Whakaari/White Island: Volcanic unrest continues with some minor ash emission and vent changes
An observation flight last week (17 February 2022) has confirmed that dilute ash emission continues from the 2019 active vent and the area of geysering activity has developed to form a pit crater. Data obtained from the improved transmission data link also confirms the state of moderate to heightened unrest. The Volcanic Alert Level remains at Level 2
On Thursday 17th GNS volcanologists undertook an observation flight over the island. This confirmed that a small amount of brown ash was being entrained in the steam and gas discharging from the 2019 active vent area. The dilute ash plume was not extending above the Main Crater wall. This is similar to many observations this year from flights and the web cameras.
The flight also confirmed that the area of geyser activity recently seen on the web cameras has developed into a shallow, mud-filled pit crater. Features like this are not unusual and this one has formed where steam and geyser activity has been noted in the past. Small scale steam explosions were ejecting mud that is building up a small dark grey cone around the crater. A video clip showing the activity can be seen below:
Aerial view of the active vents at Whakaari / White Island showing the dilute ash column and the new crater with dark grey muds around it. Bright colours are hydrothermal minerals precipitated in the lake and on the ground
FLIR thermal InfraRed data obtained during the flight established that high temperatures continue to be present in the gas and steam feeding the active vent. A maximum temperature of 435 °C was measured during the flight. A temperature of 172 °C was recorded from a different vent in the 2019 area. The water level of the lake has receded slightly in the past few weeks.
Overall, the conditions remain similar to those observed over the past few months, characterised by intermittent weak ash emissions, high steam and gas temperatures from the active vents and varying lake levels. When the lake level is high some vents can be drowned and the style of activity changes.
The current level of activity is consistent with moderate to heightened levels of unrest. As such the Volcanic Alert Level remains at 2 and the Aviation Colour Code remains at Yellow.
As noted previously, our on-island equipment has degraded over the past two years. However, recent improvements of the transmission of data means that some of the data is more continuous and more complete than it has been recently.
The Volcanic Alert Level reflects the current level of volcanic unrest or activity and is not a forecast of future activity. While Volcanic Alert Level 2 is mostly associated with volcanic unrest hazards (including discharge of steam and hot volcanic gases, earthquakes, landslides, and hydrothermal activity), potential for eruption hazards also exists and eruptions can still occur with little or no warning.
Further information about the volcanic alert levels and what they mean can be found here.
GNS Science and its National Geohazards Monitoring Centre continue to monitor Whakaari/White Island for further changes in unrest.
Mike Rosenberg
Duty Volcanologist
Media Contact: 021 574541 or media@gns.cri.nz
Footnote:
You might notice we've made a tweak to the name of these bulletins - from Volcanic Alert Bulletin to Volcanic Activity Bulletin. We've done this because we think it better reflects the purpose of these bulletins, which can also include more general updates. Any queries, please let us know.