Volcanoes In Alaska: A Guide

Do you know that most of the volcanoes in the US are actually located in Alaska? In fact, the figures are: 53 volcanoes in the USA, of which 43 are situated in Alaska. The reason for this is that the Aleutian Islands, the Wrangell Mountains, and the Alaska Peninsula, are part of the well known Ring of Fire which runs from the Pacific Ocean and on through Hawaii.

A really active Alaskan volcano is called Pavlof volcano. It has actually erupted over 40 times since, about 1790.

The largest eruption in Alaska happened in 1912 when the Novarupta/Katmai volcano decided to erupt. This volcanic eruption was so massive that the sky in the northern hemisphere was seen to turn rather dark for several days owing to all the ash, and a thick layer of ash was seen to settle on the ground in certain places.

Records only started being kept in the west in 1741; this was when Vitus Bering arrived in Alaska. Reporting of eruptions started with Kasatochi in 1760. By 1768 another four volcanoes had erupted, and since then, there has been a slow but steady increase.

The volcano observatory in Alaska watches and monitors volcanoes closely and is a great source of info if you need to acquire more knowledge about the volcanoes there.

You can see a lot of the larger volcanoes as you travel around Alaska. Detailed charts are available to show precisely which volcano is which, and if you so desire, you can even go on your own volcano tour by going around the state just viewing all the main volcanoes. Although a lot of them are fairly close together so you don't have to travel too much.

Here is a list of some volcanoes in Alaska, which have recently erupted:

Mt. Augustine
Mt. Redoubt
Pavlof Volcano
Mt.Spurr
Mt. Makushin

James Hunaban is the owner of http://alaska.jims-info.com/ a site full of information and advice about Alaska.