Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Kavachi (Solomon Islands): A submarine eruption is likely occurring at the submerged volcano. A NASA satellite image from 29 Jan shows a plume of discolored sea water swirling and drifting from the location of the volcano. The discoloration is likely from suspended volcanic sediments (the fragmented lava) and gasses. Kavachi is an undersea volcano on the southern edge of the Solomon Islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It erupted dozens of times in the 20th century, often breaking the water surface, only to be eroded back below the water line within a few months. Whether the new eruption will break the surface and create another new island remains to be seen. Directly above the undersea peak, a bright patch is visible that suggests vigorously churning water—but there is no sign that the eruption has broken the surface. (NASA)

Sinabung (Sumatra, Indonesia): The eruption shows little variations as the volcano continues to effuse viscous magma at the summit vent. A part of that simply contributes to the growth of the lava dome and the viscous lava tongue that descends on the SE flank. Another part of the new magma collapses and produces rock-falls that turn into pyroclastic flows such as this morning.

Now that the gulley on the SE side of the volcano has mostly been filled by the lava flow, pyroclastic flows are no longer well channeled and might take other paths more to the south or east. This makes the situation for some areas more dangerous than before.

Dukono (Halmahera): More ash emissions occurred this morning. Satellite images show an ash plume extending 40 nautical miles (approx 70 km) to the east, at altitudes of around 7,000 ft (2 km).

Shishaldin (United States, Aleutian Islands): The Alaska Volcano Observatory raised the Aviation Color Code of the volcano to YELLOW and the Alert Level to ADVISORY yesterday morning. Increased steaming was seen and satellite data showed a new thermal anomaly in the summit crater indicating a new hot surface, possibly from a new lava dome. The last activity at the volcano dates back to 2004.