Volcano Type: Stratovolcano
Volcano Status: Historical
Last Known Eruption: 1992
Summit Elevation: 1303 m 4,275 feet
Latitude: 54.134°N 54°8’4″N
Longitude: 165.986°W 165°59’10″W
One of the most active volcanoes of the Aleutian arc, Akutan contains 2-km-wide caldera with an active intracaldera cone. An older, largely buried caldera was formed during the late Pleistocene or early Holocene. Two volcanic centers are located on the NW flank. Lava Peak is of Pleistocene age, and a cinder cone lower on the flank produced a lava flow in 1852 that extended the shoreline of the island and forms Lava Point. The 60-365 m deep younger caldera was formed during a major explosive eruption about 1600 years ago and contains at least three lakes. The currently active large cinder cone in the NE part of the caldera has been the source of frequent explosive eruptions with occasional lava effusion that blankets the caldera floor. A lava flow in 1978 traveled through a narrow breach in the north caldera rim almost to the coast. Fumaroles occur at the base of the caldera cinder cone, and hot springs are located NE of the caldera at the head of Hot Springs Bay valley and along the shores of Hot Springs Bay.
Akutan Volcano
Akutan Volcano is a stratovolcano on Akutan Island in the east-central Aleutian Islands of southwestern Alaska. The volcano is located about 1238 kilometres southwest of Anchorage, and about 56 kilometres east of Dutch Harbor/Unalaska. The summit contains a 2 km diameter caldera with a small lake. Coastal erosion has exposed numerous lava tubes which have formed spectacular bridges and caves. Akutan is one of the most volcanically active islands in the eastern Aleutian arc. Akutan Island is located at the transition between continental and oceanic crust.
Akutan Volcano
Eruptions at Akutan volcano are typically moderately explosive, short-duration, and Strombolian, lasting for a few weeks. Hazards at the volcano include ash clouds, ashfall, volcanic bombs, pyroclastic flows, lahars, lava flows, and debris avalanches.
Originally posted 2010-08-21 05:01:24.
