Volcano of the Week #23 - Santa Maria

This is the decade volcano that I don't know much about and therefore decided to feature as the next volcano of the week whenever I could be bothered to write it, that time is now. The volcano is in Guatemala in the Sierra Madre range, which is featured in the excellent film 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre' starring Humphrey Bogart. For obvious reasons I get the 'Treasure of the Sierra Madre' confused with 'High Sierra' but 'High Sierra' is the one with Ida Lupino and the dog and the 'Treasure of the Sierra Madre' is the one with gold, hope that clears things up. That's probably enough about Humphrey Bogart films so back to the volcano, Santa Maria was responsible for a massive eruption (VEI= 6) in 1902, making it one of the 4 largest eruptions of the 20th century. Before this eruption the volcano had been dormant for around 500 years and the eruption was preceeded by an earthquake in April that year. The eruption began on the 24th October and produced around 5.5 cubic km of tephra and was seen in San Francisco. 5,000 were killed as a result of the eruption however a following outbreak of malaria killed many more, wikipedia is unable to tell me if these two things are linked so we will never know.

In 1922 a new lava dome was formed in crater of the eruption 20 years earlier, this has been christened Santiaguito. Santiaguito erupts almost constantly, the summit of Santa Maria is above Santiaguito making exciting eruption viewing opportunities. Santa Maria is a decade volcano which means it is thought to be possible of damaging civilisations, the main threat from the volcano is lahars (mudflows), they are slow moving so more likely to damage buildings than people. The volcano has previously damaged the town of El Palmar in the Quetzaltenango department, so severely that the town has had to be relocated twice a bridge was also destroyed in 2005 by Hurricane Stan. The origin site of the town is now to be entered at YOUR OWN RISK but I suppose that's true of anywhere. It is also close to Guatemala's second largest city Quetzaltenango.

Decade Volcanoes- Part Two, with added quiz!

Here's the second half of the decade volcanoes post, there may or may not a quiz at the end depending on how I feel (obviously I won't be able to edit this when I've decided). Anyway - less rambling, more volcanoes, that's going to be the title of my autobiography.

9. Sakurajima, Kagoshima, Japan. This volcano erupted violently in 1914 which dramatically changed the islands and the lava flows connected several smaller islands together. It has been erupting pretty consistently since the 50s and is part of a national park which is known for growing a large radish, volcanic soils tend to be for growing stuff in, you can tell I'm a Plant Scientist.

10. Santa Maria, Guatemala. I barely know anything about this volcano yet it was responsible for one of the largest eruptions in the 20th Century, maybe I don't know because it doesn't have a big Wikipedia article. This massive eruption with a VEI of 6 killed around 5,000 and was detected in San Francisco, the volcano is currently erupting. I think that this will have to be my next volcano of the week.

11. Santorini, Greece. Responsible for the decline of the Minoan civilisation, origin of Atlantis, great wine and agriculture, it's a personal favourite.

12. Taal, Luzon, Philippines. There was a massive eruption in 1911 which caused the volcanic island to sink and merged the various lakes of different colours into one large crater lake, which is a shame but it's still pretty.

13. Teide, Tenerife, Canary Islands. I've written about this volcano before so read that if you really want to. The Canary Islands were formed by volcanic activity, like many islands (due to microclimates and speciation) the flora and fauna is unusual and diverse, here there are also volcanic soils so it's really great.

14. Ulawun, New Britain, Papua New Guinea. OMG, this volcano has the shortest Wikipedia entry ever I will have to compensate by writing more about this volcano than any other but I refuse to use any other sources. In the last few years the volcano has been almost constantly active and issues passive steaming which may be part of the reason that volcanoic activity in PNG is one of the largest sources of sulphur dioxide in the world, Ulawun contributes to 2%, obviously using only Wikipedia I can't check this fact out further, but it sounds dubious. The volcano is part of the Bismarck Archipelago, I don't know whether it was discovered by THE Bismarck or is named after the state capital of North Dakota. William Dampier recorded the first eruption in 1700 and lots of people live near the volcano. SEE WIKIPEDIA, IT'S NOT HARD, LOOK AT ALL THAT INFORMATION.

15. Mount Unzen, Kyushu, Japan. Unzen is responsible for Japan's worst ever volcano related disaster when the 1792 collapse of a lava dome created a megatsunami which killed around 15,000 people. In its latest eruptive period 1991-1996 there was large eruption that killed 43.

16. Vesuvius, Italy. Because there's so much say on Vesuvius I won't really bother now especially as I felt the last zine was a bit Vesuvius centric. Oh but in other Vesuvius related news, I did buy Susan Sontag's 'The Volcano Lover' which I'm really excited about reading.

Due to the fact that I'm quite bored and to the lasts post overwhelming response (when I say overwhelming response I mean absolutely no response, I don't do this for the good of my health) I have decided that I will again feature the fun quiz.

So match these pictures of volcanoes to the descriptions above, answers in the comments.

 A

 B

 C

 D

 E

 F

 G

H 

This weeks eruptions.

I did one of these posts ages ago and it was quite fun so I thought I'd do another one. I also saw a lovely picture of Etna but can't be bothered to write a whole post about it.

Here is a map displaying ALL the volcanoes erupting in the world this week.

1. Cleveland, Chuginadak, Alaska. Sarah Palin lives in Alaska, I'm not advocating the use of volcanic eruptions to take out politicians but it would solve a lot of problems. This is one of Alaska's biggest and most active volcanoes.

2. Etna, Sicily, Italy. Yay Etna's erupting again, it's a Strombolian eruption and fairly chilled. Here's a lovely picture of the volcano.

3. Marapi, Sumatra, Indonesia. Marapi is an Indonesian stratovolcano not to be confused with Merapi (which I have done on the map but they are in pretty much the same place).

4. Poas, Costa Rica. Poas is one of the most active volcanoes in Costa Rica and has a lovely lake

5. Rabaul, New Britain, Papua New Guinea. White vapour, dull incandescene, an ash explosion and slow rising grey ash plumes has been seen from the volcano. I don't have a lot to say about this one.

6. Stromboli, Aeolian Islands, Italy. The eruption was probably Strombolian, I don't think that Stromboli has ever been volcano of the week, I quite like it but I do need to see the film so my plan for the week is watching Stromboli and featuring it as volcano of the week.

7. Karymsky, Russia. The eruption was Vulcanian or Vulcanian-Strombolian, Here's a lovely volcano and a really lovely house, it's been volcano of the week if you're interested then read that or find something thats actually factually correct.

8. Kilauea, Hawaii, USA. I mean it's always erutping but obviously I have to feature it on the list. There has been a lot of lava lake activity recently and there was the rift zone collapse which is pretty beautiful. I did see a nice video of it erupting on the guardian which you can search for if you care, this is very lazy posting but there are lots of pretty pictures.

9. Kizimen, Russia. This is another Kamchatka Penisula volcano, which is the region where there are the most active volcanoes in the world which is pretty cool. The summit consists of overlapping lava domes and blocky lava flows. The peak was formed by four eruptive cycles.

10. Puyehue-Cordon Caulle, Chile. This volcano is pretty active and I can't quite be bothered to write about it.

11.Sakura-Jima, Kyushu, Japan. The volcano's formation began 13,000 years ago, the island joined the Osumi Penisula in 1914. I've just finished painting a series of volcano watercolours (which will feature on here v soon, I'm quite excited about them) but anyway I keep seeing other really lovely volcano picture which I wish I'd done paintings like.

12. Shiveluch, Russia. On my blog feed thingy I get the reports of all the volcanoes that are currently erupting (which is what I've based this post on) and there are always loads in the Kamatchsky Penisula, I've written about it before but I do find it amazing that there are so many volcanoes in Russia. This is one of the largest and most active.

This website is just fantastic and has real volcano facts.

Volcano of the Week #17 - Mount Teide

This volcano is located on the Canary Islands (Tenerife), is Spain's highest point (3,718m) and the third largest volcano in the world. The last eruption was in 1909, despite the volcano's dormancy it is a decade volcano and it is thought that it may erupt at any time soon. The park surrounding the volcano is a World Heritage Site and is the second most visited volcanic landscape after Mount Fuji. Like Fuji the volcanic soils have given the area rich soils and unique plant life. Tenerife has 33 endemic plant species which are thought to be a result of the nutrient rich soils provided by the pyroclastic flows. The habitat on the volcano is harsh and the plants have therefore adapted to these conditions and have semi-spherical forms, waxy coating and high flower production. I am aware that no one apart from me is interested in plant adaptations so I'll start writing about volcanoes, which you would hope is a common interest to people reading this blog.

There are legends relating to Teide, the Guanches aborigines believed that their devil (Guayota) trapped their god of light (Magec) inside the volcano. The supreme god Achaman then fought Guayota and imprisoned him inside the volcano. This story is quite similar the legend of Typhon becoming trapped inside Etna; it's interesting how different cultures come up with similar legends to explain their volcanoes, however I am sure there are many reasons for this which classical scholars could explain to me. 

The island was formed by the activity of three volcanoes going through four stages of eruption which resulted in Teide's current caldera. This is thought to be formed by either the vertical collapse of the volcano or a series of lateral gravitational collapses. There have been many historical eruptions of Teide, one is thought to have been witnessed by Colombus as he sailed to the new world. Teide remains an important symbol to Tenerife and is on their coat of arms (I have written about volcano flags before so it's good to know that there are some). Finally I would like to dedicate this post to my friend Ian Teader whose name is a bit like Teide. 

Volcano of the Week #10- Mount Etna

Etna is Europe's most active volcano and the second largest after Teide in Tenerife. This Sicilian stratovolcano is 3,328m high and is almost constantly active, eruptions tend to have a VEI of 1 or 2. It is a decade volcano and despite today's gentle eruption it has reeked havoc in the past, a Plinian eruption was thought to have occurred in 122BC which caused roof collapses in Catania (Sicily's second city). Etna's most violent eruption killed around 15,000 in Catania on 11th Marck 1669, the only violent eruption since then was in 1928, the village of Mascali was completely destroyed and only a church was left standing. Further tragedy followed this event as Mussolini used rebuilding the village as an exercise in fascist propaganda and the newly built church had a fascist symbol placed above Jesus Christ. Although recent eruptions have not caused much damage to the island they have destroyed the Etna Observatory and other towns have narrowly missed volcanic destruction, the 2001 eruption was particularly violent. The most recent eruption occurred earlier this year on 13th January causing airport closure but no damage to inhabited areas. Etna's summit has four craters, numerous cinder cones and fissure vents around which yellow sulphur crusts can be seen. The soils at the base of Etna are extremely fertile and home to orchards and vineyards.

Etna's four craters 

 Etna's Strombolian eruption in February 1998

Both from Bernhard Edmaier's 'Earth on Fire'

 

In addition to magma Etna is also home to Typhon, the monster of all monsters in Greek mythology. He has a human upper half which reaches the stars, his hands contain a hundred dragons head, the lower half of his body is made from viper coils and his whole body is covered in wings. Along with Hades, Gaia and Demeter he is a chthonic (underworld) figure. One day Typhon went a bit mental and had a fight with Zeus which caused earthquakes and tsunamis, finally Zeus laced Etna on top of Typhon and trapped him there. Typhon is therefore the cause of all volcanic eruptions. 

In non volcanic news Happy Birthday to my mummy, Vic Reeves and Nastassja Kinski.

Mount Merapi

Recently Indonesia has been shaken by natural disasters including an earthquake and tsunami, now the second large eruption of Mount Merapi in less than two weeks. It is unusual for large eruptions to occur in quick succession, as an eruption releases the pressure inside the magma chamber. It is thought that pressure was building behind a newly formed lava dome which could be seen rising between the two eruptions on 25th October and 5th November. Yesterdays eruption is Mount Merapi's largest since 1870 and there is currently a 20km safety zone around the volcano. Mount Merapi (mountain of fire in Javanese) is a 3,000m high stratovolcano, as Indonesia's most active volcano it can frequently been seen smoking. As a decade volcano Mount Merapi is well monitored and due to the numerous earthquakes in the area the Alert Level was raised to 4, the highest on the scale on the 25th October.

Sadly this has done little to prevent the damage done in Indonesia, the death toll is currently at 122 and there are thousands more injured and in emergency shelters. The eruption on the 25th October killed Mardijan, Mount Merapi's gate-keeper, his role was to calm the volcanoes angry spirits and it was in doing this that he died, on the slopes of Mount Merapi, which he considered his home. So soon after the event, it is impossible to tell the magnitude of devastation these eruptions will cause, however it is likely that amount of dead and injured will rise and unlikely that the those living around Mount Merapi live's will ever be the same again.

Volcano of the Week #7 - Avachinsky-Koryaksky

A confession- Avachinsky and Koryaksky are actually 2 different volcanoes (but as volcano-savvy readers, I'm sure you have already noticed this error)

Putin arriving at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

These volcanoes are in Russia, the far east of Russia where both survival and plate tectonics are less stable than the in metropolitan Moscow and St Petersburg; reminding us of the many sides to this vast country. It lies on the pacific ring of fire and the Kamchatka Peninsula contains around 30 active volcanoes including Avachinsky and Koryaksky. These two volcanoes are listed as Decade Volcanoes due to their proximity to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky; the main city of Kamchatka Krai. The city has a population of around 200,000, is Russia's largest submarine base and temperatures range from -30°C to 30°C. Avanchinsky is a stratovolcano that last erupted in 2001, a major eruption (VEI= 4) took plave in 1945 and is 2,741m high. Koryaksky last erupted more recently than its neighbour in 2009. It is also taller than Koryasky 3,456m but eruptions tend to be less violent.

Avanchinsky

Koryaksy

An eruption of Avachinsky was recorded in 1779 on Captain Cook's final voyage by John Ledyard

On the 15th it continued calm until noon when it clouded up and became very black and dark: the two mountains Peter and Paul were covered with the atmosphere near half way from their summits down, and at two o'clock we had again a small shock of an earthquake, and heard a hollow rumbling noise in the air, and the atmosphere continuing to condense, it became almost as dark as night, and the face of heaven looked very wild: we singled the stops of the sheet-anchor and eased the ship aloft at all the portentous appearances. Between three and four the mountain Paul exploded with a tremendous shock that convulsed everything around us: The report that attended the explosion was very loud at first, but gradually decreased until it subsided to a sound like that of grumbling distant thunder

The volcanoes here are referred to as Peter and Paul, the biblical nature of which is a reminder of how in this period unexplained events were thought of as in terms of God.

Volcano of the Week #4- Mauna Loa

I'm considering changing the name of this feature to Volcano of the Whenever I Can Be Bothered to Write a Blog Post, however it doesn't have the same ring.




Mauna Loa is the largest volcano on Earth, it is situated on Hawaii's Big Island, the name means Long Mountain, which is apt as it covers a colossal 75,000 cubic kilometres. Hawaiis Big Island is also home to four other volcanoes making up the Hawaii hotspot. Neither the height or violence of eruptions are remarkable features about Mauna Loa. The volcano is constantly active and frequently has lava flows and fountains which is typical of the Hawaiian style of eruption. The first recorded eruption was in 1832 and there have currently been no eruptions since 1984, which makes this the longest period of inactivity in recorded history. Eruptions occur at both the crater (Mokuʻāweoweo) and rift zones, volcanic activity switches between the two in a cycle which lasts about two thousand years. Mauna Loa is one of 16 decade volcanoes, volcanoes that are thought to be worthy of special study and monitoring due to the proximity to civilisations and eruptive history.

Volcano of the Week #1- Kolumbo

Kolumbo is located on the island of Santorini (or Thera) in Greece, the volcano has erupted many times forming a ring of smaller islands around the volcano. However the most famous eruption is the Minoan eruption with a VEI of 6/7; this means volcanic explosivity index which is a scale that goes up to 8 (for all you non volcano experts) which occurred around 1650 BCE.

There is much speculation surrounding just how great the effects of this eruption were and theories state that it may have wiped out the Minoan civilisation or buried Atlantis. The Minoan settlement at Akrotiri was buried by the eruption and the site is currently being evacuated. Other Minoan settlements on Crete may have been wiped out by devastation to plant life or a tidal wave caused by the eruption. There are similarities between Plato's description of Atlantis and the Santorini islands especially with regards to the quarries and layout. Although it is probably the case that the sinking of this legendary island by a massive Plinian eruption is just a romantic ideal. This iconic eruption may have also allowed the Exodus from Egypt.