Report on Reventador (Ecuador) — 19 June-25 June 2013
Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 19 June-25 June 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, 19 June-25 June 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 a pilot observed an emission from Reventador that rose to an altitude of 4.9 km (16,000 ft) a.s.l. on 20 June. The VAAC also noted that seismic records from IG were consistent with an emission of ash or gas, and that satellite images did not detect ash.
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.