Redoubt
eklemetti | April 5, 2009
Image courtesy of AVO/USGS by Cindy Koplin showing the ash fall in Homer, AK on 4/4/09
Not much new to report about the eruption at Redoubt beyond the fact that it continues. AVO has kept the warning level at Red/Warning after briefly dropping it to Orange/Watch on Friday night. The 15,000 foot / 5 km-tall plume on Sunday was mostly water and volcanic gases. Eagle-eyed observers also noticed a plume on the lower flanks on the north side of the volcano that is believed to be steam generated by block & ash flows interacting with snow or water. These flow block & ash flows are coming…
eklemetti | April 4, 2009Today looks to be a doubleheader of volcano news:
Redoubt
Image courtesy of AVO/USGS, taken by Rick Wessels. An infrared image of the north slope of Redoubt showing the hot, new dome material and hot block & ash flows confined to the valley.
At 11:30 AM yesterday, AVO put Redoubt back to Orange/Watch alert status after the volcano seem to settle down to small steam/ash plumes. Less than 12 hours later (at ~6:30 AM Alaska time), the volcano produced another large explosive eruption, sending an ash column up ~50,000 feet / 15 km and producing what seems to be a significant lahar that…
eklemetti | April 2, 2009
Image courtesy of AVO/USGS by James Isaak. Photo taken 3/31/2009.
No, this isn't Battlestar Galactica, but the same can be said for the Drift River Oil Terminal: this has all happened before and will all happen again. Coast Guard officials have (finally) decided to move ~6.3 million gallons of crude oil from the Chevron-owned Drift River Oil Terminal at the base of Redoubt. The oil terminal has been a flashpoint since Redoubt began to make noise earlier this year and even up until yesterday, it was unclear what, if any, action the Coast Guard might take with the facility. It had been shut…
eklemetti | April 2, 2009
Image courtesy of Calvin Hall. Taken 3/28/2009 during an eruption at 10:59 AM3:28 PM.
UPDATE 4/2/2009 at 11 AM Pacific: I'm moving this up from the comments, but Eruptions reader Doug Cole pointed out (and I have no idea how I missed this) that Redoubt has a new webcam! This one is at the DFR seismic station, ~8 miles / 12 km northeast of the volcano. Great views on it today showing the extent of the ash around Redoubt and the steam/ash plume. This view will also be excellent if we get any dome collapse pyroclastic flows (see below).
After a week of explosions and ash fall, Redoubt seems to…
eklemetti | April 1, 2009For those of you looking for real volcanic eruption news (no, there was no "Yellowstone eruption"), here is this week's SI/USGS Volcano Activity Report.
And speaking of April Fools Jokes, this is by far my favorite (mostly by its combination of volcanoes and baseball. How could you go wrong with two of my favorite things - hat tip to Fletcher for finding the article).
Highlights (beyond Redoubt) include:
Earthquakes, tremors and steam at El Reventador in Ecuador
12,000-15,000 foot (4-5 km) steam/ash plumes were spotted at Colima, the Mexican volcano.
A shockwave was felt 10 km away from…
eklemetti | March 31, 2009
Photo courtesy of Calvin Hall. Taken from March 28, 2009, 50 miles from Redoubt.
Redoubt continues to huff and puff, with an almost constant ash plume of ~15,000 feet / 5,000 meters. This after ~4 PM (Alaska Time), an explosion produced a 25,000 foot / 8,000 meter ash column that disrupted flights in and out of Anchorage again. Also, the air in the Kenai Peninsula area is beginning to feel the effects of the eruption, as AVO notes:
Satellite images from this morning show a broad layer of volcanic haze extending east of the volcano over the Kenai Peninsula, the Anchorage Bowl, and the…
eklemetti | March 30, 2009
Image courtesy of AVO/USGS by Tricia Joy Sadler. Taken 3/28/2009 at 3:29 PM
Redoubt did not stray from its pattern of explosive eruptions producing >20,000 foot / 10,000 meter ash columns over the weekend. However, what did change was the wind, and because of that, Anchorage began to feel the effects of the volcano. Ash prompted the closure of Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage for 22 hours on Saturday and Sunday. The airports near Redoubt are still experiencing delays and closure due to ash - remember, remobilized ash can be a problem as well, but many have reopened after ash…
eklemetti | March 27, 2009
Image courtesy of AVO/USGS by Ron Beck. Shows an ash plume from Redoubt (tan) on March 26 from a Landsat 5 satellite.
I'll be "off the grid" for the weekend at a wedding, so I thought I'd leave this open for any Redoubt news Eruptions readers hear over the weekend. Feel free to leave comments about the developments up in Alaska.
Currently, AVO reports that seismicity is lower since the eruptions this morning. They indicate that eruptions will likely occur without warning from here on in.
There are also some new articles on how the eruption is affecting air travel, including cancellations of…
amillikan | March 27, 2009Geologists have been keeping a close watch on the volcanic activity brewing at Mount Redoubt, the 9,000 foot (2,700 m) volcano found in Alaska's Aleutian Range. In response to the eruption at Redoubt on Thursday morning that released a 65,000 foot (20,000 m) ash column, the Alaska Volcano Observatory raised its Volcano Alert level to "Warning" and its Aviation Alert Level to "Red," both of which are the highest possible categorizations. ScienceBlogger Erik Klemetti from Eruptions is keeping close watch on Redoubt, so pop over to his blog for explosive updates!
Related ScienceBlogs Posts:…
eklemetti | March 27, 2009
Image courtesy of AVO/USGS by Game McGimsey
Following the provided script, Redoubt erupted again last night, producing a 32,000 foot / 10,000 meter ash column that prompted a new ash fall warning for the Kenai Peninsula area. Thus far, though, there have been few reports of major damage being caused by the ash fall. Alaska Air has yet to resume flights to Anchorage due to the ash, but will be reassessing as the day goes on. Since then, the seismicity has settled and we can wait for the next explosion. 2 PM Alaska time? Sounds good to me.
I want to point everyone to the great video montage…
eklemetti | March 26, 2009
Image courtesy of AVO/USGS, taken 3/23/09
I don't have many details, but the largest eruption so far in this eruptive stage at Redoubt occurred at 9:24 AM (Alaska Time), producing a 65,000 foot / 20,000 meter ash column! Yes, you read that right, a 20-km ash column! This is by far the largest ash column so far and AVO has returned Redoubt to Red/Warning status after this and a small explosion that occurred 30 minutes before the big one. Depending on the winds at various elevations, this sort of large ash column could threaten to coat Anchorage with ash - check the latest NOAA warnings here…
eklemetti | March 25, 2009
Image courtesy of AVO/USGS. Taken by Cyrus Read
Based on the current levels of seismicity over the past 36 hours, AVO has returned Redoubt to Orange/Watch status from Red/Warning. This doesn't mean that the eruption is over, just that things have settled down a bit. Flights to and from Anchorage have resumed as well. You can read the full statement here, but the take-home messages are:
AVO expects this to be like the 1989-1990 dome-building eruptions, although no new dome magma has been seen yet (mostly thanks to poor weather).
Dome collapse will likely generate pyroclastic flows with…
eklemetti | March 25, 2009Its been a busy week for volcanoes between the headline capturing Tongan and Alaska eruptions. Catch up on what you might have missed with the latest SI/USGS Weekly Volcano Report (for 3/18-3/24). Highlights (beyond Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai and Redoubt) include:
Galeras, Colombia has settled down a bit
More block-and-ash flows from the two dome complexes growing at Chaiten, Chile
Strombolian eruptions at Mt. Etna, Italy
Plumes of steam and minor ash were reported from Popocatépetl, Mexico
A small lahar was seen at Tungurahua, Ecuador
Ash plumes and incandescent tephra explosions were…
eklemetti | March 25, 2009Redoubt seems to be setting its pattern for this part of the new eruptive period. There was another small explosion this morning that produced at 15,000 foot / 5,000 meter ash column that moved to the NNW. The seismicity has settled down since the early morning eruption today (3/25) as well.
These types of explosions producing plinian and subplinian eruption clouds that will likely lead to dome building - the same pattern seen at Mt. Saint Helens in 2004-2008 and the previous Redoubt eruptions in 1989-1990. These explosions, producing ash columns that reach tens of thousands feet, will likely…
eklemetti | March 24, 2009
Image by AVO/USGS/Game McGimsey, March 23, 2009
Redoubt has simmered down some today with no new eruptions since yesterday evening. AVO's field crew not only fixed the Hut webcam, but also spotted massive lahar deposits (see above) in the Drift River valley that traveled 35 kilometers downstream and have officials on local and national levels worried about the Drift River Oil Terminal. Funny, it sounds so familiar somehow? As usual, an ounce of planning and thought about locating an oil terminal at the foot of an active volcano would have prevented about 10 tons of problems now.
AVO will be…
eklemetti | March 24, 2009
Image courtesy of AVO/USGS
AVO has posted a series of images taken around Redoubt and around the Cook Inlet since the new eruptions started the night of March 22nd. You can begin to see the extent of the ash fall, what the explosions have done to the Drift Glacier and the new deposits in the Drift River valley. Most of the images show a lot of meltwater mudflows and tephra deposits on the slopes of the volcano. They've also added images from satellite and radar sources that show the initial dispersal of ash from the eruptions throughout the area north of Redoubt.
Eruptions reader Akira…
eklemetti | March 23, 2009The Hut webcam at Redoubt that has a great view of the hydrothermal vents near the 1989-90 domes - and the area where the current eruption is likely to be sourced - is back online. So far, we can see what looks like lahar deposits on the lower left-hand flanks of the volcano in the stream channels (likely formed by the melting of the Drift Glacier) and ash deposits all over the snow. Also, depending on the light and clouds, you can definitely see an ash column coming from the volcano.
Also, AVO is reporting that at 7:41 PM (Alaska time), a new ash column was spotted on radar reaching 60,000…
eklemetti | March 23, 2009
The Anchorage Daily News has a report that 16 Alaskan representatives got stuck in Anchorage after the eruption started. They were headed to Juneau to vote on Alaska accepting stimulus money ("volcano monitoring" anyone?), but they were on one of the many flights canceled by Alaska Airlines today due to the ash. ADN also have reports of an "ash out" in the coastal town of Skwentna.
AVO is currently reporting that ash doesn't appear on the current radar maps in the Cook Inlet and there are no reports of new ash fall. This suggests that the ash is either staying below 13,000 feet / 4,000…
eklemetti | March 23, 2009
Redoubt on 3/15/2009, from Eagle River overlooking Anchorage. Photo courtesy of Calvin Hall
I'm breaking this out of the comments of the "Redoubt Erupts!" post just to keep things up-to-date.
As of now, we know:
At least 5 explosions have occurred as part of the eruption
Ash has drifted to the NNE and W - both as seen on radar and as reports of ash falling in Skwentna and the Chuitna area - and so far missing populated areas (see above)
The ash cloud is believe to have reached as high as 50,000 feet/15,000 meters - prompting an aviation warning/restrictions and cancellation of flights out…
eklemetti | March 23, 2009
Mt. Redoubt in March 2009, prior to erupting
At ~10:30 PM (Alaskan Time) last night, Mt. Redoubt erupted. AVO and the Anchorage VAAC issued a Red Alert for ash as high as 50,000 feet (15,000 meters) around the volcano. Information is scarce about the exact nature of the ash cloud because of the fact that the volcano erupted at night. The eruption has contained at least 5 large explosion and at least one of the seismometers at the volcano has stopped reported (RSO). An ashfall advisory has been issued by the Weather Service, with ash predicted to fall throughout the Susitna Valley (which…