The Alaska Volcano Observatory is a cooperative program of the U.S. Geological Survey, University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys. The Alaska Volcano Observatory is funded by the U.S. Geological Survey Volcano Hazards Program and the State of Alaska. 2010 Volcanic Activity in Alaska, Kamchatka, and the Kurile Islands: Summary of Events and Response of the Alaska Volcano Observatory Scientific Investigations Report 2014–5034 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Cover: Klyuchevskoy Volcano in eruption, March 20, 2010. Photograph by Yury Demyanchuk, Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. Used with permission. 2010 Volcanic Activity in Alaska, Kamchatka, and the Kurile Islands: Summary of Events and Response of the Alaska Volcano Observatory By Christina A. Neal, Julie Herrick, Olga A. Girina, Marina Chibisova, Alexander Rybin, Robert G. McGimsey, and Jim Dixon The Alaska Volcano Observatory is a cooperative program of the U.S. Geological Survey, University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys. The Alaska Volcano Observatory is funded by the U.S. Geological Survey Volcano Hazards Program and the State of Alaska. Scientific Investigations Report 2014–5034 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior SALLY JEWELL, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Suzette M. Kimball, Acting Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2014 For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment, visit http://www.usgs.gov or call 1–888–ASK–USGS. For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod To order this and other USGS information products, visit http://store.usgs.gov Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner. Suggested citation: Neal, C.A., Herrick, J., Girina, O.A., Chibisova, M., Rybin, A., McGimsey, R.G., and Dixon, J., 2014, 2010 Volcanic activity in Alaska, Kamchatka, and the Kurile Islands—Summary of events and response of the Alaska Volcano Observatory: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2014–5034, 76 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ sir20145034. ISSN 2328-0328 (online) iii Contents Abstract ...........................................................................................................................................................1 Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................1 Volcanic Activity in Alaska, Northeast To Southwest Along Aleutian Arc.........................................17 Wrangell Volcano ...............................................................................................................................17 Mount Sanford Volcano .....................................................................................................................20 Redoubt Volcano .................................................................................................................................22 Fourpeaked Volcano ...........................................................................................................................25 Katmai Group (Novarupta) ................................................................................................................27 Becharof Lake Area............................................................................................................................28 Aniakchak Volcano .............................................................................................................................30 Mount Veniaminof Volcano ...............................................................................................................32 Westdahl Volcano ...............................................................................................................................33 Makushin Volcano ..............................................................................................................................35 Cleveland Volcano ..............................................................................................................................36 Kasatochi Volcano ..............................................................................................................................38 Volcanic Activity, Kamchatka Peninsula, and the Northern Kurile Islands, Russia ........................40 Sheveluch Volcano .............................................................................................................................43 Klyuchevskoy Volcano .......................................................................................................................46 Bezymianny Volcano ..........................................................................................................................50 Kizimen Volcano ..................................................................................................................................53 Karymsky Volcano ..............................................................................................................................55 Gorely Volcano ....................................................................................................................................58 Volcanic Activity, Central and Southern Kurile Islands, Russia ...........................................................61 Ekarma Volcano ..................................................................................................................................62 Summary........................................................................................................................................................67 Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................................67 References Cited..........................................................................................................................................67 Glossary of Selected Terms and Acronyms ............................................................................................73 Appendix 1. Volcano Alert Levels and Aviation Color Codes Used by United States Volcano Observatories, KVERT, and SVERT ..............................................................................................76 iv Figures 1. Map showing 52 historically active volcanoes in Alaska along with place names used in this report .........................................................................................................................2 2. Oblique aerial photograph of the summit of Wrangell volcano, north at the top, June 15, 1948 ...............................................................................................................................17 3. Lidar image of the summit of Wrangell volcano ...................................................................18 4. Cross section from southeast to northwest along the center track of the lidar swath over North Crater at the summit of Wrangell volcano ............................................18 5. Photograph showing suspect cloud over summit of Wrangell volcano............................19 6. Photograph showing cloud from Mount Sanford ..................................................................20 7. Photograph showing cloud from Mount Sanford as viewed looking north from mile 5.5 of the Old Edgerton Highway in Kenny Lake, Alaska .............................................21 8. Photograph showing aerial view of the cooling 2009 lava dome at Redoubt Volcano ...23 9. Photograph showing geologist Steve Anderson (circled) approaches the toe of the Redoubt lava dome ..............................................................................................................24 10. Photograph showing oblique aerial view of Redoubt Volcano ...........................................24 11. Photograph showing aerial view of the northwestern flank of Fourpeaked ....................25 12. MODIS Aqua 1 km true color satellite image showing resuspended volcanic ash cloud (arrow) generated from high winds scouring exposed ash on the Pacific side of the Katmai volcanic range ...........................................................................................27 13. The Becharof swarm is the largest earthquake swarm since the Ugashik-Peulik seismograph network was installed in 1994 ..........................................................................29 14. Spectrogram for Aniakchak seismic stations on August 7, 2010 .......................................31 15. Plots of located events per month at Westdahl Volcano from 2002 through 2010...........34 16. Photograph showing oblique aerial view of the summit of Makushin Volcano ...............35 17. Cropped 15-m resolution ASTER visible/near infrared image showing recent debris flow and ash fall deposits on Cleveland Volcano......................................................36