Report on Chirinkotan (Russia) — 26 November-2 December 2014
Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 26 November-2 December 2014
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2014. Report on Chirinkotan (Russia) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 26 November-2 December 2014. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Chirinkotan
Russia
48.98°N, 153.48°E; summit elev. 724 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
SVERT reported that since 21 November a thermal anomaly and increased gas-and-steam emissions at Chirinkotan were detected in satellite images. A thermal anomaly was detected on 25 November, and a diffuse steam-and-gas plume drifted 40 km SE on 27 November. Steam-and-gas emissions were again observed on 28 and 30 November. The Aviation Color Code was raised to Yellow.
Geological Summary. The small, mostly unvegetated 3-km-wide island of Chirinkotan occupies the far end of an E-W volcanic chain that extends nearly 50 km W of the central part of the main Kuril Islands arc. It is the emergent summit of a volcano that rises 3000 m from the floor of the Kuril Basin. A small 1-km-wide caldera about 300-400 m deep is open to the SW. Lava flows from a cone within the breached crater reached the shore of the island. Historical eruptions have been recorded since the 18th century. Lava flows were observed by the English fur trader Captain Snow in the 1880s.
