Alaskan Volcano Threatens to Erupt

[Woodmonkey]

Alaskan Volcano Threatens to Erupt


ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Vents on Alaska's Fourpeaked Mountain have been spewing volcanic gases and experts at the Alaska Volcano Observatory say an eruption is possible.

Peter Cervelli, a geophysicist for the U.S. Geological Survey and the observatory, said it is hard to predict if or when an eruption will occur but "nothing is imminent."

According to the observatory's Web page, an explosive eruption could occur in the coming days to weeks. Volcanic activity could be ash plumes exceeding 33,000 feet above sea level, with lava flows, or it could be nothing.

Even a small eruption can cause floods, debris and mud flows, so the area on remote Cape Douglas is considered hazardous, according to the observatory.

Fourpeaked Mountain is about 80 miles northwest of Kodiak and 220 miles southwest of Anchorage across Cook Inlet.

The observatory is installing seismometers around the mountain, a Web camera and instruments that measure how the ground is moving, Cervelli said. The mountain had not been monitored by instruments.

Observatory staff who flew over Fourpeaked over the weekend reported linear vents running north from the summit. Many were emitting steam and vapors.

Near the vents, a glacier was slumping and pieces had sloughed into the vents, Cervelli said.

Staff members detected sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide coming from the vents. Volcanic gases could be smelled far away from the summit.

Ash emission Sept. 17, the abundant volcanic gases, the presence of new vents at the summit and the disruption and floods occurring at and below glaciers suggest new magma at shallow levels beneath the volcano, according to the observatory.

Fourpeaked Volcano is not known to have erupted in the last 10,000 years. However, geological investigations have been limited and ice covers much of the area, the observatory said.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory is a consortium that includes USGS, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute and the state Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.

The Source

[las47032]

I hope the volcano in Alaska is not as destructive as Mt. St. Helens.

More Alaskan volcano photos.


Alaska Volcano Observatory


If I'm not mistaken, the Fourpeaked Mountain volcano is part of the Ring of Fire.

Pacific Ring of Fire Pacific Ring of Fire - Crystalinks

Savage Earth The Ring of Fire Savage Earth: The Ring of Fire

Pacific Ring of Fire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Pacific Ring of Fire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Volcanic activity is evident in the areas of the western edges of North America. The Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains were formed from volcanoes. States where volcanoes are found, California, Alaska, Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. All of these regions are subject or at rish of eruptions. However, with the exception of Alaska and Mt. St. Helens, volcanoes the named states are still dormant, and not extinct.

The Ring of Fire is one three areas that is exceptional or proned to apparent volcanic activity. Soure: Natural Hazards.org: Investigate: Volcanoes