Cleveland

Description Current Activity Past Activity Images Maps Bibliography Prepare

Facts

Official Name: Mount Cleveland
Seismically Monitored: Yes
Color Code: GREEN
Alert Level: NORMAL
Elevation: 1730m (5675ft)
Latitude: 52.8222
Longitude: -169.945
Smithsonian VNum: 311240
Pronunciation:
Nearby Towns:
- Nikolski 46 mi (73 km) NE
- Unalaska 158 mi (255 km) NE
- Atka 184 mi (296 km) SW
- Akutan 194 mi (312 km) NE
- Saint George 262 mi (421 km) NE
Distance from Anchorage: 945 mi (1521 km)

Description

From Miller and others (1998)^[1]: "Mt. Cleveland is a stratovolcano that comprises the entire western half of Chuginadak Island, 40 km west of Umnak. Distinctively conical and symmetrical in form, Cleveland is about 8.5 km in diameter and is joined to the rugged, though lower, eastern half of the island by a low, narrow strip of land. Sekora (1973)^[2] reports that this strip is dotted with "lava flow, cinder, and ash patches, and conical hills."
"Although it is the tallest member of the Four Mountains group, Mt. Cleveland is reported to lose snow more rapidly than neighboring peaks presumably from anomalous heat generation (Sekora, 1973^[2], p. 27). Hot springs were noted at the base of a volcano on Chuginadak Island in the 1800's ^[3].
"Like many other Aleutian volcanoes, the lower flanks of Mt. Cleveland up to about the 300 m elevation are more irregular and dissected than the upper flanks. The cones on the eastern half of Chuginadak Island are dissected by broad valleys presumably eroded in part by glaciers; in contrast, the upper cone of Mt. Cleveland is virtually undissected."

Name Origin

Mount Cleveland was named in 1898 by John A. Flemer, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, possibly after Stephen Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th President of the United States (Orth, 1971).

References Cited

[1] 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.

title page PDF 52

intro and TOC PDF 268 KB

eastern part - Wrangell to Ukinrek Maars PDF 972 KB

central part - Chiginagak to Cleveland PDF 2,463 KB

western part - Carlisle to Kiska PDF 956 KB

references PDF 43 KB

[2] Aleutian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Wilderness Study Report, 1973

Sekora, P., 1973, Aleutian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Wilderness Study Report: U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife.

[3] Thermal springs of the United States and other countries of the world - a summary, 1965

Waring, G. A., 1965, Thermal springs of the United States and other countries of the world - a summary: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper PP 0492, 383 p.

Current Activity

_{July 8, 2024, 1:06 pm}

No significant signs of unrest were observed over the past day. Seismicity has been quiet with a few small local earthquakes detected. Sulfur dioxide measured by local ground-based instruments indicate typical emission rates. Since this activity represents typical background behavior at Mount Cleveland, the Alaska Volcano Observatory lowered the Aviation Color Code to GREEN and Volcano Alert Level to NORMAL.

Cleveland volcano is currently monitored by a local seismic network, infrasound sensors, a gas sensor and web cameras. In addition to the local monitoring network, AVO uses nearby geophysical networks, regional infrasound and lighting data, and satellite observations to detect eruptions. Based on past events, explosive eruptions of Cleveland may occur with little or no warning. Rapid detection of an ash-producing eruption may be possible using a combination of seismic, infrasound, web camera, lightning, and satellite data.