July 2016 – ALASKA – Scientists
have increased the alert level for Pavlof Volcano for the second time
this month. On Thursday, the Alaska Peninsula volcano showed signs of
low-level eruptive activity, prompting officials to raise its alert
level from “advisory” to “watch.” Dave Schneider is a geophysicist with
the U.S. Geological Survey at the Alaska Volcano Observatory. “We saw
pretty vigorous degassing of steam in our web camera images, and we got
some detection of volcanic ash in satellite views,” Schneider said.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean there
will be an eruption. Schneider said Pavlof’s current activity is “quite
a bit lower” than in March when the volcano erupted, spewing ash 37,000
feet into the atmosphere and causing dozens of flights to be canceled.
He also said thermal signals have not indicated that new lava is rising
to the surface. But thanks to its ongoing seismic activity, Schneider
said are scientists are monitoring Pavlof closely.
“This is a very slippery volcano,”
Schneider said. “It can go from low-level activity and ramp up without a
lot of precursory activity.” For now, scientists will keep an eye on
Pavlof’s temperature and ash emissions by satellite and webcam. –KT00
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