Alaska volcanoes spew ash and steam, release lava flows

Two erupting volcanoes in Alaska’s Aleutian mountains produced clouds of ash and steam and lava flows yesterday, the Alaska Volcano Observatory said.

The Pavlof volcano, with an elevation of 2,518 metres, began erupting following an increase of seismic activity on Monday.

Located on the south-western end of the Alaska Peninsula, Pavlof volcano is one of the most consistently active volcanoes in the Aleutian archipelago, with almost 40 historic eruptions.

“Continuous steam, ash, and gas clouds, occasionally up to 20,000 feet (6 kilometres) above sea level, have been carried downwind to the north-east, east and south-east as much as 100 kilometres before dissipating,” the observatory said at its website. A light ash fall was reported on Tuesday at a mining camp 80 kilometres north-east of the volcano.

The other volcano is the Cleveland volcano, elevation 1,730 metres. It has been active for weeks, and the observatory said on Friday satellite views showed “vigorous steam plumes” and elevated surface temperatures.

An image captured by satellite shows a small lava flow on the southeast rim of Cleveland volcano’s summit crater extending up to about 1.5 kilometres down the flank.

The observatory said sudden explosions of blocks and ash were possible with little or no warning. The Cleveland volcano’s ash clouds, if produced, also could reach 6 kilometres above sea level.

In 2010, a similar volcano eruption in Iceland caused major disruption to European air traffic.