The Daily Volcano Quote: volcanically induced climate change 30 April 2009
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Where archaeologists and palaeoenvironmentalists have proposed the eruption of a distant volcano as the cause of cultural change or environmental stress, they have frequently invoked volcanically generated climate change as the mechanism. However, volcanically induced climate change has been shown to be on a relatively minor scale and no eruption of the past 3000 years has reduced hemispheric temperature by more than 1°C, which is within normal fluctuation and hardly of itself likely to bring about long-lasting cultural or environmental change. In historical times, where poor weather has been coincident with volcanic eruptions and demonstrated social and environmental stress, pre-existing social, cultural, economic, environmental and climatic trends have been in evidence and it is the combination of these that is significant, not the remote influence of a distant volcanic eruption. Where these cannot be identified in the archaeological record, volcanogenic climate change is a theoretical tool which must be used with caution. 
John Grattan, Mark Brayshay & Ruud T. E. Schüttenhelm, ‘”The end is nigh”? Social and environmental responses to volcanic gas pollution’, in Robin Torrence & John Grattan (eds.), Natural Disasters and Cultural Change (London: Routledge, 2002), p. 88.
The Daily Volcano Quote: from Monday to Friday, a new eruption of volcanic verbiage each day.
Happy 10th birthday NASA Earth Observatory 30 April 2009
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Happy 10th birthday to the NASA Earth Observatory, which has been bringing us wonderful images of the Earth from space since 29 April 1999. Congratulations and many happy returns to the Earth Observatory and to all the hard-working people behind the scenes who have made it such a marvellous web resource for the last decade.
The voting for the ten favourite images of the day from the last ten years is now complete, and the winners are available for viewing here: Top 10 Images of the Day. Not a volcano among them, sadly, so to make up for that here’s a favourite of mine:
Chaitén volcano erupting, 19 January 2009. Captured by the ASTER equipment on NASA’s Terra satellite. Featured at the NASA Earth Observatory 22 January 2009.
SI/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 22 April 2009 – 28 April 2009 30 April 2009
Posted by admin in activity reports, Alaska, Bagana, Barren Island, Batu Tara, Caribbean, Chaitén, Chile, Colombia, Dukono, Ebeko, Ecuador, eruptions, Galeras, Guatemala, Hawaii, Indonesia, Japan, Kamchatka, Karymsky, Kerinci, Kilauea, Koryaksky, Krakatau, Llaima, Pacaya, Papua New Guinea, Rabaul, Redoubt, Reventador, Russia, Sakura-jima, Santa María, Shiveluch, Slamet, Soufrière Hills, Suwanose-jima, Tungurahua, United States, Weekly Volcanic Activity Reports.Tags: Global Volcanism Program, volcanic activity reports, volcanic eruptions
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The Smithsonian Institution/United States Geological Survey Weekly Volcanic Activity Report covering 22 April 2009 to 28 April 2009 is available on the Global Volcanism Program website. The following is a summary and not a substitute for the full report.
- The current report: Weekly Volcanic Activity Report.
- Previous reports: Weekly Reports Archive.
- The SI/USGS map of volcanoes discussed this week.
New activity: Bagana (Papua New Guinea), Ebeko (Paramushir Island, Russia), Galeras (Colombia), Pagan (Mariana Islands), Reventador (Ecuador), Shiveluch (Kamchatka, Russia), Slamet (Java, Indonesia).
Ongoing activity: Barren Island (Andaman Islands), Batu Tara (Komba Island, Indonesia), Chaitén (Chile), Dukono (Halmahera, Indonesia), Fuego (Guatemala), Karymsky (Kamchatka, Russia), Kerinci (Sumatra, Indonesia), Kilauea (Hawaii, USA), Koryaksky (Kamchatka, Russia), Krakatau (Indonesia), Llaima (Chile), Pacaya (Guatemala), Rabaul (Papua New Guinea), Redoubt (Alaska, USA), Sakura-jima (Japan), Santa María (Guatemala), Soufrière Hills (Montserrat), Suwanose-jima (Japan), Tungurahua (Ecuador).
Latest reports on Descabezado Grande: ‘minor eruptive activity’ not ruled out 29 April 2009
Posted by admin in activity reports, Chile, Descabezado Grande.Tags: Chile, Descabezado Grande, South America, volcanic activity reports
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Further to today’s excitement over a supposed eruption at Chile’s Descabezado Grande volcano, both SERNAGEOMIN (state geological service) and ONEMI (state emergencies office) have released statements on the matter. Interestingly, both agencies suggest that minor eruptive activity at Descabezado Grande can not be ruled out.
First, SERNAGEOMIN reports receiving information that fumaroles had been observed in the northern sector of Descabezado Grande volcano at various times of the day on 28 April 2009. Furthermore, photographs taken from Armerillo, 33 kilometres south-west of the volcano, show fine, light-brown particulate matter ascending from the north-east flank, in the area of an 850-metre diameter crater which was a seat of activity in 1846-7 and 1932. SERNAGEOMIN concludes that this might be the result of ‘gravitational removal’ of material from the slopes of the crater, but that ‘minor eruptive activity cannot be ruled out’.
The ONEMI bulletin, meanwhile, notes that SERNAGEOMIN ‘does not rule out minor eruptive activity … but the cause may be gravitational removal’, but goes on to observe that ‘because of the persistence of the phenomenon the first hypothesis is favoured’, i.e. eruptive activity. The bulletin goes on to report that ‘ONEMI personnel on the ground found, on the north-west flank of Descabezado Grande volcano, an emanation of material in a column of approximately 600 metres height, of white colour, visible from the Armerillo area’. That certainly doesn’t sound like a product of gravitational removal. A ‘much weaker column’ was observed in the same area today.
It looks as though the reports of local eye-witnesses have been vindicated, and that some kind of weak fumarolic activity may be occurring at Descabezado Grande after all. If any more news emerges it will be reported here.
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Descabezado Grande – summary information for Descabezado Grande (1507-05=)
Oficina Nacional de Emergencia – Chilean government emergencies office
SERNAGEOMIN – Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería, Chile
The Daily Volcano Quote: Vancouver gets Mount Hood’s height wrong 29 April 2009
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When the English explorer, Vancouver, who gave Mt. Hood its name, first saw the mountain, he estimated its height to be at least 25,000 feet, and thought it was perhaps the highest summit in the world. Barometric and other measurements, however, made by the United States Coast Survey and by the Fortieth Parallel Survey, have shown that Vancouver’s estimate was more than twice the actual height. In spite of the corrections that prosaic measurements have imposed upon the fancy of distant observers, Mt. Hood, if not the most lofty, is, yet, in the eyes of its admirers, one of the most beautiful of mountains.
Israel C. Russell, Volcanoes of North America (London: Macmillan, 1897), pp. 237-8. The summit of Mount Hood is 3426 metres (11240 feet) above sea level.
The Daily Volcano Quote: from Monday to Friday, a new eruption of volcanic verbiage each day.
Remaining Drift River oil to be removed 29 April 2009
Posted by admin in Alaska, eruptions, natural hazards, Redoubt, United States.Tags: Alaska, Drift River, natural hazards, Redoubt, United States, volcanic eruptions
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The Drift River Oil Terminal, the oil storage facility unwisely situated at the foot of Mount Redoubt, is to be drained of the remainder of its oil.
Around 3.7 million gallons of oil was removed on 7 April, leaving about 2.5 million gallons, mixed with water, still in the tanks. A tanker will arrive at the terminal today to receive the remaining contents of the tanks. The transfer process is expected to take 48 hours. When the transfer is completed, water will be pumped in to stabilize the tanks. There are no plans to clean the tanks, because the site is too dangerous for people to be on site for the length of time the cleaning would take. ‘We are not prepared at this time to put our people on the ground for that duration whilst the volcano remains active’, said Rod Ficken, vice-president of Cook Inlet Pipeline Company, in a sentence impressively packed with redundant phraseology.
The committee overseeing operations at the terminal announced on 21 April that it would not be re-opening any time soon.
For clear evidence from satellite images of just how vulnerable the current location of the Drift River Oil Terminal is, take a look at these images at the Cook Inletkeeper site.
Redoubt itself is still at Orange/Watch status, and is busily building its lava dome which, wreathed in steam, is now very prominent and well-defined (see picture below).
The lava dome growing in the summit crater of Redoubt volcano since April 4 covers the entire crater floor. Roiling, steaming water is ponded along the south and east margins of the dome. This view is from the south. Photographer Game McGimsey, image courtesy AVO/USGS. [source]
For all our Redoubt coverage: Redoubt « The Volcanism Blog.
News
Oil to be removed from tank farm near volcano – KTUU, 21 April 2009
Oil to be removed from tank farm near volcano – Business Week, 21 April 2009
More oil pulled from Drift River tanks – KTVA, 29 April 2009
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Redoubt – summary information for Redoubt (1103-03-)
Alaska Volcano Observatory – Redoubt – AVO information and updates for Redoubt
Alaska Volcano Observatory – main page for the AVO
Chile: Descabezado Grande activity ‘normal’ 29 April 2009
Posted by admin in activity reports, Chile, Descabezado Grande.Tags: Chile, Descabezado Grande, South America, volcanic activity reports
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The Chilean volcano Descabezado Grande has been causing a flurry in the Spanish-language press today. The Spanish website soitu.es reported this morning that Descabezado Grande began to erupt today, without causing casualties or physical destruction. People living around the volcano have apparently seen ‘unusual’ activity, with fumaroles reaching 500 metres above the summit (there are some pictures in this report from Radio Fantástica). The Chilean press has been reporting that alerts have been issued to local inhabitants and air traffic by the government emergencies office ONEMI, and state geology service SERNAGEOMIN was sending experts to assess the activity.
Well, SERNAGEOMIN have taken a look at what’s been happening (they have made a ‘preventive inspection’ of the crater area) and have decided that it is nothing unusual: ‘the presence of steam and fumaroles is in line with the normal activity of the volcano’. SERNAGEOMIN and the regional office of ONEMI have both ruled out any danger of eruption.
Descabezado Grande last erupted in 1932-3 (VEI=3) , just after a very large eruption from neighbouring Quizapu. This coincidence in activity was the cause of some speculative reporting at the time: see our Daily Volcano Quote on ‘volcanoes and the weather, 1932′.
News
El volcán Descabezado Grande, en el sur de Chile, entra en actividad – soitu.es, 29 April 2009
Preocupación causa actividad de volcán Descabezado Grande en Región del Maule – Radio Fantástica, 29 April 2009
Volcán Descabezado Grande entra en actividad y especialistas viajan a la Región del Maule para evaluar la situación – La Tercera, 29 April 2009
El Maule: Volcán Descabezado Grande entró en actividad – La Segunda, 29 April 2009
Autoridades: Fumarola de volcán Descabezado Grande corresponde a la actividad normal – El Mercurio, 29 April 2009
Autoridades descartaron peligro de erupción en el Descabezado Grande – Radio Cooperativa, 29 April 2009
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Descabezado Grande – summary information for Descabezado Grande (1507-05=)
Oficina Nacional de Emergencia – Chilean government emergencies office
SERNAGEOMIN – Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería, Chile
The Daily Volcano Quote: prospects for geothermal energy, 1928 28 April 2009
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The huge reservoir of volcanic energy represented by the heat of rocks and gases could undoubtedly be tapped in many places and used for power production … I believe that in time to come the greatest of all sources of power will be found in the subterranean storehouses of volcanic regions, where the internal heat of the earth can be reached at a relatively shallow level. The limited supplies of coal and oil in the earth will be exhausted in the comparatively near future. The waterpower available in rivers is already to a large extent taken up. Water-power from the tides will probably prove costly to utilize, and the same is likely to be true of any method now in sight of using direct solar energy … On the other hand, no insurmountable obstacles seem to exist to tapping the earth’s internal heat on a vast scale, and volcanology is paving the way to this accomplishment.
Dr Immanuel Friedlander, quoted in Science News-Letter, 14 January 1928, p. 23.
The Daily Volcano Quote: from Monday to Friday, a new eruption of volcanic verbiage each day.
Llaima update (bulletin of 24 April 2009) 28 April 2009
Posted by admin in activity reports, Chile, Llaima.Tags: Chile, Llaima, South America, volcanic activity reports
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SERNAGEOMIN have published a short update on activity at Llaima, dated 24 April 2009, on their website. Translation as follows.
24.04.2009 SERNAGEOMIN report on Llaima volcano
From 07:35 today, 24 April, an emission centre located on the eastern flank some 700m below the summit commenced an emission of gases which formed a column 500m in height and an associated plume which dispersed towards the east in accordance with prevailing wind conditions.
This activity continued until approximately 09:00. The emission of water vapour that accompanied the eruption of ash shows that the emission centre is located beneath the eastern glacier.
The area coincides with the sector which produced some explosions on the eastern flank during the first three months of 2008.
[Caption reads: Clearly visible is the emission of ash at 07:35 at about 700m below the summit on the eastern flank, which was much diminished by 10:00 (image POVI Werner Keller).]
There was no seismic precursory activity, seismicity remaining to date (24 April at 10:30) at a usual level, characterized by LP-type earthquakes [long period], reaching up to 20 earthquakes per hour.
In the same way, the RSAM seismic energy remains stable, with values varying between 16 and 25 units over the last 24 hours.
SERNAGEOMIN continues with permanent seismic and visual monitoring of the volcano, also evaluating the developing [eruptive] processes, and maintains Yellow Alert.
[End of SERNAGEOMIN bulletin.]
For all our Llaima coverage: Llaima « The Volcanism Blog.
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Llaima – summary information for Llaima (1507-11=)
Oficina Nacional de Emergencia – Chilean government emergencies office
SERNAGEOMIN – Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería, Chile
Proyecto Observación Visual Volcán Llaima – Llaima Visual Observation Project
Chaitén: SERNAGEOMIN update (23 April 2009) 28 April 2009
Posted by admin in activity reports, Chaitén, Chile, eruptions.Tags: Chaitén, Chile, South America, volcanic activity reports, volcanic eruptions
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There is a brief update on activity at Chaitén on the SERNAGEOMIN website. The bulletin was issued on 23 April and covers the period 19-21 April 2009. Translation as follows.
23.04.2009 SERNAGEOMIN report on Chaitén volcano
Between 15 and 21 April Chaitén volcano has remained obscured and only on a couple of days (18 and 19 April) was it possible to observe the dome complex and its gas and ash column. The eruption continues unchanging, with the permanent presence of a column of gas and ash, with an altitude not exceeding 1.5 km above the domes.
Depending on the meteorological conditions (humidity, temperature and winds) the column and plume has shown more condensation of water vapour (April 18) or only gas and ash, as on 19 April.
Although the seismic activity reported to date has shown a slight decline in the number of HB-type [hybrid] earthquakes, it has remained relatively constant, with earthquakes that have reached magnitude 4.5. Consistent with the reported seismicity, the seismic energy released RSAM has also maintained its elevated values, a phenomenon that is related to the rate of lava emission, which is increasing the growth of the domes.
This situation favours potential collapses of the domes, possible explosions and the generation of block-and-ash flows, which may affect the valleys adjacent to Chaitén volcano. Moreover, there is still the danger of lahars being generated. In consequence, given that the eruptive process continues to develop, SERNAGEOMIN mantains Volcanic Red Alert.
[End of SERNAGEOMIN bulletin.]
For all our Chaitén coverage: Chaitén « The Volcanism Blog.
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Chaitén – summary information for Chaitén (1508-41)
SERNAGEOMIN – Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería (Spanish)
Erupción del Volcán Chaitén – extensive coverage of the Chaitén eruption
