200 people so far have been placed in these shelters. Video from the area shows heavy rain mixing with ash, causing lahars and other problems. Some areas will likely be destroyed by this eruption, as the mix of ash and rain creates a sort of liquid cement that demolishes everything in its path.

The volcano is erupting a large amount of ash, and lava is descending the slopes. No fatalities have been caused by the eruption as of yet, and I suspect Indonesia is well prepared to handle such volcanic disasters, as they have more active volcanoes on their islands than most other places in the world. Indonesia lies on the so called Pacific Ring of Fire, and has hundreds if not thousands of volcanoes on all of its islands, most of them with historical activity records.

Another Indonesian volcano is also showing signs of activity, as Australian volcanologist John Seach reported:

"Sundoro volcano in central Java was raised to level 2 alert on 6th December 2011 after an increase in seismicity. The temperature of fumaroles at the summit increased from 75 deg C on 26th November to 95 deg C on 2nd December. On 2nd December a plume from the summit rose several tens of metres above the rim of the crater. The number of volcanic earthquakes were measured as 3 in October, 13 in November and 20 between 1-4 December. A 2 km exclusion zone has been placed around the volcano. The last eruption of Sundoro volcano occurred in 1971."

El Hierro Volcano Displays Surface Activity

I actually stayed up quite late last night gazing at the El Hierro Webcam watching for signs of the eruption on the water surface, and I'm happy to say I was not disappointed. At approximately 8pm PST (no idea off the top of my head what time it was at El Hierro, but it was morning there on the cam), I personally observed strong 'jacuzzi' action on the water surface, and was also fortunate to be able to view several small explosions breach the surface. It appeared from the camera that a few chunks of lava were floating and steaming on the water surface, a good indicator that this eruption is far from over.

News on the eruption has been hard to come by lately, so I'm going to stay up a bit later to try and attempt to capture some good shots of activity on the water's surface via the webcam and post them on this blog. I attempted this last night, but it was difficult to use my screen capturing program (that can get around website attempts at blocking screens) to jive with the timing necessary to get a good, clear shot.

This morning it looks like a research ship is out there checking out the eruption site, probably taking some readings and samples. All commercial vessels have been ordered to stay clear of the eruption area. Earthquake-report.com says "The new IEO oceanographic ship “Cornide de Saavedra” is navigating close to the stain and even on the stain. This is the 4th research vessel from Spanish organizations like IEO and CSIC working on the El Hierro eruption." Hopefully this means that new scientific data, or 3D models of the volcano's shape will be published soon.

The last current news on El Hierro was on Dec 5th, which I posted about earlier. Given that El Hierro is a small island with a small population, it's easy to see why most of the news media has come and gone, probably waiting for the volcano to break the surface in order to boost ratings. But volcanoes and volcanic eruptions aren't exactly 'en vogue' when it comes to the mainstream media, so I have to rely on blogs, and webcam images in order to cobble this story together.

What most of the island residents thought would be a boon to their tourism industry has turned out to be a curse. The evacuation of la Restinga hurt the local economy a bit, and most of their usual tourists (hikers from Europe) have cancelled any plans they had to go to the island. This is unfortunate, because this isn't a dangerous eruption (yet?), and people would be really fortunate to see the birth of a new island in person, you probably would not get that chance again.

The local residents are apparently quite angry with the negative publicity doled out by the BBC, and other news agencies that like to hype up volcanic eruptions. They claim that the "yellow press" is out there scaring people away from the island, and are also angry at their local government for not attempting to boost the tourism factor by promoting the eruption. When Eyjafjallajokull erupted in Iceland in 2010, it was a serious boon to their tourism industry, and boosted their struggling economy a bit. It is easy to see that the islanders have something to be a bit sore about.

Hopefully I will have some nice screen captures in the next post. Right now it appears as if the volcano is content to stay in it's 'jacuzzi' phase, and remain hidden under the water surface. If anything new develops, I will certainly report on it. In the meantime, enjoy the link to the webcam. If you want a very clear view (for all you US folks), I'd suggest hopping on the cam at around 8pm PST (11pm ET) to catch the volcano during the morning, or hopping on early morning (8am PST/11am ET) to get the best view.

****UPDATE****

Earthquake-report.com has some great video of what I witnessed late last evening/early this morning at the El Hierro vent off la Restinga. Check out the video below!

El Hierro Eruption Resumes Activity

On Dec. 5th, eruptive activity was strong at El Hierro in the Canary Islands, Spain. Video from the scene showed strong 'jacuzzi' action and a large green stain in the ocean. The helicopter flyover is probably the best video to look at on the mentioned link, which gets quite close to the surface for a really spectacular view. Video for today however is a bit tough to come by (if any readers feel they'd like to post some more current video links, I'd be much obliged).

While tremor has died down, and resumed, and died down again on the island, the eruptive activity has also stopped and started again many times over the last month. I believe this volcano will eventually burst through the surface of the ocean as it appears thus far to be a long term eruption. Indication are that magma is still on the move underneath the island and as indicated by surface observations, this eruption is anything but winding down.

If indeed the volcano does break the water surface, you can be assured that its entrance will be much like the eruption of Surtsey in Iceland in the 1960's. Once the volcano does break the surface, it will be in it's "Surtseyan Phase", meaning it is starting to build an offshore island, and will likely be accompanied by explosive activity, and probably some ash clouds. This phase lasts until (typically) the cone closes off the erupting lava from the sea water, at which point, the eruption can change to other eruptive types. It could be that smooth pahoehoe lavas would be erupted, or it could be a more explosive, rhyolitic eruption.

From the chemical analysis of the lavas thus far, all indications are that it will likely be a rhyolitic eruption. Since submersible ROV's have not been able to directly observe the underwater eruption, they have no direct video evidence of the characteristics of the lava on the sea floor (ie: whether it is blocky, chunky lava, or smoother pahoehoe pillow lava). The samples taken from the ocean surface that have floated up are high in gas content, and rhyolite, meaning that once the volcano pierces the ocean surface, it may very well be an explosive, and potentially dangerous eruption for the residents of El Hierro, but at this time, that's all speculation, and not based on any scientific fact.

Keep your eyes peeled on the El Hierro webcams, as you might be fortunate enough to see the birth of a new island via live streaming! If the eruption continues on at the pace it is, it's only a matter of time before you can see a brand spanking new island be born. The only downside to viewing the webcams from the West Coast in the USA is that it's usually night time over in the Canary Islands by 10am here... So I've had a few sleepless nights gazing at the eruption cams, and some very early mornings.... but it's well worth it.

Alaska's Gareloi Volcano Showing Harmonic Tremor

Alaska's Gareloi volcano, in the Aleutian Islands, appears to be displaying strong harmonic tremor. AVO states "Seismic station GAEA is 3.3 km (2.0 miles) from the summit of Mount Gareloi", so this does appear to be directly monitoring the volcano. Note the increasing strength of the tremor, similar to the tremor recently observed at El Hierro in the Canary Islands during its current eruptive phase. (Image Below)

Gareloi is a very remote volcano on the SE of the Bering Sea, and thus visual reports from the area are few and far between. It is indeed possible that volcanoes regularly erupt in this area without anyone noticing due to inclement weather, and sparse population. The recent eruption/lava dome extrusion that occurred on Cleveland volcano this past few months was only observed through satellite photos, which are expensive to schedule, so it would not surprise me in the very least if AVO never confirms an eruption at Gareloi (although you can email them, and they do usually respond, which is nice).

Gareloi is one of the Aleutian Islands most active volcanoes, having had several historical eruptions. Below is information from Smithsonian GVP:

"The 8 x 10 km diameter Gareloi Island, the northernmost volcano of the Delarof Group at the western end of the Andreanof Islands, consists of a stratovolcano with two summits and a SE-trending fissure. This prominent fissure was formed during an eruption in 1929 and extends from the southern summit to the sea. Steep sea cliffs that are cut into rocks of an older, eroded center are found on the SW coast. Young lava flows cover the older volcano from the 1573-m-high summit of Gareloi to the coast along three broad axes trending NW, ENE, and south. The 1929 eruption originated from 13 craters along a 4-km-long fissure. Phreatic explosions were followed by the ejection of glassy pumice, lapilli, scoria, and older blocks, as well as by the emission of four short, steep lava flows, one of which reached the SE coast."