March 27-29 Eruption of Pavlof Volcano, Alaska

 

Pavlof two hours before eruption began on March 27. Photo courtesy AVO. http://www.avo.alaska.edu/images/image.php?id=94101

 

Pavlof initial blast on March 27. Photo taken by Royce Snapp from Cold Bay some 60 km SW. http://www.avo.alaska.edu/images/image.php?id=93161

Pavlof in eruption March 28. http://www.adn.com/article/20160328/eruption-pavlof-volcano-continues-ash-rising-37000-feet

Pavlof in eruption March 28. http://www.adn.com/article/20160328/eruption-pavlof-volcano-continues-ash-rising-37000-feet

Pavlof Volcano roared back to life Sunday afternoon, March 27, 2016.  There was about 30 minutes warning before the eruption started.  Seismicity started increasing from background around 3:53 PM AKDT.  By 4:18, ash was in the air moving generally north.  AVO raised the aviation color code from green to red as ash initially topped out at over Flight Level 200 (20,000 feet above the surface).  Ash eventually reached over 37,000 feet during this phase of the eruption.   http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/report.php?id=82161&mode=hans&type=3

AVO annotated photo of Pavlof Volcano in eruption taken March 28. http://www.avo.alaska.edu/images/image.php?id=94011

AVO photo of Pavlof Volcano in eruption from cold Bay. Photo taken 3:00 AM on March 28. http://www.avo.alaska.edu/images/image.php?id=93181

Night view of Pavlof Volcano in eruption on March 28 night. http://bestthenews.com/article/pavlofs-unexpected-eruption-alaska-spews-ash-20000-feet-high-mon-03282016-1910.html

 

The eruption continued throughout the night and into the next day before decreasing in intensity around 12:30 PM AKDT.  At that time, AVO changed the aviation color code to orange.  http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/report.php?id=82221&mode=hans&type=3

Satellite photo of Pavlof Volcano ash plume from March 28. http://www.drroyspencer.com/2016/03/color-satellite-imagery-of-pavlof-eruption/

Satellite image taken early March 28. Plume extends nearly 500 km to the north – northwest. Photo courtesy AVO / John Lyons / USGS.

The aviation color code was moved from orange to yellow midday on April 6, after almost a week of quiet.  No additional ash, lava fountaining, lahars or lava flows were observed for several days prior to the return to yellow.  The volcano remains at yellow as of this writing.  http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/report.php?id=82571&mode=hans&type=3

IASI satellite image showing Pavlof SO2 plume on March 29. Image courtesy of the Support for Aviation Control Service program, Belgium Institute for Space Aeronomy. http://www.avo.alaska.edu/images/image.php?id=93881

Multiple flights in interior Alaska by Alaska Air Lines, Horizon Air, PenAir, were cancelled Sunday due to the ash cloud working its way north.  Over 200 flights were cancelled mostly in interior Alaska over the course of three days the ash cloud was over the state.  This included all air traffic into and out of the Prudhoe Bay oil fields.  International flights in and out of Anchorage International had to divert south of the Alaska Peninsula and around Pavlof so as to avoid the ash plume.

AVO provided image with their caption: SEM image of a volcanic ash particle from the March 28, 2016 eruption of Pavlof Volcano. The sample was collected by Allan Brandell of Nelson Lagoon, Alaska. The sample was cleaned in ultrasonic bath to remove fine ash particles and improve image quality. http://www.avo.alaska.edu/images/image.php?id=94671

Ash from Pavlof Volcano dusting vehicles in Nelson Lagoon Alaska, Monday March 28. Contributed photo to ADN courtesy Barrett Taylor. http://www.adn.com/article/20160328/eruption-pavlof-volcano-continues-ash-rising-37000-feet

 

AVO was kind enough to respond to several questions about the eruption.

Comparison with seismicity for 2016 and 2007 eruptions. http://www.ktva.com/why-did-pavlof-volcano-erupt-with-almost-no-seismic-warning-609/

They explained that the lack of warning is due to Pavlof being an open system, where the conduit between the surface and the magma reservoir not being plugged.  No plug means that any disruption in the chamber will almost immediately express itself with activity out of the crater at the top of the volcano.

They have not done any field studies yet to determine how big the eruption was.  It was larger than the 2014 VEI1.

 

AVO provided satellite image of Pavlof Volcano in eruption March 28. Image shows lahars and lava flows both to the north and south of the vent. http://www.avo.alaska.edu/images/image.php?id=93891

Black streaks down the flanks of the volcano are a combination of lahars and lava flows, with the lahars being the longer streaks.

Finally, while Pavlof is well monitored, Pavlof Sister is not, leading to some questions elsewhere.  This is all due to available resources.  Pavlof Sister is relatively quiet, having not erupted for at least 350 years.  AVO is resource limited and concentrates its monitoring on volcanoes with a history of recent eruptions.

Pavlof Volcano in eruption March 27. Photo taken from an air ambulance taking off from Cold Bay. Courtesy Glenn Stevens. http://www.adn.com/article/20160328/eruption-pavlof-volcano-continues-ash-rising-37000-feet

For more information on Pavlof and Emmons Lake Volcanic Complex, you can look at a couple past articles on the old VC site.

https://volcanocafe.wordpress.com/2014/11/17/new-eruption-at-mount-pavlof/
https://volcanocafe.wordpress.com/2014/11/27/emmons-lake-volcanic-complex-alaska/

Pavlof volcano, as seen from Cold Bay, showing deposits of March 27-28 eruption. Photo by Candace Shaack. http://www.avo.alaska.edu/images/image.php?id=93861

Additional information

http://www.adn.com/article/20160328/eruption-pavlof-volcano-continues-ash-rising-37000-feet
http://www.adn.com/article/20160406/pavlof-volcano-settles-down-after-march-eruption
http://www.adn.com/article/20160330/ash-pavlof-volcano-coats-nearby-village-and-drifts-canada
http://www.adn.com/article/20160329/flights-resume-tuesday-pavlof-volcano-eruption-slows

 

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