Pavlof 1966/3
Start: March 2, 1966 [1]
Stop: March 15, 1966 ± 14 Days [2]
Event Type: Explosive
Max VEI: 2 [3]
- Minor explosive eruption [4]
Description: The earliest accounts of this eruption are from Associated Press articles in the Fairbanks Daily News Miner. The March 3, 1966 edition contained this information: "A 200-foot stream of lava was reported erupting from Mt. Pavlof Wednesday night by a Coast Guard aircraft crew flying over the Alaska volcano.
"The spectacular sight was reported at Elmendorf Air Force Base by Lt. Cmndr. Paul H. Breed, pilot of the Coast Guard plane on a training flight out of Kodiak.
" * * * Robbins [area manager for the Federal Aviation Administration at Cold Bay] reported the eruption was not visible from Cold Bay because of a low ceiling covering the 2,100 foot peak.
"A spokesman for the Alaska Disaster Office in Anchorage said the winds were blowing in a southwesterly direction and would probably carry any debris from the eruption seaward."
Jacob and Hauksson (1983) report an eruption at Pavlof around March 15, 1966 and describe it as an eruption in the central crater, with normal explosions, and note that "during the 1950s and 1960s the active vent was never exactly located, it shifted around with each eruption high on NE or NNE flank."
An Associated Press article from March 16, 1966, describes the eruption: "Lava was reported pouring down three sides of Mt. Pavlof Tuesday by the crew of a Coast Guard plane that flew near the Aleutian Island volcano.
"Mt. Pavlof * * * was reported hurling rocks 500 feet high and emitting a dense column of smoke that reached 15,000 feet.
"Lt. J.E. Mitts, pilot of the plane, reported his sighting to the Coast Guard station at Kodiak. The plane, with a four-man crew, was on its way to St. Paul Island on a routine supply mission.
"Mitts reported that lava was pouring down the north, east, and west sides of the mountain. He told his headquarters at Kodiak that he flew his plane, a C123, within a half mile of the mountain."
"The spectacular sight was reported at Elmendorf Air Force Base by Lt. Cmndr. Paul H. Breed, pilot of the Coast Guard plane on a training flight out of Kodiak.
" * * * Robbins [area manager for the Federal Aviation Administration at Cold Bay] reported the eruption was not visible from Cold Bay because of a low ceiling covering the 2,100 foot peak.
"A spokesman for the Alaska Disaster Office in Anchorage said the winds were blowing in a southwesterly direction and would probably carry any debris from the eruption seaward."
Jacob and Hauksson (1983) report an eruption at Pavlof around March 15, 1966 and describe it as an eruption in the central crater, with normal explosions, and note that "during the 1950s and 1960s the active vent was never exactly located, it shifted around with each eruption high on NE or NNE flank."
An Associated Press article from March 16, 1966, describes the eruption: "Lava was reported pouring down three sides of Mt. Pavlof Tuesday by the crew of a Coast Guard plane that flew near the Aleutian Island volcano.
"Mt. Pavlof * * * was reported hurling rocks 500 feet high and emitting a dense column of smoke that reached 15,000 feet.
"Lt. J.E. Mitts, pilot of the plane, reported his sighting to the Coast Guard station at Kodiak. The plane, with a four-man crew, was on its way to St. Paul Island on a routine supply mission.
"Mitts reported that lava was pouring down the north, east, and west sides of the mountain. He told his headquarters at Kodiak that he flew his plane, a C123, within a half mile of the mountain."
References Cited
[1] Pavlof spewing lava stream, 1966
Associated Press, 1966, Pavlof spewing lava stream: Fairbanks Daily News Miner, Thursday, March 3, 1966, p.3.[2] Alaska peak belches lava, fliers say, 1966
Associated Press, 1966, Alaska peak belches lava, fliers say: Walla Walla Union Bulletin, Walla Walla, WA, March 16, 1966, p. 1.[3] Volcanoes of the world [2nd edition], 1994
Simkin, Tom, and Siebert, Lee, 1994, Volcanoes of the world [2nd edition]: Tucson, Arizona, Geoscience Press, 349 p.[4] A seismotectonic analysis of the seismic and volcanic hazards in the Pribilof Islands - Eastern Aleutian Islands Region of the Bering Sea, 1983
Jacob, K. H., and Hauksson, Egill, 1983, A seismotectonic analysis of the seismic and volcanic hazards in the Pribilof Islands - Eastern Aleutian Islands Region of the Bering Sea: Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University Annual Report NOAA 03--5-022-70, New York, 224 p.Complete Eruption References
A seismotectonic analysis of the seismic and volcanic hazards in the Pribilof Islands - Eastern Aleutian Islands Region of the Bering Sea, 1983
Jacob, K. H., and Hauksson, Egill, 1983, A seismotectonic analysis of the seismic and volcanic hazards in the Pribilof Islands - Eastern Aleutian Islands Region of the Bering Sea: Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University Annual Report NOAA 03--5-022-70, New York, 224 p.
The eruptive activity, seismicity, and velocity structure of Pavlof volcano, Eastern Aleutians, 1985
McNutt, S. R., 1985, The eruptive activity, seismicity, and velocity structure of Pavlof volcano, Eastern Aleutians: Columbia University unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, 214 p.
Hard Copy held by AVO at FBKS - CEC file cabinet
Hard Copy held by AVO at FBKS - CEC shelf
Eruption characteristics and cycles at Pavlof Volcano, Alaska, and their relation to regional earthquake activity (USA), 1987
McNutt, S. R., 1987, Eruption characteristics and cycles at Pavlof Volcano, Alaska, and their relation to regional earthquake activity (USA): Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, v. 31, n. 3, p. 239-267.
Volcanoes of the world [2nd edition], 1994
Simkin, Tom, and Siebert, Lee, 1994, Volcanoes of the world [2nd edition]: Tucson, Arizona, Geoscience Press, 349 p.
Hard Copy held by AVO at FBKS - CEC shelf
Investigations at active volcanoes, 1967
Decker, R. W., 1967, Investigations at active volcanoes: Adams, L. H. and Schairer, J. F., (eds.), Eos, v. 48, n. 2, p. 639-647.
Hard Copy held by AVO at FBKS - CEC file cabinet
Alaska peak belches lava, fliers say, 1966
Associated Press, 1966, Alaska peak belches lava, fliers say: Walla Walla Union Bulletin, Walla Walla, WA, March 16, 1966, p. 1.
Hard Copy held by AVO at FBKS - CEC file cabinet
Eruption on Mt. Pavlof 'Not unusual', 1966
Associated Press, 1966, Eruption on Mt. Pavlof 'Not unusual': Fairbanks Daily News Miner, March 4, 1966, p. 2.
Pavlof spewing lava stream, 1966
Associated Press, 1966, Pavlof spewing lava stream: Fairbanks Daily News Miner, Thursday, March 3, 1966, p.3.