Hello volcano explorers! Where has the time gone??? The in-house WordPress VW eruptions and faq blogs are nearly ready to go (let’s say by October 1) – all of the old posts have been saved and all future updates will be made from the new blogs which are @:

VW Homepage (unchanged)
http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/

VW Current eruptions / news
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/volcano/

VW FAQ’s
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/volcanofaq/

Thanks to everyone who has visited us and we hope to see you at our new (and hopefully final) home. This version of the blog will be deleted at the end of October. Special thanks to WordPress for general awesomeness and producing one of the easiest most functional blog interfaces ever.

ps. The Volcano Art blog is being transformed into a 3d gallery and should be available by the end of the year!

pps. VW is mounting an expedition to the volcanoes of the Central Andes mountains. Watch VW for podcasts/expedition tweets/and photo’s from the field.

Redoubt from Kenai

Stromboli online has posted some absolutely stunning images from the Redoubt eruption including this gem.

See all of their photographs @ Stromboli Online!

When OSU’s William Chadwick and Robert Dziak traveled to the Mariana Islands northwest of Guam in 2004, they observed something no one had seen before — a live, deep-ocean volcanic eruption from a remotely operated vehicle, or ROV.

They repeated the feat in 2006, gathering video footage of such high quality that their expedition drew national attention. Now, Chadwick (a volcanologist and chief scientist on the project), Dziak (an oceanographer) and an international team of scientists will return to the volcano in a project funded by the National Science Foundation to further study undersea eruptions. Called Northwest Rota-1, the volcano is still showing signs of activity, according to data retrieved from an underwater hydrophone.

”We don’t know if it will be active when we are there, how intense that activity could be, or even whether we will be able to see much,“ cautions Chadwick. ”But if it is active, this will be an extraordinary opportunity to learn more about undersea volcanoes and some of the significant impacts they can have.“

The scientists’ goal in this expedition is to put more science behind their observations.

”What we’ve done thus far has been to capture a brief scientific ‘snapshot’ of an undersea volcano,“ Chadwick says. ”We know a great deal about the impact of terrestrial volcanoes, but very little about those that erupt beneath the sea — from the underwater explosion processes to the chemical impacts on the ocean and the effects on deep-sea ecology.“

Northwest Rota-1 remains the only undersea volcano scientists have witnessed erupting, making it a unique site for research. Chadwick and his team will report their findings on a blog so that science students and classes from middle school through college — as well as the general public — can follow their progress.

Links:

• Follow the expedition on the Northwest Rota 2009 blog.
• Read about the group’s 2006 trip to Northwest Rota.
• Watch more videos of undersea eruptions on YouTube.

Photo by Italian Air Force from Green and Short (1971).

Vesuvius has erupted about three dozen times since 79 A.D., most recently from 1913-1944. The 1913-1944 eruption is thought to be the end of an eruptive cycle that began in 1631. It has not erupted since then, but Vesuvius is an active volcano, it will erupt again.

The oldest dated rock at Mt Vesuvius is about 300,000 years old. It was collected from a well drilled near the volcano.

Vesuvius erupted catastrophically in 79 A.D., burying the towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii. The Somma Rim, a caldera-like structure formed by the collapse of a stratovolcano about 17,000 year ago, flanks Vesuvius to the east.

The 79 A.D. eruption of Vesuvius was the first volcanic eruption ever to be described in detail. From 18 miles (30 km) west of the volcano, Pliny the Younger, witnessed the eruption and later recorded his observations in two letters.

Volcanologists now refer to sustained explosive eruptions which generate high-altitude eruption columns and blanket large areas with ash as plinian eruptions. It is estimated that at times during the eruption the column of ash was 20 miles (32 km) tall. About 1 cubic mi (4 cubic km) of ash was erupted in about 19 hours. Vesuvius has erupted about three dozen times since 79 A.D., including a large, explosive eruption in 1631 that killed 4,000 people. The most recent eruption was from 1913-1944.

An excellent source of information on Vesuvius is an article titled “The Eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79″ by Sigurdsson and others (Sigurdsson, H., Carey, S., Cornell, W., and Pescatore, T., 1985, The eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79: National Geographic Research, v. 1, no. 3, p. 332-387).

The University of Rhode Island has developed an educational website designed to help students learn about the processes of explosive volcanic activity through the use of inquiry-based techniques. The exercises use the 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius volcano in Italy as a type example of a large explosive eruption that had a significant impact on the local human population. The eruption is well-known for the burial of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Excavation of these cities by archeologists have provided a unique view of everyday life in Roman times.

One of the great mysteries of Pompeii and Herculaneum is what was it like in these two cities during the fateful two-day eruption in 79 A.D. that led to their entombment for close to 2000 years? In the exercises on this website, you and your fellow students will play the role of a team of volcanologists who are trying to reconstruct the event by examing evidence in the volcanic material that buried the cities. You will take a virtual fieldtrip to the Vesuvius area where you will be able to carry out observations and measurements to help you form your own hypotheses about what happened.

Click here to start Exploring Vesuvius!

During 25-27 and 30-31 March, IG reported that steam-and-ash plumes from Tungurahua rose to altitudes of 5.5-7 km (18,000-23,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted NW, NE, E, and SW. On 25 March, ashfall was reported in areas to the SW and lahars traveled down a drainage to the W. On 26 March, lahars traveled down multiple drainages to the W, SW, and S; a lahar in the Mapayacu drainage to the SW carried blocks up to 2 m in diameter. Inclement weather impaired visual observations during 28-29 March.

Sources: Instituto Geofísico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional (IG), El Comercio – “Reports provided courtesy of the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program and the US Geological Survey’s Volcano Hazards Program.”

Click here for photographs and more information on Tungurahua from Volcano World!

Click here to fly to Tungurahua using Google Earth!

Based on information from JMA, the Tokyo VAAC reported an explosion from Suwanose-jima on 28 March. JMA reported three explosions on 30 March. Details of possible resultant ash plumes on either day were not reported.

Sources: Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), Tokyo Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) – “Reports provided courtesy of the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program and the US Geological Survey’s Volcano Hazards Program.”

Click here for more photographs and information on Suwanose-Jima from Volcano World!

Click here to fly to Suwanose-Jima using Google Earth!

KVERT reported that seismic activity at Shiveluch was above background levels during 20-27 March. Based on interpretations of seismic data, ash plumes likely rose to an altitude of 6 km (19,700 ft) a.s.l. According to observers, fumaroles were active during 23-26 March and explosions produced ash plumes that rose to an altitude of 8 km (26,200 ft) a.s.l. on 24 March. Analysis of satellite imagery revealed a daily thermal anomaly on the lava dome and an ash plume that drifted 40 km S on 25 March. The Level of Concern Color Code remained at Orange.

Based on information from KEMSD, the Tokyo VAAC reported that eruptions during 27-28 March produced plumes that rose to altitudes of 4.3-5.5 km (14,000-18,000 ft) a.s.l.

Sources: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT), Tokyo Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) – “Reports provided courtesy of the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program and the US Geological Survey’s Volcano Hazards Program.”

Click here for more photos and information on Shiveluch!!

Click here to fly to Shiveluch using Google Earth!

Based on information from JMA, the Tokyo VAAC reported that an explosion from Sakura-jima on 26 March produced a plume that rose to an altitude of 2.1 km (7,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted SE. JMA reported occasional weak eruptions during 27-30 March.

Sources: Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), Tokyo Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) – “Reports provided courtesy of the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program and the US Geological Survey’s Volcano Hazards Program.”

RVO reported that during 21-26 March white and occasional gray ash plumes from Rabaul caldera’s Tavurvur cone rose 500 m above the crater and drifted in variable directions. Incandescence from the summit crater was seen at night. Light ashfall was reported S of Duke of York Islands, about 20 km E.

Source: Herman Patia, Rabaul Volcano Observatory (RVO) – “Reports provided courtesy of the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program and the US Geological Survey’s Volcano Hazards Program.”

Click here for more pictures and information about Rabaul Caldera

Click here to fly to Rabaul using Google Earth!