| Novarupta | |
| Elevation Ft: | 2759 |
| Elevation Ref: | [1] |
| Range: | Aleutian Range |
| Listing: | Volcanoes in the United States |
| Country: | United States |
| State: | Alaska |
| Part Type: | Protected area |
| Part: | Katmai National Park and Preserve |
| Coordinates: | 58.2667°N -155.1567°W |
| Topo: | USGS Mount Katmai B-4 |
| Type: | Caldera with lava dome |
| Volcanic Arc: | Aleutian Arc |
| Last Eruption: | June to October 1912 |
| Fetchwikidata: | ALL |
Novarupta is a volcano that was formed in 1912, located on the Alaska Peninsula on a slope of Trident Volcano in Katmai National Park and Preserve, about 290miles southwest of Anchorage. Formed during the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, Novarupta released 30 times the volume of magma of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.
| 1912 eruption of Novarupta | |
| Start Date: | June 6, 1912 |
| Volcano: | Novarupta |
| Type: | Ultra Plinian |
| Location: | Aleutian Range, Alaska |
| Coordinates: | 58.2667°N -155.1567°W |
| Vei: | 6 |
The 1912 eruption that formed Novarupta was the largest to occur during the 20th century. It began on June 6, 1912, and culminated in a series of violent eruptions. Rated a 6 on the volcanic explosivity index,[2] the 60-hour-long eruption expelled 13to of ash, thirty times as much as the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.[3] [4] [5] The erupted magma of rhyolite, dacite, and andesite[6] resulted in more than 17km3 of air fall tuff and approximately 11km3 of pyroclastic ash-flow tuff.[7] During the 20th century, only the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines and the 1902 eruption of Santa María in Guatemala were of comparable magnitude; Mount Pinatubo ejected 11km3 of tephra,[8] and Santa María just slightly less.
At least two larger eruptions occurred in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) during the 19th century: the 1815 eruption of Tambora (150km3 of tephra)[9] and the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa (20km3 of tephra).[10]
The Novarupta eruption occurred about from the peak of Mount Katmai Volcano and below the post-eruption Mount Katmai summit. During the eruption a large quantity of magma erupted from beneath the Mount Katmai area, resulting in the formation of a 2km (01miles) wide, funnel-shaped vent and the collapse of Mount Katmai's summit, creating a 600m (2,000feet) deep,[3] 3by caldera.[11]
The eruption ended with the extrusion of a lava dome of rhyolite[6] that plugged the vent. The 2950NaN0 high and 11800NaN0 wide dome it created forms what is now referred to as Novarupta.[12]
Despite the magnitude of the eruption, no deaths directly resulted.[13] Eyewitness accounts from people located downwind in the path of a thick ash cloud described the gradual lowering of visibility to next to nothing.[14] Ash threatened to contaminate drinking water and destroyed food resources, but the Alaska Natives were aided in their survival by traditional knowledge passed down through generations from previous eruptions. However, the Native villages experiencing the heaviest ash falls were abandoned and the inhabitants relocated.
See main article: Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes.
Pyroclastic flows from the eruption formed the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, named by botanist Robert F. Griggs, who explored the volcano's aftermath for the National Geographic Society in 1916.[15] [16]
The eruption that formed the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes is one of the few in recorded history to have produced welded tuff, producing numerous fumaroles that persisted for 15 years.[17]
See main article: Katmai National Park and Preserve.
Established as a National Park & Preserve in 1980, Katmai is located on the Alaska Peninsula, across from Kodiak Island, with headquarters in nearby King Salmon, about 290miles southwest of Anchorage. The area was originally designated a National Monument in 1918 to protect the area around the 1912 eruption of Novarupta and the 400NaN0, 100to deep, pyroclastic flow of the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes.[18]