Shiveluch Fumarole
Kamchatka Peninsula | Northeast Russia
Date of acquisition: September 4th, 2023 | 00:41:07 UTC, 19:40:26 UTC
Sensors: Sentinel-2B L2A, Sentinel-1 AWS-IW-VVVH
Coordinates: ca. 56.65°N, 161.36°E
The extrusion-effusive eruption of the active crater Young Shiveluch is ongoing. Young Shiveluch is part of the stratovolcano Shiveluch (Figure 1) on the Kamchatka Peninsula within the Eastern Range. The highest point of the active part is 2800 m above sea level.
The eruption is accompanied by strong gas and steam activity, and occasional glowing of the lava dome. Thermal anomalies are recorded daily.
A rare Sentinel-2 satellite image taken in early September (Figure 2), shows intense, presumably fumarolic, activity at Shiveluch volcano. This is confirmed by the shape and location of the plumes, and their colour, which is different from that of normal clouds (a fumarole is a vent in the Earth’s surface from which hot volcanic gases and vapours escape.) In this case, the fumarole activity is mainly observed along the perimeter of the 2010 and 2019 lava field deposits on the southern slope of the volcano. The plume extends at least 80 km to the east.
This is a rather unusual situation for gas and steam activity to be so clearly visible from a satellite.
