The late-Pleistocene to Holocene Krasheninnikov volcano is comprised of two overlapping stratovolcanoes that were constructed within a 9 x 11 km Pleistocene caldera. Young lava flows from summit and flank vents descend into the caldera and down its outer flanks. The summit cones are situated along a NE-SW-trending fissure that has also produced zones of Holocene cinder cones extending 15-20 km beyond the caldera. Tephra deposits from the caldera-forming eruption directly overlie a 39,000 before present (BP) tephra once thought to be related to that eruption but now thought to be associated with the formation of Uzon caldera (Florenskii 1988). Both the Southern and Northern cones are topped by 800-m-wide craters; the younger Northern Cone was constructed within a 2-km-wide caldera. Construction of the Southern Cone began about 11,000 years BP and lasted for about 4500 years. The Northern Cone was constructed during a cycle of similar length that began about 6500 years ago. The present eruptive cycle began about 600 years BP, but has included only two documented eruptions, the last about 400 years ago.
Krasheninnikov volcano is comprised of two overlapping stratovolcanoes seen here from the north. Both the Southern and Northern cones are topped by 800-m-wide craters. Construction of the Northern Cone began about 6500 years ago. An inner Northern Cone was built within a 2-km-wide caldera, whose rim forms the scarp at the left. A small lava cone that occupies the inner crater of the Northern Cone (bottom) was formed during the last eruption, which took place about 400 years ago, and also produced a SW-flank lava flow.
Photo courtesy of Anatoli Khrenov, 1989 (Institute of Volcanology, Petropavlovsk).
Last updated 2019-08-04 00:28:03
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