100,000 Reader Milestone!

I am very happy to say that since the launch of this blog, I have hit over 100,000+ page views! Thank you all very much for reading my blog, and I hope it has been as fun for you to read as I have writing it! I launched this blog in part because I felt there was a lack of good American-English reading volcanology blogs, and I wanted to create a site where people could read about current eruptions, earthquakes, and access some very cool online geology resources. I hope I have achieved that goal!

Thank you all for reading!

-Matt

Yellowstone Geyser Erupts For First Time In 8 Years

Yellowstone National Park, and its enormous super volcano is home to more than half of the world's geothermal geysers. There are probably not a lot of people in the world who aren't familiar with the name "Old Faithful", one of the most famous geysers in the world, known for its punctual eruption timing, and spectacular steam and water spouts. Yellowstone on Wednesday got quite the surprise when one of it's less-reliable geysers had a sudden - and massive - burst of steam that rose nearly 400 feet into the air for about 40 minutes.

It has been 8 years since "Steamboat geyser" has erupted. It is one of the most random geysers in the park, and dwarfs the eruptions of "old Faithful" (to be clear, the term eruption refers only to hydrothermal activity, not magmatic in nature). Video on NBCnews.com shows the hastily recorded cell phone footage from surprised guests (unfortunately it's not terribly great, and you cannot see the beginning of the blast).

Yellowstone is home to 300 or more active or potentially active geysers, with even more hot springs, and other hydrothermal features. The last magmatic eruption of Yellowstone occurred somewhere around 1350 BCE, creating the Indian Pond crater. Some scientists believe Yellowstone is 'overdue' for a major eruption, but of course this is speculation, and very specific conditions would need to occur for a modern day super-eruption to take place. If an eruption does occur in the near future, it would likely be a small effusive, or minor explosive event, much like the Indian pond event.

The magma chamber that is the source for the geothermal heat in the are is vast, but cooling. It is made up of what scientists refer to as a 'crystal mush', or partially cooled lava. It would take a very large injection of fresh magma and gasses to initiate an eruption in Yellowstone, and no injections have been detected in recent time.

So for now, Yellowstone rises and falls, breathes in and out like a sleeping giant. 

Mauna Loa - Is the Next Eruption Near?

Mauna Loa in Hawaii is the world largest volcano by volume. Rising from the sea floor to its summit, it is one of the largest mountains in the world as well, from foot to summit, being about 56,000 ft... many times taller than even Mt. Everest! It also happens to be Hawaii's most active volcano, although you wouldn't know it given its recent slumber. It actually erupts more often than Kilauea, last having erupted about the same time that Kilauea started its current eruption, in 1984, a year after Kilauea started its current eruption. This eruption cause massive lava flows that paved over towns/villages, and caused a lot of property damage (hence the big islands ridiculous insurance prices).

Mauna Loa has erupted 33 times since 1843 (and many many times before) making it one of the worlds most active and massive volcanoes.

Mauna Loa has been mostly quiet since its last eruption. The volcano currently has some active fumeroles, hot springs, and still-degassing areas from the last eruption, but that may be about to change, as HVO has detected heightened seismicity and inflation of a shallow magma reservoir. Could Mauna Loa be gearing up for another eruption? It is probable, as Mauna Loa is 'overdue' for an eruption.

HVO's current reporting of Mauna Loa indicates that deformation has been mostly dominated by slow south-easterly motion of its south flank (toward the active Kilauea volcanic complex), but more recently, increased inflation of about 1cm/year at the summit caldera, which does indicate new magma injection, and a possible precursor to an eruption in the near future. It is definitely worth keeping an eye on Mauna Loa.

While it is highly unlikely that an eruption of Mauna Loa would cause any human casualties, the potential for massive amounts of property damage, and damage to ecosystems on the island is high. During the 1984 eruption, vast swaths of land were covered by lava, and in some areas, houses were built on these lava flows, which have a high likelihood of getting hit by a lava flow again. Any areas that did not have a lava flow would be at risk due to lava pooling or gravity drawing in a flow.

The next eruption of Mauna Loa would likely be quite a sight to behold. Most volcanic eruptions in Hawaii do not generate pyroclastic flows, or anything more than fast or slow moving pahoehoe lava flows, fissure eruptions, however there have been cases of crater forming eruptions that do prove a bit dangerous. I for one will be keeping a close eye on Mauna Loa, as the eruption will be spectacular, no matter what the mountain does. And the fact that Hawaii has some of the best webcam coverage of its volcanoes means that many would get to see the eruption take place in real-time! Stay tuned!

Alaska's Veniaminof Volcano Raised to Alert Level Orange

AVO has raised the alert level of Veniaminof volcano in Alaska to alert level orange. This follows after about a week or so of "yellow" status as seismic swarms were detected underneath the large stratovolcano. Steaming was previously noted at its central cone, and corresponded with heightened seismicity.

The Orange alert occurred within the hour of this blog post, after satellite data showed a thermal anomaly on the volcano's surface.

AVO's statement is below:

"Elevated surface temperatures observed in satellite images of Veniaminof Volcano this morning at 13:25 UTC (05:25 AKDT) indicate an eruption at the intracaldera cone is likely underway. AVO is thus raising the Aviation Color Code and Volcano Alert Level to ORANGE/WATCH. Seismic tremor continues and is indicative of low-level effusive activity and small explosions. No ash plumes have been observed this morning although clouds have obscured web camera views of the summit.

AVO has been monitoring Veniaminof closely since elevated levels of seismicity became persistent on June 8. Steam plumes issuing from the intracaldera cone have been observed in web camera views since then, but so far no ash emissions have been confirmed. Recent eruptions of Veniaminof Volcano have all occurred from vents located on the intracaldera cone and were characterized by brief bursts of ash emission and small explosions. Ash plumes associated with this type of activity are typically diffuse and generally do not reach more than 20,000 feet above sea level. Ash fallout is typically limited to the flanks of the volcano. Minor emissions of steam and ash may persist for for weeks to months.

The last episode of more energetic activity occurred in 1993-94 when an ash plume rose to about 18,000 feet above sea level and small lava flows poured onto glacier ice around the intracaldera cone. An eruption in 1983-84 produced an ash plume that reached about 25,000 feet above sea level."

It is possible that the interaction of molten rock and ice can cause the emission of very fine ash, much like the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in Iceland, 2010. However this volcano is not in the same volcano-tectonic situation and likely will produce a smaller, shorter lived eruption than its Nordic cousin.

Volcanoes on Alaska's Aleutian peninsula are not typically deadly, as the area is sparsely populated, although they do sit directly under a heavily used airway. Airplanes are frequently diverted out of harm's way when an Alaskan volcano erupts, sometimes causing major inconvenience for air travel and freight.

You can check out the updates here:

http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Veniaminof.php

The eruption of Veniaminof brings the number of currently erupting U.S. volcanoes to about 5 (three are in Orange Alert status, two are in Yellow).

The eruption History according to the Smithsonian does list at least on VEI 6 level eruption, but typically they have been level 1-2.

Is Nicaraguas Cerro Negro Awakening?

NICARAGUA

Reports are coming in from the Smithsonian GVP about increased seismicity at Cerro Negro, a very young pyroclastic cone in Nicaragua's state of Leon. Cerro Negro is the youngest of several cinder cones in the region, and one of the newest volcanoes of South America. Since its birth in 1850, it has been one of Nicaragua's most active volcanoes generating frequent ash fall and lava flows.

The statement from the Smithsonian GVP on social media is:

"Yesterday the Instituto Nicaragüense de Estudios Territoriales (INETER), reported elevated seismicity and the onset of tremor. RSAM had increased approximately 7 times the average value (of 14 to 60 units). Our last GVP Monthly report noted that from 2005 to 2011, RSAM rarely reached above 30 units (http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=344070&bgvn=1&rnum=region14&snum=nicarag&wvol=cerroneg&tab=1#bgvn_3701).

INETER issued recommendations to municipal and civil defense authorities to restrict access to the volcano due to changed seismicity. Between 15:35 and 17:31 yesterday, a total of 49 small magnitude EQs were detected, however, they were too small to locate."

The post was accompanied by a picture (below) of the current seismograph that has scientists alerting the area to the possibility of an eruption.

The Smithsonian GVP characterizes Cerro Negro as last having erupted in 1999, and had seismic episodes up until around 2003. Since then it has remained relatively quiet.

Image from Google Earth showing the latest satellite photos of Cerro Negro, Nicaragua. 

If Cerro Negro does erupt, it will likely not be a danger to the general population, aside from fine ash fall in the near cities. People in the area would be well-advised to stay indoors if this were to occur, or wear breathing masks and googles outside. Volcanic ash consists of very fine glass-like particles that can cause severe respiratory distress (due to your lungs being cut up) and can cause severe eye irritation and damage for the same reasons. The ash fall would likely not travel for too far in this case, as it is much denser than say, the ash erupted at Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland, which generated fine ash due to its lava colliding with ice.

If Cerro Negro erupts, I'll try and update this post with some pictures and/or webcam links!