Often times, the volcanoes that have eruptions that last years are ones like Kīlauea in Hawai’i, Yasur in Vanuatu or Erebus in Antarctica, where hot, runny basalt continually emerges in lava lakes. When you look at the Global Volcanism Program’s list of present eruptions, a couple of more explosive volcanoes leap out– in specific, Shiveluch in eastern Russia.
2 MODIS images taken by NASA’s Aqua and Terra satellites. The top is on November 7, 2024 previous to a big explosive eruption. The bottom is November 8, 2024 throughout the eruption. Credit: NASA.
Considering that 1999, the volcano has actually been producing regular lava domes that then are marvelously damaged in enormous surges. In a little a “lather-rinse-repeat” pattern, Shiveluch simply keeps going years after years. You can see the in the past and throughout eruption on November 7-8 in the Terra and Aqua images above. Brown and grey ash is covering much of the peninsula to the east of the volcano. Another image (listed below) taken by Sentinel-2 (incorrect color) reveals a few of the fresh ash fall and pyroclastic product in addition to the dome itself.
Sentinel-2 incorrect color picture of Shiveluch in Russia seen on November 14, 2024. Annotated by Erik Klemetti, Credit: ESA.
The existing explosive eruptions from Shiveluch are originating from the most recent dome, called the “300 Years of RAS (Russian Academy of Science)” Dome (leading). It is a stack of silica-rich lava that is exuding out in the crater produced by a collapse of Shiveluch in its current past. As it extrudes, pressure develops behind the lava and periodically the dome plug stops working and a surge takes place. This indicates a high ash plume that quickly spread out east (depending upon the winds).
Why is Shiveluch Dangerous?
A little background on Shiveluch. It is so active and strongly so, it isn’t especially dangerous to individuals on the ground. That’s due to the fact that just a little over 1,700 individuals live within 30 kilometers (~ 18.5 miles) of this remote volcano. Even if you extend that circle out to 100 kilometers (62 miles), it just incorporates ~ 11,000 individuals. For the majority of them, the most significant risk is the annoyance of falling ashes.
Terra MODIS picture of the Shiveluch ash plume over the Pacific Ocean on November 8, 2024. Annotated by Erik Klemetti, credit: NASA.
All those high volcanic ash plumes can actually trigger some air travel threats. Typically, Shiveluch will toss ash over 8-15 kilometers above water level. That’s ~ 30,000 to 50,000 feet, the very same flight level of many industrial air traffic. That ash tends to blow to the east and northeast over the Pacific Ocean, indicating that aircrafts reoccuring in between Asia and North America need to compete with the danger of flying through that ash even if today numerous airplanes do not go into Russian airspace. The plume caught by NASA’s Terra earth imaging satellite extended over 500 kilometers eastward (above).
How Big is that Plume?