Preparing for Alaska’s Okemoke Volcano Eruption
Okmok Volcano is located in the central Aleutian Islands, forming an arc connecting western Alaska and northern Asia. Other volcanoes, including Cleveland, are marked with black triangles and show local communities. The illustration shows the background about Alaska.
The Okmok volcano off the coast of Alaska has continued to expand since its last eruption in 2008, which tells us that new magma may be accumulating beneath it, with the next eruption in the near future. Therefore, we chose it as the main goal of our project, Predicting Volcanic Eruptions in Real Time (AVERT). AVERT is a collaboration between Columbia University and the Alaska Volcano Observatory to study Alaska’s volcanoes Wide variety of monitoring instruments and modern technology — Includes high-accuracy GPS location tracking, magnetometer, infrared and visible webcams, and fast satellite communications. The new network is designed to provide real-time data directly from the volcano, which will be immediately available to scientists and the public.
A map showing the topography of the Okmok volcano, showing its central caldera and the cone within it. A four-letter acronym that begins with OK marks the location of the monitoring station. The goal this year is to add GPS, magnetometer and satellite data transfer in OKAK and OKWE, GPS and magnetometer in OKBR and OKCF, and many fixes and updates at multiple other sites.
Due to delays due to COVID and bad weather, we finally reached Okmok in mid-September. The journey here was anything but short or easy—some of us arrived here after three weeks on a research vessel on a neighboring volcano called Cleveland on Four Mountains, which was also part of the AVERT project. Others traveled from New York to Anchorage, then took a small plane to Dutch Harbor, then boarded a small boat for a nine-hour journey across from Unalaska to Umak Island, where Okemoke is located. We also brought a lot of equipment, including dozens of batteries, solar panels, sensors, and of course, lots and lots of food.
Load our food and equipment Miss Alyssa in Dutch Harbor.Photo: Enatelev
Food and equipment inside us Miss Alyssa. Photo: Enatlev
After unloading all the gear and food at the dock, we moved it to what will be our home for the next two weeks: Bering Pacific Ranch on Unak Island. Located on a former World War II-era military base, the ranch once housed thousands of cattle heads, many of which still roam freely on the grounds. We try not to disturb the Bulls.
Typical landscape of Bering Pacific Ranch. Rusty machinery from a bygone era, free-roaming herds of cattle, and boat rock, are the prominent rock features in the sound between Unalaska and Umnak. Unalaska is visible in the background.Photo: Enatelev
Looking west from Bering Pacific Ranch to Tulik, an older volcanic cone on the south side of Okmok. Snow-covered southern rim of Okmok Crater can be seen in the background. Working in the Aleutians in September means cooler temperatures, but also less fog.Photo: Enatelev
The only transportation we had between the ranch and the monitoring station was a helicopter and it was a fun adventure! But it also means we’re very sensitive to weather conditions, and if we’re going where it’s too windy or cloudy, we can’t go out. Transporting by helicopter also allowed us to collect many aerial photos, which we used to create detailed 3D models of the volcano’s cones and streams. These will reveal information about how quickly the landscape has evolved over time.
Our helicopter and full rainbow. The changing weather conditions alternate between rain and sun to create many beautiful rainbows. The cabin is the same as in the previous photo.Photo: Enatelev
Our helicopter is facing the conical silhouette of Tulik at sunset.Photo: Enatelev
One night our team was on the ranch unloading from a helicopter.Photo: Enatelev
The scenery from our station and the way between them was spectacular. For example, the road to the crater site usually takes us through a narrow opening in the rim, nicknamed “The Gates.” A river with a large waterfall flows through the gate, and every entry is breathtaking – and it’s not just the roughness caused by the frequent winds. Stations inside the crater have views of multiple volcanic cones and volcanic flows, while stations outside have views of the ocean and the crater rim.
A large waterfall on the river drains the Okmok crater through the gates.Photo: Enatelev
Gates, looking at Okmok Crater.Photo: Enatelev
Cora Siebert, a field technician from the Alaska Volcano Observatory, installs a radio antenna at the OKNO site, with the northern rim of the crater behind her.
On a clear day, four different cones can be seen from the OKBR station, which is located inside the crater on the south side.Photo: Enatelev
Cows weren’t the only animals we encountered on the island. The island is home to many reindeer, a few foxes haunt the ranch houses for scraps, bald eagles fly above, and even a small herd of wild horses.
Wild horses on shore pastures with snow-capped Tulik and Okmok crater rims in the background.Photo: Enatelev
The next blog post will be about Ranch Delicious Food, which really deserves to be written on its own!
Enatelev is an associate research professor at the Columbia Climate Institute Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.
The AVERT project is led by Einat Lev and Terry Plank and funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
