Mount Veniaminof (russian: Вулкан Вениаминова) is an active stratovolcano on the Alaska Peninsula. The mountain was named after Ioann (Ivan Popov) Veniaminov (1797–1879), a Russian Orthodox missionary priest (and later a prominent bishop in Russia) whose writings on the Aleut language and ethnology are still standard references. He is a saint of the Orthodox Church, known as Saint Innocent for the monastic name he used in later life. The volcano was the site of a colossal ( VEI 6) eruption around 1750 BCE. This eruption left a large

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...

. In modern times the volcano has had numerous small eruptions (over ten of them since 1930), all at a cinder cone in the middle of the caldera. Veniaminof is one of the highest of Alaskan volcanoes. Partly for this reason, it is covered by a

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

that fills most of the caldera. Because of the glacier and the caldera walls, there is the possibility of a major flood from a future

glacier run A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is a type of outburst flood caused by the failure of a dam containing a glacial lake. An event similar to a GLOF, where a body of water contained by a glacier melts or overflows the glacier, is called a jö ...

. The volcano recently began erupting on September 3, 2018 as magma broke through the summit and flowed down its slopes as a lava flow. Despite starting off as an effusive eruption, by November 20, the eruption became more intense and ash was reaching 20,000 feet, prompting the AVO to give a warning for aviation because of the ash posing a threat to aviation. Even an ashfall warning was issued for the nearby town of Perryville. In 1967, Mount Veniaminof was designated as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service. Map of Alaska Peninsula Volcanoes

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References

Volcanoes of the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands-Selected Photographs

Alaska Volcano Observatory

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veniaminof, Mount Active volcanoes Volcanoes of Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska Mountains of Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska Mountains of Alaska National Natural Landmarks in Alaska Stratovolcanoes of the United States VEI-6 volcanoes Volcanoes of Alaska Calderas of Alaska Aleutian Range Cinder cones of the United States Subglacial calderas Holocene stratovolcanoes Holocene calderas

See also

References

External links