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Zavaritzki Caldera   »  Summary

Zavaritzki Caldera

Zavaritzki Caldera Photo

Country:Russia
Subregion Name:Kuril Islands
Volcano Number:0900-18=
Volcano Type: Caldera
Volcano Status:Historical
Last Known Eruption: 1957 
Summit Elevation: 624 m 2,047 feet
Latitude: 46.925°N 46°55'30"N
Longitude: 151.95°E 151°57'0"E

Zavaritzki volcano in central Simushir Island contains three nested calderas of 10-, 8-, and 3-km diameter. The steep-walled youngest caldera was formed during the Holocene and contains a lake whose surface is about 40 m elevation and whose bottom lies about 30 m below sea level. Several young cones and lava domes are located near the margins of Biryuzovoe caldera lake. Lacustrine sediments overlying pumice deposits indicate that an earlier caldera lake lay at 200 m above sea level, well above the present lake surface. Two eruptions have occurred at Zavaritzki during the 20th century. A lava dome that was emplaced sometime between 1916 and 1931 forms a small island in the northern part of the caldera lake. In 1957, a new 350-m-wide, 40-m-high dome was emplaced following explosive eruptions, decreasing the size of the caldera lake.

Global Volcanism ProgramDepartment of Mineral SciencesNational Museum of Natural HistorySmithsonian Institution

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