The 16 September 1986 eruption of Lascar volcano, north Chile: Satellite investigations

Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images acquired in 1984 and 1985 revealed a pronounced thermal anomaly on Lascar volcano, north Chile. Subsequent images showed that the anomaly was persistent but variable and that after a significant eruption on 16 September 1986 it was weaker and divided into several sources. TM studies and other observations of Lascar indicate that the persistent thermal anomaly may be due to high-temperature fumaroles within the summit crater. GOES weather satellite images and field investigations confirm that the 16 September event was a short-lived, Vulcanian-type eruption, which produced an ash column that reached 15 km altitude. The ash cloud can be tracked on GEOS images to about 400 km downwind and covered an area > 112 000 km2. Transport occurred in the upper troposphere at speeds up to 180 km/h. Ash fall from the plume was well sorted and moderately fine grained (Md 200 µm). Formation and fallout of ash as aggregates was unimportant in the deposition of the ash layer. Although small, the Lascar 16 September eruption is significant because few historic eruptions have been recorded in the central Andes. Little would have been known of the eruption in the absence of remote-sensed data.

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