The 2016 Eruptions in Kamchatka and on the North Kuril Islands: The Hazard to Aviation

Abstract

Large explosive eruptions of volcanoes pose the highest hazard to modern jet flights, because such eruptions can eject as much as several cubic kilometers of volcanic ash and aerosol into the atmosphere during a few hours or days. The year 2016 saw eruptions on 5 of the 30 active Kamchatka volcanoes (Sheveluch, Klyuchevskoy, Bezymianny, Karymsky, and Zhupanovsky) and on 3 of the 6 active volcanoes that exist on the North Kuril Islands (Alaid, Ebeko, and Chikurachki). Effusive activity was observed on Sheveluch, Klyuchevskoy, Bezymianny, and Alaid. All volcanoes showed explosive activity. The large explosive events mostly occurred from September through December (Sheveluch), a moderate ash emission accompanied the entire Klyuchevskoy eruption in March-November, and explosive activity of Karymsky, Zhupanovsky, Alaid, and Chikurachki was mostly observed in the earlier half of the year. The ash ejected in 2016 covered a total area of 600000 km 2 , with 460000 km 2 of this being due to Kamchatka volcanoes and 140000 km 2 to the eruptions of the North Kuril volcanoes. The activity of Sheveluch, Klyuchevskoy, and Zhupanovsky was dangerous to international and local flights, because the explosions sent ash to heights of 10-12 km above sea level, while the eruptions of Bezymianny, Karymsky, Alaid, Ebeko, and Chikurachki were dangerous for local flights, since the ash did not rise higher than 5 km above sea level.

Deciphering the Whisper of Volcanoes: Monitoring Velocity Changes at Kamchatka's Klyuchevskoy Group With Fluctuating Noise Fields

“…Despite its extraordinarily high productivity and almost constant activity, most of the volcanism on Kamchatka does not pose an immediate threat as the peninsula is only sparsely populated (Koulakov, 2021). However, eruptions may impact important aviation routes in the Western Pacific (Girina et al., 2019), and effects like ash clouds or tsunamis (Belousov et al., 2000) could reach far beyond Kamchatka's borders. Furthermore, knowledge gained from Kamchatka can be transferred to other volcanic systems posing threads for densely populated areas such as in Japan or Central and South America.…”

Eruptions in the Northern Group of Volcanoes, in Kamchatka, during the Early 21st Century

“…Nine summit eruptions occurred during 19 years, with two of these involving flank discharges: March 22, 2003to March 3, 2004January 15 to April 10, 2005;February 15 to July 26, 2007;October 8, 2008to January 28, 2009September 16, 2009to December 12, 2010; September 1, 2012 to January 10, 2013; August 15 to December 15, 2013; January 1 to March 24, 2015; and April 3 to November 6, 2016 (see Table 1) (Girina et al, 2014b(Girina et al, , 2018b(Girina et al, , 2019bDemyanchuk, 2009, 2016). That of 2009-2010 was the longest event (1 year and 3 months), while the 2015 eruption was the shortest (less than 3 months) (Table 2).…”

“…Flank vents were formed in the southwestern and eastern slopes of the volcano on October 11, 2013 and April 26, 2016, respectively (see Table 2) (Girina et al, 2014b(Girina et al, , 2019bZharinov and Demyanchuk, 2018). These eruptions produced extensive lava fields; as an example, the area of the field due to the 2013 eruption was 0.95-1.0 km 2 (Girina et al, 2014b).…”

“…One result of the eruptive activity of Klyuchevskoy in the 20th and 21st centuries was to completely fill the deep Krestovsky chute that was created during the 1944-1945 eruption with lava material by May 2011, so that the bulk of the lava flows began to move along the Apakhonchich chute (Girina et al, 2016(Girina et al, , 2019bPiip, 1956).…”

Monitoring the Thermal Activity of Kamchatkan Volcanoes during 2015–2022 Using Remote Sensing

“…In the 20th century, more than 100 eruptions of 14 volcanoes occurred in Kamchatka (Sheveluch, Klyuchevskoy, Bezymianny, Tolbachik, Kizimen, Karymsky, Zhupanovsky, Avachinsky, Koryaksky, Gorely, Mutnovsky, Ksudach, Zheltovsky, Iliinsky), e.g., [10,[16][17][18][19][20][21]. Since the beginning of the 21st century (over 22 years), more than 80 eruptions have been recorded from 12 volcanoes (Sheveluch, Klyuchevskoy, Bezymianny, Tolbachik, Kizimen, Karymsky, Zhupanovsky, Avachinsky, Koryaksky, Gorely, Mutnovsky, Kambalny), e.g., [10,19,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. The duration of the paroxysmal explosive eruptions of the volcanoes varies from several hours (Bezymianny) to several days (Sheveluch), while extrusive eruptions continue for more than sixty years (Bezymianny).…”