Volcanoes
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Rapidly Inflating Volcano Creates Growing Mystery

Uturuncu
© Noah FinneganHow long has this been going on? Uturuncu, a Bolivian volcano that is inflating at an incredible rate.
Should anyone ever decide to make a show called "CSI: Geology," a group of scientists studying a mysterious and rapidly inflating South American volcano have got the perfect storyline.

Researchers from several universities are essentially working as geological detectives, using a suite of tools to piece together the restive peak's past in order to understand what it is doing now, and better diagnose what may lie ahead.

It's a mystery they've yet to solve.

Uturuncu is a nearly 20,000-foot-high (6,000 meters) volcano in southwest Bolivia. Scientists recently discovered the volcano is inflating with astonishing speed.

"I call this 'volcano forensics,' because we're using so many different techniques to understand this phenomenon," said Oregon State University professor Shan de Silva, a volcanologist on the research team.

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Chilean volcano's ashes ground flights

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© APPuyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano
Airline officials say an ash cloud from a recently reawakened volcano in southern Chile has once again forced the cancellation of scores of flights in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.

In statements released Monday, Brazilian airlines Gol and Tam say the cloud from the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano appeared Sunday. The volcano has been sporadically active since June.

The statements indicated that the problem is affecting airports in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay, and involves both domestic and international flights.

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10-Km-High Ash Column Rises From Russia's Shiveluch Volcano

An explosive eruption is taking place at Russia's Shiveluch volcano (sometimes called Sheveluch or Sopka Shiveluch), located in the far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, prompting no fly zones to be imposed in the region.

Ash plumes have risen to 34,500 ft (10.5 km) while seismic activity is ongoing. The official Itar-Tass news agency reported on Monday that the highest-level warning has been issued for aviation.

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© NASA/Google/IWORussia’s Shiveluch volcano.
The Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) in Anchorage, Alaska, reported that ash falls are possible at Klyuchi (50 km to the south-west from the volcano); Ust'-Kamchatsk (90 km to the east-southeast from the volcano); and Ust'-Khairyuzovo (280 km to the west-northwest from the volcano).

The NOAA-operated VAAC added: "Moderate potential hazards are caused by ash plumes, ash falls, pyroclastic flows, hot avalanches and lahars. The volcano constitutes a potential hazard to international and local airlines at Kamchatka because its eruptive clouds can rise to a height of 3-20 km ASL and extend for hundreds of kilometers from the volcano."

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Spewing volcano forces Spain to close island port

Madrid -- Spanish authorities say activity by an underwater volcano has led them to close access to a port on El Hierro island.

Ships have been ordered away from waters around La Restinga and aircraft have been banned from flying over the island's southern tip.

The port's 600 residents were evacuated Tuesday after volcanic activity began.

The regional government of the Canary Islands says scientists have detected airborne volcanic fragments called pyroclasts rising from the sea off La Restinga.

The government said it awaited scientific reports on the danger posed by pyroclasts, but a research vessel that was collecting samples there has been ordered to desist.

TV channel La Sexta reported Saturday that journalists also have been told to clear the area.

Igloo

Iceland: Katla Rumbling Fuels Fears of a Volcanic Eruption that 'would be worse' than Last Year's Eyjafjallajokul

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Fearsome: Lightning streaks across the sky as lava flows from Eyjafjallajokul last year. The eruption wrought havoc on international travel
An Icelandic volcano that could have a more devastating impact than the one that paralysed air traffic last year may erupt at any moment, experts have warned.

Seismologists are nervously watching rumblings beneath Katla, a volcano on the southern edge of the north Atlantic island nation, which could mean an eruption is imminent.

Katla is a much bigger volcano than nearby Eyjafjallajokul, the 2010 eruption of which cost airlines £1.27billion after ash grounded flights across Europe.

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Canary Islands: Two New Eruptions Observed in Subsea Volcano

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© UnknownTwo new volcanic eruptions were confirmed on Wednesday off the south coast of the Canary Island of El Hierro.
Two new volcanic eruptions were confirmed on Wednesday off the south coast of the Canary Island of El Hierro.

Nearly 600 people from the southernmost village, La Restinga, remained out of their homes Thursday after they were evacuated on Tuesday.

Seismologists have found two separate fissures less than 2.3 miles and 1.7 miles from La Restinga.

"I confirm the existence of two points of volcanic eruption at El Hierro," Laura Otero, a spokeswoman for the local authorities, told AFP.

The first eruption occurred at a depth of 700 meters (2,300 feet) and the other at a depth of 200 meters (655 feet).

Scientists from ING, CSIC, and the University of Cadiz are trying to determine if the subsea volcanic vent is widening and, if so, if it is widening in the direction of El Hierro.

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Experts warn over Iceland volcano

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© Unknown
Experts are warning that an eruption could be imminent at an even more powerful Icelandic volcano than the one that paralysed air traffic last year.

Seismologists are nervously watching rumblings beneath Katla which could spew an ash cloud dwarfing the 2010 eruption that cost airlines two billion dollars (£1.27 billion) and drove home how vulnerable modern society is to the whims of nature.

Brooding over rugged moss-covered hills on Iceland's southern edge, Katla is a much bigger beast than the nearby Eyjafjallajokul volcano, which blasted ash all over Europe for several weeks in an eruption that local scientist Pall Einarsson describes nonetheless as "small".

Named after an evil troll, Katla has a larger magma chamber than Eyjafjallajokul's.

Its last major eruption in 1918 continued more than a month, turning day into night, starving crops of sunlight and killing off some livestock.

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Subsea Volcanic Eruption Underway Near El Hierro (The Canary Islands)

A submarine volcanic eruption is taking place approximately 5 kilometres off the southern coast of El Hierro, the smallest of The Canary Islands.

The Mayor of La Frontera (El Hierro), David Cabrera, confirmed in an interview on Radio iron Garoé that 'underwater eruption' is taking place about 900 metres beneath the sea surface five kilometres south of La Restinga. The eruption has been ongoing for four hours, the Mayor said.

Spanish newspaper laopionion.es quoted the Minister of emergencies of the Cabildo of El Hierro, Maria of Carmen Morales, as saying the eruption is taking place because 'the seismic movement of 4.3 occurred on Saturday afternoon caused a fissure, from where the energy is been released'. Scientists remain unclear if the emissions are gas or lava.

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© MODISEl Hierro, The Canary Islands, from space in this MODIS satellite image on Oct. 7 2011

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Volcanic Red Alert Issued As Residents Are Evacuated From El Hierro Town

Spain's Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN) confirmed on Tuesday that an underwater eruption has occurred five kilometres off the southern coastline of El Hierro, the smallest of the Canary Island. The eruption is Spain's first since the eruption in 1971 of the Teneguía volcano on the island of La Palma (Canary Islands).

The IGN says all three of its seismic stations on El Hierro in the Canary Islands have registered a volcanic tremor of low frequency in the south of the island at La Restinga, the southern-most village in the Canaries. The estimated 537 residents of the town were summonsed to a local football field on Tuesday afternoon to be briefed on evacuation procedures.

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© Google MapsEl Hierro.
A Red Alert has since been issued by local authorities for the town. A notice posted on the Emergencia El Hierro website on Tuesday evening stated: "Phase pre-eruptive. It involves the initiation of a preventive evacuation. Make yourself available to the authorities."

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Volcanic Activity Continues At Chile's Puyehue Corón-Caulle

A conspicuous plume of volcanic gases and fine ash rose above the volcano on Sunday (October 9, 2011), and blew southeast over Argentina.

In the top natural-color satellite image the mountainous landscape is covered with gray ash, largely snow-free for the first time in several months. To the north and southwest of the active vent is a lava flow, its textured appearance suggestive of thick lava. Immediately west of the vent the flow appears fresh - its dark surface not yet covered by lighter ash.

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© NASA image by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using ALI data from the EO-1 Team. Caption by Robert Simmon. Instrument: EO-1 – ALINASA satellite imagery shows that the eruption of Puyehue Corón-Caulle Volcano is continuing after more than 4 months of activity.
In a false-color image made from shortwave infrared, near infrared, and visible light data, the vent and nearby lava flow are bright orange. This is a sign of intense heat, and likely indicates ongoing emissions of lava. These images were acquired by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) aboard the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite.