Report on Sheveluch (Russia) — 7 November-13 November 2001
Smithsonian / US Geological Survey Weekly Volcanic Activity Report,
7 November-13 November 2001
Managing Editor: Gari Mayberry
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2001. Report on Sheveluch (Russia). In: Mayberry, G (ed.), Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 7 November-13 November 2001. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
56.653°N, 161.36°E; summit elev. 3283 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
During 2-9 November a lava dome continued to grow in Shiveluch's active crater, and several eruptions produced ash, steam, and gas clouds. Inclement weather prevented visual observations of several possible gas-and-ash eruptions on 7 November. However, seismic data suggested these eruptions produced clouds that rose to 6.5-7.5 km. During 1630-1720 ash fell in Klyuchi town ~46 km from the volcano. A thermal anomaly in the active dome area was visible on satellite imagery on 2 November. Spasmodic volcanic tremor and weak, shallow seismic signals (possible collapses and avalanches) were registered. The intensity of volcanic tremor continued to grow slowly during the report period.
Geological Summary. The high, isolated massif of Sheveluch volcano (also spelled Shiveluch) rises above the lowlands NNE of the Kliuchevskaya volcano group. The 1300 km3 volcano is one of Kamchatka's largest and most active volcanic structures. The summit of roughly 65,000-year-old Stary Shiveluch is truncated by a broad 9-km-wide late-Pleistocene caldera breached to the south. Many lava domes dot its outer flanks. The Molodoy Shiveluch lava dome complex was constructed during the Holocene within the large horseshoe-shaped caldera; Holocene lava dome extrusion also took place on the flanks of Stary Shiveluch. At least 60 large eruptions have occurred during the Holocene, making it the most vigorous andesitic volcano of the Kuril-Kamchatka arc. Widespread tephra layers from these eruptions have provided valuable time markers for dating volcanic events in Kamchatka. Frequent collapses of dome complexes, most recently in 1964, have produced debris avalanches whose deposits cover much of the floor of the breached caldera.