Shiveluch (Russia)

Status Eruption Eruption 2019 3283m
Stratovolcano (Subduction zone / Continental crust (> 25 km))

The high, isolated massif of Sheveluch volcano (also spelled Shiveluch) rises above the lowlands NNE of the Kliuchevskaya volcano group. The 1300 km3 volcano is one of Kamchatka's largest and most active volcanic structures. The summit of roughly 65,000-year-old Stary Shiveluch is truncated by a broad 9-km-wide late-Pleistocene caldera breached to the south. Many lava domes dot its outer flanks. The Molodoy Shiveluch lava dome complex was constructed during the Holocene within the large horseshoe-shaped caldera; Holocene lava dome extrusion also took place on the flanks of Stary Shiveluch. At least 60 large eruptions have occurred during the Holocene, making it the most vigorous andesitic volcano of the Kuril-Kamchatka arc. Widespread tephra layers from these eruptions have provided valuable time markers for dating volcanic events in Kamchatka. Frequent collapses of dome complexes, most recently in 1964, have produced debris avalanches whose deposits cover much of the floor of the breached caldera.

The high, isolated massif of Shiveluch (also spelled Sheveluch) is one of Kamchatka's largest volcanoes. The summit of an older stratovolcano is truncated by a broad 9-km-wide late-Pleistocene caldera breached on this southern side. Frequent collapse of lava-dome complexes has produced numerous debris avalanches whose deposits cover much of the floor of the breached caldera. The light-colored hummocky deposits in the foreground were produced during the latest collapse in 1964.

Photo by Kamchatka Volcanic Eruptions Response Team (courtesy of Dan Miller, U.S. Geological Survey).

Last updated 2024-03-30 12:43:04