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RED: Eruption is imminent with significant emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere likely OR eruption is underway or suspected with significant emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere [ash-plume height specified, if possible].
WARNING: Hazardous eruption is imminent, underway, or suspected.
originally posted by: Aristotelian1
a reply to: ElectricUniverse
I didn't know Alaska even had a volcano.
ALASKA VOLCANO OBSERVATORY STATUS REPORT
U.S. Geological Survey
Thursday, January 5, 2017, 3:05 PM AKST (Friday, January 6, 2017, 00:05 UTC)
BOGOSLOF VOLCANO (VNUM #311300)
53°55'38" N 168°2'4" W, Summit Elevation 492 ft (150 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: WARNING
Current Aviation Color Code: RED
The explosion at 13:24 AKST (22:24 UTC) today was short-lived with an estimated duration of about 5 minutes. The volcanic cloud from the event is visible in satellite data moving north from the volcano as a detached cloud at an estimated height of 35,000 ft asl. A pilot also reports seeing the cloud at 35,000 ft asl.
Additional explosive events at Bogoslof may occur without warning. Due to the unpredictability of the situation, the Aviation Color Code remains RED and the Volcano Alert Level WARNING.
originally posted by: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
a reply to: Ameilia
The place is so remote and a protected habitat that placing sensors on the island is tough enough let alone a web cam. There are web cams on other volcanoes here in the AK (check out the AVO homepage). They actually monitor this volcano with equipment on surrounding volcanoes and from satellite photos. Lots of dependencies on pilots reporting plumes so they can turn to sat photos and go back and review other logging equipment.
You could have driven down the highway from Anchorage and watch Mt. Spur erupt (some like 5-, 10-years ago). I was here when Redoubt blanketed Anchortown in ash. Nasty stuff that ash is! Last time Spurr spewed ash we were handed out large particle masks here at work. I ran around with my ski goggles for a couple days just in case the wind changed.
BTW, Bogoslof has been downgraded to 'Orange' from 'Red'.
That action creates magma, or molten rock, roughly 6 to 12 miles deep. With a lower density than surrounding rock, magma rises toward the Earth's surface. Volatile dissolved gases under pressure also push up magma. Whether a volcano explodes or oozes out lava depends on the dissolved gases and their ability to escape rapidly from the magma.
"It's not all that different from opening a can of soda on a warm day," Waythomas said. "The gas that's dissolved in the liquid comes out rapidly, and as it comes out, it brings magma with it. It fragments it as it expands. That produces the fine particles."
At Bogoslof, magma also interacts with seawater and water-saturated soils.
Typically, Waythomas said, when magma meets water, the Leidenfrost Effect kicks in. That's the phenomenon in which a liquid near an object that's much hotter produces an insulating vapor that keeps it from boiling rapidly.
"When you make pancakes, and you sprinkle water on your griddle, the water skates around on a film of vapor," Waythomas said. "If you break that vapor film down, and brought the water right into contact with the hot griddle, you'd produce a steam explosion. That's basically what's going on with Bogoslof."
However, Bogoslof, a volcanic island in the Aleutians off the southwest coast of Alaska exploded without any warning last Saturday. This was its 40th eruption since December 2016, of which 75 percent have not been predicted by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO). The most recent event sent a plume of ash and smoke more than six miles into the atmosphere. Ash at this height can ruin the engines of jet airplanes flying this well-traveled route between Asia and North America.
A 14-minute eruption by an Alaska volcano sent an ash cloud to 30,000 feet (9,100 meters) in the Aleutian Islands
The Alaska Volcano Observatory says Bogoslof... Volcano erupted at 3:17 a.m. Tuesday.
Ash clouds above 20,000 feet (6,100 meters) can harm airliners flying between Asia and North America. The observatory raised the aviation alert code to "warning" level, the highest level.