Ash cloud from Russian volcano disrupts Alaskan air traffic.

Mount Kluchevskoi, an extremely active volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East, underwent a particularly large eruption on Saturday 19 October 2013, producing a 10 000 m high ash column that drifted into Alaskan airspace over the weekend, leading to the cancellation of three flights from Alaskan airports, as well as delays to other services. The volcano produced a second major column on Sunday 20 October, this one around 8000 m high, and in addition has been ejecting incandescent material onto its slopes and producing lava flows on its flanks.

Eruption on Mount Kluchevskoi on Sunday 20 October 2013. Yuri Demyanchuk/Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far Eastern Branch of the  Russian Academy of Sciences/Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team.

Kluchevskoi began erupting in August 2013, after a break of about ten months. The current series of eruptions has been going on for about a week, but started causing problems for Alaska at the weekend after a change in the wind direction. While Kluchevskoi presents an occasional problem for air traffic, it seldom harms people on the ground, though this is largely because nobody chooses to live near to it.

The Kamchatka Peninsula lies on the eastern edge of the Okhotsk Plate, close to its margin with the Pacific and North American Plates. The Pacific Plate is being subducted along the margin, and as it does so it passes under the southern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula, and as it does so is partially melted by the friction and the heat of the Earth's interior. Some of the melted material then rises through the overlying Okhotsk Plate as magma and fueling the volcanoes of southern Kamchatka.

The approximate location of Mount Kluchevskoi. Google Maps.

See also Eruption on Mount Shiveluch on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Eruption on Mount Klyuchevskoi,  Eruption on Mount Karymsky, Eruptions on Mount Shiveluch and New eruption on Mount Shiveluch.

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Eruption on Mount Klyuchevskoi.

Mount Klyuchevskoi, on the Kamchatka Peninsula, began erupting for the first time since October 2012 on the evening of Monday 26 August 2013, and continuing overnight. The volcano, which is the highest in Eurasia, produced small explosive eruptions through the night, throwing incandescent ash 200-300 m above the cone, visible from the village of Kozirevsk, according to the Skanex Research and Development Center. The volcano is in a remote location, and not an immediate threat to any human population, though a major eruption may cause disruption to aircraft and the tourist industry. There is also a danger that significant warming on the volcano may lead to ice and snow melting, with the danger of lahars (mud and debris flow caused by flash flooding mixed with volcanic material).

Mount Klyuchevskoi. Volkstat.

The Kamchatka Peninsula lies on the eastern edge of the Okhotsk Plate, close to its margin with the Pacific and North American Plates. The Pacific Plate is being subducted along the margin, and as it does so it passes under the southern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula, and as it does so is partially melted by the friction and the heat of the Earth's interior. Some of the melted material then rises through the overlying Okhotsk Plate as magma and fueling the volcanoes of southern Kamchatka.

The approximate location of Mount Klyuchevskoi. Google Maps.

See also Eruption on Mount Karymsky, Eruptions on Mount Shiveluch, New eruption on Mount Shiveluch, Eruption on Mount Shiveluch and Eruption on Mount Kizimen.

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Volcanism on Mount Kliuchevskoi.

The Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East lies on the eastern margin of the Okhotsk Plate, close to its margin with the Pacific and North American Plates, both of which are being subducted beneath it. As the two plates pass under the peninsula they are partially melted by the friction and the heat of the planets interior. Some of this melted material then rises through the overlying Okhotsk Plate, fueling volcanism across Kamchatka. There are over 150 volcanoes on the peninsula in total, 29 of which are considered to be currently active. The largest and most active of these is Mount Kliuchevskoi (Klyuchevskaya Sopka), in the central part of the peninsula, which rises 4750 m above sea level and has been active more-or-less constantly since 1697.

An ash plume rising from Mount Kluichevskoi. Газета Киевская.

The last significant eruptive episode on Kluichevskoi was in November 2011, when the volcano threw an eruptive plume 6.7 km into the atmosphere, since when it has been relatively quiet. On 21 June 2012 the Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team recorded seismic activity (tremors) beneath Kluichevskoi, which continued and grew over the following weeks. Such activity beneath volcanoes is significant as it often indicates new magma moving into chambers beneath them. On 1 September a weak thermal anomaly (hotspot) was also detected, which persisted through the next six weeks, during which time the seismic activity also continued to grow in intensity. On 14 October the mountain began to erupt again, producing a series of small Strombolian eruptions (intermittent explosions and fountains of lava). This continued overnight till 15 October, since when the summit of the volcano has been hidden by cloud. The aviation alert in the area remains high.

Top. Topographic map showing the area around Kluichevskoi. Bottom. Wider map of the peninsula showing the location of Kluichevskoi (A). Google Maps.

See also Eruption on Mount Bezymianny, Seismic activity on Little Sitkin, Eruption on Ivan Grozny, Massive deep Earthquake beneath the Sea of Okhotsk and Volcanoes on Sciency Thoughts YouTube.

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