Pavlof reported activity

Event Name : Pavlof 1866/3

Start:

March 14, 1866

Observed

Tephrafall:
Tephra plume:
Minor explosive eruption:

Eruption Type:	Explosive
MaxVEI:	2

Description: The exact location of this eruption is uncertain, but nearly all compilers (Sapper, 1917; Coats, 1950; Hantke, 1955; Powers, 1958; Jacob and Hauksson, 1983; Simkin and Siebert, 1994; Miller and others, 1998) attribute it to Pavlof. Doroshin (1870) appears to be the original source for this eruption.

Kisslinger (1983), translating Doroshin (1870), reports that "At about 3 a.m. on March 14 [March 26, Gregorian calendar], 1866, at Pavlof Harbor on Kodiak Island there was impenetrable darkness for 15 minutes, and ash fell. It was completely silent while this happened. According to reports from Afognak Island, and from the village of Katmai on the Alaska Peninsula where the same thing was experienced, the cloud of ash moved from the south, probably as the result of an eruption of one of the voclanoes of the Alaska Peninsula. Ash fell at Pavlof Harbor to a depth of one-quarter inch. There was neither a noise nor an earthquake at the time of this occurrence.

"From reprots obtained recently, the place of eruption has been determined more definitely; it occurred to the northwest of Katmai village, on the Alaska Peninsula, at a newly formed volcano. In fact, the smoking volcano Kutliukhat [Mount Katmai] is located in the aforesaid direction."

Although Doroshin seems to suggest that the place of eruption was *not* Pavlof, but instead somewhere farther north, the ashfall distribution pattern, prevailing winds, and tephra deposits in the Katmai area do not support this theory. The most likely volcano to have deposited 1/4 of an inch worth of ash at Pavlof Harbor is a volcano near Pavlof Harbor (Judy Fierstien, 2006, personal communication.) Although Doroshin indicates that Pavlof Harbor is on Kodiak Island, modern references to Pavlof Harbor concern a harbor near Pavlof Volcano.

Sapper (1917) reports a strong ash eruption in March, 1866, citing Fuchs, and Mercalli, after Perrey. No mention of this eruption is found in Becker (1898).