Based on analyses of satellite imagery and web camera footage, the Buenos Aires VAAC reported that an ash plume from Chaitén's lava-dome complex rose to an altitude of 1.8 km (6,000 ft) a.s.l. on 4 November and drifted 25 km NE. Cloud cover prevented clear satellite views of the volcano in subsequent images.

Geological Summary. Chaitén is a small caldera (~3 km in diameter) located 10 km NE of the town of Chaitén on the Gulf of Corcovado. Multiple explosive eruptions throughout the Holocene have been identified. A rhyolitic obsidian lava dome occupies much of the caldera floor. Obsidian cobbles from this dome found in the Blanco River are the source of artifacts from archaeological sites along the Pacific coast as far as 400 km from the volcano to the N and S. The caldera is breached on the SW side by a river that drains to the bay of Chaitén. The first recorded eruption, beginning in 2008, produced major rhyolitic explosive activity and building a new dome and tephra cone on the older rhyolite dome.

Source: Buenos Aires Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)