Vikings Volcanic Activity Thread

[Guest Viking141]

Congrats on your pass Viking, now you'll be able to go a Viking in safety!!!

Wasn't the last Major eruption of Vesuvius (of the scale being mooted to occur soon'ish ) the one witnessed by Pliny the younger as his Father ?(the elder) choked to death in an attempted rescue on the beach at Herculinium? Isn't Naples built on top of the pyroclastic flow from that eruption? Doesn't look good does it?

Hi GW, thanks for that.

Indeed, Veusvius is known for its destructive eruptions. The longer the period of quiet, the more powerful the following eruption. The current lull in activity has been the longest in 500 years so it does not bode well for the inhabitants of Napoli and the surrounding area.

The last major eruption was actually more recent than you may think. In 1944, Vesuvius erupted whilst WW2 was still raging, destroying the villages of San Sebastiano al Vesuvio, Massa di Somma, Ottaviano and part of San Giorgio a Cremano, as well as 88 USAF B-25 bombers at a nearby air base.

The explosion of Vesuvius in AD79was VEI-5. Current plans for the evacuation of the Napoli area in the event of an eruption envisage a worst case scenario of a VEI-4 magnitude event. I think they may have underestimated somewhat!

Edited November 5, 2006 by Viking141

[Paranoid]

Not sure about this, but i've read several sources that say the AD79 eruption was VEI 6.

[Crepuscular Ray]

Congrats on your pass Viking, now you'll be able to go a Viking in safety!!!

Wasn't the last Major eruption of Vesuvius (of the scale being mooted to occur soon'ish ) the one witnessed by Pliny the younger as his Father ?(the elder) choked to death in an attempted rescue on the beach at Herculinium? Isn't Naples built on top of the pyroclastic flow from that eruption? Doesn't look good does it?

Plinies - think they were uncle and nephew....

[Guest Viking141]

Plinies - think they were uncle and nephew....

Absolutely correct. Pliny the Younger was the Elders nephew.

Not sure about this, but i've read several sources that say the AD79 eruption was VEI 6.

Hi Paranoid. The accounts I have read put the AD79 eruption at VEI-5 which is the same as the 1980 Mt St Helens eruption.

VEI-6 would be the same as the Krakatoa eruption of 1883 and the Mt Pinatubo eruption of 1991. However, these things are often revised. It was thought that the eruption of Santorini in 1640BC was of VEI-6 magnitude but latest research suggests it may well have been VEI-7 which is close to the Tambora eruption of 1815.

[Guest Viking141]

Update - Mt St Helens

Mt St Helens continues to give cause for concern and the situation is being closely monitored by the USGS. Mt St Helens is currently at Aviaton Alert Colour Code ORANGE. The new lava dome continues to grow apace.

The above photos were taken on 31st October and show the huge new lava dome which is growing inside the crater left by the huge explosion in 1980. Photos courtesy USGS.

[Guest Viking141]

Hi

A couple of folk have shown an interest in Vesuvius and in particular I was asked if I could provide up to date details of seismic activity etc.

The link below provides real-time seismic records for Vesuvius and the surrounding caldera known as Campi Flegrei. Although the site is in Italian, the graphs speak for themselves. Click on any of the links for an up to date graph of activity. They are updated every minute.

Vesuvius seismic data

Click on the link called "sismicita" then scroll to the bottom of the page and click "segnali in tempo reali" to get to the seismogrammes

Vesuvius is currently at the lowest level of alert - GREEN

Edited November 5, 2006 by Viking141

[Guest Viking141]

Here's another one for you, Viking: the Kamchatka peninsula is one of the most active volcano zones in the world; how much impact does the activity on this area have on the climate, for example the spread of sulphates into the atmosphere?

Another question: I haven't been able to find up-to-date figures on how much Sulphate has been emitted into the atmosphere in total this year; any idea, or any links?

:)P

Hi P3

Sorry its taken a while but Ive just heard back from Tina Neal who is the AVO co-ordinator with the team at KVERT, who observe the Kamchatkan volcanos.

She has suggested the following websites for the details you asked for:

The first one is Philip R Kyle, Professor of Geochemistry at New Mexico Tech :

Philip Kyles website

The AVO/KVERT team have not done any recent research on the SO2 emissions from the Kamchatkan volcanos but she believes Professor Kyle may have done.

The second one is for the website of Dr. Simon Carn, Assistant Research Scientist at the University of Baltimore who is using satellite data to track SO2 globally.

Simon Carns website

Hope you find this useful.

[parmenides3]

Thanks for the links, Viking; I'll take a look & get back later...

:)P

[Guest Viking141]

Kilauea - Hawaii

Heres a link to a live webcam from the Pu'u O'o vent on Hawaiis most active volcano.

Pu'u O'o webcam

And links to the Kamchatkan volcanos Bezymianny, Klyuchevskoy and Shiveluch

Bezymianny webcam

Klyuchevskoy webcam

Shiveluch webcam

[Pale Blue Sky]

Klyuchevskoy webcam

Am I the only sad person around who finds that Klyuchevskoy picture absolutely stunning?

thanks for posting the link, Viking!

-PBS-

[Crepuscular Ray]

Am I the only sad person around who finds that Klyuchevskoy picture absolutely stunning? :blink:

thanks for posting the link, Viking!

-PBS-

Not sad at all: it's beautiful - on a par with Mt Fuji, I think.

[shuggee]

Can't see this one in the thread - interesting stuff:

http://www.avo.alaska.edu/index.php/updates/updates.htm

[frogesque]

New volcanic island apears off Tonga This may have been covered but some superb and surreal pics here.

http://yacht-maiken.blogspot.com/2006/08/s...nd-volcano.html

Also Guardian report

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/stor...6202944,00.html

[Guest Viking141]

Elevated activity - Atka

Atka volcano, in the Aleutan Islands off Alaska has been showing elevated levels of daily earthquakes for the last few weeks and as a consequence the Aviation Alert Colour Code has been raised to YELLOW.

These earthquakes, which originally began in September, have increased in strength and frequency in the last few weeks. Steam emissions up to several hundreds of metres above the crater have also been noted by local residents.

Atka is actually an island which has numerous vents which are part of the same system. The most active of these is Korovin, the other being Konia and Kliuchef.

The above photo is an aerial picture of Atka courtesy of Image Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Centre.

Papua New Guinea Volcanos Particularly Active.

Several Volcanos in Papua New Guinea are showing varying signs of heightened activity at the moment. Rabaul & Langila (both New Briatin Island), Manam and Ritter Island are all emitting ash/steam plumes.

Given the level of activity this may be an area worth keeping an eye on.

Possible new activity at Barren Island

There is a possibility of increased activity again from Barren Island. Barren Island, which lies in the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean, has been active recently but had seemed to have settled down.

Latest Volcanic Ash Advisory from the Darwin VAAC dated 1200UTC yesterday states a thin ash plume rising to 10000ft extending for some 30nm. This may be indicative of increased activity and I will keep you updated. Barren Island is currently at concern code YELLOW.

New volcanic island apears off Tonga This may have been covered but some superb and surreal pics here.

http://yacht-maiken.blogspot.com/2006/08/s...nd-volcano.html

Also Guardian report

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/stor...6202944,00.html

Fascinating stuff Frogesque. Reminds me of something similar that happened off Japan last year I think.

Edited November 9, 2006 by Viking141

[crimsone]

Just to give some kind of idea of the human feeling involved with such an eruption - when was the pompeiian eruption, and where on the scale was it? I'm tempted to thing it was the AD79 one, but somethings telling me it may have been earlier than that.

[shuggee]

The 79 AD Eruption of Vesuvius

Also:

http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_vesuvius.html

[crimsone]

Thanks Shugee - brillant links

I see on one of them the photo caption contains the statement; "The 1913-1944 eruption is thought to be the end of an eruptive cycle that began in 1631"

Can anybody elaborate on this? Surely they weren't trying to say that the volcano is thought to have become dormant?

[Guest Viking141]

Thanks Shugee - brillant links

I see on one of them the photo caption contains the statement; "The 1913-1944 eruption is thought to be the end of an eruptive cycle that began in 1631"

Can anybody elaborate on this? Surely they weren't trying to say that the volcano is thought to have become dormant?

Hi Crimsone.

No, but volcanos can go through an eruptive cycle for many years followed by many years of quiesence. Vesuvius is notorious for this. Furthermore, the longer the period of quiesence, the greater the following eruption. The current quiet period is the longest in 500 years. In fact, it has been estimated that the amount of magma emitted in any eruption increases almost linearly with the gap since the previous one. Vesuvius eruptions are typically explosive "Plinian" type eruptions due to the fact that her magma sits in an underground chamber during the quiescent years during which the gases become concentrated, making the future eruption more explosive.

[Guest Viking141]

Hi all

Couple of pictures of Mexicos most famous volcano Popocatapetl, taken yesterday and today, courtesy of CENAPRED (Centro Nacional de Prevencion de Desastres).

[Guest Viking141]

Hi all

Havent had much time to update in the last couple of days. As some of you may have seen on the news its been a rather busy time for us Coastguards up in this neck of the woods but I hope to have some more updates foryou tomorrow.

[Guest Viking141]

New Volcanic Island off Tonga Confirmed

As previously mentinoned in Frogesques post (no.63) it has now been confimed that a new volcanic island has broken the surface at Home Reef, between Metis Shoal and Late Island, Tonga. Until recently, Home Reef had been a submarine volcano which had been known to produce rafts of pumice and occasional ephemeral islands which subsequently disappeared.

ASTER satellite imagery now confirms the existence of an island some 1km long with an area of some 0.23 sq km. It is believed the eruption which created this island began on 8th August when SO2 emissions were picked up by the OMI (Ozone Measuring Instrument) on NASA's AURA satellite. The island has four peaks with a central crater which produces occasional outbursts of Tephra.

The three pictures are ASTER satellite images of the new island, first two taken on Oct 4th, the one on the far right taken 12th Nov showing that the new island has already been eroded by wave action.

All images courtesy of NASA.

Edited November 16, 2006 by Viking141

[Guest Viking141]

Round-up of Volcanic activity

Papua New Guinea continues to see activity with Manam, Ulawun and Rabaul emitting white vapour and ash clouds. Indeed Rabaul seems to be quite active with occasional explosive events producing fine ashfall in Rabaul Town itself and lava fragments being ejected down the volcanos flanks.

Our good freind Tungurahua, in Ecuador, continues to grumble away with ash plumes reaching heights of up to 30,000ft. A large lahar travelled down the western gorge as far as the Chambo River (7km away from the summit) on 7th November and ashfall was reported in the towns of Casua, Banos and Penipe. Large blocks were expelled from the summit on 8th November which rolled down the flanks.

Ubinas, in Peru, continous to emit almost continuous ash clouds up to heights of 24,000ft.

Soufriere Hills on Montserrat continues with activity. Growth of the lava dome continues with almost continuous rockfalls and pyroclastic flows. S02 emissions have been higher than in recent weeks and satellite imagery detected a hotspot during 9th-13th November.

Minor ash clouds were emitted during the last week from Santa Maria in Guatemala which were visible in satellite imagery on 14th November.

Elevated seismic activity continues at Karymsky in Kamchatka, Russian Federation. Explosions have produced ash columns reaching up to 9,800ft and Karymsky remains at Aviation Concern Colour Code ORANGE.

Etna on Sicily seems pretty active at the moment and I will look at this in more detail a bit later.

[Guest Viking141]

Mt Etna - Ongoing Activity Update

As mentioned in my round-up earlier, Mt Etna seems to quite active at the moment so I thought I'd give a more detailed account of what has been going on there in recent weeks.

The current spate of activity began on 31 August and continues at present, although actual levels of activity have subsided somewhat since 5th November.

The activity began on 31 August with Stombolian activity (explosive emissions and fountaining of lava) and lava flows from the SE crater which continued until 15 September. During 22-27 September, 3-6 October & 10-11 October there were further Strombolian episodes which also produced lava flows.

A short fissure opened on the ESE flank on 12 October, at the base of the SE crater which spread lava a few hundred metres down the slope of the Valle del Bove. On 17 October saw the growth of 3 Hornitos (sharp upward growths of lava caused by spattering of lava through the fissure). On 20 October there were vigorous explosions which again spread lava a few hundred metres down slope and created a new cone at the summit.

This new cone grew rapidly on 23 October due to a new phase of eruptive activity with explosions and foutaining of lava again from the SE crater. This ceased the following day and was followed by ash emissions. The new cone at the SE crater collapsed.

On 25 October there were weak ash emissions and further lava flows from a fissure on the SSE flank. On 29 & 20 October, ash emissions produced ashfall in the nearby city of Catania (27km S of the summit cone). Lava flows continued from the 12 & 25 October fissures until at least 5 November.

The above picture is a recent satellite image pf the current activity. Picture courtesy INGV & NASA.

Edited November 17, 2006 by Viking141

[parmenides3]

Thanks for all the hard work, Viking: keep it coming...

:)P

[summer blizzard]

Thanks for that Viking, and please keep us updated.

I had not realised that this was the longest non-eruption period for nearly 500 years, and that is extremely worrying.

From Horizon, i gathered that a pyrochlatic flow would take just 15 minutes to reach Naples and kill approximately 2 million people.

What was the VEI of the last eruption, which i assume was standard for Vesuvius??????

Have you seen any pattern to suggest that Vesuvius may be 'waking up'???????

Personally, i would not be suprised if the Pompeon eruption was VEI6 or VEI7.

Edited November 20, 2006 by summer blizzard