As of December 5th, 2021, there are 53 volcanoes which are actively erupting.
These includes volcanoes such as Semisopochnoi in Alaska, which is the longest still ongoing
eruption of the 4 separate volcanoes which are erupting in the United States.
Another erupting volcano is San Cristobal in Nicaragua.
With this being said, here are a few of this week's major volcano related news stories.
In the Reykjanes Peninsula of Iceland, a broad area of uplift suggests the intrusion of magma
in the crust, which could lead to another eventual eruption.
Also, in several different countries, 4 new volcanic eruptions began, including a rather
unexpected source, Mount Pinatubo.
Mount Pinatubo after experiencing just slightly above normal levels of background volcanic
activity produced a dramatic phreatic eruption on November 30th.
This eruption ejected a steam rich white plume high into the atmosphere, reaching a height
of 14,300 meters or 44,000 feet.
This eruption was photographed by Philippines AirAsia Captain Aljess Lasmarias who snapped
some pictures from the cockpit.
Since this small 4 minute long eruption occurred, which likely had a volcanic explosivity index
rating of a 1, no additional activity has taken place.
So, why was this eruption such a surprise?
After Pinatubo's caldera forming eruption in 1991, it has only erupted twice, each time
producing small eruptions in its recently formed caldera lake.
These two small eruptions were both preceded by an increase in volcanic gas emissions and
earthquake activity.
Yet, in the case of its eruption a few days ago none of these warning signs were present.
Phreatic eruptions can sometimes be near impossible to predict as all you need for one to occur
is groundwater and an underground magma chamber.
With very little warning, this magma can cause groundwater above it to flash to steam, reach
a critical point, and explode.
Science has yet to figure out a reliable way to predict this style of eruption, which has
led to deadly phreatic eruptions such as Mount Ontake in 2014 and White Island in 2019.
Thus, if you live near a volcanic center, the ground could technically explode underneath
you at any given moment.
Thankfully, no one was harmed by this eruption from Pinatubo.
In Indonesia, a new eruption began at the Iliwerung volcano, which is located in eastern
Indoneisa on the island of Lembata.
This volcano contains a number of explosion craters, lava domes, and vents which are aligned
along a northwest trending area of activity.
Since 1973, all of its recent eruptions have originated from the Hobal submarine vent just
offshore of the island.
What made the most recent eruption quite interesting is it originated from a completely different
vent 1.5 kilometers to the south on November 28th.
This created a 100 meter tall plume which rose from the ocean, after which eruptive
activity quickly declined.
In Japan, the island of Iwo Jima produced a small phreatic eruption on November 25th.
This eruption occurred on the beach adjacent to the northern tip of the island, thus blasting
two craters in the sand, and causing mud to flow from them.
In Papua New Guinea, the dangerous decade volcano known as Ulawun was raised to an alert
status of orange.
This change was made after an increase in earthquakes, steam emissions, and a small
eruption which ejected ash on November 29th.
In Iceland, the eruption of Geldingadalir amazed the world as it peacefully erupted
for a period of 183 days, attracting hundreds of thousands of people to visit and even more
to view it online.
This eruption ended on September 18th, but it does not necessarily mean that eruptive
activity is done in the overall peninsula.
In recent weeks, a wide swath of land ranging from Keilir to the southern shoreline of the
Reykjanes peninsula has been uplifted by 2 centimeters.
This is occurring as a volume of molten rock is intruding deep into the crust, thus building
a large volume magma chamber at a depth of around 15 kilometers.
The magma contained in this deep area is likely to intrude shallower into the crust a number
of times, a few of which are likely to create eventual volcanic eruptions.
Scientists early on in the eruption suggested that Geldingadalir was simply the first of
several eruptions to be expected on the peninsula in the next several decades, and this is further
proof.
Thus, a similar fissure eruption is likely in the general vicinity at some point in the
next 1 to 2 decades.
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 relatively soon.
I hope that you enjoyed this video.
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