28 November 2012
Increased activity at Santiaguito
Posted by Jessica Ball
A quick note for today: It appears that activity at the Santiaguito lava dome complex in Guatemala has increased significantly, with collapses occurring at the lava flow on the southeastern flank of the Caliente dome. Plumes are visible on GOES satellite images and are reaching 5 km in height (for comparison, plumes from the regular ash-and-gas eruptions of Caliente are usually less than 1 km high).
Plume from lava flow-front collapses at Santiaguito (outlined in red). GOES satellite image from http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/data/volcano.html
The notice from INSIVUMEH: http://www.insivumeh.gob.gt/geofisica/vulcanologia/especial.htm
The satellite images (from the “Volcano Watch” page of the Space Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin – Madison): http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/data/volcano/pacaya.html
Jessica Ball is a volcanologist at the U.S. Geological Survey, researching volcanic hydrothermal systems and stability, and doing science communication for the California Volcano Observatory. She previously worked at the Geological Society of America's Washington DC Policy Office, learning about the intersection of Earth science and legislative affairs. Her Mendenhall postdoc and PhD focused on how water affects the stability of volcanoes, and involved both field investigations and numerical modeling applications. Her blogging covers a range of topics, from her experiences in academic geosciences to science outreach and communication to her field and lab work in volcanology.
[…] years have seen several episodes of elevated activity at the volcano, and in this past week, Santiaguito has experienced another such phase. As reports from CONRED make clear, this elevated […]