No latest activity reported for Opala.

Below is a summary of eruption dates and Volcanic Explosivity Indices (VEI).

The following references are the sources used for data regarding this volcano. References are linked directly to our volcano data file. Discussion of another volcano or eruption (sometimes far from the one that is the subject of the manuscript) may produce a citation that is not at all apparent from the title. Additional discussion of data sources can be found under Volcano Data Criteria.

Braitseva O, Ponomareva V, Melekestsev I, Sulerzhitsky L, Pevzner M, 2002-. Holocene Kamchatka volcanoes. http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/volcanoes/holocene/main/main.htm

Erlich E N, 1986. Geology of the calderas of Kamchatka and Kurile Islands with comparison to calderas of Japan and the Aleutians, Alaska. {U S Geol Surv Open-File Rpt}, 86-291: 1-300

Erlich E N, Gorshkov G S (eds), 1979. Quaternary volcanism and tectonics in Kamchatka. {Bull Volc}, 42:1-4

Fedotov S A, Masurenkov Y P (eds), 1991. {Active Volcanoes of Kamchatka}. Moscow: Nauka Pub, 2 volumes

IAVCEI, 1973-80. Post-Miocene Volcanoes of the World. {IAVCEI Data Sheets, Rome: Internatl Assoc Volc Chemistry Earth's Interior}.

Kozhemyaka N N, 1996. Long-lived volcanic centers of Kamchatka: types of cones, growth time spans, volumes of erupted material, productivities, rock proportions, and tectonic settings. {Volc Seism}, 17: 621-636 (English translation)

Melekestsev I V, Braitseva O A, Bazanova L I, Ponomareva V V, Sulerzhitskiy L D, 1996. A particular type of catastrophic explosive eruptions with reference to the Holocene subcaldera eruptions at Khangar, Khodutka Maar, and Baraniy Amfiteatr volcanoes in Kamchatka. {Volc Seism}, 18: 135-160 (English translation)

Melekestsev I V, Felitsyn S B, Kiryanov V Y, 1991. The eruption of Opala in A.D. 500 -- the largest explosive eruption in Kamchatka in the Christian era. {Volc Seism}, 1991(1): 21-34 (English translation 1992, 13: 21-36)

Ponomareva V V, Melekestsev I V, Dirksen O V, 2006. Sector collapses and large landslides on late Pleistocene-Holocene volcanoes in Kamchatka, Russia. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 158: 117-138

Popruzhenko S V, 1984. On the formation of the Opala caldera. {Volc Seism}, 1984(6): 111-113 (English translation 1988, 6: 953-958)

Vlodavetz V I, Piip B I, 1959. Kamchatka and Continental Areas of Asia. {Catalog of Active Volcanoes of the World and Solfatara Fields}, Rome: IAVCEI, 8: 1-110

Steep-sided, conical Opala stratovolcano is one of the most dramatic volcanoes of southern Kamchatka. The 2475-m-high volcano was constructed during the late-Pleistocene to Holocene at the northern end of the 12 x 14 km, 40,000-year-old Opala caldera. The volcano has produced andesitic-dacitic lavas and tephras through most of the Holocene. The latest major explosive eruption formed the prominent Barany Amphitheater on the SE flank about 1500 years ago, producing a voluminous 9-10 cu km regional tephra marker layer of rhyolitic composition. The 2 x 2.5 km crater is filled by a lava dome 1 km wide. Mild explosive eruptions have been reported from summit and flank vents at Opala in historical time, although no associated tephra deposits have been found. Recent tephrochronological work has revealed evidence, however, for a large explosive eruption from the summit crater about 300 years ago.