Report on Shishaldin (United States) — July 1976
Natural Science Event Bulletin, vol. 1, no. 10 (July 1976)
Managing Editor: David Squires.
Shishaldin (United States) Steam emissions with occasional ash
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 1976. Report on Shishaldin (United States) (Squires, D., ed.). Natural Science Event Bulletin, 1:10. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.NSEB197607-311360
Shishaldin
United States
54.756°N, 163.97°W; summit elev. 2857 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
2 July (1300-1400): Steaming steadily.
3 July (1200): Steaming weakly.
4 July (0500-2100): Steaming weakly.
6 July (1300-2100): Dark ash observed accumulating on N slope.
8 July (2100-2200): Emitting smoke and ash.
18 July (1500-2100): Steaming lightly.
23 July (1830-2100): Steaming heavily.
Geological Summary. The symmetrical glacier-covered Shishaldin in the Aleutian Islands is the westernmost of three large stratovolcanoes in the eastern half of Unimak Island. The Aleuts named the volcano Sisquk, meaning "mountain which points the way when I am lost." Constructed atop an older glacially dissected edifice, it is largely basaltic in composition. Remnants of an older edifice are exposed on the W and NE sides at 1,500-1,800 m elevation. There are over two dozen pyroclastic cones on its NW flank, which is covered by massive aa lava flows. Frequent explosive activity, primarily consisting of Strombolian ash eruptions from the small summit crater, but sometimes producing lava flows, has been recorded since the 18th century. A steam plume often rises from the summit crater.
Information Contacts: R. Dean, USAF, Cold Bay.
