Akutan Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene Caldera
Start: 11700 yBP [1]
Event Type: Explosive
- Pyroclastic flow, surge, or nuee ardente [2]
- Tephrafall [2]
Description: From Richter and others (1998): "About 2 km southwest of the present caldera, remnants of an older caldera wall, probably of late Pleistocene age, crop out through the extensive tephra and lahar deposits that mantle Akutan’s summit area."
From Miller and others (1998): "The vestige of a larger caldera, of probable late Pleistocene age and at least in part older than the cone of Akutan Peak, extends 1.5 km southwest of Akutan Peak and is terminated to the north by the younger caldera. Small glaciers fill the older crater and lie within the southwest and southeast margins of the younger caldera."
From Waythomas and others (1998): "The age of the eruption that formed the older caldera is not known but is possibly of late Pleistocene or early Holocene age."
From Waythomas (1999): "Remnants of an "older" caldera rim southwest of the present Akutan caldera protrude above a thick mantle of late Holocene pyroclastic-flow and tephra deposits (Fig. 8 [in original text]). Volcaniclastic deposits at the head of Reef Bight (Fig. 8 [in original text]) likely formed during one or more early Holocene eruptions possibly associated with the formation of the "older" caldera."
From Miller and others (1998): "The vestige of a larger caldera, of probable late Pleistocene age and at least in part older than the cone of Akutan Peak, extends 1.5 km southwest of Akutan Peak and is terminated to the north by the younger caldera. Small glaciers fill the older crater and lie within the southwest and southeast margins of the younger caldera."
From Waythomas and others (1998): "The age of the eruption that formed the older caldera is not known but is possibly of late Pleistocene or early Holocene age."
From Waythomas (1999): "Remnants of an "older" caldera rim southwest of the present Akutan caldera protrude above a thick mantle of late Holocene pyroclastic-flow and tephra deposits (Fig. 8 [in original text]). Volcaniclastic deposits at the head of Reef Bight (Fig. 8 [in original text]) likely formed during one or more early Holocene eruptions possibly associated with the formation of the "older" caldera."
References Cited
[1] Preliminary volcano-hazard assessment for Akutan Volcano east-central Aleutian Islands, Alaska, 1998
Waythomas, C. F., Power, J. A., Richter, D. H., and McGimsey, R. G., 1998, Preliminary volcano-hazard assessment for Akutan Volcano east-central Aleutian Islands, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-0360, 36 p., 1 plate, scale unknown.
full-text PDF 1.68 MB
map sheet plate (PDF) 2.62 MB [2] Stratigraphic framework of Holocene volcaniclastic deposits, Akutan Volcano, east-central Aleutian Islands, Alaska, 1999
Waythomas, C. F., 1999, Stratigraphic framework of Holocene volcaniclastic deposits, Akutan Volcano, east-central Aleutian Islands, Alaska: Bulletin of Volcanology, v. 61, n. 3, p. 141-161.[3] Geology of Akutan Island, Alaska, 1998
Richter, D. H., Waythomas, C. F., McGimsey, R. G., and Stelling, P. L., 1998, Geology of Akutan Island, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-0135, 22 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:48,000.[4] Volcanic activity on Akun and Akutan Islands, 1953
Byers, F. M., and Barth, T. F. W., 1953, Volcanic activity on Akun and Akutan Islands: in Pacific Science Congress, 7, Proceedings, v. 2, New Zealand, 1949, Geology, p. 382-397.[5] Catalog of the historically active volcanoes of Alaska, 1998
Miller, T. P., McGimsey, R. G., Richter, D. H., Riehle, J. R., Nye, C. J., Yount, M. E., and Dumoulin, J. A., 1998, Catalog of the historically active volcanoes of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-0582, 104 p.
intro and TOC PDF 268 KB
references PDF 43 KB Complete Eruption References
Stratigraphic framework of Holocene volcaniclastic deposits, Akutan Volcano, east-central Aleutian Islands, Alaska, 1999
Waythomas, C. F., 1999, Stratigraphic framework of Holocene volcaniclastic deposits, Akutan Volcano, east-central Aleutian Islands, Alaska: Bulletin of Volcanology, v. 61, n. 3, p. 141-161.
Geology of Akutan Island, Alaska, 1998
Richter, D. H., Waythomas, C. F., McGimsey, R. G., and Stelling, P. L., 1998, Geology of Akutan Island, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-0135, 22 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:48,000.
Preliminary volcano-hazard assessment for Akutan Volcano east-central Aleutian Islands, Alaska, 1998
Waythomas, C. F., Power, J. A., Richter, D. H., and McGimsey, R. G., 1998, Preliminary volcano-hazard assessment for Akutan Volcano east-central Aleutian Islands, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-0360, 36 p., 1 plate, scale unknown.
full-text PDF 1.68 MB
map sheet plate (PDF) 2.62 MB 
Volcanic activity on Akun and Akutan Islands, 1953
Byers, F. M., and Barth, T. F. W., 1953, Volcanic activity on Akun and Akutan Islands: in Pacific Science Congress, 7, Proceedings, v. 2, New Zealand, 1949, Geology, p. 382-397.
