Bogoslof island has tripled in size after volcano’s continuing eruptions

Bogoslof volcano is in an active eruption sequence since December 12, 2016. The series of short-duration explosive events - more than 27 of them up until now - has led to significant changes in the island's morphology.

The volcano is located about 60 miles west of Dutch Harbor, in Alaska's Aleutian Islands. It's not considered as a highly active volcano, since only 8 eruptive events have been recorded since 1796, with the last one occurring in 1992.

Recent satellite images provided by the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) indicate that the freshly erupted volcanic rock pieces and tephra have totally changed the shape and coastline of the island. On January 31, Bogoslof Island had an area of about 1 square kilometer, thus three times larger than it was when the eruptions started in December.

Based of previously recorded eruptions, scientists of the AVO expect that the explosions may continue for weeks or more. They continuously monitor the volcano from a series of seismic networks in the Aleutians and believe that it is likely for the current eruption sequence to follow the pattern of other historical eruptions; eventually a lava dome may be extruded at the surface, they state.

The new land that has been created during the past months consists of tephra, thus it is very susceptible to erosion from wave action. According to the AVO scientists, continued volcanic activity along with wave erosion will most probably modify the island further in the next weeks.

Image Source: Alaska Volcano Observatory / U.S. Geological Survey.