Global Volcanism Program

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports available for Kamen.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Kamen.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Kamen.

The Global Volcanism Program has no synonyms or subfeatures listed for Kamen.

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

300251

Unknown - Evidence Credible

4,585 m / 15,043 ft

56.02°N
160.593°E

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Composite

Volcano Types
Stratovolcano

Rock Types

Major
Basalt / Picro-Basalt
Andesite / Basaltic Andesite

Tectonic Setting

Subduction zone
Continental crust (> 25 km)

Population

Within 5 km
Within 10 km
Within 30 km
Within 100 km

0
0
63
11,138

Geological Summary

The steep-sided Kamen stratovolcano lies at the center of a N-S chain of volcanoes, flanked by Bezymianny and Kliuchevskoi. The sharp-peaked, edifice is Kamchatka's second highest volcano, topped only by its neighbor Kliuchevskoi. It formed during the late Pleistocene, but activity continued into the Holocene (Melekestsev et al., 1990). A major slope failure about 1200-1300 years ago removed much of the eastern side of the volcano, producing a massive 4-6 km³ debris avalanche that traveled more than 30 km SE.

This volcano is located within the Volcanoes of Kamchatka, a UNESCO World Heritage property.

References

The following references have all been used during the compilation of data for this volcano, it is not a comprehensive bibliography.

Erlich E N, 1985. (pers. comm.).

IAVCEI, 1973-80. Post-Miocene Volcanoes of the World. IAVCEI Data Sheets, Rome: Internatl Assoc Volc Chemistry Earth's Interior.

Luchitsky I V (ed), 1974. History of the Development of Relief of Siberia and the Far East. Kamchatka, Kurile and Komander Islands. Moscow: Nauka Pub, 439 p (in Russian).

Melekestsev I V, Braitseva O A, Ponomareva V V, Sulerzhitsky L D, 1990. Ages and dynamics of development of the active volcanoes of the Kurile-Kamchatka region. Internatl Geol Rev, 32: 436-448.

Ponomareva V V, Melekestsev I V, Dirksen O V, 2006. Sector collapses and large landslides on late Pleistocene-Holocene volcanoes in Kamchatka, Russia. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res., 158: 117-138.

Vlasov G M, 1967. Kamchatka, Kuril, and Komandorskiye Islands: geological description. In: Geol of the USSR, Moscow, 31: 1-827.

Eruptive History

The Global Volcanism Program is not aware of any Holocene eruptions from Kamen. If this volcano has had large eruptions (VEI >= 4) prior to 12,000 years ago, information might be found on the Kamen page in the LaMEVE (Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions) database, a part of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for Kamen.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Kamen.

Photo Gallery

This photo looks north along the cluster of large edifices forming the Klyuchevskaya volcano group. Udina (foreground) and Zimina (middle right) are Holocene cones. Kamen (top center) and Klyuchevskoy (top right) are the far-background. Ushkovsky volcano (top left) lies at the NW end of the volcanic group. Bezymianny is hidden below clouds beside Kamen.

Photo by Oleg Volynets (Institute of Volcanology, Petropavlovsk).

Four volcanoes of the Klyuchevskaya volcano group are visible in this north-looking view. A gas plume emanates from the summit of Bezymianny in the foreground, which is dwarfed by Kamen behind it. Klyuchevskoy is to the upper right, and Ushkovsky is on the left horizon. Krestovsky forms the rounded summit and the glacier-covered Ushkovsky caldera is visible to the far-left.

Photo by Oleg Volynets (Institute of Volcanology, Petropavlovsk).

A weak plume rises from the summit lava dome of Bezymianny in September 1990. This view from the south shows Kamen to the right; to the left are the snow-mantled slopes of the outer flanks of the pre-1956 Bezymianny edifice. Collapse of the summit during a catastrophic eruption that year produced a large horseshoe-shaped crater that has subsequently been largely filled by growth of the lava dome.

Photo by Dan Miller, 1990 (U.S. Geological Survey).

Kamen, seen here from the NE, is a steep-sided stratovolcano of largely Pleistocene age that rises immediately to the north of frequently active Bezymianny volcano (left). The summit of Kamen collapsed about 1,200 years ago, producing a massive debris avalanche to the east, and leaving the steep escarpment that forms the east face of the edifice.

Photo by E.Y. Zhdanova (courtesy of Oleg Volynets, Institute of Volcanology, Petropavlovsk).

Rugged Kamen towers above a volcanological field station on the flank of Bezymianny. The ridge in the center of the photo is the southern rim of a scarp created by a massive volcanic landslide about 1,200 years ago. Collapse of the summit created a massive debris avalanche that reached more than 30 km to the east. The sheer landslide headwall reaches 3 km above its base.

Photo by Yuri Doubik (Institute of Volcanology, Petropavlovsk).

Lava extrudes from a vent on the SE flank of Klyuchevskoy volcano in 1988 with Kamen volcano in the background. Long-term activity at Klyuchevskoy has produced both explosive eruptions and lava effusion, taking place from vents at the summit and on the flanks. The steep eastern flank of Kamen resulted from collapse of the summit about 1,200 years ago, resulting in a massive debris avalanche that traveled approximately 30 km.

Photo courtesy of Anatolii Khrenov, 1988 (Institute of Volcanology, Petropavlovsk).

An ash plume erupts from the summit of Klyuchevskoy on 16 February 1987. Long-term activity includes both explosive and effusive activity from summit and flank vents. This view from the south shows Bezymianny producing a small plume at the lower left, Kamen at the left center, and the broader Ushkovsky on the left horizon.

Photo by Alexander Belousov, 1987 (Institute of Volcanology, Kamchatka, Russia).

Clouds drape the margins of the glacier-covered summit caldera of Ushkovsky (Plosky) volcano in the foreground. Two of the highest volcanoes in Kamchatka, Klyuchevskoy (left) and Kamen (right) rise above the layer of clouds to the SE. A small ash plume drifts above the summit of Klyuchevskoy, one of Kamchatka's most active volcanoes.

Photo by Yuri Doubik (Institute of Volcanology, Petropavlovsk).

Two of Kamchatka's highest volcanoes rise above the clouds. Their differing morphologies reflect contrasting geologic histories. Construction of extensively eroded Kamen volcano (left) took place during the Pleistocene. It has been relatively inactive since. Its eastern (right) side was removed by a massive landslide about 1,200 years ago, leaving the steep escarpment. Symmetrical Klyuchevskoy, in contrast, is one of Kamchatka's youngest and most active volcanoes.

Photo by Yuri Doubik (Institute of Volcanology, Petropavlovsk).

Kamen (left), Klyuchevskoy (right), and the broad snow-capped Ushkovsky behind them to the west, form the northern end of the Klyuchevskaya volcano group. Ushkovsky consists of the flat-topped Ushkovsky volcano on the left, which is capped by an ice-filled 4.5 x 5.5 km caldera, and the adjacent slightly higher Krestovsky peak on the right.

Photo by Phil Kyle, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, 1996 (courtesy of Vera Ponomareva, IUGG, Petropavlovsk).

Kamen lies at the center of a N-S-trending chain of volcanoes, flanked by Bezymianny (left) and Klyuchevskoy. Kamen formed during the late Pleistocene and activity continued into the Holocene. A major flank collapse about 1,200-1,300 years ago removed much of the eastern side of the volcano, leaving the steep escarpment seen in this view.

Photo by Vera Ponomareva, 1975 (Institute of Volcanic Geology and Geochemistry, Petropavlovsk).

Kamen towers above the Karpinski scoria cone (left) on the ESE flank of Klyuchevskoy volcano with lahar deposits from Klyuchevskoy in the foreground. The eastern side of Kamen was removed by a massive volcanic landslide about 1,200 years ago.

Photo by Vera Ponomareva, 1975 (Institute of Volcanic Geology and Geochemistry, Petropavlovsk).

GVP Map Holdings

Maps are not currently available due to technical issues.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Kamen in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences Rock and Ore collection.

External Sites

Copernicus Browser

The Copernicus Browser replaced the Sentinel Hub Playground browser in 2023, to provide access to Earth observation archives from the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem, the main distribution platform for data from the EU Copernicus missions.

MIROVA

Middle InfraRed Observation of Volcanic Activity (MIROVA) is a near real time volcanic hot-spot detection system based on the analysis of MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) data. In particular, MIROVA uses the Middle InfraRed Radiation (MIR), measured over target volcanoes, in order to detect, locate and measure the heat radiation sourced from volcanic activity.

MODVOLC Thermal Alerts

Using infrared satellite Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, scientists at the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i, developed an automated system called MODVOLC to map thermal hot-spots in near real time. For each MODIS image, the algorithm automatically scans each 1 km pixel within it to check for high-temperature hot-spots. When one is found the date, time, location, and intensity are recorded. MODIS looks at every square km of the Earth every 48 hours, once during the day and once during the night, and the presence of two MODIS sensors in space allows at least four hot-spot observations every two days. Each day updated global maps are compiled to display the locations of all hot spots detected in the previous 24 hours. There is a drop-down list with volcano names which allow users to 'zoom-in' and examine the distribution of hot-spots at a variety of spatial scales.

WOVOdat
   Single Volcano View
   Temporal Evolution of Unrest
   Side by Side Volcanoes

WOVOdat is a database of volcanic unrest; instrumentally and visually recorded changes in seismicity, ground deformation, gas emission, and other parameters from their normal baselines. It is sponsored by the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) and presently hosted at the Earth Observatory of Singapore.

GVMID Data on Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure The Global Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure Database GVMID, is aimed at documenting and improving capabilities of volcano monitoring from the ground and space. GVMID should provide a snapshot and baseline view of the techniques and instrumentation that are in place at various volcanoes, which can be use by volcano observatories as reference to setup new monitoring system or improving networks at a specific volcano. These data will allow identification of what monitoring gaps exist, which can be then targeted by remote sensing infrastructure and future instrument deployments.

Volcanic Hazard Maps

The IAVCEI Commission on Volcanic Hazards and Risk has a Volcanic Hazard Maps database designed to serve as a resource for hazard mappers (or other interested parties) to explore how common issues in hazard map development have been addressed at different volcanoes, in different countries, for different hazards, and for different intended audiences. In addition to the comprehensive, searchable Volcanic Hazard Maps Database, this website contains information about diversity of volcanic hazard maps, illustrated using examples from the database. This site is for educational purposes related to volcanic hazard maps. Hazard maps found on this website should not be used for emergency purposes. For the most recent, official hazard map for a particular volcano, please seek out the proper institutional authorities on the matter.

IRIS seismic stations/networks

Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Data Services map showing the location of seismic stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 0.18° (about 20 km at mid-latitudes) from the given location of Kamen. Users can customize a variety of filters and options in the left panel. Note that if there are no stations are known the map will default to show the entire world with a "No data matched request" error notice.

UNAVCO GPS/GNSS stations

Geodetic Data Services map from UNAVCO showing the location of GPS/GNSS stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 20 km from the given location of Kamen. Users can customize the data search based on station or network names, location, and time window. Requires Adobe Flash Player.

DECADE Data

The DECADE portal, still in the developmental stage, serves as an example of the proposed interoperability between The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program, the Mapping Gas Emissions (MaGa) Database, and the EarthChem Geochemical Portal. The Deep Earth Carbon Degassing (DECADE) initiative seeks to use new and established technologies to determine accurate global fluxes of volcanic CO₂ to the atmosphere, but installing CO₂ monitoring networks on 20 of the world's 150 most actively degassing volcanoes. The group uses related laboratory-based studies (direct gas sampling and analysis, melt inclusions) to provide new data for direct degassing of deep earth carbon to the atmosphere.

Large Eruptions of Kamen

Information about large Quaternary eruptions (VEI >= 4) is cataloged in the Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions (LaMEVE) database of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

EarthChem

EarthChem develops and maintains databases, software, and services that support the preservation, discovery, access and analysis of geochemical data, and facilitate their integration with the broad array of other available earth science parameters. EarthChem is operated by a joint team of disciplinary scientists, data scientists, data managers and information technology developers who are part of the NSF-funded data facility Integrated Earth Data Applications (IEDA). IEDA is a collaborative effort of EarthChem and the Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS).