Mount Redoubt Volcano

[dgavin]

Magmatic in nature.

There has been occasional steam emissions, short duration Harmonic Tremors, elevated CO2 and SO2 levels, snow melt off at the sumit due to ground heating.

However there hasn't been the long duration harmonic tremors or intense swarms that usually precede an eruption by a few days or weeks.

It's still likely to erupt soon, although the probobility is falling off a bit. It appears to be entering a steam emiting period of activity, and might stabalize there for a while.

[jlhredshift]

Magmatic in nature.

There has been occasional steam emissions, short duration Harmonic Tremors, elevated CO2 and SO2 levels, snow melt off at the sumit due to ground heating.

However there hasn't been the long duration harmonic tremors or intense swarms that usually precede an eruption by a few days or weeks.

It's still likely to erupt soon, although the probobility is falling off a bit. It appears to be entering a steam emiting period of activity, and might stabalize there for a while.

As time goes by wouldn't the magmas rheidity decrease due to cooling?

[dgavin]

As time goes by wouldn't the magmas rheidity decrease due to cooling?

Ridgitiy? Yes, there are many factors involved in this though, such as superheated steam releases from deep magma pools heating the mountain's chimney/vent. Also, it takes a while for a magma pocket inside a mountain's chimney/vent to cool off. Earth (rock and dirt) is a very good insulator.

As the summit of Redoubt is getting warmer and warmer, it means there is likely magma close to entering the mountain itself, even though this heating at the sumit is currently driven by the steam/gas emissions curretnly.

[dgavin]

Latest from USGS/AVO

2009-02-05 17:21:56

A burst of volcanic tremor occurred just after 3:00 PM this afternoon lasting for about 30 minutes and is continuing at a sustained but lower level. This did not result in any eruptive activity and no ash emission has occurred.

AVO is monitoring and evaluating the situation closely.

Redoubt is still at aviation color code ORANGE and volcano alert level WATCH

[dgavin]

Well there was a second burst of Volcanic Tremors, and now there is a low level almost continuous Harmonic Tremor signature on the seismographs.

This is a good indicator of magma on the move under the mountain. I haven't been able to locate any recent deformation data though.

[dgavin]

I Couldn't find any Deformation data at all, so I built my own from the images archive.

I took an image from the 27th, converted it to an Edgemaping (Basicaly this highlights the outline of the mountain onto a white background. (Using a Blue Color)

Did the same with todays image, giving it a Red color.

Then alligned and mergered the two together. There is a hint that the right side of the mountain(from perspective of Camera) is buldging very sligtly. I'll try and extrapolate an amount for this buldging tonight.

[Swift]

I Couldn't find any Deformation data at all, so I built my own from the images archive.

You win the alpha-geek of the day award.

[dgavin]

I got a clearer image this evening, and redid the image overlay.

Then I calculated the relative feet per pixels in each image by checking topographical data. Once i had that i overlay ed the images again and got the pixel count for the swelling.

Over all since Jan 27th, Redoubt has swollen about 12.2 meters on the right side of the summit peak, and about 5 Meters on the left side summit peak. There is some pixel difference going down the mountain, which seem to decrease from the top towards the base, that I put at from 3 meters to less the 1 meter.

This is a very ROUGH method of figuring out deformation. Accounting for errors because of this, I would say it's more like 4 Meters of swelling, that is gradually decreasing down toward the base. It does indicate the magma seems to likely be pooling inside the mountain, instead of below its base.

[Van Rijn]

You win the alpha-geek of the day award.

Yup, pretty impressive. Interesting stuff, dgavin.

[dgavin]

Yup, pretty impressive. Interesting stuff, dgavin.

I got tired of waiting for data, so although this is a very rough way to do it, i made my own data.

The AVO is not as as good as the CVO is about releasing data, but then it is an Educational hosted Observatory, so they need the time to go over thier results and what not, as they have grades dependant upon them.

Redoubt is now in a constant Harmonic tremor stage, which is a good indication an eruptions is going to happen. Days to a few weeks maybe at this point, probably closer to days if this continuous harmonic tremor continues as it has been.

[geonuc]

I Couldn't find any Deformation data at all, so I built my own from the images archive.

I took an image from the 27th, converted it to an Edgemaping (Basicaly this highlights the outline of the mountain onto a white background. (Using a Blue Color)

Did the same with todays image, giving it a Red color.

Then alligned and mergered the two together. There is a hint that the right side of the mountain(from perspective of Camera) is buldging very sligtly. I'll try and extrapolate an amount for this buldging tonight.

That thumbnail shows up kinda fuzzy on my computer. Am I missing something?

[dgavin]

Yes sort of, there are places where the red and blue outlines of the mountain match perfectly, and other towards the summit where the red outline is a few pixels above the blue outline, indicating some swelling. had to see outside of a paint application where you can zoom in on the pixels though

[geonuc]

Over all since Jan 27th, Redoubt has swollen about 12.2 meters on the right side of the summit peak, and about 5 Meters on the left side summit peak.

12 meters!

[dgavin]

12 meters!

That would be the upper limit. Accounting for the rudness of this method, it's probably something more like 4 meters

[dgavin]

USGS/AVO is(maybe) sending a gas monitoring crew up the mountain today, to get some new readings on the emissions.

However the cam this morning shows it's releasing steam again, so the crew might not brave it.

[Swift]

The latest from the AVO

2009-02-08 07:11:13

Unrest is continuing at Redoubt volcano. The seismicity is dominated by nearly continuous volcanic tremor similar to that reported for the last several days

[dgavin]

Not much new to report this morning either.

The USGS crew got thier gas measurements, but the data is still being processed, so no information yet.

They also observed the steam emissions coming from the 1990 dome area, as well as melt water coming from the drift glacier.

The almost constant Volcanic Tremors have taken on a more variable nature, and there has been a slight increase in the number of swarm quakes over the last few days.

[One Skunk Todd]

Seems like clear weather today. I've got both cams tuned in.

http://www.avo.alaska.edu/webcam/web...oubt%20-%20hut
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/webcam/web...doubt%20-%20ci

[One Skunk Todd]

I can't tell if this is smoke or just a cloud passing between the camera and the volcano. I think it might have chuffed a little though.

[Swift]

This webcam seems to be showing steam from the summit.

[dgavin]

Yes, it's been blowing off some steam since friday. It's a very unhappy volcano

[jlhredshift]

Yes, it's been blowing off some steam since friday. It's a very unhappy volcano

I just hope those people at the base of the volcano where the lights are have a boat with a big motor.

[Swift]

Yes, it's been blowing off some steam since friday. It's a very unhappy volcano

Its just lucky our Alaskan moderator doesn't ban it for blowing off steam.

[dgavin]

Not much has changed, the steam emissions have reduced somewhat but the tremors continue, along with intermittent quakes.

The webcams are obscured by weather today.

[Buttercup]

Waiting for Mt. Redoubt to finally "go" is getting about as tedious as awaiting the next batch of sunspots. :-\ It just ain't happening...

[jlhredshift]

Waiting for Mt. Redoubt to finally "go" is getting about as tedious as awaiting the next batch of sunspots. :-\ It just ain't happening...

Geological time scale


Human time scale

[Buttercup]

To heck with the geological time scale! Lol...

[PetersCreek]

Its just lucky our Alaskan moderator doesn't ban it for blowing off steam.

Patience. I'm still looking for that button.

Next time I'm up in the cab, I need to give Redoubt a look-see.

[geonuc]

To heck with the geological time scale! Lol...

Yeah, really. I think we need to get these silly volcanoes onto our schedule.

[George]

Yes, people are beginning to doubt, but soon they will have redoubt!