Kelud Volcano
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Kelud volcano The Kelud (or Kelut) is a relatively small stratovolcano with a summit elevation at 1731m above sea level or 1650m above the densely populated and fertile plains of Kediri and Blitar that surround the volcano. Kelud volcano is located at about 27 km from the city of Kediri (population: 1,300,000) and lies between the volcanic massif of Gunung Wilis to the West and the complex of Kawi and Butak volcanoes to the East. Kelud volcano is considered as one of the most dangerous volcanoes of Java because of its frequent eruptions. The eruptive activity has typically generated deadly lahars, pyroclastic flows and surges that have claimed more than 15,000 lives since 1500 AD and caused widespread fatalities and destruction. The crater lake of Kelud is famous for its potential to release devastating lahars whenever an eruption occurs. The 1586 eruption produced one of the worst lahar in the historical record of volcanic eruptions and took the lives of about 10,000 people. Extensive works to control lahars have been achieved around the volcano. A system of drainage of the crater lake was completed in 1926. Today, this drainage tunnel still works and maintains the volume of the lake at a low level (2 million m3). Several dams were also built on the slopes of this volcano in order to protect the largest towns. Figure 2.1 Map of eastern Java. Kelud is on the west side of the N-S alignment of Welirang-Arjuna and Kawi-Butak volcanoes. 10 Geological Setting Gunung Kelud is a composite stratovolcano built by the accumulation of numerous lava flows (eastern and northeastern flanks) pyroclastic flows, pyroclastic surges and lahar deposits from the youngest activity of the volcano. Debris-avalanche deposits, several hundred meters thick underlie these deposits, and were produced by slope failures of the western side of the volcano (Thouret et al., 1998). Several andesitic lava domes (Sumbing, Gajah Mungkur) are present in the sommital area, some present spectacular columnar joint structure. Small lateral parasitic vents are also present on the flanks of the volcano; they have erupted mostly lava flows. The most recent eruption (1990) produced medium-K basaltic andesite pumice and scoria with plagioclase, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and magnetite as phenocrysts (Bourdier et al., 1997). Their composition (Table 2.1) is comparable to magmas produced by the eruptive activity during the last centuries. Eruptive activity More than 30 eruptions have been recorded in historical times. Kelud’s 1000 AD eruption is the oldest in the historical record of eruptions for the entire Indonesian archipelago. Since AD 1300, the periods of inactivity between eruptions range from 9 to 75 years (Kusumadinata, 1979, Thouret al. 1998). During the past century, eruptions occurred in 1901, 1919, 1951, 1966 and 1990. All these recent eruptions were very similar and were characterized by a very short duration (a few hours) and a low volume of eruptive products (0.1-0.2km3) with VEI = 3-4. Explosive activity typically started with a phreatomagmatic outburst followed by a short plinian eruption with convective columns reaching altitude of more than 10 km. These eruptions produced devastating lahars, pyroclastic surges and flows as well as ashfall deposits (see figures 2.2 and 2.3). Figure 2.2 dispersion of ashfall deposits from the 1901 and 1919 eruptions of Kelud volcano. Adapted from Kemmerling (1921). During the 1919 eruption, the volcanic ash was distributed in two lobes. The low altitude ash cloud was dispersed eastward and extended as far as Bali and the high altitude cloud dispersed to the West. 11 Table 2.1: Composition of the Kelud eruption products. 12345 SiO2 55.19 56.15 56.06 55.24 55.05 TiO2 0.58 0.57 0.58 0.62 0.62 Al2O3 18.2 18.28 18.48 18.7 18.5 Fe2O3 7.51 6.46 8.23 8.71 8.84 MnO 0.17 0.16 0.2 0.2 0.21 MgO 3.85 3.43 3.94 3.5 3.74 CaO 8.86 8.48 9.15 9.09 9.2 Na2O 2.42 2.39 3.3 3.11 3.05 K2O 0.57 0.59 0.53 0.83 0.79 P2O5 0.08 0.07 0.08 - - L. I. 1.73 2.7 0.16 0.08 0.26 Total 99.15 99.28 100.71 100 100 Nb <4 <4 <4 Rb 14 16 14 Sr 511 485 537 577 570 Y 19 15 17 Zr 63 64 47 Pb <6 11 9 Zn 70 70 58 Co 32 30 30 Cr 21 25 17 V 159 180 135 Ba 522 572 539 478 479 Ce 36 42 31 1 and 2: pre-1990 eruptions, 3 and 4: 1990 pumice and 5: 1990 scoria. 1-3 from Bernard (unpublished), 4-5 from Bourdier et al. (1997). 12 Figure 2.3 ashfall deposit from the 1990 eruption (Bourdier et al., 1997). This ashfall destroyed more than 500 houses. The collapse of roofs was the main cause of casualties (32) recorded for this eruption. (GVN Bull. 1990, Bourdier et al. 1997). Lahars and the drainage of the crater lake Primary lahars (or syn-eruptive lahars) are very frequent at Kelut and are produced by the violent expulsion of the waters from the crater lake. But Kelud is also prone to produce secondary lahars (i.e. not directly associated with an eruption) because the volcano flanks are deeply dissected by an intense drainage system and because of the presence of abundant, loose, pyroclastic material easily remobilized by tropical rains during the rainy season (Thouret et al, 1998). The areas most exposed are the west (lahar Gedok) and southwest (lahar Badak) flanks of the volcano because of the lower elevation of the crater rim on the west side. Primary lahars were disastrous and responsible of most of the death toll until the volume of the lake was reduced by a drainage system. Before 1875, the volume of lake waters reached about 78 million m3. In 1875, a disaster not linked to any volcanic activity occurred. Heavy rains breached the crater rim and spilled lake waters on the southwestern flank of the volcano producing a 13- km long lahar that caused destruction in the Sregat and Blitar districts. After this disaster, the volume of the lake was reduced to 40 million m3. 13 Figure 2.4 paths followed by lahars during recent eruptions at Kelud volcano from Rodolfo (1999). Early in this century (1905), a dam was built by the local Dutch administration along the river Badak in order to divert the lahars from the nearby town of Blitar. When the next eruption occurred, this dam proved to be ineffective being swept away by the lahars from the 1919 eruption. The 1919 lahars traveled in less than an hour as far as 38 kilometers and devastated an area of more than 15,000 hectares of arable land, destroying a hundred villages and killing 5160 people. This dramatic eruption prompted the creation in May 1919 of the Volcanological Survey of Indonesia which decided as the first task to drain the crater lake waters of Kelud by way of a tunnel. 14 The engineering work started in September 1919 and took several years to be completed. The initial plan was to excavate a tunnel about 955m long. At the time the work started, the crater lake was still dry and excavation of the tunnel was started from both sides of the crater wall (Van Bemmelen, 1949). Because of high temperatures encountered at the working front of the excavation (46°C), the tunnel was not yet completed in 1923. At that time the crater lake was already half-full of water (22 million m3). And a sudden flood of mud and debris invaded the tunnel killing five workers, after which the work had to be suspended. A new plan was thus decided to lower the lake level progressively by drilling 7 parallel tunnels and using a siphon pipe to drain the lake waters. This extensive work was finally completed in 1926 and successfully lowered the lake to a volume less than 2 million m3. Kelud is probably one of the first and most ambitious example of a significant engineering work made on a volcano to reduce the threat posed by a crater lake. Figure 2.5 Cross section of the initial tunnel works at Kelud from Verstappen (1992). The 1951 eruption produced only minor destruction. In comparison with the 1919 catastrophe, the lahars traveled a maximum distance of 6.5 km. But, this eruption deepened and widened the crater so that when the 1966 eruption occurred, the volume of water in the crater lake had risen to more than 23 million m3 (Figure 2.6). After the 1966 eruption, a new tunnel was built 45m below the lowest pre-existing tunnel and the volume of waters was again reduced to 2.5 million m3. Several dams and sediment traps (sand-pockets) were also built on the slope of the volcano to reduce the dispersion of lahars. No primary lahars were produced by the 1990 plinian eruption but at least 33 post- eruption lahars occurred. They traveled as far as 24 km from the crater (Thouret et al, 1998). 15 Figure 2.6 variations in the crater lake level due to volcanic eruptions and drainage system at Kelud volcano (modified from Sudradjat, 1991). Crater lake Bathymetry After the 1990 eruption, a new lake rapidly refilled the crater. The new lake is shallow with a maximum depth of 33m. It covers an area of 95,000 m2.