Mount Cleveland (Alaska) in the context of "Volcanic ash"

⭐ In the context of volcanic ash formation, what process is specifically triggered when magma interacts with water during a phreatomagmatic eruption?

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⭐ Core Definition: Mount Cleveland (Alaska)

Mount Cleveland (also known as Cleveland Volcano) is a nearly symmetrical stratovolcano on the western end of Chuginadak Island, which is part of the Islands of Four Mountains just west of Umnak Island in the Fox Islands of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. Mount Cleveland is 5,675 ft (1,730 m) high, and one of the most active of the 75 or more volcanoes in the larger Aleutian Arc. Aleutian natives named the island after their fire goddess, Chuginadak, who they believed inhabited the volcano. In 1894 a team from the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey visited the island and gave Mount Cleveland its current name, after then-president Grover Cleveland.

One of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian Arc, Cleveland has erupted at least 22 times in the last 230 years. A VEI 3 eruption in 1944 produced the arc's only known volcanic fatality. Most recently Mount Cleveland has erupted three times in 2009, twice in 2010, once in 2011 and in 2016 and 2017. The volcano's remoteness limits opportunities for its study, and the Alaska Volcano Observatory relies heavily on satellites for monitoring. The volcano is primarily hazardous to aircraft; many of the flights over the north Pacific approach the vicinity of the volcano, and volcanic ash released from eruptions can damage sensitive electronic equipment and sensors.

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👉 Mount Cleveland (Alaska) in the context of Volcanic ash

Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, produced during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to refer to all explosive eruption products (correctly referred to as tephra), including particles larger than 2 mm. Volcanic ash is formed during explosive volcanic eruptions when dissolved gases in magma expand and escape violently into the atmosphere. The force of the gases shatters the magma and propels it into the atmosphere where it solidifies into fragments of volcanic rock and glass. Ash is also produced when magma comes into contact with water during phreatomagmatic eruptions, causing the water to explosively flash to steam leading to shattering of magma. Once in the air, ash is transported by wind up to thousands of kilometres away.

Due to its wide dispersal, ash can have a number of impacts on society including: animal and human health problems, disruption to aviation, disruption to critical infrastructure (e.g., electric power supply systems, telecommunications, water and waste-water networks, transportation), primary industries (e.g., agriculture), and damage to buildings and other structures.

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Mount Cleveland (Alaska) in the context of Chuginadak Island

Chuginadak Island (Aleut: Tanax̂ Angunax̂; Russian: Чугинадак) is the largest island in the Islands of Four Mountains subgroup of the Aleutian archipelago. Chuginadak is an Aleutian name published by Captain Tebenkov in an 1852 map. According to Knut Bergsland's Aleut Dictionary, the Aleutian word "chugida-lix" means "to fry, to make sizzle." The Western half of the island is called Chuginadax in Aleut, meaning 'simmering'.

The island is approximately 14 by 6 miles (22.5 by 9.7 km) long and the currently active Mount Cleveland stratovolcano forms the entire western half of the land mass and the eastern half of the island is the heavily eroded and less famous stratovolcano Tana. These halves of landmasses are connected with a small strip of land.

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Mount Cleveland (Alaska) in the context of Tana (volcano)

Tana is an eroded pair of east–west trending stratovolcanic cones east of the more known Cleveland volcano, and is located on the eastern end of the Chuginadak Island of the Islands of Four Mountains of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.

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