Amak


Facts


  • Official Name: Amak Island
  • Seismically Monitored: No
  • Color Code: UNASSIGNED
  • Alert Level: UNASSIGNED
  • Elevation: 513m (1683ft)
  • Latitude: 55.41728
  • Longitude: -163.14687
  • Smithsonian VNum: 311390
  • Pronunciation:
  • Nearby Towns:
    • Cold Bay 23 mi (37 km) SE
    • False Pass 40 mi (65 km) SW
    • King Cove 41 mi (66 km) SE
    • Belkofski 49 mi (79 km) SE
    • Pauloff Harbor 69 mi (110 km) SE

Description

From Wood and Kienle (1990) [1] : "Amak is a small (~1 cubic km), young volcano in the Bering Sea some 50 km north of Frosty Peak volcano at Cold Bay at the western tip of the Alaska Peninsula. It is unusual in its position, which is significantly north of the main Aleutian volcanic front; Bogoslof, some 250 km west, is the only other such Aleutian volcano. In overall character, Amak is much like a large volcanic dome except that it has a well-formed crater from which granular, blocky leveed flows have erupted in historic times. The earlier volcanism, perhaps some 4,000-5,000 yr ago, consisted mostly of thin (~3 m) platy to massive andesite. U-shaped valleys in the older series of flows indicate significant glaciation during the latest ice phase some 6,700 yr BP. The southern margin of Amak is a grassy, apparently wave-cut alluvial plain, which contains a flat-bottomed crater with a distinct upturned rim, which may be a maar. Amak lavas are similar in overall composition to those of the Cold Bay volcanic center except in a small but significant higher concentration of potash in Amak rocks."

Name Origin

"Amak volcano" is an informal name applied to the peak on Amak Island. "Amak Island" is an Unangam Tunuu name published as "O[strov] Amak" or "Amak Island," by Captain Tebenkov (1852) and Amax by Bergslund (1994).


References Cited

[1] Volcanoes of North America: United States and Canada, 1990

Wood, C. A., and Kienle, Juergen, (eds.), 1990, Volcanoes of North America: United States and Canada: New York, Cambridge University Press, 354 p.

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