Changes in the height of the active Karymskii Volcano, Kamchatka during the period 1971–2007

Abstract

Systematic measurements of the height of the summit crater rim on the active Karymskii Volcano showed that the variation of that parameter has been greater during its last eruption, lasting, with short intermissions, from January 1, 1996 until now (October 2007) compared with the earlier eruptions. The periodic increases in the height of Karymskii Volcano were due to explosion discharges of unconsolidated pyroclastic material, with most of this falling on the volcano’s cone. The increased seismicity of Karymskii Volcano intensified the slope movement processes, resulting in a comparatively flat area forming periodically on the crater rim; during separate, not very long, periods the height of the volcanic cone was increasing in discrete steps and at a greater rate. The periodic decrease in the height of Karymskii Volcano is due to compaction of pyroclastic material and, to a much greater extent, after violent explosions which expand the crater by removing its nearsummit circumference. The other contributing factor consists in sagging of the magma column due to partial emptying of the peripheral magma chamber, which makes the internal crater slope steeper, hence causes cone collapse and the cone lower. These occurrences are generally similar to the processes of crater and caldera generation described by previous investigators for other volcanoes of the world.