GVP Weekly Volcanic Activity Report for June 8-14, 2011: Calming down in Indonesia and Vanuatu

In case you missed some of the volcanic activity that wasn’t in Chile or Eritrea (I know I did), here is the (slightly late from me) Global Volcanism ProgramWeekly Volcanic Activity Report. As usual, it is brought to us by the folks at the Smithsonian Institute and the USGS, all compiled by Sally Kuhn Sennert.

Some highlights include:

Indonesia: We had been concerned about activity – especially carbon dioxide emissions – at the Dieng Volcanic Complex. It appears that the CO₂ release has gone down over the last few weeks – combining that with a sharp drop in steam emissions and seismicity, the alert status at the Dieng was lowered to Level 2 (of 4). Indonesia also saw some small explosions at the Tengger Caldera (Bromo) over the past week as well.

Vanuatu: Activity was also lower at Yasur, where only small strombolian explosions occurred after a few weeks of heightened activity. The alert status there was also lowered to Level 2 (of 4). You might have missed this NASA MODIS image of the activity in Vanuatu, including Yasur and nearby Ambrym.

Russia: If anything, the Kamchatka Peninsula is like the New York Yankees of volcanic arcs – anything less than a large eruption isn’t success. Karymsky, Shiveluch, Kizimen (and more on the KVERT update) keep chugging along, producing plumes that reach 4-6 km (13,000 to 20,000 feet) and seeing domes grow in the summit craters. Almost anywhere else in the world, activity like this would be front page news. In Kamchatka, it is barely a page filler.

Top left: An undated image of Bromo (steaming crater in foreground) and Semeru (background) in the Tengger Caldera, Indonesia