Scientists explore lake with bubbling cauldron on Shiveluch volcano
Employees of the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences took the first water samples in a floating lake discovered on Shiveluch, Kamchatka.Today reports with reference to a scientific institution.
For the first time, scientists have climbed to the top of the active extrusive dome “300 years of WOUNDS”, formed during the recent eruption of Shiveluch. The route group of the Eruptive detachment included employees of the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology I.A. Nuzhdaev, Ya.A. Bakhmatova and V.I. Frolov. They conducted field work in the area of the extrusive domes of the Karan group of the Shiveluch volcano for several days.
“The participants of the route group found in the northern part of the studied structure an oval-shaped floating lake with a diameter of about 70 m from north to south and 50 m from west to east. The water temperature at the sides of the reservoir is 52 ° C. In the central part of the lake there is a bubbling boiler with a diameter of up to 3 m with an emission height of about 40 cm. A characteristic blue film is observed on the surface of the water, presumably sulfur and its derivatives. Active degassing is taking place along the sides of the lake,” the institute said.
Using a portable gas analyzer, the scientists determined the concentration of gases on fumarole sites on site, and took samples of water and the blue film of the floating lake for further analysis in the laboratory. The institute’s staff carried out photo, video, and infrared surveys of the consequences of the eruption that occurred on November 7 last year, including using drones. Samples of hard, loose and altered rocks were also taken during field work at Shiveluch.
Photo: IViS FEB RAS