Alaska: steam plume from Augustine 30 August 2009
Posted by admin in activity reports, Alaska, Augustine, United States.Tags: Alaska, Augustine, United States, volcanic activity reports
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Augustine Volcano, Alaska, has been releasing a prominent steam plume from its summit over recent days. The Alaska Volcano Observatory has released a brief news announcement which says that this plume represents normal behaviour for Augustine and is nothing to worry about: it has just been more visible over recent days because of ‘humidity levels and atmospheric conditions’.
Augustine’s largest historic eruption was a VEI=4 event in 1883-4 (see ‘Mount Augustine split in two’), and its most recent eruption (VEI=3) was in 2005-6. The AVO keeps a close watch on Augustine and will respond appropriately should the volcano show signs of renewed activity – that’s what volcano monitoring is all about.
In the meantime we have an excuse for reproducing this very nice picture, taken from Diamond Ridge near Homer, Alaska, on 25 August 2009, showing the steam plume very clearly, along with Augustine’s beautiful symmetrical profile. The image, which is available from the AVO website, is courtesy Dennis Anderson, Night Trax Photography.
