Kamchatsky volcano Shiveluch: basic information

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

Shiveluch Volcano is the northernmost active volcano in Kamchatka and one of the largest on the peninsula. The diameter of its base is fifty kilometers. It consists, as it were, of two parts - Old and Young Shiveluch.

The dimensions of the old volcano

The old Kamchatka volcano Shiveluch is a stratovolcano. It is composed of coarse clastic material, which is interbedded with lava. This natural structure is crowned with a large caldera, the diameter of which is nine kilometers. Its ledges are very well preserved, their height varies from hundreds of meters to one and a half kilometers in the area of the main peak. In the process of its formation, more than sixty cubic kilometers of pyroclastic material was ejected from the bowels of the Earth, spreading over a rather large territory: it reaches the channel of the Kamchatka River and even further.

The size of a young volcano

At the bottom of this caldera, closer to its northwestern edge, there is a young Shiveluch volcano. It is represented by several extrusive merged domes (Double, Suelich, Central and others) with minor lava flows that have andesitic andandesite-dacite compositions. The diameter of the base of this formation is seven kilometers. In 1964, the Shiveluch volcano erupted, as a result of strong explosions, these domes were almost completely destroyed, and a huge double crater formed in their place. Its diameter was 1.7 kilometers for the northern part and 2 kilometers for the southern. As a result of the eruption, material was ejected from the bowels, which was deposited on the southern slope in a continuous cloak, its thickness is from one to fifty meters. The coverage area was more than a hundred square kilometers, and the volume was one and a half cubic kilometers. In 1980, a new extrusive dome began to form inside the northern crater, which consists of andesite. The growth of this formation continues to this day. It is accompanied by explosions of various power. The most active squeezing of the dome took place in 1993. Then he occupied almost the entire territory of the northern crater.

History of the Volcano

Given the structure described above, the Shiveluch volcano is classified as a volcanic structure of the Somma-Vesuvius class. This formation is the largest structure of this type. The emergence and development of the volcano, according to geologists, occurred in the era of the Upper Pleistocene, about seventy thousand years ago. The most serious catastrophic eruptions occur with a frequency of one hundred to three hundred years. The last of them were noted in 1854 and in 1964, that is, the interval was 110 years. Medium-strength and weak eruptions occur much more frequently, usuallythey are accompanied by the growth of extrusive domes. This is currently observed.

General information: where is the Shiveluch volcano?

In terms of the mass and volume of erupted products, the frequency of strong eruptions, the rate of removal of matter, this natural formation is one of the most unique volcanoes in Kamchatka, as well as the Kuril Islands. This active ancient geological object is one of the largest on the peninsula. Shiveluch is located eighty kilometers north of the Klyuchevskoy volcano. It is located on the Kamchatka River, in the middle of a swamp-covered lowland stretching for many tens of kilometers. If the artist had the goal of depicting an evil old man offended by life in the guise of a natural object, then Shiveluch volcano should have been taken for nature. This is a huge natural object, consisting of cone formations of various types and ages, riddled with gorges, craters and failures, which has existed for many thousands of years, still continuing from time to time to burst into catastrophic eruptions that destroy all life.

Shaping parts

After the formation of the main cone of the volcano as a result of failures and explosions in its southern part, an extensive caldera was formed. A young cone appeared inside. Later, another caldera-crater grew in the primary caldera. She destroyed part of the young cone. It was in this place, as the thinnest, that subsequent eruptions began to occur. The part that has survived to this daythe ancient cone is called the "Main Peak", it is the highest point of this geological object. And the younger cone is called the Crater Summit. The height of the Shiveluch volcano at its highest point is 3335 meters, and in its young part - 2700 meters.

History of eruptions

The eruption of the Shiveluch volcano in Kamchatka is explosive. In the last century, emissions occurred in 1925, 1944, 1950, 1964. The last eruption was very short, but extremely strong. As a result, the explosive cloud was raised to a fifteen-kilometer height and moved towards the ocean. Its thickness was constantly cut through by bright lightning. The entire territory to the east of the volcano, up to Ust-Kamchatsk and even further, plunged into darkness. An extremely large amount of blasted rock was thrown out to a distance of 15 kilometers, it covered the ground with a thick layer, which in some places reached from several to tens of meters. All bushes and forests were either buried or burned, all living things that could not escape or fly away in advance died. It is known that many birds and animals can anticipate the approach of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions: they crawl out of their holes, begin to show anxiety, and tend to get out of the premises. Thus, the catastrophic eruption of the Shiveluch volcano in November 1964 was preceded by seismic shocks that began a month before the ejections themselves. Every day their intensity increased. And two days before the eruption, the number reached more than a hundred a day. How did the animals behave at this time?

From the stories of old-timers

This is what the local hunter A. M. Chudinov told (at that time he was nineteen years old). Two or three days before the eruption, one could observe a massive and very unusual transition of bears from the left bank of the river to the right-bank valley of Kamchatka. And this despite the fact that in November all the animals went into hibernation, but the premonition of impending disaster forced them to leave their settled warm dens and go to the hungry and cold forests for them in winter. At the same time, the number of other animals, such as hares and foxes, has significantly increased on the right bank. Apparently, they also migrated from under Shiveluch.

Immediately before the start of the eruption, increased seismic activity could be visually observed. So, according to the stories of the inhabitants of the Keys, located quite high above sea level, it was seen how a series of waves passed on the surface of a large, ice-covered lake Kurchazhnoye, lying on the other side of the river.

After the 1964 eruption, only fumarolic activity is observed at Shiveluch. The volcano itself is located in a remote area, rare expeditions visit it.

2014

On the morning of June 1, 2014, the Shiveluch volcano made a powerful ash ejection. Its height was more than seven kilometers. Further, the plume began to spread in a southeasterly direction towards the Kamchatka Bay. Today, this geological object has been assigned an orange code (one of the most dangerous). His activitybegan to increase since 2009, at that time a crevice 30 meters deep formed on the top. Based on the increase in seismic activity, scientists conclude that at the moment there is a "preparation" for the next powerful eruption of Shiveluch.