Novarupta

Novarupta
Novarupta's lava dome in July 1987.
Highest point
Elevation	2,759 ft (841 m)
Coordinates	58°16′0″N 155°9′24″W / 58.26667°N 155.15667°W / 58.26667; -155.15667Coordinates: 58°16′0″N 155°9′24″W / 58.26667°N 155.15667°W / 58.26667; -155.15667
Geography
Location	Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska, U.S.
Parent range	Aleutian Range
Topo map	USGS Mount Katmai B-4
Geology
Mountain type	Caldera with lava dome
Volcanic arc/belt	Aleutian Arc
Last eruption	June to October 1912

Novarupta (meaning "newly erupted" in Latin) is a volcano that was created in 1912, located on the Alaska Peninsula in Katmai National Park and Preserve, about 290 miles (470 km) southwest of Anchorage. Formed during the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, Novarupta released 30 times the volume of magma of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.

The eruption of Novarupta within the Aleutian Range began on June 6, 1912, and culminated in a series of violent eruptions from the original Novarupta volcano. Rated a 6 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index, the 60-hour-long eruption expelled 13 to 15 cubic kilometers (3.1 to 3.6 cu mi) of ash, 30 times as much as the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. The erupted magma of rhyolitic, dacitic, and andesitic composition resulted in more than 17 cubic kilometers (4.1 cu mi) of air fall tuff and approximately 11 cubic kilometers (2.6 cu mi) of pyroclastic ash-flow tuff. During the 20th century, only the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines was of a similar magnitude; Pinatubo ejected 11 cubic kilometers (2.6 cu mi) of tephra. At least two larger eruptions occurred in the 19th century: the 1815 eruption of Tambora (150 km³ (36.0 cu mi) of tephra) and the 1883 eruption of Indonesia's Krakatoa (20 km³ (4.8 cu mi) of tephra).