Volcanoes
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Tornado2

Huge steam vortices filmed above Hawaii's Kilauea volcano

Hawaii volcano vortices 2013 Kilauea
The Volcanic vortices pictured back in 2013.”
Several land spouts of twisting lava were seen just above the Pulama pali at sunrise on Thursday, helicopter footage shows.

Mick Kalber, a videographer who was aboard a Paradise Helicopters flights, said: "[A] pink rainbow, amazing land spouts and a veritable plethora of lava flows made for a spectacular lava overflight this morning.

"We have often seen water spouts at the ocean entry, but this morning, due to a head downpour on the 61G flow and the right wind and heat conditions, several vortices [land spouts] appeared just above the Pali."

Comment: While this phenomenon has been recorded before, it's notable that all over the world the appearance of wind vortex formations in the unlikeliest of places appear to be increasing - and that perhaps our understanding of how they form needs to be questioned:


Attention

Turrialba Volcano in Costa Rica continues sporadic eruptions

Turrialba Volcano
Turrialba Volcano
The activity at the Turrialba Volcano in Costa Rica just doesn't stop, on April 1st, two significant eruptions took place early in the morning and carried on for close to 30 minutes.

The biggest eruption was registered at 8:38 a.m. local time and the cameras located near the crater registered a column of ash that reached between 500-700 meters above the active crater. The activity at the volcano started at 6:30 a.m. with ash columns of close to 300 meters above the crater.

Seismic activity continues and a low amplitude tremor.

Several communities in the Central Valley reported ash fall, among them, Hatillo, Curridabat, Coronado, Guadalupe, Moravia, Tibas and Heredia.

Attention

Mud volcano erupts in Garadagh, Azerbaijan

mud volcano
The "Ayrantokan mud volcano in Baku's Garadagh district erupted on March 29 at around21:10.

The eruption lasted up to seven minutes and was accompanied by flames, which reached a height of about 100-150 meters above the volcanic crater.

The eruption covers an area of up to 2 hectares and varies from 0.3 to 1.2 meters in thickness.

There are no settlements around the mud volcano. Radial cracks have formed in the volcanic area.

Comment: Other mud volcanoes have erupted in the past year:


Red Flag

Study warns Mt. Etna sliding into Mediterranean and could trigger landslides and tsunamis

volcano
© Antonio Parrinello / Reuters
Mount Etna is slowly sliding into the Mediterranean Sea, according to the first study which confirms the entire active volcano is shifting and could trigger catastrophic landslides and devastating tsunamis.

Scientists have confirmed for the first time that the entire volcano is moving in an east-south-east direction towards the town of Giarre, at an average rate of 14mm (.55 inches) a year. That's according to the study published in the Bulletin of Volcanology.

"This is the first time it's been observed in an active volcano," the study's lead author, John Murray, of the Open University told RT. "While it has been known to happen in extinct volcanoes, this is the first time it's been demonstrated for the whole volcano to be moving like this."

Researchers were able to determine the whole volcano is on the move by using a series of more than 100 GPS stations located around Mount Etna, which they monitored for 12 years.

Attention

First pyroclastic flow recorded from Shinmoedake volcano eruption in Japan

Kyushu's Mount Shinmoedake
Kyushu's Mount Shinmoedake
The first pyroclastic flow was recorded on March 25 from an explosive eruption on Kyushu's Mount Shinmoedake, which started erupting at the beginning of the month.

The Japan Meteorological Agency announced that a pyroclastic flow was confirmed over a distance of about 800 meters west of the crater, but it did not approach any residential area.

Eruptions began on March 1 with intermittent explosions from the crater, but this was the first recorded pyroclastic flow.

According to the JMA, explosive eruptions were recorded at 7:35 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. on March 25, and smoke and fumes rose to 3,200 meters. The pyroclastic flow was confirmed following the second explosive eruption.


Bizarro Earth

Mount Etna: Europe's biggest volcano 'sliding towards the sea'

Mount Etna
© GettyMount Etna is in an almost constant state of activity, with eruptions occurring particularly regularly in recent decades
Scientists say they will 'need to keep an eye on' gradual movement as it could lead to future landslides and affect eruption forecasting

The most active volcano in Europe is slowly sliding into the sea, according to new research.

Mount Etna - located on the Italian island of Sicily - is edging towards the Mediterranean at a rate of around 14mm per year.

While its movement may seem too slow to cause any concern, scientists studying the geology of the volcano have said the situation will require careful monitoring.

"I would say there is currently no cause for alarm, but it is something we need to keep an eye on, especially to see if there is an acceleration in this motion," lead author Dr John Murray told the BBC .

This is the first time downward "basement sliding" of an entire active volcano has been directly observed.

However, studies of extinct volcanoes suggest this phenomenon can lead to "devastating" collapse of their downslope sides, resulting in landslides.

Comment: Radon, slosh dynamics and Mount Etna's unrest


Attention

Mayon Volcano emits lava, ash anew in the Philippines

Mayon volcano
Mayon volcano
After days of a generally restive behavior, Mayon Volcano again emitted lava and ash on Friday morning, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

The agency recorded a lava collapse from 10:39 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.

"The emission may be due to the lava build-up which may have been triggered by possible rainfall in the area," Phivolcs project research officer Jerome de Lima said.

Minimal ash fall was also recorded in the towns of Camalig and Anoling.

Comment: An update on the 25th of March from the The Philippine Star: Mayon lahar threat: 80,000 face evacuation :
More than 80,000 residents around Mayon Volcano may be evacuated due to the threat of lahar, according to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Bicol.

In a report yesterday, the OCD-Bicol said 25 to 30 milimeters of rain for three hours could mobilize newly extruded volcanic materials while three hours of torrential rains could push old volcanic debris.

OCD-Bicol operations officer Jsar Adornado said more than 25,000 residents of this city face evacuation; 22,556 from Daraga; 8,353 from Tabaco and Camalig, and 5,847 from Guinobatan and Malilipot.

Residents of Sto. Domingo, Ligao and Bacacay are also at risk due to lahar.

Adornado said lahar deposits are in the gullies in Barangay Basud in Sto. Domingo, Quirangay in Camalig and the Sto. Domingo-Legazpi-Daraga-Camalig stretch of the volcano.

Phivolcs resident volcanologist Ed Laguerta said Mayon had extruded around 65 million cubic meters of volcanic materials, of which 13 million cubic meters are potential lahar sediments.

Weather forecaster Michael Francisco said a low-pressure area spotted off Mindanao could develop into a tropical depression and bring rains when it is near the Bicol region on Tuesday.

Cedric Daep, chief of the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office, said they would issue a lahar advisory depending on the distance and strength of the tropical depression.


"It is not safe yet to make predictions on the impact of this low-pressure area...at this time that it is still outside the (Philippine area of responsibility)," Daep said.

In its latest bulletin, Phivolcs said active river channels and those perennially identified as lahar-prone areas should be avoided during bad weather or when there is heavy and prolonged rainfall.

Mayon remains under Alert Level 3. This means that although the volcano's unrest continues, there is a decreased likelihood of hazardous explosive eruption.



Fire

Radon, slosh dynamics and Mount Etna's unrest

Radon Tells Unexpected Tales of Mount Etna’s Unrest
© Marco NeriMount Etna in Sicily, Italy, spews lava from a Strombolian and effusive eruption on 24 April 2012. The church Santa Maria della Provvidenza stands in the foreground in the town of Zafferana Etnea on the mountain's eastern flank. New research from a team studying the volcano finds that variations in its radon emissions provide insights into volcanic and tectonic influences inside the mountain and, for some seismic activity, up to tens of kilometers away.
Readings from a sensor for the radioactive gas near summit craters of the Italian volcano reveal signatures of such processes as seismic rock fracturing and sloshing of groundwater and other fluids.

Some researchers view radon emissions as a precursor to earthquakes, especially those of high magnitude [e.g., Wang et al., 2014; Lombardi and Voltattorni, 2010], but the debate in the scientific community about the applicability of the gas to surveillance systems remains open. Yet radon "works" at Italy's Mount Etna, one of the world's most active volcanoes, although not specifically as a precursor to earthquakes. In a broader sense, this naturally radioactive gas from the decay of uranium in the soil, which has been analyzed at Etna in the past few years, acts as a tracer of eruptive activity and also, in some cases, of seismic-tectonic phenomena.

To deepen the understanding of tectonic and eruptive phenomena at Etna, scientists analyzed radon escaping from the ground and compared those data with measurements gathered continuously by instrumental networks on the volcano (Figure 1). Here Etna is a boon to scientists-it's traced by roads, making it easy to access for scientific observation.

Comment: See Also:


Fire

Magma plume stretching all the way from Mexico found beneath Yellowstone supervolcano

yellowstone
An underwater 'fountain' of magma has been found beneath Yellowstone National Park. Experts suggest the 'magma plume' could be the source of the heat that drives so much of the park's surface activity, such as its world-famous bubbling springs (stock image)

An underwater 'fountain' of magma has been found beneath Yellowstone supervolcano, heightening fears that a major eruption is on the way.

Researchers found a column of hot volcanic ash known as a magma 'plume' beneath the volcano, and they believe it stretches all the way from Mexico.

Experts suggest the plume could be the source of the heat that drives so much of the volcano's surface activity, such as its world-famous bubbling springs.

The news follows a spate of four mini-tremors in the area last week that raised fears Yellowstone's supervolcano is about to blow.


Comment: Thousands of termors over the past year, a recent tremor swarm, the deformed ground surrounding Yellowstone due to increased pressure and recently rare activity was recorded from one of Yellowstone's Geyser Steamboat - an uptick in activity is evident.


Comment: Due to a slow down in the Earth's rotation, scientists have been predicting an upsurge in earthquakes and volcanoes, and we're seeing other incredible events that are most likely related - but it's not just the Earth that's shifting, weather worldwide is increasingly chaotic:


Attention

Hundreds evacuated and 30 people are sent to hospital as Ijen volcano spews toxic sulphuric gas in Indonesia

Mount Ijen is seen the day after the crater was closed to visitors and many residents living on its slopes were forced to flee to avoid toxic gas near Bondowoso, East Java, Indonesia
Mount Ijen is seen the day after the crater was closed to visitors and many residents living on its slopes were forced to flee to avoid toxic gas near Bondowoso, East Java, Indonesia
Some 200 people have been evacuated with 30 needing hospital treatment after an Indonesian volcano belched thick clouds of sulphuric gas on Wednesday.

Residents were treated for vomiting and breathing difficulties after Mount Ijen in East Java province began spewing out noxious gas.

A popular tourist and mining site on the slopes of the mountain had to be closed until further notice.

'Because of this incident, the public - tourists or miners - are not allowed near the crater until further notice,' said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the national disaster mitigation agency.