Report on Reventador (Ecuador) — 1 May-7 May 2013
Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 1 May-7 May 2013
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2013. Report on Reventador (Ecuador) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 1 May-7 May 2013. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Reventador
Ecuador
0.077°S, 77.656°W; summit elev. 3562 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
According to the Washington VAAC, IG reported that on 1 May seismicity at Reventador was elevated, and an ash plume rose to an altitude of 7 km (23,000 ft) a.s.l. A thermal anomaly was visible in satellite images. On 2 May ash was not identified in images and seismicity decreased.
Geological Summary. Volcán El Reventador is the most frequently active of a chain of Ecuadorian volcanoes in the Cordillera Real, well east of the principal volcanic axis. The forested, dominantly andesitic stratovolcano has 4-km-wide avalanche scarp open to the E formed by edifice collapse. A young, unvegetated, cone rises from the amphitheater floor to a height comparable to the rim. It has been the source of numerous lava flows as well as explosive eruptions visible from Quito, about 90 km ESE. Frequent lahars in this region of heavy rainfall have left extensive deposits on the scarp slope. The largest recorded eruption took place in 2002, producing a 17-km-high eruption column, pyroclastic flows that traveled up to 8 km, and lava flows from summit and flank vents.