As of December 19th, 2021, there are 45 volcanoes which are actively erupting.
These include volcanoes such as Bezymianny in Russia, which produced a flank collapse
in 1956 similar to the famous Mount Saint Helens eruption in 1980.
It also includes the Tinakula volcano in the Solomon Islands, which has been continuously
erupting since December of 2018.
With this being said, here are a few of this week's major volcano related news stories.
In Dominica, there is an increased likelihood of a small volcanic eruption due to changes
in hydrothermal activity in the famed Valley of Desolation.
In Alaska, a volcano which was thought to be extinct suddenly had its alert level raised
to yellow as a series of unexpected earthquakes with a magmatic signature occurred underneath
its edifice.
Also, in the Spanish Canary Islands, the La Palma volcano's dramatic eruption finally
ended.
Over the course of its 86 day long eruption, which began on September 19th, the world witnessed
spectacular fountains of lava, strombolian explosions, and rivers of molten rock.
Vast quantities of land were buried in both ash and lava, which in some areas is more
than 50 meters thick.
In only 3 months time, a 223 meter tall volcanic cone was built in an area previously covered
in dense forest.
More than 200 million cubic meters of lava erupted, which covered an area of 1,237.3
hectares.
These lava flows added more than 50 hectares of new land to the island, but also destroyed
more than 3,000 structures, as the area impacted was densely populated.
Although damage estimates are still rather preliminary, I estimate that at least 1.3
billion euros in damage occurred whether direct or indirect.
I am 95% sure that the eruption is over, as the volcano has had next to zero harmonic
tremor since the afternoon of December 13th.
Sulfur dioxide emissions have also decreased, while subsidence is continuing to occur, indicating
the absence of any shallow magma.
Now, the volcano is likely to remain dormant for at least another 20 years.
In the Caribbean, the nation with the highest number of distinct volcanoes is Dominica,
as it contains 5 which are considered to be active.
The most active of these is called Morne Watt, which contains a group of hydrothermal features
in the so called "Valley of Desolation" which includes bubbling mud pots, fumaroles, and
boiling ponds of water.
This valley was the site of two recent volcanic eruptions, where phreatic explosions occurred
in 1880 and then again in 1997.
These explosions were caused by magma heating underlying groundwater, causing it to flash
to steam, reaching a critical point, then exploding upwards.
Although these explosions are very difficult to predict, one early warning sign is to keep
an eye on the abundance and temperature of various vents in the region.
Well, over the last several weeks, one of these features termed the boiling lake had
its water level suddenly drop far below normal, specifically more than 15 meters or 49 feet.
Whereas the lake normally looks like this, it now looks like this.
Quite a stark contrast.
This drop suggests an increase in overall water temperature, indicating that at depth
there may be a batch of shallow magma.
Because of this, there remains an increased possibility of a phreatic eruption until the
water level comes back to normal.
Although an eruption is still highly unlikely, I would advise against visiting this region
until activity subsides.
For some further context, variations in the water level of this lake have occurred at
least 8 times since record keeping began in 1876.
In the far western section of the Aleutian island chain is a volcano which was long thought
to be dormant or extinct known as Davidof.
It contains a group of several adjacent islands which formed after a large caldera forming
eruption sometime in the distance past.
This island was not suspected of being active, and as a result no seismic stations were placed
on it.
Then, on December 10th, the alert level of Davidof was changed from white indicating
not being monitored to yellow as a large earthquake swarm hit underneath the island.
These earthquakes had a distinctively magmatic signature, indicating that an explosive volcanic
eruption could soon occur without warning.
A similar series of events occurred at a separate volcano in 2008 called Kasatochi, which unexpectedly
produced a plinian eruption just after a large earthquake swarm.
Although the earthquake swarm at Davidof has since waned, an increased possibility of an
eruption remains although in all likelihood an eruption will not occur.
On a final note, here is a quick list of every volcano which is currently erupting.
Additionally, here are some volcanoes at raised alert statuses which are not erupting but
could erupt in the near future.
I hope that you enjoyed this video.
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