Colima volcano database 19 August 2009
Posted by admin in Colima, Mexico.Tags: Colima, Mexico, volcano research, volcanoes on the web
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A new web-based resource is available providing information about the interesting and active Mexican volcano Colima.
The Colima Volcano Database, developed by a group of researchers at the Centro de Geociencias at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (with collaborators from other institutions), includes details of the eruptive history of the Colima Volcanic Complex, a hazard map, data from ongoing research, bibliographies, pictures and films. A mapserver is also under development.
The site is constantly updated, and new information is requested: anyone who has data, picture or publications not already included is invited to contact the website team who will add it to the database.
Debate over the future of Mount St Helens 18 August 2009
Posted by admin in Mount St Helens, United States.Tags: Mount St Helens, United States, volcano monitoring, volcano research
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The Mount St Helens eruption of 18 May 1980 created a unique opportunity for scientists to study how a landscape recovers from a major destructive event. To facilitate long-term research the Mount St Helens National Volcanic Monument was established in 1982 ‘for research, recreation, and education’. The MSHNVM website explains that ‘Inside the Monument the environment is left to respond naturally to the disturbance’; the 110,000 acres (44,500 hectares) of the Monument is essentially a vast open-air laboratory within which scientists can investigate in depth and over time how an entire landscape and ecosystem reacts to large-scale disruption.
An article in the New York Times looks at the future of the Mount St Helens Volcanic Monument, and the differing views over how the mountain and its landscape should be managed in the future. The Monument, which is run by the United States Forestry Service, has been in place for nearly thirty years: is it time things changed? The prioritization of research means access to the area around the mountain is restricted and economic and recreational activities that were very much part of the local landscape before the eruption are no longer permitted. Should the balance between the needs of scientific study and other human activities be changed? Then there is the question of who should manage Mount St Helens, the Forestry Service as at present, or the better-financed U.S. National Parks Service. If the mountain became a National Park more money could be put into it, but there is the danger (as some see it) that access might be even more severely restricted.
These are the issues currently being weighed up by the Mount St Helens Citizen Advisory Committee, set up to investigate and make recommendations regarding how the mountain and its landscape should be managed in the future. The resulting debate reflects the tensions and compromises involved in exploiting a unique opportunity for scientific study in a landscape that is not static but ever-changing, and of which human activities are an aspect that is as natural as any other.
News
Clash over rebirth of Mt. St. Helens – New York Times, 17 August 2009
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Mount St Helens – summary information for Mount St Helens (1201-05-)
Cascades Volcano Observatory: Mount St Helens – information from the CVO
Mount St Helens National Volcanic Monument – website for the MSHNVM
U.S. stimulus funds for volcano monitoring 17 August 2009
Posted by admin in natural hazards, United States, volcano monitoring.Tags: natural hazards, United States, USGS, volcano monitoring
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In the United States, some $15.2 million of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money is being directed via the United States Geological Survey to improving volcano monitoring. So, all this money is sloshing about: how’s it going to be spent? Here’s how (and where):
Alaska: $7.56 million is going to the Alaska Volcano Observatory to improve monitoring at Redoubt, Augustine and Spurr volcanoes, enhance scientific research and improve public outreach and communication.
California: the Long Valley Volcano Observatory will get $200,000 to enhance monitoring of the Long Valley Caldera.
Hawaii: the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory will be investing $3.3 million in upgrading and renewing Big Island volcano monitoring instruments – improving seismic networks and deformation sensors and installing meteorological and SO2 monitoring equipment.
Northern Marianas: $800,000 is going to be spent in the Northern Mariana Islands on upgrading seismic and SO2 monitoring systems at Anatahan and Sarigan.
Washington: the Cascades Volcano Observatory is to receive $2.4 million to upgrade volcano monitoring systems.
Wyoming: $950,000 will be spent by the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory on upgrading seismic and other monitoring networks within the Yellowstone National Park and developing communication systems and ‘alarming capabilities’.
Information
Recovery funding for Yellowstone and other volcano observatories to improve monitoring and public safety – news release from the U.S. Department of the Interior, 13 August 2009
News
$800K to monitor CNMI volcanoes – Pacific Daily News, 15 August 2009
$3.3M stimulus funds to monitor Hawaii volcanoes – KPUA Hawaii News, 16 August 2009
Alaska Volcano Observatory to receive millions of dollars – Radio Kenai, 17 August 2009
Volcano studies get boost – Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 17 August 2009
$15.2M to enhance volcano watch in CNMI, others – Saipan Tribune, 17 August 2009
Wash. to get $2.4 million for Cascades Volcano Observatory – King5.com, 17 August 2009
Northern Marianas may get benefit from spend on volcano monitoring – Radio New Zealand, 17 August 2009
Koryaksky: 4-kilometre eruption plume reported 17 August 2009
Posted by admin in activity reports, eruptions, Kamchatka, Koryaksky, Russia.Tags: Kamchatka, Koryaksky, Russia, volcanic activity reports, volcanic eruptions
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The Russian news agency Itar-Tass is reporting that the Kamchatkan volcano Koryasky is erupting and producing a 4-kilometre-high plume:
Koryaksky volcano … is ejecting columns of vapor, gas and ash to the altitude of about 4,000 meters above sea level. The trail of gas and ash extends over a distance of almost 20 kilometers. Experts from the Kamchakta Volcanic Eruption Response Team told Itar-Tass the eruption does not pose any threat to nearby population centers.
Tokyo VAAC issued an advisory for Koryaksky early today also reporting ash to about 4 km (13000 feet). Current webcam images (around 16:00 GMT) show a small plume and diffuse ash clouds around the peak.
The KVERT updates page at the Alaska Volcano Observatory reports that the volcano is now at Orange alert status (‘explosive eruption is possible within a few days and may occur with little or no warning’).
[UPDATE: there is an archive of Koryaksky webcam images at the University of Alaska - thanks to Stefan of Stromboli.org for pointing this out in the comments below.]
News
Volcano in Kamchatka ejecting columns of gas, vapor – Itar-Tass, 17 August 2009
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Koryaksky – information about Koryaksky (1000-09=)
KVERT: current volcanic activity – current activity for the Kamchatkan volcanoes (English)
Current activity of Koryaksky volcano – current status of Koryaksky and many images (Russian and English)
Koryaksky volcano webcam (KVERT) – webcam views of Koryaksky
NASA spiders monitor Mount St Helens 17 August 2009
Posted by admin in current research, Mount St Helens, natural hazards, United States, volcano monitoring.Tags: Mount St Helens, NASA, natural hazards, volcan research, volcano monitoring
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A burst of publicity has accompanied the deployment by NASA of high-tech monitoring units called ‘spiders’ (consisting of a body containing instruments, supported by eight – no, three – spindly legs) at Mount St Helens. The story isn’t new in itself: ‘spiders’ have been in use for some time at the volcano, with scientists varying the instrument payload inside each spider as conditions and budgets required.
‘Each pod’, reports ScienceDaily, ‘contains a seismometer to detect earthquakes; a GPS receiver to pinpoint the exact location and measure subtle ground deformation; an infrared sounder to sense volcanic explosions; and a lightning detector to search for ash cloud formation’. The idea is that the spiders represent a cost-effective, quick-deploying and flexible means of monitoring volcanoes that are showing signs of activity, and could be particularly valuable in providing networks for unmonitored volcanoes in remote and/or less technologically developed parts of the world. More from the ScienceDaily report:
‘We hope this network will provide a blueprint for future networks to be installed on many of the world’s unmonitored active volcanoes, so educated and reliable estimates can be made when a town or a village needs to be evacuated to reduce the risk to life and property’, said Project Manager Sharon Kedar (shah-RONE keh-DARR) of JPL.
The spiders are developed and deployed in a joint project involving Washington State University, USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Pasadena (pas-ah-DEE-nah).
News
NASA goes inside a volcano, monitors activity – ScienceDaily, 12 August 2009
NASA drops ‘spiders’ into volcano – National Geographic News, 13 August 2009
NASA drops probes into volatile volcano – LiveScience, 14 August 2009
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Mount St Helens – summary information for Mount St Helens (1201-05-)
Volcano Sensorweb – JPL Volcano Sensorweb website
SI/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 5-11 August 2009 14 August 2009
Posted by admin in activity reports, Bagana, Batu Tara, Dukono, eruptions, Hawaii, Ibu, Indonesia, Japan, Kamchatka, Kilauea, Mayon, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rabaul, Russia, Sakura-jima, Shiveluch, Slamet, Suwanose-jima, 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 for 5-11 August 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: Ibu (Indonesia), Mayon (Philippines).
Ongoing Activity: Bagana (Papua New Guinea), Batu Tara (Indonesia), Dukono (Indonesia), Kilauea (Hawaii, USA), Rabaul (Papua New Guinea), Sakura-jima (Japan), Shiveluch (Russia), Slamet (Indonesia), Suwanose-jima (Japan).
Chaitén update, 11 August 2009 (bulletins 101 and 102) 11 August 2009
Posted by admin in activity reports, Chaitén, Chile, eruptions.Tags: Chaitén, Chile, South America, volcanic activity reports, volcanic eruptions
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Two new SERNAGEOMIN bulletins on the ongoing eruption at Chaitén to catch up with: no. 101 (PDF), covering 8-15 July 2009, and no. 102 (PDF), covering 16-22 July 2009. Nothing has been made available since, and neither of these bulletins is yet available on the informes page of the Observatorio Volcanológico de los Andes del Sur (OVDAS) website; this inability to provide even the most basic information in a timely manner is all too typical of the way SERNAGEOMIN does things. The PDF links above are to SEGEMAR (Servicio Geológico Minero Argentino), via Werner Luis’s Erupción del volcán Chaiten site.
These two bulletins are, like their immediate predecessors, sketchy and formulaic, and there is no point in providing full translations. Bulletin 101 (8-15 July 2009) reports the eruption column reaching up to 1.2 km above the dome complex, persistent block-and-ash flows indicating continuing growth of the dome particularly in the western part, and stable seismicity with daily averages of 22 hybrid (HB) earthquakes with magnitudes up to 4.2, and 11 with magnitudes of below 3.0. RSAM levels have not exceeded 150,000 units. The conclusion warns of the continuing danger of block-and-ash flows and lahars, and announces the maintenance of Volcanic Red Alert. Bulletin 102 is exactly the same, except that the plumes are reported to be reaching up to 1.5 km above the dome complex, and the daily average of hybrid earthquakes of greater than magnitude 4.0 is given as 20.
