Thu, Feb 02, 2012
International Air Travel Could Be Disrupted If The Volcano
Creates An Ash Cloud
The Alaska Volcano Observatory is reporting on its website that
renewed eruptive activity of Cleveland Volcano has been observed in
satellite data, and AVO is raising the Aviation Color
Code to Orange and the Alert Level to Watch. A new
lava dome has been observed in the summit crater, and as of 30
January 2012 was approximately 130 feet in diameter. There have
been no observations of ash emissions or explosive activity during
this current lava eruption.
The lava dome that formed throughout the fall-winter of 2011 was
largely removed by the explosive activity on 25 and 29 December,
2011. It remains possible for intermittent, sudden explosions of
blocks and ash to occur at any time, and ash clouds exceeding
20,000 feet above sea level may develop. Such explosions and their
associated ash clouds may go undetected in satellite imagery for
hours. If a large, explosive, ash-producing event occurs, seismic,
infrasound, or volcanic lightning may be detected by local and
regional monitoring networks. There is no real-time seismic
monitoring network on Mount Cleveland.
Cleveland volcano forms the western half of Chuginadak Island, a
remote and uninhabited island in the east central Aleutians. It is
located about 45 miles west of the community of Nikolski, and 940
miles southwest of Anchorage. The volcano's most recent significant
eruption began in February, 2001 and it produced 3 explosive events
that produced ash clouds as high as FL390. The 2001 eruption also
produced a rubbly lava flow and hot avalanche that reached the
sea.
CNN reports that, according to University of Alaska scientist
Steve McNutt, about 90 percent of the air freight from Asia to
Europe and North America pass through the potentially affected
airspace, as do passenger flights carrying about 20,000 people each
day. He said an eruption could cause those flights to be re-routed,
or cancelled. (Image provided by the Alaska Volcano
Observatory)
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