CHAITEN VOLCANO ERUPTION IS A CALDERA VOLCANO...

[Sunshine123]

As if the situation weren't bad enough....this article claims a 'cataclysmic
blast is possible'.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...tml?source=rss

The Chaiten volcano last erupted more than 9,000 years ago, throwing out
millions of tons of material and creating a crater two miles wide.

Latterly, its dormant status meant it warranted little attention from scientists.

But Chile is one of the most volcanically active regions in the world. It sits on
the edge of the South American tectonic plate at a point where it forces the
neighbouring Nazca plate, which holds the Pacific Ocean basin, into the earth?s
mantle.

This creates a weak point in the crust, allowing magma to force its way up.

Experts believe that magma has been trickling through the crust into a chamber
beneath Chaiten, increasing the pressure as more of the liquid rock and gas-
filled the void left by the last explosion.

This week?s eruption was caused by magma forcing its way up through the crust
beneath the volcano.

Scientists in Chile are now frantically collecting data in an attempt to measure
how much magma has built up under the volcano.

"This could be an isolated incident or the start of quite a long period of rumbling,"
said Prof Clive Oppenhiemer, a volcanologist at Cambridge University.

Chaiten is a caldera volcano, which can explode in a cataclysmic eruption,
emptying the magma chamber and causing the dome and surrounding land
to collapse into the void beneath.

 

[Sunshine123]

Re: CHAITEN VOLCANO ERUPTION IS A CALDERA VOLCANO...

This is going to be a long cold summer, conducive to the spread of influenza.......

 

[Shannon Bennett]

Re: CHAITEN VOLCANO ERUPTION IS A CALDERA VOLCANO...

Most interesting. Crater Lake in Oregon, USA is a caldera type volcano. It means that the volcano may empty its chambers in huge blasts rather than in smaller increments. Mt. Toba is another example. It isn't a hot spot vocano like Yellowstone, however. So, in the scheme of explosive blasts, it may be larger than most but, not as large as the largest types of volcanoes.


edited to add.

More on the subject. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caldera

 

[Shiloh]

Re: CHAITEN VOLCANO ERUPTION IS A CALDERA VOLCANO...

According to the article below, it is too early to tell if there will be a global impact on climate.

Chile volcano blasts ash 20 miles high, forcing evacuations
May 6 04:15 PM US/Eastern
By EDUARDO GALLARDO
Associated Press Writer

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - The long-dormant Chaiten volcano blasted ash some 20 miles (30 kilometers) into the Andean sky on Tuesday, forcing thousands to evacuate and fouling a huge stretch of the South American continent.

The thick column of ash climbed into the stratosphere and blew eastward for hundreds of miles (kilometers) over Patagonia to the Atlantic Ocean, forcing schools and a regional airport to close. Citizens of both countries were advised to wear masks to avoid breathing the dangerous fallout.

The five-day-old eruption is the first in at least 9,000 years for the volcano in southern Chile, according to volcanologists at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

Chilean officials ordered the total evacuation of Chaiten, a small provincial capital in an area of lakes and glacier-carved fjords just six miles (10 kilometers) from the roiling cloud.

Also emptied was the soot-coated border town of Futaleufu, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) from the volcano.

The gritty, gray-white blizzard covered houses, roads and even cattle. People wrapped cloths around their faces and wore surgical masks as they slogged through the mess.

About a 1/2 inch (1 centimeter) of ash coated the Argentine tourist town of Esquel, a Patagonian resort favored by backpackers and skiers at the foot of the Andes whose airport and schools have been closed since Saturday.

The fallout covered a third of Argentina's Minnesota-sized province of Chubut, provincial Gov. Mario Das Neves said.

While volcanologists around the world eagerly awaited data on the scope of the eruption, one local expert got an up-close look when he accompanied police and air force teams over the 3,950-foot (1,200 meter) mountain.

Volcanologist Juan Cayupi told The Associated Press by telephone that Chaiten's two small craters have morphed into a large, single crater, and "a large amount of ash, particles, gas" was pouring out.

Lava was rising within this crater but has not yet spilled over, said Luis Lara, another volcanologist with the government's Geology and Mining Service.

The few remaining residents of Chaiten were transferred to two navy ships Tuesday, a day after President Michelle Bachelet visited the town, pledging financial help for people whose homes were damaged or livestock died after foraging on ash-covered grass.

Experts said it is too early to say whether the volcano will affect the world's climate.

So far, Chaiten has emitted only a few thousand tons of sulfur dioxide, "which is very small," said Simon Carn, a University of Maryland-Baltimore Campus volcanologist who uses satellites to measure volcanic gases.

In general, a volcano must spew at least 1 million tons of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere to have a global effect on climate, said Alan Robock, a Rutgers University professor who co-authored a book on the subject.

After eruptions of unusual size, sulfur dioxide, converted into sulfuric acid, can form a thin white cloud in the atmosphere that reflects sunlight away from Earth.

The Philippines' Mount Pinatubo produced a brief cooling of the climate after spewing 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide in 1991.

But Robock said this volcano is so close to the South Pole that any cooling would likely be limited to the Southern Hemisphere.

______

Associated Press Science Writer Seth Borenstein in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

Source:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D90GBPVO0&show_article=1

 

[Sunshine123]

Re: CHAITEN VOLCANO ERUPTION IS A CALDERA VOLCANO...

2nd Chile Volcano Erupting

http://www.emol.com/noticias/ingles/detalle/detallenoticias.asp?idnoticia=302742

Cloud of ash and smoke above Michimahuida Volcano visible from Puerto Montt

Friday, May 02, 2008
El Mercurio Online
[Fotograf?as] To see international photos, click here

PUERTO MONTT. - The Mochimahuida Volcano is currently emitting a column of smoke that is visible even from Puerto Montt. The volcano, which is located some 40 kilometers to the south of Chait?n, began erupting early this morning after having remained dormant for almost two centuries.

According to specialists from the National Geology and Mining Service (Sernageom?n), the last reported eruption of the volcano was in 1835.

The natural emergency has alarmed residents, who have been on edge since Wednesday after feeling a series of small earthquakes.

Despite the fact that authorities downplayed importance to the quakes, which totaled more than 60 the day before the eruption, locals could not stop talking about the possibility of an eruption of one of the many peaks in the area.

The town of Chait?n awoke in isolation this morning after Route 7 to the south of the village was closed due to a thick layer of ash on the road impeding traffic. Air travel in the area has also been complicated by the eruption.

 

[Sunshine123]

Re: CHAITEN VOLCANO ERUPTION UPDATES

Re: CHAITEN VOLCANO ERUPTION UPDATES

CHILE VOLCANO ZONE MAY BE PERMANENTLY UNLIVABLE PDF Print
Written by Matt Malinowski
Monday, 12 May 2008
http://www.patagoniatimes.cl/content/view/501/1/

Ash from eruption devastates surrounding area
Photo by Victor Gonzalez, Partido Humanista

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet on Saturday warned that towns surrounding Region X?s Chait?n Volcano, which has been in constant eruption since May 2, might become permanently unlivable. Bachelet's remarks came after the National Geologic and Mining Service (SERNAGEOMIN) delivered her an ominous report putting the possibility of the volcano's collapse above 50 percent.
?There are experts who say that lava from the Chait?n Volcano could flow directly towards the town of Chait?n,? said Bachelet. ?These experts are recommending that the town of Chait?n never be inhabited again.?

SERNAGEOMIN vulcanologist Luis Lara first disclosed on Thursday that the volcano could implode, thus releasing a streatm of red-hot pyroclastic material (burning gas and rock) capable of destroying everything in its path. Pyroclastic flows are rapid currents of hot gas and rock that can escape from a volcano crater and travel downhill toward surrounding areas.

The Chilean daily La Tercera reported on Sunday that a SERNAGEOMIN study had put the odds of such a collapse as at least 50 percent. The document said that there was increased build-up in the dome of magma currently covering the volcano's crater. Futhermore, the material accumulating in the area was ?highly dense,? and thus more prone to collapse. SERNAGEOMIN said that any implosion would cause complete destruction of everything within a 15 kilometer radius around the peak, an area which encompasses Chait?n, Santa Barbara, and several rural farming villages.

Bachelet, who had returned on Friday to the area affected by the eruption, acknowledged this threat while touring the town of Palena.

?The people (who live in the area around the volcano) represent our top priority right now,? Bachelet said. ?This tremendous column of burning rock and magma could reach speeds of between 100 and 400 kilometers per hour. At that rate, it could reach the town of Chait?n in six minutes.?

Still, Bachelet said that not all scientists agreed on the possibility of such an event, adding that some officials had even suggested that local communities covered in ash by the volcano blasts could be fully functional within a few years.

?We have never had a situation quite like this in Chile,? she said.

The eruption, Chait?n?s first in recorded history, released a massive billow of ash that was visible as far away as Puerto Montt, some 200 kilometers to the north. Volcanic soot began to rain down, blanketing Chait?n and other area towns such as Futaleuf?, and contaminating local water supplies.

The volcanic activity intensified between Tuesday and Thursday as authorities reported seeing lava emanating from the volcano?s crater. The natural disaster prompted government officials to order the mandatory evacuation of local residents and all emergency workers within 50 kilometers of the volcano (ST, May 8).

More than 12,000 civilians were evacuated by week's end, including a few dozen residents holed up in Chait?n and Santa Barbara. The Agriculture Ministry had also initiated plans to rescue most of the 40,000 cows, sheep, and other livestock in nearby towns.

Still, the Region X Governor's Office issued a decree preventing animal rights organizations from traveling to Chait?n in order to rescue an estimated 600 pets, mostly horses, dogs and cats. As of Sunday, local animal activists said that they were preparing legal arguments in order to have the decision overturned. Bloomberg reported that the U.S. Human Society had announced plans to send a team to Chait?n, described as ?a city overtaken by dogs.? Meanwhile, more than 600 pets in Futaleuf? were being successfully aided by volunteers.

By Matt Malinowski (editorATsantiagotimes.cl)

 

[Sunshine123]

Re: CHAITEN VOLCANO ERUPTION IS A CALDERA VOLCANO...

Vast Chile volcano ash cloud partially collapses
Tue May 13, 2008 9:57pm BST

http://uk.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUKN1345713620080513

By Monica Vargas

PUERTO MONTT, Chile, May 13 (Reuters) - A towering cloud of hot ash, gas and molten rock spewed miles into the air by a volcano in southern Chile has partially collapsed, raising fears it could smother surrounding villages, an expert said on Tuesday.

Luis Lara, a scientist with the government's geology and mining agency, said the column of ash, which had soared as high as 20 miles (30 km), was now about 4.5 miles (7 km).

The column of debris, kept aloft by the pressure of constant eruptions, could collapse entirely, smothering the ghost town of Chaiten 6 miles (10 km) away with hot gas, ash and molten rocks.

"These small collapses which generate minor flows of pyroclastic material are normal, they are not that serious in that they affect a small area, the top part of the volcano," Lara said.

"But that doesn't make the worst case scenario disappear," he said. "As long as the eruptive column is high in the air, (a major collapse) is a possibility."

Thousands of people have been evacuated from within a 30-mile (50 km) radius of Chaiten volcano, 760 miles (1,220 km) south of the capital Santiago.

Chaiten began erupting on May 2 for the first time in thousands of years. The ash has turned turquoise lakes and fjords a dirty gray in the southern region of Patagonia -- home to majestic peaks, log cabins and adventure tourism -- and has coated animal fodder and vegetation.

Satellite images show a white stripe smeared across the southern part of South America, much of the ash carried into neighboring Argentina, where some towns have also been submerged in ash.

The government announced a series of measures on Tuesday to help volcano victims, many of whom saw their houses wrecked.

As well as a monthly disaster stipend of the equivalent of between $1,200 and $2,200 per month per family, the government announced financial aid to small businesses and a 90-day freeze on payment of existing loans to the state bank Banco Estado.

"The government will not allow anybody to be abandoned here," said chief government spokesman Francisco Vidal.

Measures were also announced to feed livestock left in the area and to clean up the streets and waterworks in the regional capital Palena.

Thick ash has caked rooftops, settled on the backs of animals and also formed a sediment in a river near Chaiten, which overran its banks briefly on Monday due to heavy rains and flooded about 40 houses on the outskirts of Chaiten town.

Footage from the area showed a cluster of wooden houses at tilted angles in a river of gray ash.

Some 7,000 people were evacuated after the volcano erupted, with some staying in makeshift shelters set up in schools in the southern town of Puerto Montt.

Many others are staying with family and friends but have lost their livelihoods for now, with no inkling of when or if they will be able to return to Chaiten.

Chile's chain of volcanoes, the second-largest in the world after Indonesia, includes some 2,000, and 500 of those are potentially active. (Writing by Simon Gardner; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

 

[Sunshine123]

Re: CHAITEN VOLCANO ERUPTION IS A CALDERA VOLCANO...

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news...hreat-of-pompei-like-disaster-91466-20906081/

Patagonia facing threat of Pompei-like disaster

May 14 2008 by Steffan Rhys, Western Mail

THE Welsh colony of Patagonia was last night facing the immediate threat of an earthquake after geologists warned that the enormous Chaiten volcano in neighbouring Chile has a 50% chance of imploding.

There were also fears that an earthquake could cause the region?s San Martin reservoir to break its dam, releasing millions of gallons of water towards the town of Trevelin, which has a population of around 6,500.

Should the volcano collapse, Patagonia would be left in a state of ?permanent night? for several days.

Residents of the South American region, including several people from Wales working there, have been told by officials to stockpile tinned food, bottled water, batteries and candles in case of such an occurrence, which has been compared in a worst case scenario to Pompeii, the Roman city destroyed in AD 79 by Mount Vesuvius.

And schools were yesterday issued with governmental advice on what to do in the event of an earthquake.

The warnings came as plans were unveiled to send some young people from South America to Wales to help them escape from conditions which many fear are beginning to damage people?s health.

?We?ve been told there are three possibilities,? said Gill Stephen, a teacher from Cardiff who is teaching Welsh at Ysgol Gymraeg yr Andes (Andes Welsh School) in the towns of Esquel and Trevelin.

?It may just continue to pump out smoke, ash and dust as it has been doing then quieten down. Secondly, it may erupt and spew out lava and thirdly, it could implode and cause a substantial earthquake.

?Should the latter happen, there is the added problem that Trevelin is built in the path of flood waters of the San Martin reservoir, should the dam that holds the water break.?

The Chaiten volcano, around 50 miles away from Patagonia, erupted 12 days ago for the first time in more than 9,000 years, spewing ash and smoke 12 miles into the air in images clearly visible from Nasa satellites.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet warned on Saturday that towns surrounding the volcano?s exclusion zone, from which 12,000 people have been evacuated, could become ?permanently uninhabitable?.

Chilean daily newspaper La Tercera has since reported that a study of the volcano has found the odds of it collapsing as a result of the build up of magma and other materials in the volcano?s dome are at least 50%.

The country?s National Geologic and Mining Service, Sernageomin, has said that any such collapse would cause the release of molten gas and rock capable of destroying everything within a 10-mile radius.

The vast Ngorongoro caldera in Tanzania is the result of a collapsed volcano.

?There are experts who say that lava from the Chaiten volcano could flow directly towards the town of Chaiten,? said Bachelet.

?These experts are recommending that the town of Chaiten never be inhabited again.? While Patagonia is not within this danger zone, it has been constantly covered in a thick layer of ash while the air is clogged with dust and finer ash as Chaiten erupts continuously.

Its airports and roads have been closed, though roads have reopened, and Ysgol Gymraeg yr Andes, which teaches Welsh to young adults, reopened yesterday for the first time in more than a week.

?The ash is now causing illness and concern in our part of Patagonia and it is continually falling from the sky like snow,? said Ms Stephen.

?By now, people are feeling the effects on their health and breathing and coughing problems are widespread. People with asthma are being told not to go outside at all.

?There has also been some rain so there is a smell of sulphur thick in the air.?

Out of the ashes... a chance for volcano victims to come and learn in Wales

There are now plans in place to bring some of the more than 100 adults and children studying Welsh at Ysgol Gymraeg yr Andes (Andes Welsh School) in the Patagonian towns of Esquel and Trevelin to Wales to further their Welsh learning.

?It has had a serious effect here with schools in Esquel and Trevelin closed for more than a week,? said Gill Stephen, who teaches at the school.

?As a result of the difficulties we?ve had and the unfortunate effect of the volcano on our Welsh lessons, we?ve accepted an offer from Urdd Gobaith Cymru, who have offered accommodation and training for two people for nothing at their Glan-llyn centre near Bala for six months.

?There, they?ll get to escape from the dust and the ash while continuing to learn through the medium of Welsh.?

The Welsh Language Project and Menter Iaith Patagonia have launched an appeal to raise ?2,000 for two airfares to Wales and say they have received early messages of interest from other organisations who could perhaps host more pupils. They have already received a donation of more than ?200 from Welsh teacher Ceri Evans, from Haverfordwest, who raises money for a Welsh-language fund every year.

To contribute to the appeal, please send a cheque to: Mentrau Iaith Cymru, Y Sgw?r, Llanrwst, LL26 0LG. Write ?Ysgol Gymraeg yr Andes? on the back of each cheque.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: CHAITEN VOLCANO ERUPTION IS A CALDERA VOLCANO...

One can follow what is happening with this volcano at:
http://volcanism.wordpress.com/category/volcanoes/chaiten/

As far as the town of Chaiten, 90% of it has been flooded:
http://www.bnamericas.com/story.jsp?idioma=I&sector=4&noticia=434736

Authorities discuss action plan after 90% of Chait?n is flooded - Chile
Published: Thursday, May 15, 2008 13:27 (GMT -0400)
By Eva Medalla

Chilean government authorities met on Thursday to discuss a plan of action related to the flooding in southern town Chait?n, recently afflicted by a volcanic eruption, an official from the presidential office told BNamericas.
A buildup of volcanic ashes blocked the flow of the Chait?n river, causing it to flood over 90% of the town, the official said. He added that the water covering local streets and entering homes is mixed with the ash that has fallen upon the town since the volcanic activity began.

A committee of ministers and government officials working on the natural disaster met with President Michelle Bachelet today to discuss the latest events and determine some of the actions to be taken now and in the future when inhabitants are able to return to the town.

CONSEQUENCES

One of the biggest problems is that the ashes mixed with water will turn concrete-like upon drying. The flood has covered drainage and sewage systems, as well as the rest of the town, sources from the presidential office said.

Authorities are trying to determine the cost of the losses and the investment required for rehabilitation works. It is clear that most inhabitants hope to return to the town once the volcanic activity ends.

Rehabilitation works are also likely to include road repairs, added the official. The switching of potable water intake systems from surface to underground waters is also a priority, a public works ministry (MOP) official said.

The MOP official stated that the ministry was already working on an emergency action plan for the works that will be carried out.

No details will be released about the action plan as the decisions are likely to be announced by the President herself, the official added.

UNCERTAINTY

While authorities are working on determining the cost of the town's rehabilitation, they are also aware of the fact that all of Chait?n could disappear under a mound of ashes if the eruption activity gets any stronger or stops suddenly. The volcano's own heat actually keeps a huge amount of ashes suspended in the air, the official from the presidential office said.

The official added that although many solutions are temporary due to the uncertain future, they must be implemented for the time being.

In the meantime, the government has already announced a series of subsidies and economic help for the area's inhabitants who were evacuated following the eruption.

 

[Sunshine123]

Re: CHAITEN VOLCANO ERUPTION IS A CALDERA VOLCANO...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=ardJEdQslEHs&refer=latin_america


Chile Volcano Ravages North Face Founder's $50 Million Reserve

By Joshua Goodman

May 18 (Bloomberg) -- The volcano that has erupted in southern Chile for the first time in 9,000 years is causing a special problem for North Face Inc. founder Douglas Tompkins and his wife Kristine. They own it.

The Chaiten volcano sits on the southern edge of Pumalin Park, a 300,000-hectare (740,000-acre) reserve that the Tompkinses have spent $50 million on in a bid to preserve a swath of Patagonian rain forest. Ash and rivers swollen by volcanic mud have ravaged land, trees and trails on a third of the park and threaten to obliterate 17 years of work, Kristine Tompkins said.

``It's a mess, a serious mess,'' she said in a May 13 phone interview from Pumalin's administration center at Puerto Varas, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the volcano. ``If it gets worse, it could hammer in a big way the infrastructure we've built, and wipe out forests that'll take thousands of years to return.''

The eruption has spewed windblown ash east across the Andes as far as Buenos Aires, almost 1,500 kilometers away, and forced the evacuation of more than 4,000 people living within a 30- kilometer radius of the mountain. A 3,000-year-old hardwood forest of evergreen Alerce trees has been spared so far.

About 90 percent of the now-evacuated town of Chaiten is flooded, Chile's national emergency office said on May 15. Residents probably won't be able to return for at least three months, Chilean Defense Minister Jose Goni said the same day.

Patagonia Visit

Douglas Tompkins was traveling and unavailable for comment, Pumalin spokeswoman Carolina Morgado said. In an interview with Bloomberg News last year, Tompkins, now 65, recounted the steps that led him to Chile

He said he first visited Patagonia, a vast expanse of mountains, rivers and grasslands at the southern tip of South America, in the 1960s. A climbing buddy with him on that trip later started Patagonia Inc., the outdoor-apparel company where his present wife once served as chief executive officer.

Tompkins himself went on to found and sell outdoor-gear maker North Face in the 1960s. In 1968, he started fashion company Esprit Holdings Ltd. with his first wife. He gave up his Esprit holdings for $200 million in 1989.

Two years later, he sold his Ferrari and Amish-quilt collection and moved to an isolated cabin in Chile to work fulltime on conservation. He married Kristine, a long-time friend, in 1993. They say they have spent $200 million to acquire and preserve 810,000 hectares of land in Chile and neighboring Argentina.

People, Livestock

Pumalin, which spans the country from Argentina on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west, is the showcase of their holdings. Its self-guided trails, rustically luxurious cabins and elegant visitors' center draw 7,000 visitors a year. In 2005, the Chilean government granted the park the status of a nature sanctuary.

Since the eruption, the Tompkinses have relocated 75 people who live and work in the reserve. Kristine Tompkins said flyovers showed that flooded, debris-filled rivers threatened to wipe out livestock on several farms that they own contiguous to the park, which is owned by a foundation established by the couple.

``We're anticipating major damage,'' Kristine Tompkins, 57, said in the May 13 interview. :earth:

The eruption is refocusing attention on the Tompkins holdings and stirring up old controversies.

Local Concern

Douglas Tompkins, who says he is a proponent of so-called Deep Ecology, a philosophy that blames technology from laptop computers to nuclear power plants for damaging the environment, has upset local officials and business people by refusing to allow logging, hydroelectric dams and a proposed roadway through his reserve.

President Michelle Bachelet's government announced May 8 it would ban all land purchases in the area hit by the volcano, after local officials said they were concerned that Tompkins would try to take advantage of the eruption to buy out farmers whose livelihood could be wiped out.

The possibility that Tompkins would seek to enlarge his holdings was ``an important factor in the decision'' to seek a ban, Claudio Alvarado, the opposition Congressional deputy for the area, said in an interview. The aim is to ``avoid speculation and people taking advantage of the situation,'' he said.

Carlos Ignacio Kuschel, a senator from the region, said the measure wouldn't be an effective deterrent.

``Tompkins has never paid attention to these things, he just buys,'' Kuschel said in an interview. ``He's capricious and the older he gets, the more difficult he becomes.''

Kristine Tompkins said she and her husband have no plans to buy more land because of the eruption.

``We're so used to this kind of thing,'' she said. ``At first we joked that if this volcano exploded it would end up being our fault.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Joshua Goodman in Rio de Janeiro at Jgoodman19@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: May 18, 2008 00:00 EDT

 

[Shiloh]

Re: CHAITEN VOLCANO ERUPTION IS A CALDERA VOLCANO...

Source: http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id=13461&formato=HTML

Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Climatic emergency in Comodoro Rivadavia hit by snow storm
A ?climatic emergency? was declared Monday in Comodoro Rivadavia following strong winds, rain and snow storms which covered most of the Argentine Patagonian province of Chubut with several feet of snow.

Some of the main roads remained blocked or interrupted while several towns and cities experienced partial blackouts as power lines failed.

In the city of Esquel next to the Andes and which had been suffering the consequences of the volcanic blanket from the eruption in Chile of the Chaiten volcano, the snowfall was described as ?historic?.

Mayor Rafael Williams promised that in the next 24 hours the city would again be connected by land to the rest of the province and energy restored.

In Comodoro Rivadavia, the most populated city of Chubut and where snow storms are rare schools were closed down and people were advised to remain indoors. At mid morning Monday temperatures remained at minus 4 Celsius according to local weather reports.

Mayor Martin Buzzi declared a ?climatic emergency? and promised that services would be fully restored in the next 48 hours. Unusual strong winds severely damaged the energy network system downing lamp posts and street lights.

The main land transport system in Chubut was also reported interrupted in several places such as highway 3 which links Comodoro with Trelew; highway 26 between Comodoro and Esquel and highway 25 from Trelew to Esquel.

Some small locations to the north of the province were threatened by flooding since the drainage system was clogged with volcanic ashes.

Meantime further north in Mendoza at the main border pass with Chile, traffic was interrupted by 1.5 meter high snow.

The international Cristo Redentor pass was closed early Sunday afternoon on both sides of the border and is expected to remain in that condition until next Friday, according to the Argentine Public Works Department.

Snow tractors are working on both sides but weather forecasts anticipate more storms.

The Cristo Redentor is the main Mercosur link between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans.

 

[Sunshine123]

Re: CHAITEN VOLCANO ERUPTION IS A CALDERA VOLCANO...

 

[Sunshine123]

Re: CHAITEN VOLCANO ERUPTION IS A CALDERA VOLCANO...

Earthchangesmedia.com

Total Evacuation As Chilean Volcano Starts to Spew Lava

Chile - Lava started to spew from the Chait?n volcano in southern Chile yesterday prompting authorities to order an immediate evacuation of all remaining residents in a nearby town.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: CHAITEN VOLCANO ERUPTION IS A CALDERA VOLCANO...

Source: http://www.farmersguardian.com/story.asp?sectioncode=54&storycode=18694
Cattle evacuation in Chile

Business | 23 May, 2008

THE eruption of the volcano on Chaiten mountain in Chile is still spewing ash onto farmland in the south east of Argentina.

Rain this week has made the ash turn into a cement-like paste, prompting the government to evacuate 120,000 head of cattle for immediate slaughter. There is also grave concern about 1.8 million sheep that may also be sent for slaughter.

 

[Sunshine123]

Re: CHAITEN VOLCANO ERUPTION IS A CALDERA VOLCANO...

Chaiten Update May 23,2008
http://volcanism.wordpress.com/2008/05/24/chaiten-update-23-may-2008/

Posted by volcanism in Chait?n, Chile, activity reports, eruptions.
Tags: Chait?n, Chile, South America, volcanic activity reports, volcanic eruptions
trackback

SERNAGEOMIN have issued another new bulletin reporting on the situation at Chait?n, with two illustrations of the new lava dome. A complete translation of the bulletin follows the illustrations below.

Images show caldera.

23.05.2008 SERNAGEOMIN bulletin on the eruption of Chait?n volcano

On May 21 an active lava dome was found to be present on the northern flank of the old dome of the Chait?n volcano. This dome is being built inside the active crater of the current eruption, which cut through the old dome and has been, in turn, the place of origin of the eruptive column.

As indicated during the first few days, a possible scenario was that the irregular decline in explosive activity culminated in the emission of viscous lava and the beginning of the construction of a dome. In this new phase explosions or the subsequent reactivation of the eruptive column cannot be ruled out.

A volcanic dome is an elevated structure with the shape of a dome or ?cauliflower? which results from the emission of viscous lava with very low mobility. The high viscosity, a characteristic property of rhyolitic magmas (magma which contains about 70% silica; in the case of Chait?n 73-75% SiO2, according to the composition of the ash and pumice collected in the first days of the eruption), causes this magma to accumulate around the central vent creating the dome.

Although rhyolitic magmas can cause lava flows, they are radically remote in appearance and physical properties from those commonly recognized as such by the public. Hawaii, for example, produces basaltic magmas that drain as ?rivers? of lava with relatively high speeds (10-20 km / hr) and correspond to the archetypal image of a lava flows. The viscous lavas, however, have a rough appearance akin to an accumulation of large blocks, and when on the move they travel at very low speeds (less than 1 km / day).

In the case of Chait?n volcano, it has been noted that the volume of lava emitted is sufficient only to accumulate around the centre of emission, bringing about the construction of a structure in the form of ?cauliflower?, cupola or dome. SERNAGEOMIN has clearly indicated that, given its low mobility and low volume, it is unlikely that this lava will drain through the valleys.

End of SERNAGEOMIN bulletin, 23 May 2008.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: CHAITEN VOLCANO ERUPTION IS A CALDERA VOLCANO...

Source: http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id=13514&formato=HTML

Monday, May 26, 2008
Officials allow for salmon transfers in Chaiten volcano area

The Chilean government is reducing the security area around the Chaiten volcano from 50 to 24 kilometers in order to facilitate the rescue of approximately 600,000 salmon located throughout various farming centres in the area.

The volcano erupted on 2 May, and between the night of 23 May and the following Saturday, there have been a succession of tremors in the Comau fjord, which is located 20 kilometres south of Hornopiren in the interior of Pumalin Park.

Authorities have decided to transfer salmon to Futaleufu, however, as the column of Chaiten's volcanic gas and ash exceeded the 7,000-metre mark, with recurring eruptions of up to 20,000 metres high, which then later diminished considerably to the 4,000-metre high mark.

Reducing the safety area will facilitate the salmon rescue, and constitutes an "urgent" measure in that surrounding predators may break into the pens and release hundreds of fish to the wild, stated the Los Lagos Mayor, Sergio Galilea, EFE reports.

?If that were to happen, 'relevant environmental damage' would transpire in the area," explained Galilea.

Carabineros - Chile?s uniformed national police - were deployed as far as the northernmost point of the bridge on Amarillo River as transfer operations must be coordinated and authorised by the relevant authorities, underlined the official. (FIS)

 

[Shiloh]

Re: CHAITEN VOLCANO ERUPTION IS A CALDERA VOLCANO...

Source: http://victoriastar.canadaeast.com/article/307789


Workers moving 600,000 fish farm salmon away from Chile's Chaiten volcano
Published Tuesday May 27th, 2008

SANTIAGO, Chile - First Chilean emergency crews evacuated the people. Then they rescued the dogs and cats.

Finally it was time to save the fish.

Officials say about 600,000 fish farm salmon are being moved as a result of the eruption of Chaiten volcano in southern Chile.

Carlos Odebret, a spokesman for Salmon Chile, an association of private salmon producers, says small teams have been working to move the fish.

They've been aided by the Chilean navy, which has had speedboats on hand "in case something happened that forced a quick departure."

He said the relocated fish amount to only about 1.5 per cent of the annual production of Chile's salmon industry, which has exports exceeding $2 billion a year.

The volcano began erupting May 2, spewing vast columns of ash and gas that spread across South America from the Pacific to the Atlantic and beyond.

All 4,500 residents of the town of Chaiten were evacuated soon after the eruption began and the future of the town is now uncertain.

It has been flooded by a river that overflowed its banks, damaging scores of houses, and it has been coated in ash.

Authorities rescued hundreds of pets eight days after the eruption and removed thousands of head of livestock. They then authorized the removal of the salmon.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: CHAITEN VOLCANO ERUPTION IS A CALDERA VOLCANO...

Source: http://www.fishupdate.com/news/full...More_than_three_million_salmon_evacuated.html

Chile: More than three million salmon evacuated
Published: 30 May, 2008

CHILE'S national fisheries service, Sernapesca, has authorised the evacuation of over three million salmon from the danger zone close the erupting Chait?n volcano.

However, Sernapesca states that the complete evacuation must first be checked by the Maritime Authority after being assured that the salmon are not infected with ISA virus, as they will be transported mainly to Chilo? Island.

A first batch have already passed this test and will be transported over the weekend.

Within the first security ring, which has a diameter of 30 kilometers from the Chait?n Volcano?s active cone, there are seven salmon ongrowing sites belonging to Camanchaca, Trusal, Pacific Star and Yadr?n.

SalmonChile?s regional manager, Carlos Odebret, said that the nearest ongrowing site to the volcano is 12km from the cone and that there are no hatcheries or other land-based installations which could be damaged by the lava.


www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish FISHupdate magazine, Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: CHAITEN VOLCANO ERUPTION IS A CALDERA VOLCANO...

Source: http://www.thenewsroom.com/details/2200804

(Note: use the link above to access video of the impact of the volcano and flood)

Residents return to Chilean volcano town
June 27, 2008

Dozens of residents of the Chilean village of Chaiten visit their abandoned homes for the first time since a May 2nd volcanic eruption left the town flooded in volcanic ash. Experts have said that the volcano could continue to erupt at a less volatile pace for months or even years. Chile's approximately 2,000 volcanoes, of which 500 are potentially active, is the world's second largest chain of volcanoes, after Indonesia.