On January 7th, 2022 just 20 minutes after midnight local time, residents and tortoises
in the Galapagos islands were interrupted by a series of loud explosions.
As residents looked around, they quickly spotted the source of the explosion.
To the north, a large plume of steam and volcanic gasses rose several kilometers into the atmosphere,
and a distinct orange glow reflected off the clouds in the sky.
What had just occurred was an eruption from the tallest volcano in the Galapagos Islands,
Volcan Wolf.
This marked the island chain's first eruption since January 13th of 2020, when the Fernandina
volcano erupted.
The initial images of the eruption showed a clear explosive phase occur.
However, despite these photos being taken with an infrared camera, it is obvious that
the eruption plume only contained minimal amounts of ash which is marked in gray and
significant quantities of water vapor which is colored white.
This explosive phase occurred due to abundant groundwater which had filled cracks and crevices
around preexisting lava flows, which flashed to steam and exploded, producing a sustained
eruptive column.
Thereafter, a flank eruption began on the south-southeast section of the volcano just
outside Wolf's caldera rim.
In the span of only 9 hours, this large lava flow has travelled at least 4 kilometers downslope,
and is continuing to advance as of the writing of this video.
Luckily, no one lives in striking distance of the lava flows, so the only at risk animals
are some of Wolf's unique wildlife.
With this being said, the populations of unique tortoises and iguanas generally live to the
northwest and west of the volcano, so a southeastern facing flank eruption is unlikely to cause
any major problems.
Volcan Wolf is a fascinating example of one of the several active Galapagos Island shield
volcanoes, and is the northernmost volcano on the island of Isabela.
Like a typical shield volcano, Wolf has a gentle slope built primarily by low viscosity
and long travelling lava flows.
In contrast, its summit caldera is relatively unique as it is steeper and larger than many
similar shield volcanoes.
This bowl shaped caldera formed through several ancient and historic collapses as a result
of large volume effusive flank eruptions.
It measures 5.1 kilometers long and 5.3 kilometers wide, and is 731 meters or 2400 feet deep,
forming a near vertical cliff in its center.
For comparison, that is about 4 times as deep as the deepest section of Kilauea's caldera
in Hawaii, which is less than half its size.
While this latest eruption did initially generate a plume containing ash during the early morning
hours, this seems to have subsided.
Eruptive activity appears to be following a typical VEI 0 or VEI 1 pattern where a brief
explosive interval is followed by purely effusive activity.
While a volcanic ash advisory remains, meaning that planes should avoid the area, further
explosive activity is unlikely.
On average, eruptions from Volcan Wolf tend to be short, spectacular, and produce lava
flows which frequently reach the ocean.
30% of its historical eruptions have lasted less than 24 hours, while its median eruption
duration is a mere 5.5 days.
Thus, we can expect this surprise effusive eruption to continue for another 12 hours
to 6 days, depending on the supply of magma present.
Peak lava flow speed and output occurs at the beginning of each eruption, so in the
next several days lava flow intensity will decrease.
If one of these lava flows does reach the ocean, keep far away from it and do not approach
it from downwind.
While beautiful to witness, when lava flows enter the ocean they produce large quantities
of hydrochloric acid, and segments of molten rock may randomly explode and eject fragments
as they are quickly cooled.
Thus, I recommend a 1 kilometer exclusion zone for boats if this were to occur.
As a final note, I want to add that uplift from magmatic intrusions is still ongoing
at 3 other volcanoes in the Galapagos meaning that an additional eruption could occur from
another volcano with little warning.
Thanks for watching.
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